My research is focused on four major areas: the professional preparation of teachers in the area of assessment, classroom assessment issues, issues in large scale assessment, and validity issues in testing. I consider the classroom as the central and most important location of assessment decisions and have conducted research on instructional models for preparing pre-service teachers. Future work in classroom assessment will be related to standards-based grading practices and the development and validation of diagnostic assessments of higher order reading and mathematics skills. My validity research on large scale testing has focused on potential sources of bias in testing based on item type (constructed -response versus multiple-choice test items) .
The ultimate goal of my research is to challenge assumptions and raise questions - both in the measurement community and in the schools - about the influence of assessment on students and about the validity of assessment interpretations made about students. I am currently engaged in research that investigates evidence for the validity of different methods of scoring performance-based assessments in mathematics, reading, and writing.
An overview of some of my recent research was presented at the University of Washington in 2006. The following PowerPoint presentations are from these presentations.
(each links to complete PowerPoint files of the presentation slides):
Can Large-Scale Tests Be Fair to All Students?: Research on Bias Issues for WASL.
University of Washington Policymakers Exchange Forum, November 2, 2006.
WASL History and Early Research: Everything You Needed to Know About WASL But Didn't Think to Ask.
Educational Psychology Colloquium, College of Education, December 1, 2006.
Classroom-Based Assessments as Alternatives to Large-Scale Tests.
Educational Psychology Colloquium, College of Education, December 11, 2006
Education
Ph.D., Kansas, 1986
Sample Publications
Books
Taylor, C. S., & Nolen, S. B. (2008). Classroom Assessment: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Real Classrooms, 2nd Edition. Columbus, OH: Merrill-Prentice Hall.
Book Chapters
Taylor, C. S., & Nolen, S. B. (in press). Classroom assessment and diversity. In James Banks (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education,. NY: Sage Publications.
Nolen, S. B. & Taylor, C. S. (in press). Alternative assessment. In James Banks (Ed), Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education. NY: Sage Publications.
Taylor, C. S. (2002). Incorporating classroom-based assessments into large-scale assessment programs. In T. Haladyna & G. Tindall (Eds.) Large-scale assessment programs for all students: Development, implementation, and analysis. Mahwah: NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Refereed Journal Publications
Taylor, C.S. & Lee, Y. (in press). Gender DIF in Tests with Mixed Item Formats. Applied Measurement in Education
Taylor, C.S. & Lee, Y. (2011). Ethnic DIF and DBF in Reading Tests with Mixed Item Formats. Educational Assessment, 16, 1-34.
Taylor, C. S. & Lee, Y. (2010). Stability of Rasch scales over time. Applied Measurement in Education, 23, 87–113.
Bartosh, O., Tudor, M., Fergeson, L., & Taylor, C.S. (2009). Impact of environment-based teaching on student achievement: A study of Washington State middle schools. Middle Grades Research Journal, 4, 1-16.
Bartosh, O., Tudor, M., Ferguson, L., and Taylor, C. (2006). Improving test scores through environmental education: Is it possible? Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 5, 161-169.