In Remembrance of Dr. Stafford Hood

I first learned about the work and research of Dr. Stafford Hood when I saw a flyer on campus announcing his Relevance of Assessment and Culture in Evaluation (RACE) conference in Arizona back in the early 2000s. It caught my immediate attention as I was just entering and making sense of the fields of measurement and evaluation. Fast forward nearly 15 years later and I was smack in the middle of a conversation with Stafford at the Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA) conference in Chicago. There, I invited him to attend my presentation on the work I was doing on co-developing culturally specific assessment instruments in Hawai?i. It was Stafford himself who clarified for me the difference between culturally responsive assessment and culturally specific assessment and the founder of the CREA conference actually attended my presentation. He also attended each and every one of my subsequent CREA conference presentations. Every single one.

When I shared with him my new current role as a Research Professor of Measurement, he was extremely happy and proud. The last meeting I attended with Stafford was held online this month. We exchanged private greetings in the chat box and before he left the meeting room, he congratulated the presenter for her amazing measurement work. There was something about his uplifting note that left me feeling like those of us in this generation of measurement researchers were doing him proud.

I heard the news of Stafford's passing while I was in the process of proposing to the NSF a research space I refer to as Measurement for Liberation. Through my proposed work, I seek new perspectives and ways of measuring abstract concepts towards the liberation of those assessed. While daunting, I have Stafford's exemplar to provide guidance and support in carrying out this new research agenda. While he will be sorely missed by those of us directly influenced by him, he will continue to reside within my own work towards allowing all people to be present as their full and complete selves throughout the assessment process. Rest in power, Dr. Stafford Hood.

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