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The United States government requires that tests used for
employee selection fulfill the requirements of the Uniform
Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (UGESP).
In the interest of fulfilling this requirement, Presenting
Solutions has developed content validation procedures with
guidance from our consultant, William C. Burns. Mr. Burns
is a member and former chairman of the Technical Advisory
Committee on Testing to the California Fair Employment
Practice Commission (TACT) which wrote the California
Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. In that
capacity, Mr. Burns was consulted by several of the
adopting agencies who were responsible for writing the
federal guidelines.
According to the UGESP, "in content validity, a selection
procedure is justified by showing that it representatively
samples significant parts of the job, such as a typing test
for a typist." The key idea is that the test is constructed
by taking a "representative sample." Thus in classic content
validity the content of the test is the same as the content
of the job. To this end, Presenting Solutions has developed
tests that simulate as closely as possible typical working
environments. Our typing test allows the applicant to type
from an onscreen or paper document, our data entry test
provides data entry screens that can be customized to
simulate the data entry environment of a particular job.
Presenting Solutions specializes in software skills evaluations
which simulate the environment of the software. In many of the
questions, the applicant encounters an actual screenshot from the
subject software and must answer the question or perform a task
that reveals a particular skill. Each question is assessed to
determine the skill or knowledge being tested and its relevance
to a typical work environment. The evaluations generally cover
the full range of features included in the subject software.
Ultimately, however, validation is the responsibility of
the employer administering the test. The government guidelines
and case law that prescribe valid testing make it clear that
pre-employment evaluations must test for skills that are actually
needed for the job being filled. Presenting Solutions' testing
software provides a great deal of flexibility for employers to
administer tests that are valid. Skill categories and levels,
as well as individual questions, that are not relevant to the
job can be removed from the test so that the applicant is only
tested for those skills that are required by the job.
Presenting Solutions is always happy to provide assistance to
our clients in customizing tests to ensure validity in their
pre-employment testing efforts. Combined with our validation
procedures and test customization capabilities, we are successful
in providing our clients with skills evaluations that accurately
determine the most qualified candidates for employment.
The UGESP emphasizes that content validity results when a test
closely simulates the work environment:
If a test purports to sample a work behavior or to provide
a sample of a work product, the manner and setting of the
selection procedure and its level and complexity should
closely approximate the work situation. The closer the
content and the context of the selection procedure are to
work samples or work behaviors, the stronger is the basis
for showing content validity.
Presenting Solutions tests for typing and data entry skills
are simulations of typical work environments. The Pre•valuate
Interactive evaluations are also simulations of popular office
productivity software. Since a computer is used in both the
work environment and in the testing environment, the
approximation of the work situation is very strong.
In some instances, testing for knowledge that is used in the
work environment is desired to show an applicant's understanding
of a concept or feature in a particular software program.
Presenting Solutions' Pre•valuate for Windows line of tests
include knowledge-based questions as well as simulations.
For knowledge-based questions, Presenting Solutions applies
validation criteria in the development of the questions in
accordance with the UGESP.
Section 14C(1) of the UGESP states:
- Selection procedures which purport to measure
knowledges, skills, or abilities may in certain circumstances
be justified by content validity, although they may not be
representative samples, if the knowledge, skill, or ability
measured by the selection procedure can be operationally
defined as provided in section 14C(4) below, and if that
knowledge, skill, or ability is a necessary prerequisite
to successful job performance.
- In the case of a selection procedure measuring a
knowledge, the knowledge being measured should be operationally
defined as that body of learned information which is used in
and is a necessary prerequisite for observable aspects of work
behavior of the job.
- For any selection procedure measuring a knowledge,
skill, or ability the user should show that (a) the selection
procedure measures and is a representative sample of that
knowledge skill, or ability; and (b) that knowledge, skill
or ability is used in and is a necessary prerequisite to
performance of critical or important work behavior(s).
In the process of developing knowledge-based questions, Presenting
Solutions has developed, in concert with William C. Burns, four
basic criteria to which these questions must comply:
Knowledge-Based Question Standards and Criteria
- The knowledge measured by the question is clearly defined.
- It is explained how the question represents the knowledge.
- It is explained how and when the knowledge is used in various work behaviors.
- A discussion of why the knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to successful performance on the job.
The following example illustrates the validation analysis as it
is applied to a question concerning paper size:
Question: An 8.5" by 14" size piece of paper is also known as __________.
- The question measures knowledge of the two most commonly
used types of paper used in business: Letter (8.5 x 11) and Legal
(8.5 x 14).
- The question represents the knowledge because it requires
knowing the most important fact at the core of the knowledge.
- The knowledge is used in all work behaviors when a program
asks for a paper type or when operating the program varies depending
on paper type.
- The knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to successful
performance because knowing the type of paper that a work product
will ultimately be printed on is important in operating some
aspects of the program. Knowing the size of the paper is important
since many applications require that the dimensions of the paper
be given. When printing, it is very common, depending on the type
of printer, to be asked what type of paper is to be printed and
then making sure that the paper is properly loaded.
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