[1][2] His 1992 doctoral dissertation, Some Theoretical and Applied Results Concerning Item Response Theory Model Estimation, was advised by William Fleming Stout.
[1][4] From 1999 to 2001, Chang was affiliated with the National Board of Medical Examiners, then returned to academia, joining the University of Texas at Austin faculty.
[1][4] In 2005, Chang returned to UIUC, as a professor of educational psychology and within the Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies until 2018.
[1][4] Chang succeeded Mark L. Davison as chief editor of the academic journal Applied Psychological Measurement.
[12] Chang received the 2021 Award for Career Contributions from the National Council on Measurement in Education.