Association of Test Publishers Recognizes Measured Progress CEO Stuart Kahl

The award honors individuals who have made a positive impact on the testing industry through professional contributions and service. It recognizes professionals who have improved the applications of testing, influenced professional standards and practices, increased public understanding of testing, or have made other relevant contributions to the industry and profession. Nominees must have formal present or past affiliations with one or more ATP organizational members (e.g., employee, consultant, officer). Measured Progress Chief Operating Officer and ATP Board Member Lisa Ehrlich, Ph.D., nominated Dr. Kahl, with the support of W. James Popham, Ph.D., professor emeritus, UCLA; and Dale Carlson, Ph.D., of NAEP-Westat Corporation.

In his letter of support Dr. Popham said, “I have spent many years interacting with members of the measurement community, and finding individuals who possess not only technical psychometric qualifications, but also have adequate instructional acumen, is rare indeed. Stuart Kahl is such a person. He is a credit to the assessment field; he is an effective spokesperson for test publishers; and he is an absolutely outstanding educator.”

Dr. Kahl has been a leader in the field of large-scale educational assessment for more than 30 years. He began working on test development for the Education Commission of the States in the mid 1970s. From 1982 to the present, he has focused primarily on statewide accountability assessments, initially at RMC Research, but primarily at Measured Progress (formerly Advanced Systems in Measurement and Evaluation), which he co-founded in 1983.

Through his oversight of Measured Progress’s assessment contracts over the years, Dr. Kahl has been directly responsible for the design and implementation of several innovative programs. In addition, he was directly involved in the development of policy-level definitions, which led to performance-level definitions, as well as a standard-setting method called the Body of Work Method, used in several states today. Dr. Kahl was also instrumental in the design and implementation of performance and/or portfolio assessments administered in four states.

Dr. Kahl served as executive vice president of Advanced Systems during its first 14 years. He assumed the roles of president and CEO in January of 1998. Under his leadership, the company’s staff has grown by a factor of four and its business volume by a factor of six. The company currently holds contracts in 20 states and employs approximately 430 regular staff and more than 5,000 seasonal staff annually at its permanent facilities in four states.

Throughout his career, Dr. Kahl has been a frequent speaker, addressing design and operational issues in assessment, with an eye on practicality and impact. Topics have also included scoring techniques and issues; standard setting; the relationship between content standards, test design, and reporting categories; equating; quality control; alternate assessments for students with moderate to severe learning disabilities; assessment literacy; universal design for assessment; formative assessment; and assessment of 21^st century skills.

Dr. Kahl has advised various education and government agencies on a variety of assessment matters.  He was a reviewer of the Code of Fair Testing Practices, making revisions that broadened the document to address customized, large-scale assessments, rather than just off-the-shelf products. He provided testimony on data quality at a hearing of the No Child Left Behind Commission, and participated with fellow testing industry leaders in meetings with education secretaries Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings.

More recently, as a representative of the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, he met with President Obama’s transition team and the Core Knowledge Group.

In her nomination, Dr. Ehrlich said that Dr. Kahl has been steadfast in preserving the highest level of ethics in the development and application of assessment.

“Equally as important, Dr. Kahl is viewed within the testing community, by colleagues and competitors alike, as a thoughtful leader and as the ‘conscience of the industry,’” said Dr. Ehrlich.  “He is outspoken on testing and accountability issues, as well as questionable practices within the industry. His written commentaries and presentations consistently reveal his commitment to the betterment of teaching and learning.”