Would you like to be a Research Partner?

Pearson is a leader in Test Development because of people like you. In all phases of our development process, we follow best practice guidelines set forth by the Canadian Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (published by the American Educational Research Association), National Council on Measurement in Education, and the Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education, developed by the Joint Committee on Testing Practices.

Our expert development team, including clinicians and former teachers, offer many years of experience in their respective areas and in test development. In addition, we collaborate with expert advisors and review teams across the country to ensure that our assessments meet current needs and all technical and content standards. Throughout the process, we actively involve external clinical professionals, teachers, and students. As we adapt and develop Canadian or French-Canadian products, Pearson works with examiners across the country to administer the tests to children and adults in their communities. This helps ensure that any culturally-biased items are removed and that a wide variety of participants, representing the national population, are included in the normative sample. This is an opportunity for your faculty and/or students to be the first to “test” new products, gain a better understanding of test development and standardization processes, ensure the population you are interested in is represented in the normative sample, and provide feedback regarding the administration, scoring, and interpretation processes.

How can your University participate in a sampling project?

You will be asked to complete all required forms, including an Examiner Background Questionnaire and Examiner Agreement, and return them to Pearson. If your site is interested in participating in the sampling collection process, we ask that each examiner also completes the Project Enrollment form. Additional information pertaining to the project will be provided to all selected examiners. Once the completed examiner forms are returned to Pearson, a university site will be established in our examiner database. We will invite you to participate in future projects that correspond with the information provided in your university profile. You will receive specific information about the sampling project (project description, time, schedule, and payment structure).

What are the expectations for the examiner?

As a university site contact, the project coordinator is responsible for recruiting examiners who have access to subjects that meet the provided project guidelines (specifying age, education level, and ethnicity) from facilities, such as schools, hospitals, clinics, churches, daycare, and community centres. Examiners may not test their own relatives. Once the subjects are identified, the examiner must receive signed consent forms from each subject before testing can proceed. For subjects under the age of 18, parental consent is required. For some projects, examiners may be asked to provide clinical cases representing populations who have been diagnosed with mental retardation, a learning disability, aphasia, dementia, or hearing impairment.

What steps are involved in completing the sampling collection?

Each examiner communicates to the project coordinator how many cases he/she can commit to administering. The first case the examiner administers is sent to Pearson for review to ensure that the administration is correct. It is important that all first cases are reviewed, as incorrectly administered tests will not be included in the final normative sampling and will not receive payment. Once the examiner has administered all the remaining cases, the examiner will send them to Pearson for scoring. It is not the responsibility of the examiner to score the protocols.

How is the Examiner paid?

The payment is unique for each project as it is based on elements, such as administration time and sampling requirements. However, the payment structure is the same for each project. The examiner associated with a university site will receive catalogue credits for each approved, completed case. The accumulated catalogue credits can be used toward receiving a FREE test. Both the catalogue credit and free kit options can be used toward any future regular-priced test purchase.

If you have questions at any time ...

If you require additional information regarding Research Partner opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact us at examiners.canada@pearson.com