Dr. Jinyan Huang (Ph.D.) is Jinshan Distinguished Professor and a Ph.D. faculty member at Jiangsu University in China. He earned his Ph.D. in cognitive studies (with a concentration in measurement, assessment, and research methods) in 2007 from Queen’s University at Kingston in Canada. He obtained his M.A. in TESOL in 2000 from Brigham Young University in Utah, the United States. He received his B.A. in English language education in 1989 from Hunan Normal University in China. Before he joined Jiangsu University, he had worked as a full-time tenured full professor and Ph.D. faculty member at Niagara University in the States and at Hunan University in China. He has high level of expertise in program development and evaluation. In 2009, he was selected as a TESOL/NCATE national program reviewer responsible for reviewing TESOL programs as part of the NCATE national recognition process in the States. In 2011, he was selected as a member on the Board of Program Reviewers of NCATE, responsible for leading the TESOL/NCATE national program review. Dr. Huang is a famous scholar and leading research methodologist in his fields. He is innovative in research paradigms and methods by advocating interdisciplinary research and employing scientific methods. He has very strong interdisciplinary knowledge of assessment and measurement, advanced quantitative research methods, ESL/EFL education, technology, and cognition. His research expertise includes multivariate statistical methods, classical test theory, generalizability theory, item response theory, cognitive diagnosis theory, structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, and geographic information system and data visualization. Dr. Huang’s record of scholarship is outstanding. He has published 24 books, six book chapters, and 78 refereed journals. His journal articles appeared in many SSCI journals such as Assessing Writing, Language Assessment Quarterly, Studies in Educational Evaluation, Modern Language Journal, and Frontiers in Psychology.
Advisory Board Members
Dr. Alan Cheung is the department chairperson and professor at the Department of Educational Administration & Policy, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining the department, Dr. Cheung was a faculty member in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently serving as a Professor (Courtesy) at Johns Hopkins University and a Distinguished Chair Professor at Nanjing Normal University. His research areas include evidence-based reform, bilingual education and educational technology. He has been involved in many large-scale randomized experiments and studies on these topics and is the author or co-author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and technical reports. His journal articles have appeared in top academic journals such as Review of Educational Research, Educational Research Review, Journal of Educational Psychology, American Educational Research Journal, and Reading Research Quarterly.
Dr. Thomas Sheeran is a professor and senior member of the faculty in the College of Education at Niagara University. The author of over fifty articles, book chapters and monographs, Dr. Sheeran has presented over one hundred papers and workshops at conferences and colleges across the United States, Canada and internationally. He earned his bachelor’s degree and first master’s degree from Ithaca College. He subsequently earned a second master’s degree in educational administration from Niagara University, a certificate of advanced studies in educational administration from Niagara and a doctorate in education from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Dr. Xiangbo Wang serves as Executive President and Chief of Psychometrics of ATA, Inc. from mid-2021 to the present. While being responsible for the construction of formative and diagnostic assessment systems, Dr. Wang is also in charge of the R&D of product systems designed to diagnose and improve English abilities for high school and college students in China. From early 2017 to late 2020, Dr. Wang was also Senior President of Talkweb, Inc. and Executive President of Sea,Sky and Land, Inc., General Manager of SSL Testing and Measurement Company, and Dean of SSL Educational Testing and Assessment Institute. In aforementioned positions, Dr. Wang was responsible for the R&D, innovations and operations of educational testing and assessment. Between 2009 and 2016, Dr. Wang was Vice President and Special Technical Advisor to the President of the College Board, responsible for creating and expanding AP and SAT business lines in China. Between 2007 and 2009, Dr. Wang served as Vice President of Computer Adaptive Testing and Chief Architect of Assessment System Reengineering.
In addition to the above leadership positions, Dr. Wang also worked as Senior Research Scientist of the Law School Admission Council (LSAC); Senior Psychometrician of Educational Testing Service; Director of Statistical Analysis of Chauncey Group International; and Principal Research Scientist and Psychometrician of the College Board.
