Margaret Jacks Professor of Education
Professor of Psychology (by courtesy)
Affiliated Faculty, Stanford Institute for the Environment
Assessment of learning in higher education (including the Collegiate Learning Assessment); accountability in higher education; higher education policy.
His current work focuses on the design of assessments and assessment systems that measure college students learning, both their development of competence/ achievement and so-called “soft-skills” such as perspective taking. He co-created the Collegiate Learning Assessment with Steve Klein and built statistical models for estimating value added for the CLA and other college-level assessments. This work is summarized in Measuring College Student Learning: Accountability in a New Era (2010, Stanford University Press) and in recent papers on the measurement and statistical modeling of competence.
"Achievement scores fit the American belief in a single dimension of ability that distinguishes winners from losers . . . [but] over-measurement in K-12 education has sent the wrong signals to teachers and students . . . [and] the tests work against what many people value as education, which is far broader than what is currently measured and rewarded or punished."
Since 1995
I James Quillan Dean, School of Education (1995 - 2000)
Professor, School of Education (1995 - )
Professor (by courtesy), Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Sciences (1995 - )
Fellow and/or Affiliated Faculty, Woods Institute for the Environment (2004 - )
Assistant Professor of Education, UCLA (1973-1975)
Associate Professor of Education, UCLA (1975-1979); Professor of Education, UCLA (1979-1987)
Dean, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara (1987-1993)
Professor of Education, UCSB (1987-1996) with an affiliated appointment in Statistics and Applied Probability (1993-1996)
Shavelson, R.J. (2010). Measuring college learning responsibly: Accountability in a new era. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Yuan, K., Shavelson, R., Alonzo, A., & Steedle, J. (2008). Strengthening mental muscles. Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag.
Shavelson, R.J. (2007). A brief history of student learning: How we got where we are and a proposal for where to go next. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities’ The Academy in Transition.
Schneider, B., Carnoy, M., Kilpartick, J., Schmidt, W.H., & Shavelson, R.J. (2007). Estimating causal effects: Using experimental and observational designs. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.
Shavelson, R.J., Klein, S., & Benjamin, R. (2009 October 16). The limitations of portfolios. Inside Higher Education. http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/16/shavelson
Shavelson, R.J. (2009). Lee J. Cronbach 1916-2001: A biographical memoir. Biographical Memoirs, volume XX. Washington, DC: National Academy Press
Steedle, J.T., & Shavelson, R.J. (2009). Supporting Valid Interpretations of Learning Progression Level Diagnoses. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(6), 699-715.
Camargo, C., & Shavelson, R. (2009) Direct measures in environmental education evaluation: Behavioral intentions versus observable actions. Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 8, 1–9.
Shavelson, R.J., & Webb, N.M. (2009). Generalizability theory and its contribution to the discussion of the generalizability of research findings. In K. Ercikan & W-M Roth (Eds.), Generalizing from educational research: Beyond qualitative and quantitative polarization. New York: Routledge, PP. 13-32.
Shavelson, R.J. (2008). Reflections on quantitative reasoning: An assessment perspective. In B.L. Madison & L.A. Steen (Eds.), Calculation vs. context: Quantitative literacy and its implications for teacher education. Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America.
Shavelson, R.J. (2008b) The Collegiate Learning Assessment. Forum for the Future of Higher Education: Ford Policy Forum, pp. 18-24.Cambridge, MA.
Shavelson, R.J. (2008c). The Spellings Commission report on the Collegiate Learning Assessment. Forum for the future of higher education., pp. 35-38. Cambridge, MA.
Srinivasan, M., McElvany, M., Shay, J.M., Shavelson, R.J., & West, D.C. (2008). Measuring Knowledge Structure: Reliability of Concept Mapping Assessment in Medical Education. Academic Medicine, 83(12), 1196-1203..
Klein, S., Freedman, D., Shavelson, R., & Bolus, R. (2008). Assessing school effectiveness. Evaluation Review, 32, 511-525.
Borko, H., Roberts, S.A., & Shavelson, R.J. (2008). Teachers’ decision making: from Alan J. Bishop to today. In P. Clarkson & N. Presmeg (Eds,), Critical issues in mathematics education: Major contributions of Alan Bishop. NY: Springer
Yin, Y., & Shavelson, R.J. (2008). Application of Generalizability Theory to Concept Map Assessment Research. Applied Measurement in Education. 21(3), 273 - 291
Board Member, The Spencer Foundation
Board Member, BSCS (formerly Biological Sciences Curriculum Study)
Education Advisory Council (Chair), NatureBridge