Donna Surges Tatum founded Meaningful Measurement in 1990. She has managed many projects and is adept at creating and guiding teams of highly skilled professionals who accomplish complex tasks.

 

Dr. Tatum is experienced in association management and earned the Certified Association Executive credential from the American Society of Association Executives.

 

Two of Meaningful Measurement’s recent projects for which Dr. Tatum is Principal Investigator are the creation of the National Certification Board for Alzheimer’s Care (NCBAC) and developing the MBLEx, a new national licensure exam for the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB).

 

Dr. Tatum has led a team of thirty Subject Matter Experts since 2005 as they investigated feasibility, conducted multi-method research for the Job Task Analysis, and developed examinations for the Certified Alzheimer’s Caregiver (CAC) and the Certified Alzheimer’s Educator (CAEd). The computer based tests are delivered at the Pearson VUE Professional Testing Centers.

 

The FSMTB examination was developed from beginning to end in a record 17 months. Dr. Tatum led a Meaningful Measurement team of fifteen testing professionals and more than forty Subject Matter Experts who wrote competency statements and learning objectives, conducted a large scale JTA survey (7,464 respondents), wrote, reviewed and revised over a thousand items, conducted a beta test, set the standard, and launched the computer based licensure exam in October 2007 at the Pearson VUE Professional Testing Centers. More than 1,000 candidates are currently taking the MBLEx each month

 

Since 2005 Dr. Tatum has been Consulting Psychometrician for the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialties Standards Review Committee, overseeing the accreditation process for the 18 Osteopathic Physician Specialty Certification Boards. She is currently leading a team of scholars and physicians to develop a program for training and assessing physician communication competence.  

 

For five years Dr. Tatum was Psychometrician and Director of Research & Psychometric Services for the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP). While at ASCP, she managed a staff of fifteen, fourteen committees, and over a hundred volunteers. Dr. Tatum developed seven new certifications and was responsible for twenty-two computer-adaptive tests and five qualifications in Laboratory Science for the ASCP Board of Registry (BOR). She initiated the BOR Recalibration Project, devised methods for refining the item bank calibrations for computer adaptive tests, transitioned the computer examinations to a new vendor, created a multi-method design for the BOR Practice Analysis, converted written study guides to computer, conducted on-going workforce studies, and engaged in scholarly research. 

 

Dr. Tatum is also an expert in the field of Communication and teaches communication classes at the University of Chicago for the Graham School. She created, and Meaningful Measurement produced, the Executive Communication track of the Leadership Institute for the University of Chicago Booth School Executive MBA program and for the University of Chicago Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. Dr. Tatum also holds an appointment to the graduate faculty at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

 

The combination of expertise allows Dr. Tatum to effectively communicate difficult concepts to those who need to use the information. This is extremely important when working with task forces, examination committees, educators, and other stakeholders. 

 

Dr. Tatum holds a Baccalaureate in Communication and a Master of Arts in Persuasion and Organizational Communication from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Her doctorate in Measurement Evaluation Statistical Analysis (MESA) is from the University of Chicago. She researches, publishes, and presents widely on a variety of subjects.