Evidence with a purpose
We treat every measure as an argument. Research should show what a score supports, what it leaves uncertain, and how it should guide action.
Maryland Assessment Research Center for Education Success
Assessment research for the public work of education.
MARCES studies how educational measures are designed, scored, interpreted, and used. Our work connects measurement science with the decisions that shape schools, programs, and opportunity.
Based at the University of Maryland College of Education.
Measurement register
MARCES / 01A working model: frame the decision, gather evidence, and keep the use in view.
03Our approach
Measurement work begins with a question.
A score is never just a number. It carries assumptions about what was measured, how it was measured, and what the result is allowed to support. We keep those questions in view.
Methods that travel
Our work moves between psychometric theory, state assessment programs, classroom practice, and public reporting.
A public research record
The center keeps a usable record of reports, conference papers, and assessment studies for researchers and practitioners.
Research portfolio
Depth in the methods. Clarity about the use.
The center's portfolio spans test design, validity, modeling, technology, and the policy questions that follow from measurement choices.
AI model evaluation
How new AI tools should be evaluated when they enter assessment, learning, and instruction.
Test development
Designing items, tasks, and forms that produce dependable evidence for their intended use.
Validity studies
Examining whether interpretations and decisions are supported by evidence, including links to other measures.
Cognitive diagnostic modeling
Using fine grained models to describe what learners know and where instruction can respond.
Teacher evaluation
Studying growth and value added measures with attention to fairness, stability, and responsible use.
State science assessments
Supporting science assessment programs as standards, item designs, and reporting expectations change.
Peer review
Independent technical review that helps agencies strengthen assessment systems and explain their choices.
From the record
A question does not end when a report is filed.
The archive follows assessment problems across time: how tests are weighted, how growth is modeled, how accommodations affect meaning, and how results reach the public.
Read completed research-
2013
Testing after the Common Core
Conference -
2011
The impact of testing in Maryland
Research report -
2006
Universal design in educational assessments
Research report -
2006
Consistency in HSA and MSA decision making
Research report
The long record
A place to find the earlier question.
The center's archive and conference series show how assessment problems recur, change shape, and become more precise.
Maryland State Assessment Archive
The archive began as a searchable collection of reports and commentary on state testing. This redesign presents its scope and selected records in a modern interface.
Open the assessment archive-
2013
Testing after the Common Core
Conference -
2012
Value added and growth models
Conference -
2011
Formative and interim assessment
Conference -
2008
Validity in practice
Conference
Bring a measurement question into the open.
We work with agencies, districts, and research teams on problems that need careful design and defensible evidence.