Cheryl Van Ness is an assessment specialist in the ETS Research Institute. With her expertise in mathematics, she supports programs, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by writing and reviewing the accuracy and appropriateness of practice-forward mathematics items, assuring the alignment of those items to frameworks, constructing test forms, and reviewing training sets for constructed-response items for scoring across grades 4, 8, and 12.
She is a team leader in efforts to develop and use AI in educational spaces, exploring how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to support item development and to create generative AI-simulated students that can be used in teacher training. She leads a cross-functional team consisting of designers, artists, producers, technology programmers, and content experts to develop innovative assessment scenario-based tasks.
Prior to joining ETS in 2018, Cheryl gained more than 6 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate-level courses in mathematics education and supporting teachers’ development of mathematics curriculum as a math coach for teachers in grades K–8. She has experience teaching mathematics, as well as in mathematics education publishing. Cheryl earned a Ph.D. in education, an M.A., and an M.Ed. in mathematics education. Her doctoral work and current research focuses on student mathematical reasoning, specifically argumentation, and pre-service and in-service teachers’ recognition of reasoning and argumentation in classroom discourse. She also completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics and holds New Jersey teaching certificates in K–12 mathematics and N–8 general elementary education.
Last updated: 1/20/2026