Dr. Charles Mayenga’s professional background is extensive and diverse, spanning high school teaching, teacher training, and assessment leadership roles for provincial, regional, and credentialing programs across Canada, the USA, Africa, and the Caribbean. He is currently the Director of Exam Design and Measurement at the Canadian Security Institute (CSI), a subsidiary of Moody’s Analytics. Charles holds a Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree in Economics and Geography from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Education (MEd) degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Manitoba, and a PhD in Measurement and Evaluation from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT).

He began his career as a high school teacher in Kenya, where he taught for many years. After obtaining his master’s degree in Canada, he returned to Kenya to teach and supervise teacher-trainees for about four years before pursuing doctoral studies. Following his doctorate in measurement and evaluation, Charles served as an Assessment Project Manager and Psychometrician for Manitoba’s Department of Education and Training from 1998 to 2000. During the same period, he was also a Sessional Instructor of basic statistics, test administration and analysis, and educational research methods at the University of Manitoba.

In 2001, Charles joined the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in Ontario as an Assessment Officer, where he served for more than six years as the data and psychometric lead for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT). He then spent another six years with Assessment Strategies Inc. (ASI) as Senior Consultant and Acting Director, supporting bilingual testing, licensure and certification programs, and other assessment services for government and regulatory bodies. Charles subsequently served as Senior Assistant Registrar at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), based in Bridgetown, Barbados. In this role, he was responsible for leadership, management, and implementation of all CXC examinations administered across 19 Caribbean territories. He was instrumental in the implementation of the Caribbean Regional Examination for Nurse Registration (RENR), designed to standardize nursing registration across the Caribbean territories. He went on to hold positions as Test Development Product Manager at Excelsior College (Albany, NY) and Managing Director of Milestones Testing Associates in Mississauga, Ontario, providing strategic leadership in test development, standard setting, data analysis, and assessment operations.

For the past eight years, Charles has been with the Canadian Security Institute (CSI), a Moody’s Analytics Company, first as Associate Director and now as Director. In his current role, he oversees the planning, execution, quality control, and psychometric integrity of all credentialing examinations offered by CSI. Although widely recognized as a measurement expert, Dr. Mayenga emphasizes that he views himself as more than just a psychometrician. His extensive experience enables him to guide organizations in developing assessments that are fair, valid, reliable, defensible and sustainable, even for small-sized organizations. Charles reflects on the evolution of online assessments and highlights the importance of ensuring that emerging technologies are grounded in sound educational theory and psychometric principles. He shares his experiences across various educational contexts, including challenges with digital portfolios and high-stakes assessments, and emphasizes the need for robust scoring methods and the selection of appropriate assessment tools.

Reflecting on his career, Charles expresses pride in his ability to apply psychometrics to address complex educational challenges. Notably, he led the successful transition of CSI examinations to an online format without disruption. He is also deeply committed to community service, including supporting disadvantaged students in Kenya through an NGO, Community Education Services (https://www.cescan.ca/), which he and others founded more than 20 years ago. He is currently working toward establishing a community learning centre in Kenya in honour of his mother. According to Charles, a mother is the most important person in everyone’s life – definitely the first and best teacher of any child.