Jake Thompson

Senior Psychometrician

Biography

I am a senior psychometrician at the Center for Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems where I work on the Dynamic Learning Maps alternate assessment and the Innovations in Science Map, Assessment & Report Technologies project. I completed my PhD in Educational Psychology & Research at the University of Kansas with an emphasis in Research, Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics. My research interests are in the areas of R programming and psychometrics, specifically the application of diagnostic classification models to educational assessment.

I love the Cubs, Royals, Chiefs, and above all else, KU basketball. I currently live in Kansas City, Kansas, with my amazing wife and our rescue dog Larry.

Interests

Educational Assessment
Diagnostic Classification Models
R Programming

Education

PhD in Research, Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics, 2018

University of Kansas
BSc in Behavioral Neuroscience, 2014

University of Kansas

Experience

April 2019 – Present

Lawrence, KS

Senior Psychometrician

ATLAS

Member of the ATLAS psychometric team working across multiple projects including the Dynamic Learning Maps alternate assessment, an 19-state consortium that uses DLM as their large-scale operational assessment, and Innovations in Science Map, Assessment & Report Technologies.

Responsibilities include:

Lead research program on psychometric modeling
Create and maintain R packages
Oversee development and execution of programming needs for scoring and reporting
Prepare research projects for presenation to national conferences and technical advisory committee

April 2018 – April 2019

Lawrence, KS

Psychometrician

ATLAS

Member of the ATLAS psychometric team working primarily on Dynamic Learning Maps alternate assessment, a 19-state consortium that uses DLM as their large-scale operational assessment.

Responsibilities include:

Create and maintain R packages
Oversee development of scripts for scoring and reporting
Prepare research projects for presenation to national conferences and technical advisory committee

January 2016 – April 2018

Lawrence, KS

Psychometrician Assistant

ATLAS

Member of the ATLAS psychometric team working primarily on Dynamic Learning Maps alternate assessment, a 19-state consortium that uses DLM as their large-scale operational assessment.

Responsibilities include:

Create R package for the scoring of the DLM operational assessment
Create R and SQL scripts to create deliverable score files

January 2015 – Present

Kansas City, KS

Statistical Consultant

Jake Thompson Consulting

Selected projects:

Data analysis for research labs the University of Kansas Medical Center
Development of white paper on the implementation of evidence centered design for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing

August 2014 – January 2016

Lawrence, KS

Graduate Research Assistant

ATLAS

Research assistant for the psychometric team working on the Dynamic Learning Maps alternate assessment, a 19-state consortium that uses DLM as their large-scale operational assessment.

Responsibilities include:

Create R script to score technology enhanced items
Work with content experts and educators to develop content standards and a new alternate assessment for science

Projects

Tidy Data Science

Website and materials for a week long workshop on using R and the tidyverse for data science.

Dynamic Learning Maps

The Dynamic Learning Maps^® Alternate Assessment System is a large scale assessment administered by the Center for Accessible Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Systems at the University of Kansas.

Evaluating Model Estimation Processes for Diagnostic Classification Models

PhD dissertation submitted to the School of Education at the University of Kansas.

Soccer Predictions Using Bayesian Mixed Effects Models

Models developed for the prediction of individual games, European domestic leagues, and the UEFA Champions League.

jayhawkdown

Template for writing theses and dissertations at the University of Kansas using rmarkdown and bookdown.

Dissociating Cognitive and Affective Empathy in Unipolar Depression

Undergraduate Honors Thesis for psychology departmental honors at the University of Kansas. Winner for the Department of Psychology’s best Honors Thesis and Outstanding Research by an Undergraduate in Psychology.