Fred Davidson Last Updated: 29 April 2010

Curriculum Vitae

CURRENT TITLE:
Professor of Linguistics (Primary appointment)
and Professor of Educational Psychology and Professor of Curriculum and Instruction (by courtesy; zero-time
appointments)

ADDRESS:
Department of Linguistics
4080 Foreign Languages Building (FLB)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
707 South Mathews Ave., mc-168
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
phone, office: +217-244-2732 (direct) +217-333-3563 (messages/reception)
e-mail: fgd@illinois.edu
webpage: http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/fgd

Effective 16 August 2008, my former unit (the Division of English as an International Language) has merged with
the Department of Linguistics at UIUC.

EDUCATION:
Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics, specialization in language assessment, University of California at Los Angeles, June
1988.
M.A. in Teaching ESL, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1981.
B.A. in Teaching Speech, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 1976.
Illinois State Teacher's Certificate, Grades 6-12, Speech and English, June 1976.

AWARDS, HONORS, PROFESSIONAL DUTIES:

Supervisor, UIUC Foreign Language Assessment Group (FLAG).
Visiting Professor, University of Leicester (UK), 2008.
Member, Editorial Board, Language Testing
Member, Editorial Board, Language Assessment Quarterly
Member, Editorial Board, Assessing Writing
Co-organizer: Midwest Association of Language Testers Meeting, September 2006, Champaign, IL.
2002 President, International Language Testing Association (ILTA)
Listed in Who's Who in American Education.
Listed on the "Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers" (based on student evaluations) University of Illinois. (various
years)
Reviewer of manuscripts for the following journals, meetings and publishers: System, Language Testing, Language
Learning, Issues in Applied Linguistics, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, World Englishes, Pragmatics and
Language Learning Conference (UIUC), Psychological Methods, Language Testing Research Colloquium, Issues
and Developments in Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, Oxford University Press, Newbury House Publishers,
American Association of Applied Linguistics, Cambridge University Press / Univ. Camb. Local Exam. Syndicate,
Sage Publications, Inc., Yale University Press.
Grant Reviewer, Hong Kong University Grants Committee
Assessment proposal strand coordinator, American Association for Applied Linguistics 1997 and 2000 meetings.
Co-organizer, Midwest Association of Language Testers Meeting, January 2002
Member, Phi Kappa Phi: national honorary
Member, Phi Delta Kappa: national honorary
Citations for excellence of Teaching Associate student evaluations, UCLA TESL/Applied Linguistics. (various
years)
Certificate of Appreciation, Republic of Liberia Ministry of Education, December 1978.
Past Member, Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Board, Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Past Member, Committee of Examiners, TOEFL, ETS
Past Chair, TESOL Research Interest Section

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 1

Past Member, ILTA Executive Board. Past Chair of ILTA Task Force on Testing Standards, and current member of
the re-constituted Task Force.

ACADEMIC POSITIONS (salaried):

Professor (tenured), UIUC, (2008-present)
Associate Professor (tenured), UIUC (1996-2008)
Assistant Professor (tenure-track), UIUC (1990-1996)
Program Evaluator, Illinois State Board of Ed. (1989-1990)
Educational Consultant, Illinois Resource Center. (1989-1990)
Research Advisor. University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, Cambridge, England. (1988-1989)
Teaching Assistant/Associate and Research Assistant, UCLA. (1983-1988)
Intern/Lecturer in ESL: Ohio University Program of Intensive English, Athens Ohio. (1981-1983)
Teaching and Research Assistant, UIUC. (1979-1981)
Peace Corps Volunteer Teacher in Junior High School English and Science, Republic of Liberia, West Africa.
(1976-1978)

RESEARCH GRANTS/CONTRACTS:
External (source: UIUC Division of Management Information) values are in $USD for mid-2003 to the present day:

Pre-2003 External awards:

September 1994: U.S. Government Research Contract Number 94-Y964800-000, US$139,605

Internal awards:
May 2005: UIUC Research Board Grant 05130, US$13,558
Fall 1998: UIUC Research Board Grant 1-2-69408, US$3000. (Brian Lynch, co-investigator)
Summer 1997, UIUC International Studies Program, US$500,
January 1993: UIUC Research Board Grant 1-2-68677, US$5,508.
November 1990: UIUC Research Board Grant 12-69941, US$1,630.

