Jennifer Randall
Contact
Jennifer Randall is the Dunn Family Chair of Psychometrics and Test Development and the founding President of the Center for Measurement Justice. Dr. Randall received her bachelor’s (1996) and master’s (1999) degrees from Duke University and her doctoral degree from Emory University (2007). She began her career first as a public-school teacher in secondary history working with racially and ethnically minoritized students. It was in this capacity as a high school teacher that she began to recognize the ways in which traditional assessment practices cause deep and irreparable harm to the most marginalized students- the students the system should be seeking to serve the most. Her work seeks to disrupt white supremacist, racist logics in assessment through justice-oriented practices that are explicitly and unapologetically antiracist. She is committed to working with Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities and our co-conspirators to explore the ways in which we can create a justice-oriented assessment system culture in which the sociocultural identities of students are deliberately considered and valued - not as an afterthought, but rather - in the planning and development phases of assessment.
Currently, she is engaged with several research projects to re-imagine the current assessment design process from construct articulation to score administration. She works closely with students, parents, and teachers to identify their needs/wants from assessments in order to translate that into an assessment experience for students that is meaningful, culturally affirming, and empowering. Dr. Randall sits on numerous state and national working groups, committees, and technical advisories as a fierce advocate for antiracist, liberating processes and regulations that center the needs of Black, Brown, and Indigenous students. She currently teaches graduate courses in quantitative methods and assessment.
Courses
| Number | Course Name | Location | Days | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EDUC 793 | Introduction to Quantitative Methods in Educational Research
Prerequisites: Graduate standing at the doctoral level. |
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| EDUC 607 | Contemporary Approaches to Educational Assessment
Prerequisites: Graduate standing at the doctoral level. In our current age of accountability, developing an appreciation and understanding of the complexities of the design, evaluation and interpretation of educational assessment is paramount. In this graduate seminar we will draw on contemporary research papers, a range of existing tests, and multi-media resources to examine, understand, discuss and evaluate current theory, practice, and instruments associated with assessment systems used to evaluate learning. The course has three goals: 1) to acquaint students with essential concepts in educational measurement such as reliability, validity, error, and bias; 2) to provoke inquiry into a number of important issues in the field including (a) assessment and accountability, (b) classroom-based assessment, especially formative assessment, (c) assessing students with special needs, (d) standards for educational assessment, (e) technology-based approaches to assessment, and (f) assessing teachers and teaching; and 3) to examine contemporary educational assessment practices in the Unites States with reference to the practices in other countries. This course is designed as a fundamental graduate seminar on the principles, analysis, interpretation and appropriate use of educational measurement approaches and test design and it is not intended for individuals interested in a statistics-based methods course. For questions, please contact Ed Silver at easilver@umich.edu. |
Selected Publications
"Disrupting White Supremacy in Assessment: Toward a Justice-Oriented, Anti-Racist Validity Framework."
Randall, J., Slomp, D., Poe, M., & Oliveri, M. (2022). Disrupting White Supremacy in Assessment: Toward a Justice-Oriented, Anti-Racist Validity Framework. Educational Assessment, 27(2), 170-178.
"“Color-Neutral” is Not a Thing: Redefining Construct Definition and Representation Through a Justice-Oriented Critical Antiracist Lens."
Randall, J. (2021). “Color-Neutral” is Not a Thing: Redefining Construct Definition and Representation Through a Justice-Oriented Critical Antiracist Lens. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 40(4), 82-90.
"Graduate Training in Educational Measurement and Psychometrics: A Curriculum Review of Graduate Programs in the U.S."
Randall, J., Rios, J., & Jung, H. (2021). Graduate Training in Educational Measurement and Psychometrics: A Curriculum Review of Graduate Programs in the U.S. Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, Vol.26, Article 2.
"Ain’t ought to be in the dictionary: Getting to justice by dismantling anti-Black literacy assessment practices."
Randall, J., Poe, M., & Slomp (2021). Ain’t ought to be in the dictionary: Getting to justice by dismantling anti-Black literacy assessment practices. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 64(5), 594-599.
"A Longitudinal analysis of doctoral graduate supply in the educational measurement field."
Randall, J., Rios, J., Jung, H. (2021). A Longitudinal analysis of doctoral graduate supply in the educational measurement field. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 40(1), 59-68.