D. Patanella

 D. Patanella

D. Patanella

  • Courses7
  • Reviews11

Biography

John Jay College of Criminal Justice - Psychology

Content Specialist (Mathematics) III at Measured Progress
Education Management
Dan
Patanella
Greater New York City Area
Having a background in both educational content and modern research psychology is a unique combination for a single individual to have within the world of K-12 assessment. This is what sets me apart from others.

I'm a driven individual motivated to combine best practices in test design and development with rich content expertise to provide better educational opportunities. I draw on my background in developmental psychology, statistics, and behavioral research to accomplish my varied goals both inside and outside academia. I've worked within the public and nonprofit spheres, providing high-quality intellectual contributions to every project I've been fortunate enough to collaborate upon. I view myself as both an educator and a researcher, and I thrive within a multidisciplinary, contemporary context.


Experience

  • Independent Assessment Consultant

    Test Development Executive

    I lead, manage and perform all aspects of math and science test development including item writing, quality management, form development and collaboration with psychometrics. I provide said services to a variety of clients. Much of my work concentrates specifically on 3-8 educational assessment.

    Key assignments include projects related to formative and summative assessment, high-stakes admissions tests, development of item banks, and delivery of in-person professional development. Recent work includes writing and revising of teacher's editions for high school mathematics textbooks, and helping clients transition from the Common Core to post-Common Core learning standards.

    In this line of work, facility with item bank software is a must. I have worked within a variety of different platforms ranging from the proprietary to the commercially available. These include Exam View, ABBI, and Learnosity.

    If you are interested in procuring my services, please send me a text message via LinkedIn and we can discuss rates and scope of work.

  • John Jay College of Criminal Justice

    Assistant Professor

    Taught Research Methods, Statistics, Introduction to Psychology, and Child Development. I came as an adjunct lecturer, earned my rank as adjunct assistant professor, then finally left after having achieved a full-time position as a Substitute Assistant Professor. During my time at John Jay I also successfully mentored students and supervised them in their roles as research assistants.

    While at John Jay, I presented research at several local and national conferences. These include:

    “Overconfidence vs. Competence in APA Writing Style.” (2007). Fourteenth Annual Association for Psychological Science-Society for Teaching of Psychology.

    “Let’s Make Another Deal: A re-examination of the Monty Hall Dilemma.” (2006). Thirteenth Annual Association for Psychological Science-Society for Teaching of Psychology. (copresented with Chandra Ebanks)

    “Seducing the Innocent: Fredric Wertham as a case study in the effective use of mass media by social science.” (2005). Seventeenth Greater New York Conference on Behavioral Research. (copresented with Chandra Ebanks)

    I also was happy to serve as a content reviewer for several major psychology textbooks, including "Psychology" (Ninth Edition), written by Dave Myers, "Psychology: A Modular Approach" (Eleventh Edition), written by Dennis Coon, and "Child Development: A Modular Approach" written by Brad Caskey and Robert Kail.

  • Educational Records Bureau

    Director of Assessments (Math and Science)

    Test design and development for both math and science. I've worked on multiple academic-based high-stakes tests (including admissions tests and summative tests) for both traditional paper-and-pencil formats and innovative online platforms. I supervise and coordinate a core group of over eighteen seasoned, nationally-based item writers and content reviewers many of whom have PARCC or SBaC training.

    I collaborate with both large and small external vendors and partners to ensure that our assessments best meet the needs of ERB's member schools. Our chief products are CTP and ISEE, used by over 2,000 independent schools nationwide.

    I have also worked on ERB's Formative Content Bank, an online resource for teachers that has multiple-choice items aligned to both ERB's internal, proprietary set of standards and the Common Core State Standards.

    I serve as a Committee Member for the Center for Curriculum Redesign (CCR), a Harvard-based
    organization intended to provide recommendations to the development of the 2021 PISA assessment. I am proud to serve ERB and the larger assessment community in this capacity.

    While at ERB I have co-presented at conferences as lead author with colleagues. These conference presentations include:

    "Item development and test creation: Why none of the above is never the right answer"​ with Ron Ripa at ERB's 2014 national conference in Boston, MA.

    "What Psychology Professors Teaching Research Methods and Statistics Need to Know About the Common Core Standards"​ with Mark Terefenko at STP-APS' 2015 national conference in New York City.

  • Department of Education, New York City

    Administrative Education Officer

    Test design and development for math, science, and the arts. I've worked on multiple high-stakes, low-stakes, and no-stakes traditional mathematics assessments and performance tasks, including those aligned to the Common Core. These included entrance exams and exams related to promotional decisions for students, and required interfacing with various test development vendors. I helped lead the transition from the 2005 New York State Standards to the CCSS for all content alignment purposes.

    In addition, I provided statistical and research expertise (particularly for inter-rater reliability and classical item statistics) for citywide arts assessments, including high-school exit exams for Arts-Endorsed diplomas. I also served as a voting member or adviser on several RFP committees, was a regular reviewer on the Institutional Review Board/Proposal Review Committee, and helped to evaluate technical manuals for assessments.

    I regularly supervised and coordinated a mid-sized team of locally-based consultants/content specialists. I managed a reasonably-sized budget of about $250,000 yearly for in-house test review expenses.

  • Measured Progress

    Content Specialist (Mathematics) III

    D. worked at Measured Progress as a Content Specialist (Mathematics) III

Education

  • Fordham University

    Ph.D.

    Applied Developmental Psychology
    Ph.D. Thesis: “Assessing Predictors of Science Grades and Career Goals in University Undergraduates”

  • City University of New York-Herbert H. Lehman College

    B.A.

    Communication Arts/Psychology

Publications

  • Encyclopedia of Child Development and Behavior

    Springer

    I authored or co-authored 15 articles for this publication. The scope of my contribution encompassed topics related to Behaviorism (Conditioning and Learning), Research Methods, Biological Bases (Mendellian genetics and Human Evolution), and a historical perspective (Piaget's Theory of Moral Development, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences, the contributions of Edward Titchener, Ann Anastasi and Frederic Wertham). http://www.springer.com/us/book/9780387775791

PSY 200

3.7(3)

PSY 311

4.5(1)

PSYCHOLOGY

4(1)

STA 250

4.5(1)

STAT 250

4.5(2)