CONSULTANCIES:
Consultant to Pearson Plc. to serve as Chair of a Sensitivity Review Panel for a new test of English as a Foreign
Language. (April-October 2008)
Consultant to the K-12 ELL Working Group, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ (May, 2006)
Consultant to the Center for Language Research, Michigan State University (February, 2004) Consultant to the
Language Resource Center, UCLA (May, 2003)
Consultant to the Wisconsin State Department of Instruction
Consultant to School District for the City of Elgin, Illinois, Bilingual Education Program. Consultant to Illinois
Resource Center (K-12 ESL/bilingual education teacher training), Des Plaines, Illinois.
Consultant to Defense Language Institute, Monterey California.
Consultant to the Center for the Advancement of Language Learning (CALL), Washington, DC

STUDENT RESEARCH SUPERVISION (please see my webpage for details)

Ph.D. Committees, Director: 32

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 2

 Ph.D. Committees, Member: 40
M.A. Committees, Director: 25
M.A. Committees, Member: 17
----------
Total: 114

UIUC CAMPUS/DEPARTMENTAL SERVICE:

Faculty Supervisor of the UIUC English Test (EPT) and ESL TA Duty Roster
Member, UC Senate Subcommittee on Student Conduct
Past Member, Campus Undergraduate Student Conduct Hearing Committee 2004-2007
Past Chair / Acting Chair, DEIL Research and Human Subjects Committee various times from 1998-2008.
Past Chair, DEIL Financial Aid Committee, ca. 1998-2008
Past Chair, DEIL MATESL Admissions Committee, ca. 1998-2008
Past Member, DEIL Curriculum Committee, 1990-2008
Past Member, Campus Foreign Languages Area Committee ca. 1995-2008.
Past Member, Assistant Dean Search Committee, UIUC Office of Student Conflict Resolution, 2005
Past Member, Assistant Professor Search Committee, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 2004-05
Past Member, Search Committees: UIUC French Department 1998-99, 1999-2000
Past Chair, GenEd Working Group on National Reports
Past Chair, DEIL Assistant Professor Search Committees (1998-99 and 2000-01)
Past Member, Office of International Student Affairs Advisory Committee
Past Member, UIUC General Education Board Past Member, Task Force on Program Evaluation / Assessment and
Program Improvement Past Member, Campuswide Advisory Committee to the Center for Writing Studies Past
Member, (ad hoc) TOEFL Entry Score Workgroup
Past Member, review committee of EOP/Rhetoric

UIUC COURSES TAUGHT:(Please see my website for syllabi and course materials)
A. Primary course responsibility, and primary responsibility for the M.A. TESL comprehensive examination
question: EIL (360)/460: Principles of Language Testing (1991-present).
B. Other courses designed and taught:
EIL (487)/587: advanced seminar in language testing (1991-present). Topics vary. Contact me for precise
information.
C. Other courses taught: LING (414)/514: Design and Statistics in Language Studies; EIL (312)/411: MATESL
Practicum EIL (345)/445: "Second Language Reading and Writing"; EIL (367)/467: "Communicative Approaches
to Second and Foreign Language Teaching; EIL (371): "Teaching Composition in the ESL Classroom"; EIL
(389)/489: "Theoretical Foundations of Second Language Acquisition"; ESL (113)/113: English Structure and
Paragraph Development for Undergraduate Students; ESL (400)/500: "Verbal Communication in English as a
Second Language for International Graduate Students, I"; Intensive English Institute, Advanced Level: ESL
Composition

MEMBERSHIPS:
International Language Testing Association (ILTA)
National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), formerly the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
(NCRPCV)
American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
National Guardianship Association (NGA)
American Numismatic Association (ANA)
American Numismatic Society (ANS)
Adventure Cycling Association (formerly Bikecentennial)

PUBLICATIONS:
Books:
Fulcher, Glenn and Fred Davidson. 2007. Language Testing and Assessment: An Advanced Resource Book.
Applied Linguistics Series. Oxford, UK: Routledge.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 2002. Testcraft: A Teacher's Guide to Writing and Using Language Test

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 3

Specifications. Yale University Press.
Davidson, Fred. 1996. Principles of Statistical Data Handling Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, Inc.
Bachman, Lyle, Fred Davidson, Kathy Ryan and Inn-chul Choi. 1995. An Investigation into the Comparability of
Two Tests of English as a Foreign Language: The CambridgeTOEFL Comparability Study. Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press and the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. #1 in the series:
Studies in Language Testing. Series Editor: Mike Milanovic.

