2026 Conference

2026 Annual Conference: Speakers & Sessions

Please stay tuned for more information. Agenda subject to change.

**When available, the conference app will have the most up-to-date information**

Keynote - Managing Test Anxiety in High-Stakes Settings: Recognizing Symptoms, Understanding Stress, and Applying Grounding Strategies - Dr. Bita Rivas

Wednesday, September 16th - 12:00-1:30pm

This presentation explores the presentation of anxiety symptoms in testing environments, with particular attention to test anxiety in high-stakes examinations. Attendees will examine how anxiety manifests cognitively, emotionally, behaviorally, and physically, while also gaining an overview of the neurobiological and neuroendocrine stress response that can interfere with performance. The session will provide practical, evidence-informed strategies to help students prepare for exams, regulate distress, and use grounding techniques before and during testing. In addition, examiners will learn de-escalation and grounding approaches that can support examinees while maintaining the structure and integrity of the testing process. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for exam preparation and an interactive practice activity to help participants apply key skills in real-world testing contexts.

Dr. Bita Ashouri Rivas is the program coordinator and Associate Professor for the Counselor Education Program at California State University Sacramento. She holds her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision with a masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She holds multiple clinical licenses in both California and Colorado as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, and Licensed Addiction Counselor and holds her National Certified Counselor and Approved Clinical Supervisor credentials. With over a decade of experience as a Counselor Educator and Supervisor and nearly 20 years of experience in mental health, she specializes in anxiety related disorders, addiction, and trauma working with individuals, couples, families, and students/trainees.

Capnote - Lessons Learned from Decades of Experience in the Assessment Field

Thursday, September 17th - 3:00-4:00pm

In this session, a panel of professionals from across North America will share some of the most valuable lessons they learned from over 75 years of combined experience in the assessment field. Topics related to academic integrity, change management, networking and professional acumen will be the focus of the panel discussion. Besides gaining valuable insights into the assessment field, the audience also will be given an opportunity to "Ask the Expert", time permitting.

Dr. Cindy James has decades of instructional, research and leadership experience at various post-secondary institutions across Canada. She holds a BEd and MA in Mathematics Education, and a PhD in Educational Studies, with both graduate degrees focusing on psychometrics. Her current fields of interest are assessment and evaluation in higher education, as well as student experiences, especially in terms of emotional intelligence and undergraduate research.

Sara Rieder Bennett is the Director of Testing and a Licensed Psychologist at the University of Akron, where she has worked for the past 14 years. Dr. Rieder Bennett received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from UA in 2009, and has worked in a variety of university and community agencies. In her current role at UA, she oversees all main campus testing centers, and provides mental health services including psychological assessment for disability evaluations. She co-chairs the Placement Testing Committee at UA, is a past-chair of the Faculty Senate Accessibility Committee and continuing member. She has volunteered with NCTA and Great Lakes College Testing Association in a number of capacities, including contributing to Proctoring Best Practices (Association of Test Publishers and NCTA, 2015) and the Online Observation of Testing Standards (NCTA and ATP, 2024), Co-Chaired the Proctor Certification Exam Development Committee with Dr. Cindy James, and is a Past-President of NCTA. Dr. Rieder Bennett has particular interest and commitment to accessibility and equity in higher education, and values the role of proctors in creating fair standardized testing experiences.

Jim Wollack is a Professor of Educational Psychology (Quantitative Methods Program Area) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), and serves as the Director of the UW Testing & Evaluation Services and the UW System Center for Placement Testing. Dr. Wollack’s scholarly interests include test security, test construction, test administration, and college placement testing. His research has included developing and refining statistical methods to prevent, detect, and mitigate individual- and group-based test fraud, as well as helping to define and improve industry policy and best practices with regard to test security. Dr. Wollack has held numerous leadership roles for NCTA, including NCTA Governing Board, co-Chair of the Professional Development division, Conference chair, Editor of the Journal of the National College Testing Association, and co-Chair of Proctoring Best Practices. Dr. Wollack is also the current President of the Council on Test Security (COTS), past-board member for the National Council on Measurement and Education, and co-editor of two major handbooks on test security: the Handbook of Test Security (2013; w/ J. Fremer) and the Handbook of Quantitative Methods for Detecting Cheating on Tests (2017; w/ G. Cizek). He has been a member of NCTA since 2008.

Jarret Dyer is Director, Testing Services; Chief HSE Examiner; Co-Chair, Academic Integrity; Co-Chair, ATP Test Content Infringement & Fraud Committee; Co-Chair, NCTA Academic Integrity & Testing Committee; Ethical Cheater; and author of Test Proctors Share All: Stories From The Frontlines of Testing. Jarret Dyer is an experienced Testing Center Administrator whose research interests focus on test administration, test security, and academic integrity.