Laura Pendergast

Laura Pendergast serves as an Associate Professor at Temple University's College of Education and Human Development, where she teaches graduate courses including Tests and Measurements (EPSY 5529) and Clinical Supervision Seminar in School Psychology (SPSY 9687). Her academic work centers on advancing equity in psychological and educational assessment through rigorous psychometric methodologies.

Her research program focuses on evaluating cross-cultural equivalence of social, emotional, and behavioral constructs using multivariate statistics, with particular emphasis on applications in school psychology and international contexts. She investigates how measurement science can improve decision-making processes in educational settings, especially in low-resource environments where assessment tools require cultural validation.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2018-2024) reveals consistent themes in validating cognitive and behavioral assessment instruments across diverse populations, with significant contributions to understanding environmental impacts on child development through the MAL-ED international study. Her work demonstrates methodological expertise in measurement invariance testing and scale development for global applications.

Dr. Pendergast's research has secured substantial funding from major organizations:

• Society for the Study of School Psychology
• Institute for Education Sciences
• Spencer Foundation
• Foundation for the National Institutes of Health
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Her laboratory work involves large-scale international collaborations examining child development trajectories, with particular focus on cognitive assessment validity in low- and middle-income countries. Current projects investigate the interplay between environmental factors, nutritional status, and neurodevelopmental outcomes using sophisticated psychometric modeling techniques.