Research and Technical Reports:

Davidson, Fred. 2007. Contract Learning. (Handout for UIUC ESL TA workshops, originally authored in 1993 and
revised in 1997 and 2007). https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/fgd/www/CL_Handout_ver2007.txt
Davidson, Fred and Nicholas Dussault. 2004. WAAVS: The WKCE-Wisconsin Alternate Assessment Validation
Study. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (WIDPI). Downloadable at:
http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/wsasarticl.html
Davidson, Fred. 2002. Final Report: Standards (Cutpoint)Setting on the LAS and IPT exams for the Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction. Madison: WIDPI. Downloadable at: http://dpi.wi.gov/oea/wsasarticl.html
Davidson, Fred (Chair) Task Force on Testing Standards (TFTS). 1995. Report of the Task Force on Testing
Standards (TFTS) to the International Language Testing Association (ILTA). with: J. Charles Alderson, Dan
Douglas, Ari Huhta, Carolyn Turner and Elaine Wylie. Lancaster, UK: ILTA; also available via the ERIC Document
Reproduction Service microfiche archive, # ED390268; also available via the ILTA WWW homepage, managed by
Glenn Fulcher -http://www.imtcsamba.hct.ac.ae/assessment/ltrfile/ilta/ilta.html
Davidson, Fred [unrecorded author] Illinois State Board of Education: Office of Management and Policy Planning,
Research and Evaluation. 1990. FY 1989 transitional bilingual education (TBE) and transitional program of
instruction (TPI) evaluation report. Springfield, Illinois.

Editorship(s):
Fulcher, G. and F. Davidson. Handbook on Language Testing. Routledge (forthcoming)
Contributing Editor: The Greenwood Dictionary of Education. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. Responsible for
coordination of Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment topics. Project Editors: Nancy O'Brien (UIUC) and John
Collins (Harvard). ISBN 0-89774-860-3. Published 2003. Also responsible for authoring several entries.

Articles and chapters in books:

Fulcher, Glenn, Fred Davidson and Jenny Kemp. Effective rating scale development for speaking tests:
Performance Decision Trees . Forthcoming. Language Testing
Davidson, Fred. Forthcoming. Test Specifications. Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (Editor: Carol Chapelle)
Davidson, Fred. 2010. Why is cognitive diagnosis necessary? A reaction. Language Assessment Quarterly, 7:1.
Pp. 104-107
Fulcher, Glenn and Fred Davidson. Test Architecture, Test Retrofit. Language Testing 26:1, pp. 123-144.
Fulcher, Glenn and Fred Davidson. 2008. Tests in Society and in Learning: A Dialogue. Educational Philosophy and
Theory, 40:3, pp. 407-417.
Davidson, Fred and Glenn Fulcher. 2007. The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) and the design
of language tests: A Matter of Effect. Language Teaching, Vol 40, pp. 231-241.
Davidson, Fred, Jungtae Kim, Hyeong-Jong Lee, Jinshu Li, and Alexis Lopez. 2007. Chapter 6: Using and Auditing
Test Specifications in Language Test Development. In A. L. Bailey (Ed.). Language Demands of Students Learning
English in School: Putting academic language to the test. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.
Davidson, Fred, and Glenn Fulcher. 2006. Flexibility is proof of a good 'Framework'. The Guardian Weekly, 175:22,
Page 5 of "Learning English." (17 November 2006)
Davidson, Fred 2006. World Englishes and Test Construction. in Kachru, B., Kachru, Y., and Nelson, C. (eds.) The
Handbook of World Englishes. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 709-717.
Davidson, Fred. 2004. The Identity of Language Testing. Language Assessment Quarterly 1:1. pp. 85-88.
Kunnan, Antony J. and Fred Davidson. 2003. Situated Ethics in Language Assessment. In Douglas, Dan (Ed.)
English Language Testing in U.S. Colleges and Universites, Second Edition. Washington, DC: NAFSA. Pp. 115-
132.
Davidson, Fred and Yeonsuk Cho. 2001. Issues in EAP Test Development: What One Institution and its History Tell
Us. in Peacock, Matthew and John Flowerdew. (Eds.) English for Academic Purposes. Cambridge University Press.
Davidson, Fred. 2000. The Language Tester's Statistical Toolbox. System 28:4, pp. 605-617.
Davidson, Fred. 1999. Worn Data Paths II: Roberto's Wreck. TESOL Research Interest Section Newsletter, 6:1, pp.

