Webinars, Workshops, & Conferences

Suicide Risk Assessment Webinars (Winter 2022-2023)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that in 2020, 12.2 million individuals thought about suicide, 3.2 million individuals made a suicide plan, and 1.2 million individuals attempted suicide. Assessment of suicide risk is high stakes, and the effectiveness of intervention strategies can be difficult to establish. To address these issues, this series will provide insights from scholar-practitioners as an initial step to inform and improve the clinical practice of suicide risk assessment and intervention.

Teleassessment Webinar Panel (Fall 2022)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

Teleassessment and research into its use predated the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but once teleassessment became an essential rather than optional practice during the pandemic, a flurry of recommendations and guidelines followed. In this panel discussion we will hear of the research and findings of four psychologists and how teleassessment is likely to shape assessment practices moving forward.

Child Assessment Webinar Series (Fall 2021)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

This webinar series will focus on the educational and psychological assessment of children. Speakers will share empirically based recommendations, best practice examples, and case studies on important topics such as ADHD assessment, mental health screening, equity in gifted identification assessment practices, and ethical considerations in teleassessment.

Lilienfeld Honorary Webinar (Spring 2021)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

Given our respect for Scott Lilienfeld and his work and our sense of loss with his passing, we have organized this honorary webinar to recognize and share the critically important contributions of Dr. Lilienfeld’s work to the science and practice of psychological assessment.

Cultural and linguistic considerations when developing, adapting, and validating measures (2019)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

Professional standards and guidelines encourage the consideration of individuals from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in the development, adaptation, and validation of measures. To encourage the use of standards-aligned practices, the presenters in this series shared empirically based recommendations, examples, and case studies. Our goal is to assist test developers, measurement professionals, researchers, and consultants with a variety of issues that occur when assessing individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse groups.   

Fairness issues in testing: Application and practice informed by theory and research (2018)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

The 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing increased the emphasis on fairness in testing discussing various issues related to test development/evaluation, administration, scoring, interpretation, and use. The presenters in this webinar series include influential researchers/practitioners in the fields of educational assessment, school psychology, and counseling/clinical psychology. These speakers discuss some of the challenges in the educational and psychological assessment of individuals of varying cultural backgrounds, those with disabilities, and English language learners (ELLs). They also discuss how to select appropriate accommodations for educational tests, and what test users should expect from test developers when selecting assessments for potentially impacted individuals.

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this webinar series.

Evaluating Test Quality: Advice From Mental Measurements Yearbook Reviewers (Fall 2016 - Spring 2017)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

Join us to learn more about responsible test selection and use.

Since 1938 the Mental Measurements Yearbook has served practitioners and the public by publishing evaluative, timely, and consumer-oriented reviews of commercially available tests. These reviews are written by experts in various fields to inform test selection and use. The presenters in this webinar series include some of our leading reviewers who will share their advice about how to evaluate different types of tests and their technical characteristics.

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this webinar series.

Decoding the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing Webinar Series (2015)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

The 2014 Standards represents the 5th edition in the series of standards developed by the professional organizations in educational and psychological assessment (American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education). This series illustrates how the Standards can be applied in specific areas of testing practice (e.g., employment, school psychology) through the use of examples to amplify the intent of the Standards, to promote sound testing practices, and to provide a basis for evaluating the quality of those practices. The goal of the series is to encourage audiences to view the Standards as a relevant and essential resource in the development and use of tests in their respective settings.

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this webinar series.

Efficacy of Clinical Assessment Webinar Series (2015)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

The overarching goal of the webinar series is to promote the value of assessment by framing it as a significant component of practice that enriches the professional decision-making processes. The series focuses on myriad ways in which clinical assessment contributes to evidence-based mental health interventions. Sessions within the series serve to:

• encourage the incorporation of assessment services as a component of treatment plans;
• present evidence that assessment services are effective in reducing duration of treatment or recurrence;
• offer arguments for expanding attention to assessment services in practice guidelines; and
• expand training of practitioners to ensure awareness of current assessment practices, standards, and legal and ethical requirements.

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this webinar series.

Call for Proposals: Virtual Continuing Education (CE) Workshops in Testing and Assessment
Buros Center for Testing

The Buros Center for Testing is a research center focused on improving the science and practice of testing and assessment. Since 2010, the Buros Center has regularly hosted conferences and webinars on various issues in testing and assessment featuring key experts. Our audiences include school psychologists, clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, neuropsychologists, K-12 educators, higher education faculty, and test developers and publishers. We seek to expand our professional development offerings to include in-depth training through which professionals in education and psychology may obtain skills that will help them be more effective test users and developers.