The international assessment products and systems that have been directly supervised by Dr. Wang include the LSAT launched in 1994; the computer adaptive testing (CAT) TOEFL in 2002; the CAT Accuplacer in 2003; the SAT in 2003 and GMAT in 2007. He has published and presented over 80 research papers and reports.
Dr. John Spiridakis currently serves as Chair of the Department of Education Specialties and is Professor, Graduate Programs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Bilingual Education, in The School of Education, St. John’s University. He also is an attorney practicing in New York. Dr. Spiridakis received a B.A. from The State University of New York at Stony Brook, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from The Florida State University and a J.D. from Benjamin Cardozo School of Law. Dr. Spiridakis has numerous publications and has lectured at international and national conferences in the field of advocacy and effective education practices for all students and families.
Since 1978, Dr. Spiridakis has led Graduate Education Programs, including Distance Learning and Global Study Programs and has secured millions of dollars of national and state research and development grants to improve the literacy and academic achievement of newcomers and heritage language students in New York, including learning disabled and gifted students. His numerous scholarships have helped educators, included Greek teachers, to advance their careers and competence to help all students achieve biliteracy. He was the USA director of the European Union funded global project based in Greece and New York to research and improve Greek language education.
Dr. Spiridakis, as an educator and attorney, has advocated for properservices for all students and families. His community service has included membership on the NY State Commissioner’s Advisory Council on Bilingual Education, the NYC School Board, Community District 30, Queens, and an education committee for the Greek Archdiocese of North and South America. He currently serves as a consultant scholar for the European Union and Greek Ministry of Education’s Accreditation agency for evaluating Greek Universities and Education Departments.
Dr. Patrick Whipple is currently the Director of Professional Learning Services for Genesee Valley BOCES in upstate New York, and he brings over twenty years of public education experience to the Advisory Board of the Research Center. Dr. Whipple earned his doctorate in Leadership and Policy from Niagara University – the second degree from the university after previously completing his teaching credentials there. A common theme throughout Dr. Whipple’s professional career hasbeen a focus on high-leverage teaching and assessment practices as a means for mitigating the variability in the quality of education all students receive in public education. Throughout his career, Dr. Whipple has been committed to improving the rural schooling experience for all stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, and administrators – as they navigate systems that lack access to social resources (i.e., physical and mental healthcare, wrap-around services, tutoring). Dr. Whipple’s research interests are: classroom and standardized assessment, evaluation, teaching and learning, and writing.
Dr. Shulin Yu is Associate Professor at Faculty of Education, University of Macau. His research interests include second language writing, and classroom feedback and assessment in higher education. His publications have appeared in Educational Research Review, Assessing Writing, Journal of Second Language Writing, Language Teaching Research, Language Teaching, and TESOL Quarterly, and many of his publications have examined various issues with regard to peer assessment and feedback in writing classrooms. He is listed among the top 2% of scientists in a global ranking released by the Stanford University. The ranking identifies the top 2% among seven million scientists by citations, H-index and HM-index of 2020 and over one’s careers. He is currently Associate Editor, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher (SSCI-Q2), and Guest Editor of Special Issues for Assessing Writing (SSCI-Q1). He is also on the Editorial Board of Journal of Second Language Writing (SSCI-Q1), and Assessing Writing(SSCI-Q1).
ERCEA Members
Dr. Jiajia Wang is a professor and dean of School of Teacher Education at Jiangsu University. He earned his Ph.D. from East China Normal University. He was a visiting scholar in University of California at Berkeley from 2013 to 2014. His research areas center on philosophy of education, sociology of education, educational policy, and teacher education. He is the author of over 40 top journal articles and more than ten scholarly books.
Dr. Cui Kang is an associate professor of educational technology at School of Teacher Education of Jiangsu University. She earned her Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University. She currently serves as the chairperson at the Department of Educational Technology. His research areas center on Instructional Design, K-12 Information Technology Education,and Educational Assessment. She has published more than 20 journal articles and six books. She has completed over 10 research projects as a principal investigator and co-researcher.
Dr. Zilong Yin is an associate professor at School of Teacher Education of Jiangsu University. He earned his Ph.D. from Chungnam National University in Korea. His research areas include Vocational education and comparative education. He has published nearly 30 research articles in various journals. He was the International Director of Korean Institute of Industrial Education and researcher of Industrial Education Research Institute of Chungnam National University in Korea. He serves as an editorial board member of Journal of Asian Vocational Education and Training.