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 4

1-2
Davidson, Fred. 1998. Worn Data Paths. TESOL Research Interest Section Newsletter, 5:2, pp. 1-2.
Davidson, Fred. 1998. The Ordinal-Interval Distinction Reconsidered. Language Testing Update Issue 23. pp. 56-
64.
Davidson, Fred., Carolyn E. Turner and Ari Huhta. 1998. "Language Testing Standards". in C. Clapham and D.
Corson (Eds.) Language Testing and Assessment, Volume 7, Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Dordrecht,
the Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 303-311. [based on the work of the TFTS]
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1998. A Criterion-Referenced Viewpoint on Standards/Cutscores in Language
Testing. Revised version of a paper presented at the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Seattle,
Washington. ERIC Document Reproduction Service, Microfiche #418603.
Lynch, Brian and Fred Davidson. 1998. "Criterion-Referencing". in C. Clapham and D. Corson (Eds.) Language
Testing and Assessment, Volume 7, Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer
Academic Publishers, pp. 263-273.
Davidson, Fred and Angie H.C. Liu. 1997. "Creating Normally-Distributed Ability Subgroups". Language Testing
Update Issue 22.
Davidson, Fred. 1996. "Some comments on 'Assessing oral communication skills: Reflections of an Oral Examiner'
by Roy E. Taylor." World Englishes 15:1, pp. 137-138.
Bachman, Lyle, Fred Davidson and Michael Milanovic. 1996. "The Use of Test Method Characteristics in the
Content Analysis and Design of EFL Proficiency Tests." Language Testing 13:2, pp. 125-150.
Davidson, Fred. 1995. Language Test Unidimensional Model Fit at Multiple Ability Levels. ERIC Document
Reproduction Service, Microfiche #ED390267.
Davidson, Fred, J. Charles Alderson, Dan Douglas, Ari Huhta, Carolyn Turner and Elaine Wylie. 1995. "An
International Survey of Language Assessment Standards" TESOL Journal 5:1, pp. 6-7. Lynch, Brian and
Fred Davidson. 1994. "Criterion-referenced language test development: linking curricula, teachers and tests."
TESOL Quarterly 28:4, pp. 727-743.
Davidson, Fred. 1994. "The Interlanguage metaphor and language assessment" World Englishes 13:3, pp. 377-386.
Davidson, Fred. 1994. "Comment [on Phillipson's Linguistic Imperialism]" World Englishes 13:1, pp. 119-120.
[Followed by a reply by Phillipson.]
Davidson, Fred. 1994. "Norms appropriacy of achievement tests normed on English-speaking children when applied
to Spanish-speaking children." Language Testing. 11:1, pp. 83-95.
Clark, John L.D. and Fred Davidson. 1993. "Language Learning Research: Cottage Industry or Consolidated enter-
prise?" in Omaggio-Hadley, A. (Ed.) Research in Language Learning: Principles, Processes and Prospects. The
ACTFL Foreign Language Education Series. Lincolnwood, IL: National Textbook Company.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1993. "Criterion-referenced language test development: a prolegomenon". in
Huhta, A., K. Sajavaara and S. Takala (Eds). Language Testing: New Openings Jyvaskyla, Finland: University of
Jyvasklya, pp. 73-89.
Davidson, Fred. 1993. "Some comments on the social impact of research in TESOL". TESOL Quarterly. 28:1, p.
161162.
Davidson, Fred. 1993. "Symposium on testing English across cultures". World Englishes 12:1, p. 87 ("Introduction")
and pp. 113-125 ("Testing English across cultures: Summary comments.") Davidson, Fred. 1992.
Davidson, Fred. The Testing of English as a Second/Foreign Language in the CriterionReferenced Era. ERIC
Document Reproduction Service, Microfiche #ED361407.
Davidson, Fred. 1992. "Response to John Oller's Presentation" [additional subtitle: 'From The Trenches' Oller's
paper was entitled: 'Language Testing Research: Lessons Applied to LEP Students and Programs.'] Proceedings of
the Second National Research Symposium on Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students. U.S. Dept. of Education,
OBEMLA, and OERI.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. "Statistical support for training in ESL composition rating". In L. Hamp-Lyons (Ed.)
Assessing second language writing in academic contexts. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. "The Formalization of the LTRC, Birth of the ILTA, LTEST-L, and Standards /
Standardization: another update". Language Testing Update, Issue 9.
Davidson, Fred and Lyle Bachman. 1990. "The CambridgeTOEFL Comparability Study: An Example of the Cross-
National Comparison of Language Tests." in De Jong, John H.A.L. (Ed) Standardization in Language Testing:
AILA Review #7, pp. 24-45.
Bachman, Lyle, Fred Davidson and John Foulkes. 1990. "A Comparison of the Abilities Measured by the
Cambridge and Educational Testing Service EFL Test Batteries." Issues in Applied Linguistics. 1:1, 1990 30-55.
Davidson, Fred "Microcomputer Statistics for CALL Research." 1989. Computer Assisted Language Learning

