A number of applied psychologists have suggested that trainability test Black-White ethnic group differences are low or relatively low (e.g., Siegel & Bergman, 1975), though data are scarce. Likewise, there are relatively few estimates of criterion-related validity for trainability tests predicting job performance (cf. Robertson & Downs,…

Background: Facing growing accountability pressures, Teacher Work Samples (TWSs) as a model of performance-based assessment is of growing significance in teacher education. Developed at Western Oregon University and widely adopted and adapted, proponents claim that the model is "real," "natural," "meaningful," and "helpful" (G. R. Girod, 2002).…

Acknowledging the necessity to establish the fairness and consequential validity of teacher candidate performance assessments when they are used to make high-stakes decisions impacting entry into the profession, we investigated whether there were any adverse results from the use of the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (TWS) assessment at two…

The author deals with limitations on the use of work samples as predictors of vocational success of the disabled. The predictive model is briefly reviewed and ways in which the assumptions underlying this model can be violated or altered in vocational evaluation settings are described. (Author)

The study evaluated the construct validity of five perceptual traits with simulated work samples from the Jewish Vocational Service Work Sample System. Results with 36 learning disabled adolescents indicated that simulated work samples can be used as a diagnostic instrument for assessment of perceptual abilities in a vocational setting. (Author/DB)

Fair, valid, and reliable measurement of dependent variables is a concern in personnel evaluation studies. Performance tests, that is, job or work sample tests, situational tests, and job learning or trainability tests, are being used with increasing frequency as measurement techniques capable of meeting these needs. The three categories of…

Large-sample item response data for the 10-item Paper Folding worksample 622 (N=2,749) and for five new experimental paper folding items (N=2,514) are analyzed with the logistic item response model and with full-information item factor analysis. The main results of the unidimensional analysis are that: (1) item discrimination is heterogeneous, so…

The construct validity of written Ideaphoria and oral Ideaphoria is discussed through analysis of their content and format and their correlations with tests of divergent thinking and writing speed. The current status of research on the measurement of divergent thinking ability is reviewed. Although the Ideaphoria tests have the same content as…

An experimental test battery designed to measure several perceptual abilities was administered to 1,368 (51.8% male) paying clients of the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation (JOCRF) in an effort to identify and measure three perceptual abilities: (1) flexibility of closure; (2) speed of closure; and (3) spatial scanning. Subjects, who ranged in…

A project was conducted to develop and assess a highly job related personnel selection battery that could be administered to inexperienced applicants for positions as public assistance workers in departments of public welfare or unemployment offices. The Public Assistant Worker Job Trial (PAWJT) is called a job trial because instead of attempting…

Concurrent and predictive test validity data and test-retest reliability data were obtained for a work sample performance measure and two paper and pencil tests in a laboratory setting. Findings are interpreted in light of a behavioral consistency model and the practical utility of work samples as a personnel selection technique. (Editor)

The Work Performance Assessment (WPA) is a brief work simulation designed to evaluate job maintenance skills, emphasizing work-related social/interpersonal skills rather than specific vocational skills. The WPA uses three work samples involving sorting of food service items to measure 19 common work demands in four categories: responding to…

As part of an effort to provide more economical methods for job-skill evaluation in the Army Enlisted Personnel Management System, a study investigated the use of television as a means of presenting test items for a sample of tests from the job field of tank crewman. The television scene provided the job setting for each item and then posed a…

The adverse impact of a content-valid job sample test of metal trades skills was compared to that of a well-constructed content-valid written achievement test for the same technical area. The adverse impact of the former was considerably less. Suggests that industrial psychologists should explore more fully the potential of performance testing.…

The purpose of this publication is to review each of the Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Association sample testing standards as well as to provide insight and understanding into the underlying purposes of the guidelines. The first of three sections focuses on those standards designed to insure that a work sample actually measures what…