Introduction to the Special Section “Lingering Impact of COVID‐19 on Educational Measurement”

Abstract

It was April of 2021. My son, Timothy, and I drove to a nearby city for him to take a college admission test. The test center closest to our home had quickly filled up due to reduced capacity (for social distancing) and increased demand. Securing a seat at a testing center half an hour away seemed to be luxury, considering the circumstances. This was a good enough reason for neither of us to complain about our lack of sleep. After dropping Timothy off, I decided to wait for him in the parking lot of the test center. I had brought a book with me and was excited about this excuse to take a brief break from the busyness of life and enjoy some quiet time while reading. I was not too far along in my reading when I looked up and saw Timothy returning to the car. “Wow. Time really flies when you're enjoying a good book,” I thought. However, I quickly realized that a college admission test would probably take longer than me reading a few pages of my book. After getting into the car, my son explained that the door to the testing center was locked and had never opened for him and a small group of other students waiting to take the test. Apparently, the test center was closed, but the students had not received any notifications about the closure. We were later told that an email about the closure had been dispersed; however, no one in this particular group of test-takers had received that email. This is just one example of how COVID-19 has had an impact on my life and the lives of those around me. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, the world it represents has been dramatically disrupted. Events have been canceled; restaurants were closed; cities were locked down; and the list goes on. The educational measurement world was not spared. For example, exams were canceled; schools were closed; and research studies were delayed. EM:IP published a special section on the impact of COVID-19 on the field of educational measurement in the Fall 2020 issue. Since then, so much has changed. The encouraging statistics of COVID-19 vaccines initially brought hope that the global disaster would end soon. The hope, however, shattered into pieces when new variants were detected one after another. What we know, now, is there are more variants in existence than the most frequently discussed Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. What we do not know is whether there are enough letters in the Greek alphabet to account for the present and future variants of COVID-19. When planning for this special section, I decided to design a cover graphic to complement the COVID-19 subject-matter. Initially, I was going to portray a rearview mirror to signal leaving behind the pandemic and continuing on our journey ahead. However, this idea was out of touch with the reality. Yes, the global disruption is about two years old, but we still have not seen the end of the tunnel. I finally settled on the idea of “Turning the Page.” The coronavirus may not disappear soon (or at all), but we should be ready to move forward. Now that we have more data on the lingering impact of COVID-19, the authors in this section (who are spread across three continents) speculate on different aspects of the impact on educational measurement. Some authors discuss college admissions and inequalities—hot topic issues from before 2020 that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Others share their thoughts and experiences related to the changes to educational assessments, licensure exams, and certification exams. Still, others cover longitudinal analysis and meta-analysis. Online testing or remote assessment continues to be of great interest, as shown by several authors. Lastly, disrupted data are inevitable, especially during a pandemic. Two articles present some thoughts on decision-making using disrupted data. I hope you find this special section interesting and thought-provoking. I also hope, as Bennett's title suggests, you can look at “The Good Side of COVID-19.”