Performance Assessment for the Workplace Volume I (1991) / Chapter Skim
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5. The Testing of Personnel
5. The Testing of Personnel
Pages 103-115
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From page 103... ...
As the JPM Project evolved, project scientists and committee members came to realize the magnitude of these problems when largescale test administration of hands-on tests is required. It is hoped that future researchers will profit from what the Services learned about sampling and standardization and from the solutions that emerged from conduct of the project.
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From page 104... ...
If, however, the issue is an assessment of the present quality of performance in the occupational specialty, then a sample of job incumbents across the whole range is needed, and the relation to experience is of secondary interest. In the JPM Project, a central concern was the linking of enlistment standards to job performance.
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From page 105... ...
In addition, the amount of time between entrance testing and the administration of the job performance measures (a maximum of 36 or 45 months, depending on the Service and the terms of enlistment) was not so long as to completely vitiate the predictive power of the test.
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From page 106... ...
Whenever other considerations force a departure from the purely statistical randomization procedures, such background comparisons are especially important. The Services varied considerably in the ease with which they could identify and select a representative sample of job incumbents.
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From page 107... ...
The researchers were able to design and select a stratified random sample prior to arrival at the testing sites and be assured that the Marines would be available for testing. For the infantry position of rifleman, for example, three rosters of potential examinees were prepared at Marine Corps Headquarters: a primary roster; an updated roster of recent graduates from the School of Infantry, from which the first replacements were to be drawn; and a supplementary roster.
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From page 108... ...
Unless we can assume that the observed score differences reflect true differences in the test takers' abilities, then the inference that people who do better on the test will do better at the task makes no sense. As an example, consider an instance in which two samples of individuals take reasoning tests.
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From page 109... ...
In this instance, the test scores are influenced by a variable other than the underlying ability of the subject and, as a result, there will appear to be a lower relationship between the test score and performance than is actually the case. Standardization and Performance Standards Thus, it can be seen that when the basic testing postulate does not hold, it is possible to observe a spurious relationship or to ignore a real relationship.
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From page 110... ...
An associated problem arises when one attempts to link predictor test scores to performance standards. As an example, consider the implied relationship between ASVAB scores and job performance.
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From page 111... ...
Usually test developers provide a definite protocol to be followed, including instructions to be read for each task being tested and procedures to be used for verifying the execution of each step of task performance. Part of the test development includes preparing standard instructions, as well as standard responses to the most common questions raised by test takers.
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From page 112... ...
During early trials of JPM performance tests, it quickly became clear that imposing the same order on each test taker created large inefficiencies, with many individuals waiting at each station to begin testing and others waiting upon completing the final task. An important lesson in the logistics of mass performance testing gained from the project is that testing order should be counterbalanced across test takers to eliminate these inefficiencies as well as potential sources of performance variation due to the sequence in which the tasks are performed.
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From page 113... ...
While the hectic and tense atmosphere created by the alert no doubt provided an element of authenticity to the hands-on testing, it also introduced unaccountable variability to the testing environment that will make it hard to interpret the scores of the soldiers tested on that occasion. Selecting and Training the Test Administrators Individualized performance measurement requires trained administrators to observe and score the performance.
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From page 114... ...
Part of the success of its system came from the fact that just two teams of test administrators were used for data collections, one for the East Coast and one for the West Coast. For the infantry specialty, each team trained together for two weeks and then spent six months administering the hands-on tests.
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From page 115... ...
The problems encountered in field testing by the Services as well as their approaches to solutions provide a wealth of insight for others concerned with these issues. And because standardization of hands-on performance measurement presents much greater challenges than traditional written tests, this topic is worthy of far more attention than it is usually given in setting up data collection plans.
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