Zachary Stein, Ed.D

Chair Education Program, Meridian University

Dr. Stein is on the cutting edge doing pioneering work at the interface of philosophy and psychometrics – the challenge of how to actually measure the human mind, especially its growth and evolution. This work is about big questions like: How do you accurately measure a person’s ability to do the right thing when grappling with complex real world problems? In what ways does a psychological assessment (such as an IQ test) impact the self-understanding of those who take it? Does institutionalizing certain forms of psychological measurement contribute to injustice?

Obviously, these kinds of questions can only be honestly addressed by going both deep and wide. In the pursuit of these questions, Dr. Stein studied at Harvard developing a comprehensive background in meta-theoretical frameworks (philosophy, integral theory, general systems dynamics), which have given him the ability to grasp and generate novel and valuable insight into topics as diverse as economic theory, educational theory, psychometrics, social justice, philosophy of mind, and psychiatry.

For those who want to dig deeper, we recommend taking a look at Zak’s book, Social Justice and Educational Measurement, which has been called “highly powerful and original… a work of genius… one of of the most important books of the decade.” Also explore Lectica, Inc., which is a non-profit testing reform organization Zak co-founded – this is some of the best work we know of in the world when it comes to psychological measurement.

Dr. Stein currently serves as Chair of the Education Program at Meridian University and as Academic Director of the activist think-tank at the Center for Integral Wisdom. His work has appeared in a variety of academic journals including, American Psychologist, New Ideas in Psychology, Mind, Brain, and Education, Integral Review, and the Journal of Philosophy of Education.

Learn More:

  1. zakstein.org
  2. Book: Education in a Time Between Worlds: Essays on the Future of Schools, Technology, and Society
  3. Podcast: Education on Zion 2.0
  4. Podcast: Standardized Testing: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly
  5. Article: On the Ethics of Planetary Scale Measurement

More from Qualia:

  1. Podcast: Beyond IQ, Understanding Intelligence and Higher Stages of Human Development