ETS Announces Four Research & Development Awards

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Princeton, N.J. (July 25, 2008) —

Officials at ETS, the world's leading educational measurement and research organization, today announced the recipients of the organization's 2008 Research & Development (R&D) Awards.

The following ETS staff members were acknowledged for the outstanding quality and impact of their work, their productivity and their support of important client and customer relationships:

  • Research Director Ted Blew received the William Van Hassel Research Technology Award. The award recognizes R&D staff members who have made outstanding advances in research related to assessment technology, educational measurement and innovation.
  • The ETS Psychometrician Award went to Principal Psychometrician Rick Morgan. This award recognizes psychometricians who have made outstanding contributions to the development of innovative statistical methods and to the field of psychometrics.
  • The ETS Scientist Award was presented to Senior Research Scientist Sandip Sinharay. The Scientist Award recognizes ETS researchers who have made outstanding contributions to their fields of specialization and to the work of ETS.
  • Assessment Specialist III Alice Sims-Gunzenhauser was honored with the Assessment Development Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in the area of test development.

ETS President Kurt Landgraf met with the recipients and congratulated them on their work on behalf of research and development at ETS.

2008 recipients represent ETS quality

ETS Senior Vice President of R&D Ida Lawrence praised the outstanding contributions the recipients had made to their fields of specialization and to the overall work of ETS. She also spoke of the very high quality of the work accomplished by each recipient.

Blew was recognized for developing several tools and processes that have been incorporated into the GENASYS (Generalized Statistical Analysis System) software application, used as the central tool for statistical support of ETS operational testing programs. He also was acknowledged for his creativity, management skills and technical expertise in managing the first College Board website.

Morgan was cited for his ability as a manager in maintaining a team environment, above-average levels of quality and outstanding customer service for clients such as The College Board, as well as for his work with ETS's Global Division.

Sinharay was recognized for his published research, for editing the statistics section for the third edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education and for his work with subscores, an area that provides highly reliable information on test-taker performance not reflected in the total test score.

Sims-Gunzenhauser was spotlighted for her active engagement in the field of arts education. Since the mid-1980s, a major focus of Sims-Gunzenhauser's work has been the development of the AP Studio Art Assessment. This assessment is significantly different from other AP titles because its score is based on the evaluation of a portfolio of student work rather than a written exam. During her time on the program, annual student participation in this assessment has grown from about 1,200 students to nearly 30,000 students.

About ETS

ETS, a nonprofit organization, celebrates a 60-year history of advancing quality and equity in education by providing fair and valid assessments, research and related services for all people worldwide. In serving individuals, educational institutions and government agencies around the world, ETS customizes solutions to meet the need for teacher professional development products and services, classroom and end-of-course assessments, and research-based teaching and learning tools. ETS today develops, administers and scores more than 50 million assessments in more than 180 countries, at more than 9,000 locations worldwide. Additional information is available at www.ets.org.