This manual is designed to help classroom teachers, instructional designers and test developers, construct sound, challenging and sophisticated paper and pencil exercises that simulate the data-gathering and decision process involved in diagnosing and resolving a problem. It is based on the authors' extensive experience in conducting training…

A test development plan is described to evaluate police enrolled in the law enforcement basic training course developed by California's Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST). Some general test methodologies are discussed: performance tests, knowledge tests, and situational tests, including role playing simulations and…

Construction of a work sample test, the Investigator Planning Exercise (IPE), for the job of detective in the Chicago (Illinois) Police Department is described. Simulated crime scenarios, a mock crime scene, and five checklists of necessary skills (i.e., ability to summarize and communicate facts, identify inconsistencies, and determine the next…

A prototype simulation measure of the negotiating skill of interpersonal competence is described, and results of an initial validation study are reported. Of eight negotiating skills identified by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills of the U.S. Department of Labor, two were the focus of the measure: proposing and examining…

In the domain of performance assessment, the errors-and-omissions (EOT) test falls between a work-sample test and a simulation test. The examinee works with a sample of material from the work environment. The correct answers and the exact criteria for acceptable performance are known in advance. For this study, EOTs were used for assessing entry…