Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo

Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School of Education, Stanford University. Her academic work focuses on assessment practices and the assessment of student learning in both classroom and large-scale assessment settings. She is actively involved in teaching courses including Classroom Assessment, Cognition and Learning, and Foundational Course in Testing.

Dr. Ruiz-Primo's research interests span multiple areas of educational assessment:

• Development and evaluation of learning assessment strategies
• Concept maps and students' science notebooks
• Teachers' informal and formal formative assessment practices
• Assessment conversations and embedded assessments
• Instructionally sensitive assessments
• Instruments to measure teachers' formative assessment practices
• Analysis of state testing programs

Her publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on formative assessment practices, particularly examining how teachers implement assessment strategies in classroom settings and how these practices impact student learning. She has made significant contributions to understanding the relationship between assessment design and educational outcomes, with particular emphasis on science education contexts. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical classroom applications across multiple educational settings.

Dr. Ruiz-Primo has served as co-editor for special issues on assessment in prominent journals including the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and the Journal of Educational Measurement, highlighting her standing in the educational assessment community.

As an academic advisor, Dr. Ruiz-Primo mentors doctoral students in their dissertation work and serves as a program advisor. Her research has been supported by major funding agencies including the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Education Sciences, enabling her to conduct rigorous studies on assessment practices and their impact on teaching and learning. She also contributes to university governance as a Committee Member for the IDEAL Provostial Fellows Selection Committee (2022-Present) and the DARE Selection Advisory Committee (2023-Present).