Psychological
                 and Quantitative Foundations

Kolen's Career Recognized

Professor Kolen receives NCME Career Award.

Professor Michael Kolen received the 2008 National Council on Measurement in Education Award for Career Contributions to Educational Measurement.

Recognizing a career that has spanned more than 25 years, Kolen’s widespread impact on the field has an indelible influence on both practitioners and theoreticians. Through his scholarly work, his contributions rank among those of the most distinguished members of the measurement community.

Professor David Frisbie, who nominated Kolen for the award, said Kolen, more than anyone in the field, is associated with the term equating. “His well-deserved nickname as the ‘equating guru’ stems from his many journal publications, training sessions, and textbooks on that topic,” Frisbie said.

However, Kolen is not one dimensional in his interests. His research and writing have included such areas as scaling, conditional standard errors of measurement, and item bias as well.

“He has served the profession through many roles—researcher, writer, speaker, teacher, mentor, consultant, and leader—in which he has influenced the lives and work of those who measure, those who use measurements, and those who are measured,” Frisbie said.

Kolen also wrote two computer programs, CIPE and POLYEQUATE, which are available as freeware and are used widely by measurement specialists internationally. His book, Test Equating, was the first textbook on equating, and is used in equating courses throughout the world as a primary source for psychometricians who plan and conduct equating studies.

Kolen has also made a significant mark on the field through his teaching, mentoring, and consulting. “All of these activities have engendered a ripple of influence—greater understanding and better practice—as Mike’s contributions are implemented and then trickle down through a series of developers, users, and assessment takers,” Frisbie said.

“Mike Kolen has led a distinguished career in educational measurement, and his significant contributions to the field have extended our science and improved our practice,” Frisbie said. “The best news is that Mike is not resting on his laurels. He continues to find ways to promote sound measurement and to make our professional organizations, like NCME, even more valued by their members.”