Leigh Burstein; Expert on Educational Testing

Leigh Burstein, 46, a professor of research methodology at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and a recognized expert on educational testing. Burstein, an architect of the UCLA-based Center for the Study of Evaluation and the national Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing, was an often-quoted spokesman on student test scores. He was author or co-author of eight books and many articles and monographs. His research encouraged examination of not only individual student test scores but data relating to classrooms, methodology and the demographics of schools and school districts. He also was a consultant for the RAND Corp. and co-author of a book for the think tank, “Discovering What Schools Really Teach: Designing Improved Coursework Indicators.” On Thursday of a heart attack in Annapolis, Md., where he was attending a conference.