Executive Vice President, Test, Measurement, and Research Services
Dr. Twing brings over 20 years of assessment experience to overseeing the performance of all test development and psychometric activities at Pearson. In his current role as Executive Vice President at Pearson, Dr. Twing provides senior leadership on growth strategy, publishing strategy, and business development; leads and guides business strategy, focusing on development, marketing, and validity/measurement rigor of potential products and services; is responsible for several fulfillment groups including Content Support Services, Research Services, and Psychometric Services. He provides oversight for an organization of over 400 content specialists, editors, assessment consultants, statistical analysts, and research scientists (many with advanced degrees) and is responsible for all content development and psychometric functions (e.g., scaling, equating, DIF analyses and legal defensibility) for state assessment programs and benchmark assessments.
Dr. Twing has made numerous presentations to education agencies and officials regarding all aspects of test development and measurement best practice, as well as statistical research and evaluation (including computerized testing and the migration of currently implemented paper and pencil tests to a computerized testing environment, legal defensibility, scaling and equating, validity, reliability, generalizability, and other research). His presentations have been for such diverse audiences as the American Educational Research Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers meeting on Large Scale Assessment and the Annual Texas Assessment Conference. Dr. Twing provides leadership and guidance for Pearson business strategy and is a member of the Assessments and Testing leadership team, providing guidance and direction for its overall growth strategy, publishing strategy, and business development.
Dr. Twing earned his Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Statistics from the University of Iowa.
Senior Vice President, Psychometric and Research Services
Dr. Way provides leadership for content and psychometric research studies and product development activities for Pearson’s Test, Measurement and Research Services. He oversees all psychometric functions (e.g. scaling, equating, DIF analyses) for state assessment programs and research conducted within the Test and Measurement Services division. He supervises a staff of over 90 psychometricians, researchers, and data analysts. Dr. Way also provides research consultation and coordination for selected Pearson programs and projects.
Prior to joining Pearson, Dr. Way spent 16 years with Educational Testing Service in a variety of technical and management roles. He has directed research and operational psychometrics for testing programs in higher education admissions, licensure and certification, and statewide K-12 assessment. Dr. Way is widely known for his work in a broad spectrum of large-scale assessment and accountability issues and represents Pearson on several National and State Technical Advisory Committees. In 2008 he was appointed to the joint committee revising the 1999 AERA, APA, NCME Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. His research interests include equating and scaling, computer-based testing, and applications of technology to large-scale assessment. He has published on a variety of issues in Educational Measurement: Issues and Practices, Applied Psychological Measurement, and Applied Measurement in Education.
Dr. Way holds a M.S. in Psychology from the University of Bridgeport and a Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Applied Statistics from the University of Iowa.
Vice President, Psychometric and Research Services
Dr. Kirkpatrick oversees all San Antonio-based psychometricians and statistical analysts. He is responsible for delivery of full-range psychometric support on custom state assessment contracts and Pearson-owned catalog projects. He also serves on several company-wide process initiatives, develops and implements quality processes for the delivery of psychometric services, and coordinates doctoral-level staff in delivery of these services. Dr. Kirkpatrick has 8 years of practical experience conducting all aspects of psychometric work in state testing programs such as Minnesota and Florida. He has expertise in designing and implementing robust equating studies and designing tests that make use of innovative computer-based items.
Prior to joining Pearson in 2001, Dr. Kirkpatrick spent five years as a research assistant at the University of Iowa. In this capacity, he served as a teaching assistant for an introductory statistics course, conducted statistical and qualitative research primarily on the Constructed Response Supplement to the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), and was responsible for item writing for the ITBS at primary grade levels. His other classroom experience includes serving as an adjunct instructor in Tests and Measurement at Mount Mercy College, and as a classroom volunteer at Johnson Elementary, both in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Dr. Kirkpatrick earned his B.A. in Psychology from Mount Mercy College, an A.S. from the Community College of the Air Force in Chapel Administration, and an A.G.S. from Central Texas College. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Educational Measurement and Statistics from the University of Iowa.
Vice President, Psychometrics and Special Projects for the Texas Assessment Program
Dr. O’Malley brings over 10 years of assessment experience to her current position. In her role, she provides oversight and direction for Pearson’s psychometric services groups in Austin, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma. She also leads high-profile psychometric projects requested by the Texas customer.
Prior to joining Pearson in 2003 as a psychometrician, Dr. O’Malley was director of the Measurement Excellence Initiative, which provided psychometric analysis and consultation services for various constituents of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Department of Medicine. She was also assistant professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.. She served as the principal investigator of two psychometric projects and as lead methodologist for five additional projects. She interfaced with physicians, technicians, nurses, clerks, administrators, and other medical staff in the course of supporting the analysis of medical data and development of psychological assessments for the medical field.
Dr. O’Malley has held previous positions as an assistant professor, K–12 educator, statistician, researcher, and research assistant. She taught for 8 years in the elementary and middle school grades with experience in general and special education settings. Her experiences in assessment include item development, test-form development, methods for measuring student growth, scaling and equating analyses, statistical research, educational research, medical research, manuscript publication, and conference presentations.
Dr. O’Malley’s education includes a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology/Measurement and Statistics from the University of Houston. She has a M.S. in Educational Administration, a B.S. in Mathematics, and a B.S. in Education from the University of Houston.
Vice President, Business Management, Test, Measurement and Research Services
Ms. Squires manages the day-to-day operations of the Content Support Services (CSS) team and overall financial and business management of the Test, Measurement, and Research Services (TMRS) group of Pearson. She brings over 20 years of business and management experience to the team. She is responsible for the continued growth of the TMRS organization, budget, organizational structure, staffing levels and recruiting, and the development of business processes across Content Support Services. Ms. Squires’ mission is to develop and mature the CSS organization into the leading provider of K–12 assessment content.
Ms. Squires joined Pearson in 1999 as Director of Information Technology Services, Assessment & Information, after 12 years with Monsanto in a variety of Information Technology positions. Ms. Squires has taken graduate courses in the Educational Measurement and Statistics program at the University of Iowa. She holds an MBA from the Olin School of Business Executive Program at Washington University, which included Asia-Pacific Business Studies and International Business and Economics Program, as well as a B.S. in computer science from Missouri University of Science and Technology.