Dr. Jianjun "JJ" Wang

Professor (1993 - present)
Faculty Ombuds (8/20/2023 - 12/1/2025)

Thank you for visiting my website. I have been a professor at California State University, Bakersfield since 1993. In addition to teaching, I care deeply about our campus community and, through attentive listening and informal mediation, I am committed to fostering a supportive environment where all colleagues can thrive. I am also continually expanding my research across various fields, including messy data analysis, stochastic modeling, R computing, AI applications, network analysis, and STEM education.

Contact Me
Dr. Jianjun Wang

About Me

Background

During my tenure at CSUB, I chaired the Department of Advanced Educational Studies (which housed six graduate programs) from 2002 to 2008. Before that, I received early promotions to Associate Professor (1997) and Full Professor (2000), along with early tenure in 1998.

For the remainder of my time at CSUB, I taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses. I also participated in a cooperative doctoral program between CSUB and the University of the Pacific, and served as a major professor chairing doctoral dissertations at CSU Fresno. In 2009, I took a leave to serve as a Senior Research Scientist at The First Lab.

Institutional Services:

(1) CAEP Assessment Reviewer
(2) NCATE Board of Examiner
(3) Advisory Board of the Australian International Academic Center (AIAC)

Academic Credentials

Ph.D. in Science Education

Kansas State University (KSU)

Advisor: Dr. John Staver at Purdue

Thesis Link (Wang, 1993)

Ph.D. Coursework in Statistics

KSU

Advisor: Dr. Feyerherm at KSU

Passed the 2nd Ph.D. Qualifying Exam in 1993

M.S. in Statistics

KSU

Thesis Link (Wang, 1993)

M.S. in Physics

Beijing Normal University

Advisor: Professor Ping Li at BNU

Thesis Link (Wang, 1987)

(more physics coursework in 1990 with Professor Itzik Ben-Itzhak at KSU)

B.S. in Physics

Hefei Normal University

Advanced Credentials

I hold numerous advanced credentials in statistical methods and data science, including:

  • Bayesian Statistics
  • Categorical Data Analysis
  • Clustering Technique
  • Complex Data (Multivariate)
  • Conjoint Analysis
  • Data Science Statistical Methods
  • Design and Analysis of Probability Surveys
  • Discrete Choice Modeling
  • Enterprise Miner
  • Machine Learning
  • Multilevel & Longitudinal Modeling
  • Machine Learning Using Viya
  • Network Optimization Using Viya
  • Non-Linear Mixed Procedure
  • Poisson Regression
  • Power & Sample Size
  • Predictive Modeling
  • Python Integration
  • SAS for R User
  • SQL Essentials
  • Structural Equation Modeling
  • Survival/Hazards Modeling
  • Text Miner
  • Time Series Modeling
  • Visual Analytics
  • Visual Data Mining
  • Viya/R Integration

Fellow: National Center for Education Statistics (John Sietsema, Mentor)

Professional Experiences

Teaching

EDEL 870: Doctoral Research in Science Education

1992–1993 at KSU

EDL 504: Advanced Applied Quantitative Methods

2011–2013 at CSU, Fresno

EDRS 680: Educational Statistics

1993–2016 at CSUB

EDRS 681: Research Design & Analysis

1993–2016 at CSUB

EDRS 460: Educational Statistics

2014–2016 at CSUB

EPSY 214: Intermediate Statistics

2001–2009 at the University of the Pacific

For the doctoral program in Educational Administration

EPSY 395c: Quantitative Research Design and Methods

2001–2009 at the University of the Pacific

For the doctoral program in Educational Administration

Recent Courses

EDRS 4600: Educational Statistics

EDLD 6040: Intermediate Statistics / Advanced Applied Quantitative Methods

EDRS 6600: Educational Statistics

EDRS 6610: Research Design and Analysis

Selected Publications

The Google Scholar literature base showed 196 items under my name and affiliation as of 3/15/2025. Before pursuing my Ph.D. in the United States, I served as Executive Secretary of the IEA Center in Beijing and published research articles in top scholarly journals, such as: (1) Educational Research(教育研究) (Link), volume 88(10), pp. 16–19; (2) Shanghai Educational Research (上海教育科研) (Link), volume 89(5), pp. 22–26; and (3) Foreign Educational Research(外国教育研究) (Link), volume 90(1), pp. 64–68.

