There is a curious paradox about Rasch measurement. Ben Wright's reminiscence of IOMW2 held in Perth in 1982 reminds me of it yet again. Why has so much good work done over so many years by so many dedicated, intelligent people been so ignored by the leaders of the educational community? Utterly trivial and superficial attacks on Rasch techniques are welcomed. Well developed, meticulous, Rasch- based papers are mired for years in a swamp of nit-picking objections by shallow-minded reviewers. The Ablex publication of Mark Wilson's "Objective Measurement", Volume 1, and my own Sage book on "Rasch Models for Measurement" suggest that ultimately the obfuscation of the casuists will fail. Such cunctators cannot keep apart forever those with a need for solutions and those who can provide them.
On a historical note, it is just 30 years since Douglas Edward Stone, the first student in the MESA (Measurement, Evaluation and Statistical Analysis) program at the University of Chicago obtained his 1962 doctorate. (I earned my doctorate in the same program in 1973). Stone's dissertation, "A methodological approach to the analysis of teacher behavior that reveals the stability of human characteristics", includes insights even more relevant now in this era of authentic assessment. On p. 64 he reminds us that "There is no easy or precise way to determine the proper amount of [rater severity] adjustment for all situations." This is a predicament from which we are still endeavoring to extricate ourselves. But there is hope! A new generation is joining the struggle. Doug's son, Gregory, is now participating in the MESA program!
It only remains for me to congratulate my successor, Wim van der Linden, as he succeeds to the Chair of the SIG.
Rasch - Historical Glimpses. Andrich DA. Rasch Measurement Transactions, 1992, 5:4 p.191
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