About / Apr 11 / Himelfarb awarded College Board dissertation fellowship

April 5, 2011
For immediate release

Igor Himelfarb of UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz School awarded a College Board dissertation fellowship

Igor Himelfarb of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School has been awarded a College Board dissertation fellowship for his proposed work “Modeling Change in PSAT/NMSQT Scores.” The project will concentrate on examining the factors accounting for the change in the PSAT scores in students who take the test several times. Research scientists and psychometricians from the College Board’s department of Research and Development were asked to evaluate the submissions and each reviewed a set of proposals relevant to their area of expertise. Each proposal was rated on the following criteria: alignment to the College Board’s mission; originality; appropriateness of proposed methodology; consequences of the work; feasibility; and clarity and scope.

The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of more than 5,900 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success — including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement Program®. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators and schools. Through the College Board Research Fellowship Program, the College Board seeks to build collaborative relationships with graduate level scholars in an effort to undertake research of relevance to College Board programs, services, and member institutions.

Himelfarb is a Ph.D. candidate in the Research Methodology emphasis of the Department of Education at the Gevirtz School, and an MA student in the Department of Statistics and Applied Probability. His academic advisor is Professor Emerita Rebecca Zwick. Dr. Zwick and Himelfarb have worked on another project sponsored by the College Board between the years of 2008-2010 researching and evaluating the utility of SAT scores and high school GPA in predicting college grades. Some of the results of that work are outlined in the upcoming Journal of Educational Measurement article to be published in Summer 2011. Himelfarb’s interests are in the areas of applied statistics, psychometrics, and standardized testing.

[Igor Himelfarb is available for interviews; contact George Yatchisin at 805 893 5789]
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Igor Himelfarb of UC Santa Barbara's Gevirtz School awarded a College Board dissertation fellowship