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 5

Digest. 5:5, July 21, 1989, 8-10. L
Lynch, Brian, Fred Davidson and Grant Henning. 1988. "Person Dimensionality in Language Test Validation."
Language Testing. 5:2, December 1988, 206-219.
Davidson, Fred. 1987. Teaching and Testing ESL Composition through Contract Learning. ERIC Document
Reproduction Service, Microfiche #ED245560. https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/fgd/www/Davidson_1984_CL.pdf
Henning, Grant and Fred Davidson. 1987. "Scalar Analysis of Composition Ratings." in Kathleen M. Bailey, et.al.
(Eds.) Language Testing Research: Selected Papers from the 1986 Colloquium. Monterey, CA: Defense Langauge

Institute.
Davidson, Fred and Grant Henning. 1985. "A Self-Rating Scale of English Difficulty: Rasch Scalar Analysis of
Items and Rating Categories." Language Testing. 2:2, December 1985, 164-179.
Davidson, Fred, Thom Hudson and Brian Lynch. 1985. "Language Testing: Operationalization in Classroom
Measurement and L2 Research." in Marianne Celce-Murcia (ed.) Beyond Basics: Issues and Research in TESOL.
Rowley, MA:Newbury House. pp. 137-152.
Davidson, Fred. 1983. "A Three-Stage Reading Skills Syllabus." Curriculum Clearinghouse Newsletter. Jun 1983,
p.12.

Reviews:
Davidson, Fred. Forthcoming. review of: Douglas, D. 2010. Understanding language testing. Abingdon: Hodder
Education. (Understanding language, Series editors: Bernard Comrie and Greville Corbette). Language Testing.
Davidson, Fred. 2008. review of Downing, Steven M. and Thomas M. Haladyna. (Eds.) Handbook of Test
Development. Mahwah, NJ, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum. Language Assessment Quarterly 5:8, pp. 1-8.
Wilmes, Carsten and Fred Davidson. 2007. review of Alderson, J. Charles. Diagnosing Foreign Language
Proficiency: The Interface between Learning and Assessment. London: Continuum. The Modern Language Journal
91:1, pp. 146-147.
Davidson, Fred. 2002. review of Shohamy, Elana. The Power of Tests: a Critical Perspective. Harlow:
Longman/Pearson. Language Testing 19:1, pp. 105-107.
Davidson, Fred. 2001. review of Glayol Ekbatani and Herbert Pierson (Eds.) Learner-directed Assessment in ESL.
Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. The Modern Language Journal 85:2, pp. 343-344.
Davidson, Fred. 2000. review of American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association,
National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999, Standards for Educational and Psychological Assessment.
Language Testing 17:4, pp. 457-462.
Davidson, Fred. 2000. review of Kunnan, A.J. (Ed.) Validation in Language Assessment: Selected Papers from the
17th Language Testing Research Colloquium, Long Beach. in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 22:2.
Davidson, Fred. 1999. Combined review of George and Mallery (1999), Morgan and Griego (1998), and Silver and
Hittner (1998) [three books on statistical analysis software for the behavioral sciences]. Contemporary Psychology
44:1
Davidson, Fred. 1998. Review of: Clapham, Caroline. The Development of IELTS: A Study of the Effect of
Background Knowledge on Reading Comprehension. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate and Cambridge University Press. Volume 4 in the series: Studies in Language Testing,
edited by Michael Milanovic. Language Testing 15:2, pp. 288-292.
Davidson, Fred. 1996. Review of: Herrnstein, Richard J. and Charles Murray. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and
Class Structure in American Life. Language Testing 13:1, pp. 111-115.
Davidson, Fred. 1992. Review of: Resampling Stats, v.2.01 (computer software). Computer-Assisted English
Language Learning Journal 3:3, pp. 31-36.
Davidson, Fred. 1992. Review of: Alatis, James E. (Ed.) GURT 1989: Language teaching, testing and technology:
Lessons from the past with a view toward the future. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 14:2, pp. 224-225.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. Review of: Pennington and Stevens: Computers in Applied Linguistics. Multilingual Matters
(1992). Athelstan Newsletter 4:4, pp. 13-14.
Davidson, Fred. 1991. Review of: Agnihotri, Ramit Kant et al. (1988) Tense in Indian English: a Sociolinguistic
perspective. World Englishes 10:2, pp. 229-232.
Davidson, Fred. 1985. Review of: Madsen, Harold S. 1983. Techniques in Testing. in the Curriculum Clearinghouse
Newsletter. December 1985, pp. 20-21.
Davidson, Fred. 1982. Review of: Palmer, Adrian S. et.al. 1981. The Construct Validation of Tests of

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 6

Communicative Competence. in the Ohio TESOL Newsletter 6:2, Summer 1982, pp. 16-17. This review was
reprinted in: The Japan Association of Language Teachers Newsletter 6:11, November 1, 1982, pp. 10-11.

