Media Contact:
| ETS: | Kristen Mitchell |
|---|---|
| Email: | kmitchell002@ets.org |
Princeton, NJ (January 20, 2026) — ETS Research Institute today announced the launch of the Center for Responsible AI in Learning and Assessment, a new research center dedicated to foundational and innovation research on applications of artificial intelligence (AI) to learning and measurement. The Center brings ETS’s long-standing leadership in measurement science together with emerging advances in AI to drive improvements and innovation in integrating AI to learning and assessment environments.
“Our new Center for Responsible AI in Learning and Assessment is dedicated to ensuring responsible integration of AI in education and optimizing its use in improving and innovation in learning and assessment, driving evidence-based advances and promoting opportunities for all learners” said Kadriye Ercikan, Senior Vice President of Global Research at ETS. “With decades of expertise in measurement science and educational research, ETS is ready to partner with educators, researchers, and industry leaders to drive responsible, impactful AI innovation.”
Why This Center Matters
Generative AI is being adopted in education at an unprecedented rate. Eighty-six percent of education organizations now use it, the highest adoption of any industry, according to a Microsoft Special Report. This rapid uptick, a sharp contrast to the sector’s historically slow embrace of technology, underscores AI’s transformative potential, and the urgent need for research, safeguards, and collaboration in both education and the workforce broadly.
The Center’s research agenda will span five core domains:
- Interactive Simulation‑Based Assessments — Advancing AI‑enabled simulations that create authentic, context‑rich tasks for learners and workers, enabling more engaging and realistic demonstrations of skills.
- Testless Approaches for Measurement — Developing methodological innovations that allow for continuous, embedded, or passive evidence collection without the need for traditional tests.
- Methodological Advances for a New Paradigm of Measurement — Creating and validating new models, evidence frameworks, and technical methods that redefine how learning and competencies are measured in AI‑rich environments.
- Fairness, Validity, and Trust — Developing frameworks and tools for validating AI-systems and improving the quality of AI-generated materials, content, and inferences. Increasing trust by making AI-generated outputs valid, transparent, and interpretable for educators, learners, workers and policymakers.
- Human–AI Collaboration — Developing principles for AI tools that enhance, not replace, human expertise by designing and testing AI systems that work alongside educators and workers, including AI-assisted content development and feedback and studies to evaluate human-AI collaboration in real-world settings.
What Sets ETS Apart
Unlike technology‑first approaches, this Center is intentionally designed to start with people—educators, learners, employers, and policymakers—and to build outward from their needs. Grounded in ETS’s nearly eight decades of leadership in measurement science, the Center will focus on advancing AI systems that enhance human judgment rather than replace it, uphold fairness and accountability, and strengthen opportunities for all learners.
The team will serve as a bridge between research and real‑world implementation, translating cutting‑edge insights into practical tools, frameworks, and guidance that can be adopted by education systems, employers, and policymakers across the globe. Planned activities include:
- Co‑designing the Center’s agenda and programs in collaboration with industry experts and stakeholders, ensuring that real‑world experience informs every priority and solution.
- Developing evaluation tools that rigorously measure fairness, validity, transparency, and reliability in AI‑enabled assessments and learning systems.
- Creating open‑access datasets and technical resources that promote accountability, replication, and innovation across the research and practitioner community.
- Contributing to global convenings and strategic partnerships that bring together leaders across education, workforce development, and technology to advance responsible and human‑centered AI practices.
Ultimately, the Center aims to ensure that AI becomes a force for expanding opportunity—helping people learn more effectively, demonstrate their skills more fairly, and access pathways that improve their lives.
For more information or to collaborate, visit ets.org/research/research-centers/AI.html
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About the ETS
ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners to be future ready. Our mission – advancing the science of measurement to power human progress – ensures our focus to enable everyone, everywhere, to demonstrate their skills and chart their path to future readiness for life. We are committed to readying 100M+ people for the next generation of jobs by 2035. We deliver on this commitment through trusted assessments and skills solutions – including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, Praxis and Futurenav – and groundbreaking initiatives powered by our Research Institute. With a robust global footprint, including subsidiaries (PSI), offices and operations in more than 200 countries and territories, we help over 50 million individuals each year measure their proficiency and unlock new opportunities. Discover how we expand our worldwide impact: www.ets.org