RESTON, Va. (April 22, 2024) – The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association of leading graduate business schools, celebrated its award-winning psychometrics team for another prestigious industry recognition. The National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), a professional organization for measurement scientists and practitioners, recently presented the winners of its 2024 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement. GMAC’s psychometrics team, led by Dr. Chris Han, was this year’s recipient for their work in developing the next generation computerized adaptive test (CAT) design for the GMAT exam. The revamped Focus edition of the GMAT exam, which was rolled out last year, has been well received around the world by test takers and business schools alike.
The new and improved GMAT was brought to the market after years of foundational research with business school professionals representing a wide mix of geographies, program types, and sizes as well as in-depth concept testing with nearly 5,400 candidates globally through large-scale surveys and focus group studies. The results informed the GMAC psychometrics team of important findings on test taking experiences and led to major redesigns introduced in the revamped edition, including a shorter exam to reduce preparation time and testing anxiety, increased test security, more user-friend CAT administration, and faster delivery of the diagnostic score report to quickly inform test takers on their strengths and areas of improvement, all without sacrificing test reliability and accuracy.
“As the official administrator of the GMAT exam, GMAC continues to work closely with academic and professional leaders to ensure that the exam remains the best test option for people who are interested in pursuing high-quality graduate business education globally. Most importantly, we strive to serve future students with an instrument that can best help them find the right-fit programs and springboard their career trajectory,” said Joy Jones, CEO of GMAC. “With that in mind, our psychometricians really did outstanding work with the latest generation of adaptive test design. I’m honored to work alongside such a talented and innovative team.”
Dr. Han along with his colleagues and fellow honorees, Drs. Sung-Hyuck Lee, Jamie Malatesta, Yan Fu, Paulius Satkus, Hwanggyu Lim, and Edison Choe have contributed to the field of educational measurement with more than 20 peer-reviewed journalistic publications and over 50 presentations at conferences on the extensive research behind the new design of the GMAT exam.
“The team has not only introduced groundbreaking innovations but also subjected these ideas to extensive scrutiny of the measurement community,” said Dr. Han. “Our approach is intended to underscore the project's scientific rigor and to establish an industry standard for future R&D projects in the field.”
"I believe that their GMAT Focus development project sets a new standard for testing not only in terms of test administration but also in the way test results are reported and thus represents the type of measurement achievement this award was intended to honor,” said Dr. Terry A. Ackerman, professor in the department of psychological and quantitative foundations at University of Iowa, in his recommendation of the team for the consideration of the NCME’s award committee.
About GMAC
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is a mission-driven association of leading graduate business schools worldwide. GMAC provides world-class research, industry conferences, recruiting tools, and assessments for the graduate management education industry as well as resources, events, and services that help guide candidates through their higher education journey. Owned and administered by GMAC, the Graduate Management Admission Test™ (GMAT™) exam is the most widely used graduate business school assessment.
More than 12 million prospective students a year trust GMAC’s platforms, including mba.com, GMAC Tours, and BusinessBecause, to learn about MBA and business master’s programs, connect with schools around the world, prepare and register for exams, and get advice on how to successfully achieve their business education and career goals. GMAC is a global organization with offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
To learn more about our work, please visit www.gmac.com
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