Beth Bynum, Ph.D., was recently selected to serve on the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Committee on Psychological Tests and Assessment (CPTA) under the Board of Scientific Affairs.
During the three-year term, Bynum will work with her fellow, distinguished committee members to address all aspects of psychological testing and assessment across the variety of contexts in which psychological and behavioral tests occur, according to APA. She will be involved in monitoring federal legislation/regulations governing the use of tests in schools, employment, and health services settings; promoting the proper use of assessment instruments; setting standards; and investigating cases that allegedly involve misuse or abuse of test instruments.
“Dr. Beth Bynum brings an impressive breadth of psychometric expertise and practical experience to the committee, helping CPTA ensure that psychological tests are fair to all who take them within educational, workplace, clinical, and other relevant settings,” said Fred Oswald, Ph.D., former CPTA Chair, and the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Rice University.
“Scrutiny of standardized assessments has increased over the last several years,” notes Bynum. “I hope, through my committee work, I can contribute to ensuring that psychological assessments are being developed, administered, and scored using best practices that ensure fairness and set high validity standards.”
CPTA works collaboratively with other APA boards and committees to address such topics as assessing individuals with disabilities, describing the effects of standardized testing on minority populations, and delineating the qualifications necessary for appropriate use of tests.
An accomplished manager at HumRRO providing psychometric expertise for a wide variety of projects related to educational testing, workplace selection, and credentialing. Bynum received SIOP’s Distinguished Early Career Contributions–Practice Award in 2019, and she currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business and Psychology.