Dr. Shuo Zhao is an associate professor at School of Teacher Education of Jiangsu University. He earned his Ph.D. from Hiroshima University in Japan and studied there as a postdoctoral researcher. His research areas include family education, preschool education, and educational assessment and evaluation. He has published several research articles in national and international journals. He is currently working on three provincial research projects as a principal investigator.
Dr. Meng Shi is a lecturer at School of Teacher Education of Jiangsu University. She earned her Doctor of Education degree from Minzu University of China. Her research areas are ethnic education and educational measurement and evaluation. She has published several journal articles and co-authored one book. She is currently working on three university-level and provincial research projects as a principal investigator.
Chengcheng Huang is a lecturer and deputy director of Institute of Higher Education at Jiangsu University. Her research areas focus on the evaluation of higher education teaching and higher education theory. In recent years, she has presided over three provincial research projects and participated in more than ten provincial research projects. She has published one scholarly book.
Dr. Lihuan Zhang is a lecturer at the School of Teacher Education of Jiangsu University. She earned her Ph.D. in psychology from Beijing Normal University. Her research areas center on the development of assessment tools for the quality of education, the assessment of reading ability as well as the neural mechanism of dyslexia. She has published three articles in international journals. She has also completed three national and provincial research projects as a research team member.
Postdoctoral Researchers under Dr. Huang’s Guidance
Dr. Shahbaz Hussain is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the ERCEA. He earned his Ph.D. in management sciences and engineering from Dalian University of Technology in China. He received his Master’s degree in management sciences with distinction from the University of Education Lahore in Pakistan. His research interests include consumer behavior, consumer psychology, educational marketing and CRM. He has published several research articles in international, peer-reviewed, and SSCI journals. He has also presented his research work in world-class conferences such as the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS).
Graduate Students under Dr. Huang’s Supervision
Tiantian Shu is a Master’s student of Class 2020, majoring in educational assessment and research methodology. She has published two articles in international journals and won the title of “Outstanding Graduate Student” at School of Teacher Education, Jiangsu University.
Danni Zhu is a Master’s student of Class 2020, majoring in English education. She took courses in educational assessment and research methods; and learned several research methods such as univariate statistics and generalizability theory.
Ruonan Li is a part-time Master’s student of Class 2020, majoring in English education.She is currently a high school English teacher in Yunan Province.Her research interest is peer assessment in Chinese EFL writing classrooms.
Xinyi Jiang is a part-time Master’s student of Class 2020, majoring in English education.She is currently a primary school English teacher in Jiangsu Province.Her research interest is middle school English teachers’ assessment knowledge base.
Yaxin Dong is a Master’s student of Class 2021, majoring in educational assessment and research methodology. She received her undergraduate degree in accounting from Beijing Forestry University in 2018. Her research interests include peer assessment, item response theory, and cognitive diagnostic assessment.
Yunyun Kang is a Master’s student of Class 2021, majoring in English education. She is interested in English assessment and evaluation in an EFL context.
Luyao Gao is a Master’s student of Class 2021, majoring in English education. She feels honored to be a member of this team. Her motto is: Whatever you want to do, just do it without regret.
Yan Feng is a Master’s student of Class 2021, majoring in English education. Her interest centers on English assessment in Chinese K-12 schools.
Fang Liu is a Master’s student of Class 2021, majoring in English education.She feels honored to be a member of this team. Her research areas are English language assessment and large-scale standardized testing.
Yuehan Wang is a Master’s student of Class 2022, majoring in educational assessment and research methodology. His research interests include learning analysis technology in the era of artificial intelligence, and cognitive diagnosis assessment of mathematics in the secondary schools.
Ying Liu is a Master’s student of Class 2022, majoring in educational assessment and research methodology. She received her undergraduate degree in education from Qufu Normal University in 2022. Her research interests include item response theory, cognitive diagnosis assessment, structural equation modeling, and hierarchical linear modeling.
