When HyeSun Lee and Cody Solesbee were graduate students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, both turned to the Mental Measurements Yearbook as a trusted guide to understanding the strengths and limitations of educational and psychological assessments.
Today, they help shape that resource for the next generation of practitioners.
Lee, who earned a Ph.D. in Psychological Studies in Education in 2016, and Solesbee, who completed his Ph.D. in School Psychology in 2022, are among the reviewers who contributed to The Twenty-Second Mental Measurements Yearbook, recently released by the Buros Center for Testing.
Since its founding in 1938 by Oscar Krisen Buros, the Mental Measurements Yearbook has been recognized as the leading source of independent reviews of commercially available tests. Used by educators, psychologists, counselors, researchers and other professionals, the publication provides expert evaluations that help users make informed decisions about assessment tools used in schools, clinics, businesses and health care settings.
For Lee and Solesbee, contributing to the publication represents both a professional milestone and a way to give back to a field that helped shape their careers.
A foundation built at nebraska
Lee's connection to the Mental Measurements Yearbook began during her doctoral studies at Nebraska, where she worked as a graduate assistant for the Buros Center for Testing for two years while pursuing a specialization in Quantitative, Qualitative, and Psychometric Methods.
“Reading and fact-checking many test reviews helped me better understand their importance,” Lee said. “Becoming a reviewer seemed like a meaningful way to contribute my knowledge and skills to the field while supporting practitioners and researchers who rely on these reviews.”
Today, Lee is a professor of psychology and faculty director of graduate studies at California State University Channel Islands. She continues to use the Mental Measurements Yearbook in her teaching, introducing students to the process of selecting and evaluating assessment instruments.
“The MMY is an excellent resource for connecting the theory of psychological measurement with real-world practice,” Lee said. “Students often tell me they enjoy working with the MMY because it provides a practical way to learn about test selection while helping them understand fundamental measurement concepts such as reliability, validity and fairness.”
That practical application has become a hallmark of her teaching. An assignment she developed using the Mental Measurements Yearbook was selected as one of the Buros Center's instructional modules, extending the publication's reach to classrooms beyond Nebraska.
Like Lee’s, Solesbee's appreciation for the Mental Measurements Yearbook began as a graduate student. While completing his doctoral training in UNL's School Psychology program, he relied on the publication to learn how to critically evaluate assessment instruments.
“It was helpful in developing a more critical and thoughtful approach to test selection and interpretation,” Solesbee said. “Professionally, that same mindset remains essential in my work as a clinical neuropsychologist.”
After earning his Ph.D. in 2022, Solesbee completed a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Today, he is a licensed psychologist and pediatric neuropsychologist with Psychological Solutions of Lake Norman in North Carolina, where he provides assessment and consultation for children and adolescents with neurological, developmental and learning conditions. His work includes evaluating children with traumatic brain injuries, epilepsy, genetic disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, learning disorders and autism spectrum disorder.
The principles he learned as a student continue to guide his clinical decision-making.
“Measures are only useful when they are selected carefully, interpreted within the context of an individual's history and presentation, and understood in terms of their psychometric strengths, limitations and clinical utility,” Solesbee said. “The Mental Measurements Yearbook supports thoughtful decision-making about test selection and helps ensure that the tools I use are appropriate, evidence-informed and clinically meaningful.”
Giving back to the profession
Although their careers have taken different paths—one in higher education and one in clinical practice—both alumni were drawn to the same opportunity: serving as reviewers for one of the profession's most respected publications.
For Solesbee, the motivation was rooted in professional service.
“I value the idea of giving back professional expertise as a way to support the broader field of psychology,” he said. “Serving as a reviewer allows me to help other professionals think critically about the strengths, limitations, appropriate uses and interpretive considerations of commonly used assessment tools.”
Lee shares a similar perspective, viewing the review process as an opportunity to support practitioners and researchers who depend on high-quality assessments.
Their contributions are part of a larger effort coordinated by the Buros Center for Testing, which has been housed at Nebraska since 1980. Since relocating to UNL, the center has produced 14 editions of the Mental Measurements Yearbook and has earned international recognition for its leadership in assessment and measurement.
“The Mental Measurements Yearbook series remains a cornerstone resource for assessment professionals who depend on high-quality measures,” said Janet Carlson, associate director of the Buros Center for Testing. “Often described as the ‘Consumer Reports of the testing industry,’ the series provides objective, independent evaluations of commercial tests that help users identify and select assessments appropriate for their intended application.”
The newly released twenty-second edition includes reviews of more than 150 new and revised assessments spanning education, psychology, health care, counseling, business, law and management.
For Nebraska, the publication's impact can be measured not only in the thousands of professionals who rely on it each year, but also in alumni like Lee and Solesbee. Once students learning from the Mental Measurements Yearbook, they now help ensure its continued value for educators, researchers and clinicians around the world.
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