Software:
Davidson, Fred. 1991. dB-Score. A d-Base III+ computer program for scoring multiple choice test questions.
Software circulated on the LTEST-L e-mail discussion group.
Davidson, Fred. 1987. CONTEXT. A computer program for contextual discourse analysis on the UCLA MVS
mainframe. Unpublished software, UCLA Applied Linguistics Department.

SELECTED WORKSHOPS:

April, 2010. Co-presenter and co-organizer: two-day pre-conference workshop at the 32nd Language Testing
Research Colloquium, Cambridge, UK: “Assessing levels of academic language proficiency: conceptualization,
operationalization, alignment, and validation”
October, 2006. The ILTA Code of Practice. Pre-conference workshop at the East Coast Organization of Language
Testers (ECOLT), Washington, DC.
June/July, 2003. Workshops and information sessions on language testing: South Africa and Mozambique,
sponsored by local agencies and the Office of English Language Programs, U.S. Department of State.
May 2003. Using and Reflecting on Language Test Specifications, SCALAR, Los Angeles. August 2002. Two
Internet Videoconferences on Language Test Development for Egyptian Language Teachers / U.C. Santa Cruz.
May 2002. Language Test Specifications. CTELT, Dubai.
Oct/Nov 2001. Designing tests and writing specifications. Monterery, CA: Defense Language Institute. May 2000.
Workshops on language test construction. Various locations, Malaysia.
December 1999. Workshop on statistical data management. Chulalongkorn University Language Institute (CULI)
Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.
March 1997. Workshop on principles of statistical data management. Language Testing Research Colloquium,
Orlando, Florida.
August 1996. Workshop on criterion-referenced language testing for adult ESL teachers, St. Louis, Missouri.
September 1995. Workshop on criterion-referenced language test specification design for the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education. Jefferson City, Missouri.
April 1995. Workshop on criterion-referenced language testing specification design for the State of Illinois Bilingual
Assessment Advisory Panel.
January 1995. Course and workshop on language testing, CCLS/CCAA [an EFL company], Miami.
November 1994. Workshop: Criterion-referenced language testing. The Language Resource Center, University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor.
November 1994. Workshop on criterion-referenced approaches to program evaluation for the UIUC writing-across-
thecurriculum program, Allerton Park, Illinois.
February 1993. Retreat/Workshop on Criterion-Referenced Language Test Development for the UIUC Intensive
English Institute full-time teaching staff. Allerton Park, Illinois
November 1990. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: United States Information Service, Guatemala City.
January 1990. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: United States Information Service, San Jose, Costa
Rica
December 1987. Consultant and Lecturer in Language Testing: U.S.I.S., Cairo, Egypt.
September 1986. Lecturer in Language Testing: U.S.I.S., El Valle, Panama.
Summer 1983 and Summer 1981. ESL Teacher in programs for students from Japan (Chubu and Konan
Universities), Ohio University and University of Illinois. Summer 1981 and Summer 1980. Logistics Coordinator,
U.S.I.S. Francophone African English Educators workshops, Univ. of Illinois.

PRESENTATIONS:

Major plenary addresses and invited lectures:

Davidson, Fred. 2009, November. Language Testing without Blueprints. Invited keynote: Midwest Association of
Language Testers, Purdue University.
Davidson, Fred. 2008, May. The Stasis Engine: Reflections on the History and Philosophy of Educational and
Psychological Measurement. University of Leicester, UK.
Davidson, Fred. 2003, June. Invited Plenary. Language Testing: A Matter of Identity. Joint meeting of the World
Federation of Modern Language Associations (FIPLV) And the South African Association for Language Teaching

