Awards

Bradley Hanson Award FAQs

  • I am at an early stage of my career. Can I still apply? Yes. You can apply for this award at any time of your career and applications from young scholars are particularly encouraged. For example, you can apply as a graduate student pursuing original research toward a Master’s or doctoral degree, as a new faculty member who is starting to build a research portfolio, or as a more established scholar who has made advances in an area that reflects the work and values of Brad Hanson. Even though the award supports research work, this can include work that focuses on professional activities such as professional development, curricular program, instruction, teaching or mentoring programs.

  • Can we apply as a group of researchers? Yes. Independent of where you are currently in your career you can apply as a representative for a group of researchers with whom you are working on a project. The names of all the applicants have to be on the form and CVs of all applicants must be submitted. The project description should describe the nature of the contribution of the group.

  • Does my research have to be in a particular area or use a particular methodology? No. The call for the award is deliberately open in this regard. Your research project should, however, be in an area that is consistent with the work that Brad Hanson has done. Brad was a very productive scholar who worked in a wide variety of topics relating to educational measurement so we encourage you to learn about his work and see how your work fits in this regard!

  • Does my research project have to be completed at the time of application? No, but it can be. Your research project can be recently completed, newly proposed, or in progress. If it is completed, it needs to have been completed within the past 12 months. If you are applying for the award with a project that is not yet completed (i.e., newly proposed or in progress), you need to be able to complete it within two years from when you receive the award.

  • I have submitted an application but was not selected as the recipient. Can I resubmit my application the following year? Yes. There is currently no limit to the number of times that you can submit an application. While repeated submissions are accepted, they are not given any preference over new submissions. In other words, each application is reviewed each year anew in the context of the other applications that have been submitted.

  • I am not a U.S. citizen. Can I still apply? Yes. Brad was a mentor for quite a few international students and worked with people around the world. Thus, we specifically encourage international scholars and students to apply as well.

  • How do I submit my application or nomination? Nominations and applications for the award will only be accepted via email to the contacts listed on this page: http://www.ncme.org/awards/bradley-hanson. 

  • Can I submit my application late? No. The deadline for submissions is January 7, 2022. The online portal for submitting nominations/applications will be closed on January 7.

  • Can I submit an application letter that is longer than 1500 words? No. Please stay within the limit to make the work easier for the reviewers of the applications. An application that contains a letter of more than 1500 words will be viewed unfavorably.

  • Does the limit of 1500 words include appendices, references, graphics, and other materials? Yes. Please do not submit separate documents or links to web sites that contain extensive additional information. The application letter serves to provide the reviewers with a concise description of your completed or proposed research and is not meant as a comprehensive documentation of all aspects of that research similar to a grant application or final report.

  • Are there any formatting requirements for the application letter? No. You may use the font type, margin size, page layout, and style manual that you prefer. To make the application easier to read for the reviewers, you may want to consider using a standard layout such as 1-inch margins on each side, 12-point font, and a 1.5 or double-spacing. Your application will not be evaluated negatively if you do not follow these recommendations, however.

  • Will my application be evaluated by several persons? Yes. Every application will be read by every member of the Bradley Hanson award committee. There are currently nine committee members, many of whom have a Ph.D. in an area related to educational measurement.

  • Will my application be evaluated according to multiple criteria? Yes. The application will be evaluated using five-point rating scales according to analytic criteria that characterize the project itself (e.g., predicted significance of contribution, practical feasibility, methodological appropriateness, consistency and coherence of description) and the applicant (e.g., academic qualifications for proposed project, potential for successful managing and completion of the project, career development objectives, etc.). After a reduced pool of applicants has been determined, the final decision will be made consensually on the basic of the analytic ratings and holistic impressions.

  • Will I receive anything in particular if I am selected as a recipient? Yes. You will receive a $1250 award and a commemorative plaque, which will be presented to you (or your group) at a ceremony during the annual meeting of NCME that follows the application deadline. There are no specific restrictions on how you use the money except that it should be spent for the project, if one is being proposed or in process. Note, however, that the award does not include transportation, lodging, membership, or reservation fees to the NCME conference, which are your responsibility should you be chosen as the award recipient.

  • Do I have to do anything besides the research if I am selected as a recipient? Yes. It is expected that you attend the annual meeting of NCME to accept the award. Moreover, we hope that you will be able to present your research at a later NCME meeting in an invited session upon the completion of the work. We had the first of such sessions in 2009 and plan to have them in regular intervals of about three years or so. We do not require you to present your research at the next session since we cannot support your travel or accommodations, but we certainly hope that you would be able to do so!

  • Can I donate money to the award? Yes. We are delighted that you would want to financially support other researchers and contribute to the memory of Brad Hanson through this award! You can contribute as an individual or as an organization and donations of any amount are welcome! You will be acknowledged as a contributor on the website of the award unless you specifically indicate that you do not want to be named. Supporting the fund is easy and can be done via the following institution:

             Arizona Community Foundation
             Bradley A. Hanson Memorial Fund
             2122 E. Highland Avenue, Suite 400
             Phoenix, AZ 85016

  • Can I contribute in other ways to the award? Yes. The award committee would like to solicit your suggestions about other means for making this award more meaningful to education measurement researchers that wish to honor Brad Hanson and his work. If you have any suggestions or would like to make a contribution to the award that is of a non-financial nature, please contact the committee chair.

  • I am interested in participating on the award committee. Is that possible? Yes. We are delighted that you consider serving on this committee! The committee currently consists of nine members and membership is on a rotating basis with three-year memberships. If you are interested in serving on the awards committee, please do not hesitate to contact the committee chair.