Principal Investigator
Jamal Abedi
Specializing in educational and psychological assessments, Jamal Abedi’s research focuses on testing for English learners and issues concerning the technical characteristics and interpretations of these assessments. Abedi is the author of many publications in the assessment of and accommodations for English-language learners. He is on the advisory committees for several major assessment organizations and advises a number of states on testing for English learners and children with disabilities. Read more about Jamal Abedi.

Project Coordinator/Analyst
Cecilia Sanchez
Since graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2016, Cecilia has been a leading researcher on Dr. Abedi’s research team. Currently she is a Research Project Coordinator/Analyst at the University of California, Davis. Roles for the study involved:

• Managed recruitment of elementary school students to collect data for multiple project phases through administration of assessments, interviews, and surveys
• Compiled quantitative and qualitative data analyses using spreadsheets and statistical software such as SPSS and NVIVO to outline key results
• Assisted in compiling and editing reports and manuscripts for publication
• Created project reports following sponsor and IRB guidelines

 

Main Advisors

Carol Lord
Linguistics Professor Emeritus
California State University, Long Beach

• Developed a rubric to assess level of linguistic complexity on a 40-item math test
• Provided insight on the project design, instruments used to assess different areas of language ability, analysis of Think Aloud interviews, and much more

Cathleen Alexander
PhD, Education from University of California, Davis

• Developed a rubric to assess level of mathematic content difficulty on a 40-item math test
• Assisted in the development of the 40-item math test and selection of items for the 7-item test
• Conducted Think Aloud interviews

Heather Martin
PhD, Education from University of California, Davis

• Developed a rubric to assess level of mathematic content difficulty on a 40-item math test
• Assisted in the development of the 40-item math test and selection of items for the 7-item test

Susan Leonard-Giesen
Special Education Faculty
California State University, Long Beach

• Provided insight on students with disabilities and disability classification
• Provided insight on battery of measures included in the final phase

 

Technical Advisory Committee

The following scholars participated in one or more of the yearly Technical Advisory Committee meetings:

Alfredo Artiles
Professor of Education at Stanford University

Jana Echevarria
Professor Emeritus at California State University, Long Beach

Martha Thurlow
Senior Research Associate at the National Center on Educational Outcomes

Rich Shalveson
Professor Emeritus at Stanford University

Steve Elliott
Professor Emeritus at Stanford University

 

Other Personnel

The following personnel assisted with earlier phases of the study:

Fery Hejri and her team at Advanced Research & Data Analysis Center

Yu Zhang as a Postdoctoral Scholar

Susan Elizabeth Rowe as a Graduate Research Assistant

Glen Heinrich Wallace as a Graduate Research Assistant

Dalal Audeesh as an Undergraduate Research Assistant

 

Test Administrators

The following personnel assisted with test administration during data collection:

Selene Leal Carrillo 

Itzel Hernandez

Mark Lopez

Elizabeth Mandujano

Elizabeth Mejia

Gabriela Perez

Adrian Tlatenchi

Erik Torres