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 7

(SAALT), Johannesburg.
Davidson, Fred. 2003, May. Invited Keynote. "Reverse Engineering in Language Test Development." Southern
California Language Assessment Researchers (SCALAR), Los Angeles. Davidson,
Fred. 2002, May. Invited Opening Plenary Lecture: "Speed Bumps in Language Testing." CTELT. Dubai. Davidson,
Fred. 2000, June. Invited lecture: "Reliability in language testing and applied linguistics research". Birkbeck
College, University of London.
Davidson, Fred. 2000, May. Plenary address: "Language Testing: Points and Counterpoints". Malaysian English
Language Teachers Association, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, December. Plenary address: "Language Testing from Shibboleth to Cyberspace". CULI
Conference, Bangkok, Thailand.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. Plenary address: "Practices, Issues and Developments in Adult Language Testing".
TEXTESOL Region V, Dallas.
Davidson, Fred. 1998, January. Invited lecture: "SelfAssessment Revisited". Hong Kong Language Assessment
Symposium and the VATME/ACTA conference, Melbourne, Australia.
Davidson, Fred. 1996, November. Invited lecture: "The Dark Underbelly of Language Testing". Speaker series for
the University of Illinois Second Language Acquisition and Teacher Education (SLATE) doctoral program.
Davidson, Fred, 1993, October. Invited lecture: "The Dimension(s) of Language". SLATE series.
Davidson, Fred, 1990, November. Plenary address: "SelfReport in Language Testing." Guatemalan National
Conference for Teachers of English.
Davidson, Fred. 1990, January. Plenary address: "Making the Nineties Happen." Costa Rican National Conference
for Teachers of English.

Conference Presentations:
“Post-graduate training in language testing” Part of the Symposium on Industrialization and Language Testing.
32nd Language Testing Research Colloquium (LTRC), Cambridge, England, 15 April 2010.
Davidson, Fred. 2008, November. Make a Cross on the Cephalic Extremity of the Homunculus: The U.S. Army
World War One Linguality Test. the History of Education Society. St. Petersburg FL. November 2008.
Davidson, Fred. 2003, April. "Crafting a test of academic language proficiency: Some comments on reverse
engineer ing and certain philosophical tensions in large-scale testing." American Educational Research Association,
Chicago.
Davidson, Fred. Co-organizer with Larry Selinker. 2003, February. "AAAL/ILTA Joint Session: New Voices in
Applied Linguistics." AAAL, Arlington, VA.
Davidson, Fred. Co-organizer with Brian Lynch. 2002, May. Colloquium: "Teaching ethics in language testing."
(Invitational) Language Assessment Ethics Conference. Los Angeles, CA.
Gopalan, Sandhya, Fred Davidson and Yeonsuk Cho. 2001, February. "Historical reverse engineering of a
highstakes university language test". AAAL, St. Louis.
Cho, Yeonsuk and Fred Davidson. 2000, September. "The use of process-oriented assessment in large-scale ESL
university placement testing." Symposium on Second Language Writing, Purdue University.
Davidson, Fred. 2000, May. Question and Answer sessions on the TOEFL. Various locations, Malaysia.
Gopalan, Sandhya and Fred Davidson. 2000, May. "The feasibility of historical reverse engineering to trace
evolution of language test development." Midwest Association of Language Testers (MWALT), Iowa City, Iowa.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Developing new test frameworks for TOEFL 2000" Invited respondent. TESOL,
New York.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Getting research mileage out of IEP databases" Colloquium presenter. TESOL, New
York.
Davidson, Fred. 1999, March. "Toward a policy oriented research agenda" invited co-presenter. TESOL, New York.
Davidson, Fred. 1998, April. Testing English across Cultures: A Problem of "Standards". Australian Council for
Educational Research (ACER), Melbourne.
Srestasathiern, Sripen and Fred Davidson, 1998, April. Principles of Item and Task Bank Construction. Regional
Language Center (RELC) Seminar, Singapore.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1998, March. A CriterionReferenced Viewpoint on Standards/Cutscores.
American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Seattle.