We invite proposals for 2- to 4-hour live virtual continuing education (CE) workshops on a range of topics related to the science and practice of testing and assessment that are relevant to the audiences we serve. Proposals must include the following components, which will form the basis for the evaluation of proposals:

• Clear identification of a topic and audience to be addressed.
• Description of the purpose, learning objectives, and professional development needs to be met.
• Detailed outline of content to be covered, with references that demonstrate evidence-based practice.
• Description of workshop activities and format. In addition to a Q&A period, workshop activities should engage participants in a variety of interactive learning modes to facilitate the translation of new knowledge and skills into professional practice and services.

If your proposal is selected, the Buros Center will:

• Provide support needed to host the virtual CE workshop. We will arrange for the use of platforms, provision of needed personnel, and/or assistance with the development of resources that will facilitate the learning activities you would like to implement and ensure those are effectively implemented during the workshop.
• Promote the CE workshop via our distribution lists, with professional associations, through social media, and potentially with state psychological associations when deemed appropriate and useful. Selected presenters are encouraged to disseminate promotional materials about their workshops as well.
• Provide an honorarium of $500 for a 2- to 2.5-hour CE workshop, $650 for a 3- to 3.5-hour CE workshop, and $850 for a 4-hour CE workshop. If there is more than one presenter, the honorarium will be divided evenly among presenters.
• Offer the workshop at a competitive rate for individuals requesting CE credit and those who are interested only in a certificate of completion. We will also take care of administrative requirements to fulfill certificate requests. The Buros Center is recognized as an approved provider of continuing education by APA, NASP, and NYSED for psychologists.
• Disseminate an evaluation of the workshop to attendees and provide presenters with a summary of the results.
• Provide access to a recording of any presentations from your CE workshop provided you agree not to offer that recording for CE credit elsewhere.
• Provide presenters with a certificate for CE credit.

Proposals are due by April 17, 2023, and should be submitted by completing the workshop proposal submission form at https://go.unl.edu/burosworkshop. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by May 15, 2023. If you have questions about your submission, email Dr. Jessica Jonson at jjonson@buros.org.

Accepted workshops will be scheduled to occur sometime between June and November of 2023. Workshops will be offered between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. central time to accommodate U.S. time zones. We will work to accommodate preferences for days of the week or specific dates on which presenters would like to conduct their respective workshop.

Buros Center Workshop Call for Proposals (PDF)

Controversies in College Admissions: Access, Honesty, Equity, Excellence Virtual Mini-Conference (2020)

Continuing Education Credits (CEs/CPD) Available

Experts from across the country explore potential new models for college admissions, including standardized tests, the value of increasing student diversity, and the role financial aid could play in optimizing admissions. We believe these topics will spark important conversations, especially in these unusual times. This virtual mini-conference offered content over two days and is now available in our video library.

Fairness in Educational and Psychological Tests: Critical Issues and Solutions (2017)

The goal of this working meeting was to provide a dynamic, interactive forum for identifying gaps and new directions for research and practice in the areas of fairness in testing, particularly in light of the 2014 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. The gathering involved 16 influential researchers/practitioners in educational policy, educational measurement, school psychology, clinical/counseling psychology, and industrial/organizational psychology. A key outcome for the meeting was to develop a plan for continued dialogue, dissemination, and scholarship. This meeting was supported by American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference grant program funding with additional funding from the Buros Center for Testing.

CLICK HERE for more information about the meeting, featured speakers, and archived recordings.

Big Issues in Testing Conference (2013)

Improving Admissions and Learning in Higher Education

Presentations from the 2013 Big Issues in Testing Conference highlight research and insights regarding the current and future state of admissions and learning assessment at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Issues discussed include the extent to which testing and assessment produces desired results or effects, influence of the context in which assessment occurs, implications for specific populations, and lessons higher education can learn from K-12 assessment for accountability.

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this conference

Buros 30/70 Conference (2010)

Monitoring Assessment Quality in the Age of Accountability

The 30/70 Conference gathered presenters who have played one or more significant roles in the Buros Center for Testing's history to discuss various topics related to assessment quality in an age of accountability. This conference was organized to celebrate over 70 years since the initial publication of The Mental Measurements Yearbook series and over 30 years of the Buros Center for Testing at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. 

CLICK HERE for topics, presenters, and archived recordings from this conference