A Washington State University College of Education doctoral student has received a quantitative summer research fellowship from The Learning Partnership.
Antranik (Tony) Kirakosian, in the Educational Psychology program, will receive the fellowship aimed at graduate students and early-career researchers.
Since being founded in 2010, The Learning Partnership’s stated mission is to promote STEM equity and educational excellence by building school district capacity for continuous improvement to engage, inspire, and elevate all students.
When discussing this opportunity, Kirakosian said they are nervous and excited, expressing excitement due to the culmination of hard work, while feeling nervous about leaving a good impression for themself, their advisor, the college, and the university.
Kirakosian said their research uses large-scale data in education (for example, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS]) to assess things like math attitudes and math achievement among different ethnic groups and genders.
“These two lines of research are part of my desire to learn psychometrics or, put very simply, evaluating the measurement properties of surveys and tests,” they said.
Kirakosian said during this internship they will be examining the current landscape of computer science in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the impact of the graduation requirement for the first cohort of students.
The results of their findings will influence the work of the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS) and other district efforts in Illinois, since all high schools in the state will be required to offer a computer science course beginning in the 2023–24 academic year.
Kirakosian’s advisor, assistant professor Shenghai Dai, said they are passionate about the applications of quantitative methods and psychometrics in various education settings.
“Their expertise and work in this field will help to inform current education systems and promote K–12 student learning, especially in STEM,” Dai said.