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 8

Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1997, March. The Unfulfilled Promise of Criterion-Referencing. 31st Annual
Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), Orlando.
Lynch, Brian and Fred Davidson. 1997, March. Is My Test Valid? 31st Annual TESOL Convention, Orlando.
Davidson, Fred and Peter Lowenberg. Language Testing and World Englishes: A Proposed Research Agenda.
International Association of World Englishes (IAWE), Honolulu, December 1996.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1996, March. Pre-convention one-day workshop on criterion-referenced test
specifications. 30th Annual TESOL.
Davidson, Fred (Chair) with the ILTA TFTS. Report on the activities of the TFTS. 1995, March and April.
Language Testing Research Colloquium and the 29th TESOL Convention, Long Beach.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1994, March and 1995, March. CRT Test Specifications. Presented as part of the
annual pre-TESOL all-day language testing workshop. 28th and 29th Annual TESOL Conventions, Baltimore,
Maryland and Long Beach, CA.
Davidson, Fred. 1995, March. Setting the Record Straight: Applied Linguistics and the Dispelling of Misconception.
American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Long Beach, CA.
Davidson, Fred. 1994, April. A language assessment viewpoint. IAWE, Urbana, IL.
Davidson, Fred. 1994, March. ESL/EFL trait structure variation at multiple ability levels. 16th Annual (LTRC),
Washington, DC.
Lynch, Brian and Fred Davidson. 1993, April. Criterionreferenced language test development for teaching and
research. 27th Annual TESOL Convention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Davidson, Fred and Brian Lynch. 1993, April. Test development and test specifications. Academic Session on
Language Assessment in Higher Education, at the 27th Annual TESOL Convention (TESOL), Atlanta, Georgia.
Davidson, Fred. 1992, Nov. The testing of English as a second/foreign language in the criterion-referenced era.
Annual Convention of the National Council of Teachers of English. Louisville, KY.
Davidson, Fred, Liz Hamp-Lyons and Dorry Kenyon. 1992, March. Direct scalar rating vs. multiple binary rating of
ESL learner writing. 14th Annual LTRC, Vancouver.
Davidson, Fred and Deborah Campbell. 1992, March. Portfolios and contract learning. In L. Hamp-Lyons (Chair)
Fifth Colloquium on Assessing Academic Writing: Portfolios. 26th Annual TESOL Convention, Vancouver.
Davidson, Fred. 1991, October. Designing an "intelligent" SLA research computer database. Theory Construction
and Methodology in Second Language Research conference, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. A
revised version of this paper presented at the 26th Annual TESOL
Davidson, Fred. 1991, September. From the trenches: A reaction to John Oller's "Language testing research: Lessons
applied to LEP students and programs." Reaction paper at the Second National Research Symposium on Limited
English Proficient (LEP) Students. Sponsored by: U.S. Dept. of Education, OBEMLA, and OERI. Washington, DC.
Davidson, Fred. 1991, August. Criterion-referenced language test construction. Workshop at "Language Testing in
the 1990s", University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
Bachman, Lyle, Fred Davidson & Michael Milanovic. 1991, August. The use of content analysis in the design and
moderation of EFL proficiency tests. "Language Testing in the 1990s", University of Jyvaskyla, Finland.
[Preconference]
Davidson, Fred. 1991, March. Norms applicability of English achievement tests in K-12 ESL/BE. 13th Annual
LTRC, Princeton, NJ.
Davidson, Fred. 1991, March. Reaction to the TOEFL Test of Written English. In L. Hamp-Lyons (Chair) Fourth
Colloquium on Assessing Academic Writing: Four Writing Tests. 25th Annual convention of TESOL, New York.
Davidson, Fred. 1990, March. Report on the content analysis phase of the Cambridge-TOEFL Comparability Study
(CTCS). In L.F. Bachman (Chair), Panel on the CTCS. Presented at the 12th annual LTRC, and at the 24th Annual
convention of TESOL, San Francisco.
Davidson, Fred 1988-89, with Lyle Bachman and Brian Lynch: Papers on the Content Analysis phase of the
Cambridge-TOEFL Comparability Study. Presented at:
-1988 AAAL Conference, December, New Orleans
-1989 Language Testing Research Colloquium,

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 9

-1989 TESOL Convention, March, San Antonio
-1989 IATEFL Convention, April, Warwick, UK
-1989 NAFSA Convention, June, Minneapolis
Davidson, Fred. 1988, March. "An Exploratory Modeling Survey of the Trait Structures of Some Existing
Communicative Language Test Datasets." Tenth Annual Language Testing Research Colloquium, Urbana, Illinois.
Davidson, Fred. 1987, April. "The Dimensionality of ESL Proficiency Self Ratings." Ninth Annual LTRC, Miami,

OTHER INFORMATION:

Natural languages studied: French, German, Spanish

Computer programming experience: SAS, SPSS
Date of birth: available upon request.
Place of birth: Chicago, IL USA
Citizenship/passport: USA
Full legal name, family first: Davidson, Frederick Gavin
Professional and preferred name: Fred Davidson, in honor of my grandfather after whom I am named and who was
named simply by his parents: Fred.
Desire: for Liberia: the peace, stability and inherent kindness with which I was graced while I worked there.
When in doubt: listen to Bill Evans (the pianist, not the other guy) or John Coltrane
Remember two things: (1) Sagittarians make good teachers and good clowns, and (2) fixed-gear bicycles came first.

REFERENCES:

Available on request. Please state if you are interested in a specific area of my background, and I can focus the
references in that domain.

Fred Davidson, c.v., page 10