About Me - Yale Quan

I’m a Ph.D. candidate in Measurement & Statistics in the College of Education at the University of Washington, working under the guidance of Dr. Chun Wang. You can learn more about our research group at UW here. In Fall 2026, I will join the University of Southern Mississippi as a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in the Research, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment (RESA) program. You can learn more about the RESA Ph.D. program here.

My research is motivated by the need for fair and rigorous measurement in complex educational and psychological settings. Methodologically, I develop psychometric models that integrate modern machine learning approaches with item response theory and diagnostic classification models to support culturally responsive measurement. Much of my work focuses on intersectional differential item functioning, small-sample and high-dimensional inference, and many-group measurement invariance. I am particularly interested in using neural networks and graph-based methods to improve DIF detection, parameter estimation, and scoring, with the goal of producing more equitable, interpretable, and practically useful assessment tools.

In my applied work, I collaborate with K–12 schools and community partners to study barriers to student success, with a focus on student belonging and chronic absenteeism. I also apply psychometric and statistical methods to healthcare and psychological research settings, using real-world data to inform both substantive findings and ongoing methodological development.