November 2025

Renowned education scholar and AERA Past President W. James “Jim” Popham passed away on July 16 at the age of 94. An emeritus professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Popham served as AERA President in 1977–78 and was elected an AERA Fellow in 2008. A former high school teacher, he dedicated nearly 30 years to advancing teacher education and educational assessment.

“We are deeply saddened by Dr. Popham’s passing,” said AERA Executive Director Tabbye Chavous. “For decades, his scholarship reshaped how we think about teaching and assessment. His clarity of insight, his generosity as a mentor, and his unwavering commitment to improving education leave an enduring legacy for the field.”

During his tenure at UCLA, Popham founded and directed the Instructional Objectives Exchange, a repository that helped educators develop and share behavioral objectives. He also served as a founding editor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Over his prolific career, he authored more than 170 papers, 290 journal articles, 35 book chapters, and more than 90 books. His most recent publication was the 10th edition of Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know, first released in 1995.

In 2009, Popham was appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board, where he served until 2019. From 2010 to 2024, he also served on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.

In addition to producing scholarship with international impact, Popham earned numerous teaching awards, and UCLA recognized him as one of the university’s top 20 professors of the 20th century. He received the Award for Career Contributions to Educational Measurement from the National Council on Measurement in Education and a Certificate of Recognition from the National Association of Test Directors.

Popham earned his BA in philosophy and MA in education from the University of Portland and his PhD from Indiana University.