My English publications since 1993 have appeared in the following journals: The American Statistician; Educational Researcher; Phi Delta Kappan; Educational and Psychological Measurement; Journal of Nursing Measurement; Social Indicators Research; Science Education; Journal of Research in Science Teaching; Journal for Research in Mathematics Education; Educational Psychology; The Journal of Educational Research; The Journal of Experimental Education; International Journal of Research & Method in Education; Evaluation and Program Planning; Mathematics Education Research Journal; International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education; School Science and Mathematics; Journal of School Leadership; Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice; Alberta Journal of Educational Research; Ambulatory Surgery; Multiple Linear Regression Viewpoints; Assessment Update; Research in the Schools; Education; Journal of Instructional Psychology; Educational Leadership and Administration; Advances in Online Education; Athens Journal of Education; Research in Middle Level Education Annual; International Journal of Education; Reading Improvement; Teacher Education & Practice; International Education Studies; The Journal of Effective Teaching; The Math-Science Connector; Journal of Research in STEM Education; Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education; and Journal of Social Service Research.

Featured: A Methodological Exchange on TIMSS

The Trend in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a large-scale international assessment launched in 1995 and repeated every four years since. By the mid-1990s, international coordination alone had cost roughly $25–30 million over six years (Lawton, 1996), while total U.S. participation reached some $51 million (Wang, 1998), and that public commitment has continued across every subsequent cycle. An investment of this scale carries a corresponding expectation of quality from the research community.

Errors in the test instrument.

My content examination of the released test items identified scientific errors in the TIMSS instrument itself—items that could not serve as valid measures of student achievement in mathematics and science (Wang, 1998).

A deeper question in the analysis.

Beyond the items lay a question about the analysis itself: how should student achievement in mathematics and science be correlated when each score exists only as a set of imputed plausible values? My 2016 article with Professor Xin Ma (University of Kentucky) raised this question from TIMSS 1995 data and proposed canonical correlation analysis as a solution. It drew a full-length response from Dr. Plamen Mirazchiyski, former Deputy Head of the Research and Analysis Unit of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Our rejoinder further documented an incompliance with Rubin’s multiple imputation rule in the TIMSS 1995 international reports and called for increasing the number of plausible-value imputations in line with current statistical computing standards. Together, these works examined a study of extraordinary public reach—spanning more than 40 nations and three decades—from the vantage point of measurement integrity. The full record is open access:

  • Lawton, M. (1996, November 27). U.S. students about average in global study. Education Week. (Link)
  • Mirazchiyski, P. (2019). Response to “An examination of plausible score correlation from the Trend in Mathematics and Science Study.” Athens Journal of Education, 6(2), 145–158. (Link)
  • Wang, J. (1998). A content examination of the TIMSS items. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(1), 36–38. (Link)
  • Wang, J., & Ma, X. (2016). An examination of plausible score correlation from the Trend in Mathematics and Science Study. Athens Journal of Education, 3(4), 301–312. (Link)
  • Wang, J., & Ma, X. (2019). Rejoinder: Response to “An examination of plausible score correlation from the Trend in Mathematics and Science Study.” Athens Journal of Education, 6(2), 159–170. (Link)

Featured: A Threshold Correction for Social-Emotional Screening

The Ages & Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional, Second Edition (ASQ:SE-2) is used by pediatric nurses, school nurses, and early childhood programs in many countries to decide which young children are referred for mental health evaluation. Its published cutoff scores rise with child age, as development requires — except at 36 months, where the threshold jumps to 105 and then falls back to 85, so the same screening score can trigger a referral at 30 or 48 months but not at 36 months. My study traced this anomaly to 6,039 missing cases in the instrument’s normative sample and showed, through both nearest-neighbor imputation and a Bayesian adjustment, that a corrected cutoff score of 85 at 36 months restores the monotonic pattern required by Classical Test Theory, Item Response Theory, and the irreversible trajectory of child growth:

  • Wang, J. (2022). An examination of threshold setting in social emotional measurement. Journal of Nursing Measurement, 31(2). (Link)

Below are some recent grant reports and journal publications:

Books

Grant Activities

Before and during my tenure as department chair, my research received funding from several organizations, including the Spencer Foundation (1994–1995), the National Science Foundation (1995–1996, 1996–1998), Carnegie Foundation/The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (2003–2005), and NAEP's Secondary Data Analysis Program (2004-2006).

Following my service as chair, I dedicated 15 years to developing comprehensive annual evaluation reports—often exceeding 140 pages—and facilitating public hearings for a First 5 project that secured over $10 million in annual funding through California's Proposition 10.

Below is a brief overview of the major grant initiatives I have participated in since 2020.

Conference Presentations

Contact

California State University, Bakersfield

jwang@csub.edu