Scholars

Assistant Professor

Positions:

Assistant Professor, Teaching, Learning and Culture, School of Education and Human Development

overview

Dr. Jose Palma is an Accountability Climate, Equity, and Scholarship (ACES) Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture (TLAC). Dr. Palma's research aims to improve teaching and learning by developing effective and responsive measurement tools and assessment practices, particularly concerning students from diverse, vulnerable, and underrepresented (DVU) backgrounds. His research centers around three complementary areas: a) enhancing accessibility and utility in item and test design, b) improving psychometric methods to support test score use and interpretations, and c) applying effective assessment practices to serve students from DVU groups.

Dr. Palma received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology - Quantitative Methods in Education from the University of Minnesota in 2021, and before his graduate education, he worked as a high school English language learner educator. He is a first-generation college graduate and a native Spanish speaker. Dr. Palma actively collaborates with teachers, school districts, testing companies, and other stakeholders on interdisciplinary projects examining best assessment practices for multicultural and multilingual learners in early education, STEM education, and classroom assessment.

education and training

Ph.D. in Quantitative Methods in Eduation - Measurement, University of Minnesota - (Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States) 2021
B.A. in Psychology, University of Minnesota - (Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States) 2007
A.A. in General Studies, Minnesota West Community & Technical College - (Worthington, Minnesota, United States) 2002

selected publications

Academic Articles4

Wackerle-Hollman, A., Durn, L., Brunner, S., Palma, J., Kohlmeier, T., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2019). Developing a Measure of Spanish Phonological Awareness for Preschool Age Children: Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators. Educational Assessment. 24(1), 33-56.
Durn, L. K., Wackerle-Hollman, A. K., Kohlmeier, T. L., Brunner, S. K., Palma, J., & Callard, C. H. (2019). Individual Growth and Development Indicators-Espaol: Innovation in the development of Spanish oral language general outcome measures. Early Childhood Research Quarterly. 48, 155-172.
Van Boekel, M., Bulut, O., Stanke, L., Zamora, J., Jang, Y., Kang, Y., & Nickodem, K. (2016). Effects of participation in school sports on academic and social functioning. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology. 46, 31-40.
Bulut, O., Palma, J., Rodriguez, M. C., & Stanke, L. (2015). Evaluating Measurement Invariance in the Measurement of Developmental Assets in Latino English Language Groups Across Developmental Stages. Sage Open. 5(2), 2158244015586238-215824401558623.

Chapters1

Rodriguez, M. C., Tatto, M. T., Palma, J., & Nickodem, K. (2018). A Comparative International Study of Differences in Beliefs Between Future Teachers and Their Educators. Exploring the Mathematical Education of Teachers Using TEDS-M Data. 165-192. Springer Nature.