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I'm Dr. Jaylene T. Patterson, an educational psychologist, psychometrician, and quantitative methodologist with a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. My work focuses on educational measurement, psychometrics, culturally responsive assessment, and the use of quantitative methods to advance equity in education. I'm particularly interested in how we design, evaluate, and interpret measures in ways that produce more valid, fair, and meaningful evidence for students, educators, and institutions.

I currently serve as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Rutgers University-New Brunswick within the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP). As a member of the Collaborative for Outcomes, Research, and Engagement (CORE) in School Mental Health Lab, I contribute to Project AWARE and other initiatives designed to strengthen K-12 school mental health systems. My work includes quantitative and qualitative research, instrument development, program evaluation, data visualization, implementation research, and suicide prevention training for educators and school personnel.

My scholarship sits at the intersection of psychometrics, QuantCrit, Critical Whiteness Studies, teacher education, and educational measurement. I study how whiteness and racialized systems shape classroom experiences, educational policy, and accountability structures, and how measurement can be used to identify, examine, and challenge those dynamics. Methodologically, I specialize in Rasch measurement, item response theory, instrument development, differential item functioning, structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, and mixed methods research. I have collaborated on projects spanning large-scale assessment, school mental health, teacher education, STEM education, and federally funded evaluation studies, including work with the Department of Education (DoE), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Educational Testing Service (ETS), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and National Science Foundation-supported initiatives.

Outside of work, I enjoy exploring New York City and New Jersey, practicing yoga, traveling, spending time with family and friends, supporting drag artists and local arts communities, watching true crime documentaries, painting, and taking long walks through the many parks across the region. My partner and I are proud to call New Jersey home!