Most students in the Assessment and Measurement Doctoral program have assistantships through the Center for Assessment and Research Studies (CARS). Through these assistantships, students gain valuable real-world experience in various aspects of assessment design and measurement techniques.
Please take time to review student testimonials
Joint MA/PhD Program
First Year
Dakota Galangue (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Sara Finney
Education: University of Delaware, B.A. Psychology, Statistical Data Analytics and Cognitive Science minors, 2026
Research Interests: Student Engagement and Motivation in Test-Taking, Psychometrics, Response Time Analysis
Emma Puckett (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Sara Finney
Education: B.A. in Psychology, Minor in Statistics, James Madison University
Research Interests: Assessment Efficacy, Motivation in Low-Stakes Assessment, Structural Equation Modeling, Social Normativity Applications in Low-Stakes Assessment
Timothy Rosignol (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Megan Good
Education: B.A. Sociology, University of Southern Indiana (USI); B.A. World Languages & Culture, German Concentration, USI
Research Interests: Higher Education Program Evaluation, Critical Thinking Assessment, and Undergraduate Learning Outcomes
Ella White (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Dena Pastor
Education: Undergraduate degree: Christopher Newport University, B.S. Psychology, 2025
Research Interests: Social Norms in Low-Stakes Testing, Assessment in Higher Education
PhD Program
First Year
Hunter Castleton (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Christine Demars
Education: Undergraduate degree: Southern Utah University, B.S. Psychology, 2024; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences – Quantitative Concentration, 2026
Research Interests: Scale Development, Psychometrics, Psychology Research Methodology
Bowen Guo (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Yu Bao
Education: Undergraduate degree: Hebei Normal University, B.Eng. in Computer Science and Technology, 2019; Graduate degree: The University of Queensland, M.Eng. in Software Engineering, 2025
Research Interests: The Practice and Application of AI in Assessment, AI-Enhanced Assessment
Caitlyn Hewitt (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Dena Pastor
Education: Undergraduate degree: James Madison University, B.S. Psychology, 2024; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences - Applied Concentration, 2026
Research Interests: Performance, Motivation, and Normative Behavior in Low-Stakes Testing Environments; Mixed Methodology
Gertrude Osei (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. John Hathcoat
Education: Undergraduate degree: University of Cape Coast, B.S. Actuarial Science, 2020; Graduate degree: University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, M.S. Mathematics – Applied Statistics, 2023; Indiana University Indianapolis, M.S. Biostatistics, 2025
Research Interests: Psychometrics, Educational Assessment and Measurement, Statistical Computing, and Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Educational Assessment
Jada Willse (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Brian C. Leventhal
Education: Undergraduate degree: The University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill, B.S. Statistics, 2024; B.A. Psychology, 2024; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences – Quantitative Concentration, 2026
Research Interests: Equity in Analysis, Innovative Measurement Techniques, Educating teachers and students about assessment and measurement
Xiaonan Zhang (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Christine DeMars
Education: Undergraduate degree: Beijing WuZi University, B.S. Statistics and Economics, 2016; Graduate degree: American University, M.S. Statistics, 2018
Research Interests: Technical and Practical Issues in Large-Scale Testing, K-12 Educational Measurement
Second Year
Ziena Baker (she/they/them)
Advisor: Dr. John Hathcoat
Education: Undergraduate degree: University of North Florida, B.S. Psychology, 2021; Graduate degree: University of North Florida, M.S. Psychological Science, 2025
Research Interests: Equity and Inclusion, Mixed Methods, Positive Organizational Scholarship, Career Readiness
Jon Henriques (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Brian Leventhal
Education: Undergraduate degree: James Madison University, B.S. Psychology and Math, Honors Minor, 2023; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences – Quantitative Concentration, 2025
Research Interests: AI in Assessment, Standard Setting, Latent Growth Curve Models, Low Motivation in Testing, Cognitive Assessments
Juste Mehou (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Brian Leventhal
Education: Undergraduate degree: University of Parakou, Benin, B.A. Applied Statistics, 2019; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences – Quantitative Concentration, 2025
Research Interests: Computer Adaptive Testing, IRtree Models, Machine Learning Application in Education
Suyu Wang (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Yu Bao
Education: Undergraduate degree: University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, B.S. in Computer Science, 2021; Graduate degree: Shanghai Normal University, M.A. in Adult Education, 2025
Research Interests: Diagnostic Cognitive Modeling, Test Development
Third Year
Riley Herr (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Sara Finney
Education: Undergraduate degree: James Madison University, B.S. Psychology, 2022; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences – Quantitative Concentration, 2024
Research Interests: Predicting Student Success in Higher Education, Test-Taking Motivation in Low-Stakes Testing Contexts, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
Laila Issayeva (She/Her/Hers)
Advisor: Dr. Christine E. DeMars
Education: Undergraduate degree: Aktobe State University, Aktobe, Kazakhstan, B.Ed. Mathematics and Computer Science, 2007; Graduate degree: Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan, M.Sc. Educational Leadership, 2017.
Research Interests: Item and Test Development, Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT), Educational Measurement and Improvement
Mason Jones (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Megan Good
Education: Undergraduate degree: James Madison University, B.S. Psychology, 2022; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences - Quantitative Concentration, 2024
Research Interests: Student Success,Equity in Student Success, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
Kaijie Liu (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. John Hathcoat
Education: Undergraduate degree: South China University of Technology, BEc Economics, 2010; Graduate degree: University of Konstanz, M.Sc. Economics, 2019; University of Virginia, M.Ed. Quantitative Analytics in Education & Social Sciences, 2023
Research Interests: Large Scale Assessment Data Analysis, AI Application in Assessment Practices, Learning Improvement
Fourth Year
Josiah Hunsberger (he/him/his)
Advisor: Dr. Brian Leventhal
Education: Undergraduate degree: Liberty University, B.S. Psychology (Counseling Concentration), 2020; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences- Quantitative, 2023
Research Interests: Item Response Theory (IRT), NLP Item Clustering, Differential Item Functioning (DIF)
Autumn Wild (she/her/hers)
Advisor: Dr. Brian Leventhal
Education: Undergraduate Degree: James Madison University, B.S. Psychology, 2019; Graduate degree: James Madison University, M.A. Psychological Sciences- Applied, 2023
Research Interests: Intersectional Differential Item Functioning
