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About the TASA Institute
The TASA Institute is a specialized research initiative of the Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education (SAEE), a non-profit Canadian education research agency. TASA's mission is to study and advance knowledge in the development and application of assessment technology in the Canadian public education system.
TASA seeks to provide, in the first instance, the following services to the Canadian education system:
» An up-to-date information source/clearinghouse on computer-based assessment programs, strategies, outcomes, best practice and policy implications
» Access to leading expertise to assist in the design and implementation of provincial or district Computer Based Assessment (CBA) initiatives
Staff, Associates and Advisors
Dr. Jim Gaskill, Director
Beginning as a teacher in Vancouver, Jim Gaskill returned to UBC where he got his Ed. D. in Mathematics Education. After teaching at Acadia University, Jim rejoined the K - 12 system teaching Mathematics and Computer Science in Surrey. Before joining the Ministry of Education in 1988, Jim spent 8 years as a principal in Queen Charlotte (Haida Gwaii). His work at the Ministry has included managing provincial learning assessments, being in charge of the development of all provincial examinations and Foundation Skills Assessments, chairing the consortium that developed a pan-Canadian mathematics assessment, and being the Canadian Representative on the PISA mathematics assessment Forum. Jim has also been responsible for implementing item banking and on-line testing for BC.
Dr. Kathryn Chang Barker, Research Associate
Dr. Kathryn Chang Barker is a consulting education futurist with a PhD in Education Administration and Policy Studies from the University of Alberta (1994). She has been engaged at all levels of Canada's education and training system, and having started as a teacher and college administrator in Alberta, she has worked across Canada and internationally as a consultant and writer. Barker provides leadership in changing learning systems in the future for the future. As founder and president of FuturEd Consulting Education Futurists Inc., Barker has provided research and development in the education industry since 1995. Clients include HRDC in Ottawa as well as various provincial ministries and training institutions. Barker has expertise in the fields of eLearning; workforce development and lifelong learning; education reform in the context of global change; accountability, Return on Investment, and quality assurance in learning systems; international education and national standards development; adult and workplace literacy; learning technologies and distance education; prior learning assessment, human capital assets management, and various other fields related to learning innovations. Her current passion is the ePortfolio the electronic record of a person's acquired skills and knowledge and she is working to animate "an ePortfolio for each and every Canadian and one ePortfolio for life." Barker has become a "consumer's advocate" in the field of education and training. She is concerned that the end-users get the information they need to make informed choices, and this is reflected in such FuturEd projects as the Consumer's Guide to eLearning and a Consumer's Guide to ePortfolio Products and Services. In 2002, Barker launched QualitE-Learning Assurance Inc. - a service to assess and certify the quality of on-line learning. Based on the Open eQuality Learning Standards that were created by FuturEd, QualitE-Learning licenses the eQcheck certification mark to products and services that meet consumer-oriented standards of excellence. Barker is the founding Chair of the Learning Innovations Forum d'Innovations d'Apprentissage, and also serves on the boards of the Canadian Education Association, the Innovate online journal, and the European Institute for eLearning.
Dr. Jerry Mussio, Research Associate
Dr. Mussio is former director of the Education Technology Centre of British Columbia and has extensive experience in the development of large-scale assessment programs. He is former director of student assessment with the B.C. Ministry of Education and was responsible for the design and implementation of BC's Provincial Learning Assessment Program in 1974, the Grade 12 Examination Program in 1984, and the Foundation Skills Assessment in 2000. In 2000, he was appointed Canadian representative to the OECD in the planning of the International Student Assessment program, and also served as an education and assessment specialist with Statistics Canada. He recently worked as a World Bank consultant and has been serving as an advisor in the design of national assessment strategies for the Russian Federation. A former teacher, Jerry is a native of Trail, B.C. and holds a Ph.D. in educational measurement from the University of Toronto.
Dr. Mike Marshall, Research Associate
Dr. Marshall is Executive Director, Applied Research and Evaluation Services (ARES), UBC, and possesses extensive experience as an educator and in management, technical analysis and planning. Among the positions he has held are Director of Management Planning for the Ministry's Joint Education Management Projects, and Technical and Administrative Consultant to the Learning Assessment Branch. His responsibilities with ARES have included serving as International Director of Administration for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Project Director for TIMSS-Canada, and Project Director for PIRLS-Canada (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), an international reading literacy study carried out in 38 countries, and technical advisor to the BC Ministry of Education. In recent years, the majority of his time has been spent in the development and implementation of UBC's English Language Proficiency Index Program, a computer-delivered suite of Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing tests designed to evaluate competence in English.
Dr. Alan R. Taylor, Research Associate
Dr. Taylor is internationally recognized as an expert in the field of testing and measurement. He has given lectures and presented papers in this area throughout North America, as well as in Europe and the Orient. He designed and implemented the Grade 12 Examination Program in the province of British Columbia and has designed numerous program assessments throughout the province. From 1994-2002 he was the National Research Coordinator for Canada in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, a major assessment involving more than 40 countries. His administrative experience includes positions as Director of Student Assessment and Examinations for the Province of British Columbia and Director of Curriculum, Assessment and Research for a large urban school district. He is currently vice president of Raven Research Associates and is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia.
Robert MacDonald, Associate Director
Robert MacDonald has an extensive 30-year creative, marketing, and management background, is widely considered a creative powerhouse, and has won writing, design, and production awards for print and new media products. Through his organization, the Media Futures Institute, Robert has consulted at a senior level, and provided services to museums and art galleries, government departments, education institutions, public service organizations and associations, publishing media and software companies, and enterprises in the travel, product distribution, packaged goods, professional services, and technology sectors. His particular strength is in the marketing disciplines, including strategy, planning, research, advertising, direct and telemarketing, print and digital communications and promotion. He has helped start, build, and reposition companies, managed projects in both the public and private sectors, and provided guidance and solutions to boards and management. Robert was executive director of the Banff and Toronto Publishing Workshops for fifteen years, at the Banff Centre and the University of Toronto respectively. He managed all aspects of these award-winning programs, and received universal praise for his energy, dedication, creativity, and knowledge.
ADVISORY BOARD
» Bill Allen, Senior Publisher, Assessment and Science, School Division, Thomson Nelson
» Dr. Barry Anderson, BC Ministry of Education
» Dr. John Anderson, Professor of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies, University of Victoria
» Dennis Belyk, Executive Director, Learner Assessment, Alberta Education
» Dr. Steve Easton, Director SAEE; Professor of Economics, SFU
» Cary Grobe, (retired) Assessment Branch, New Brunswick Education
» Diane Pennock, Assessment Coordinator, CMEC
» Dr. Stanley Rabinowitz, Director, Assessment Development, WestEd Research Lab, Oregon
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