Sanford R. Student

Assistant Professor

Dr. Sanford R. (Sandy) Student is an assistant professor specializing in measurement, psychometrics and quantitative methods in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. He is also a Resident Faculty member of the Data Science Institute, faculty of the Ph.D. in Education and Social Policy, and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Research in Education & Social Policy.

Dr. Student conducts methodological research in educational measurement and psychometric/quantitative methods, and contributes to applied research in diverse areas including educational assessment, early literacy, child language development, cognitive decline in older adults, student motivation, and more. He teaches courses in measurement theory, item response theory, and structural equation modeling.

Dr. Student’s work has been published in journals including Educational Researcher, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, Educational Assessment, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, Learning and Individual Differences, and more. Recently, he received an Institute of Education Sciences Early Career Grant (R305B240013) and was named a 2025 semi-finalist for the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. He is an active member of the National Council on Measurement in Education and the Psychometric Society.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Research and Evaluation Methodology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 2023
• B.A., Philosophy, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2013
• B.A., Computer Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, 2013

Professional Experience

• Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2023-present
• Teaching Assistant, School of Education, University of Colorado Boulder, 2019
• Doctoral Researcher, Center for Assessment Design, Research and Evaluation, 2018-2023
• Research Associate, Lyons Assessment Consulting, 2021-2023
• Lead Researcher, Commission on the Future of Legal Education Bar Exam study- American Bar Association, 2019-2020
• Software Engineer, edX, 2016-2018
• Teaching Assistant, Brown University, 2011

Recent Professional Awards

• Selected attendee, AIR/NCES Winter 2020 NAEP Data Training Workshop, Arlington, VA, 2020