This paper describes the Work Performance Assessment (WPA) and the Work Personality Profile (WPP) and provides instructions for their use. The WPA and WPP evaluate behaviors associated with job retention and advancement among disabled workers. Together the two evaluation components form a comprehensive observational assessment designed to provide…

This manual reviews the use of work samples in the vocational assessment of blind and visually impaired persons and suggests improvements in their use. The information in the manual was gathered through a literature review, a national survey of vocational evaluators in rehabilitation facilities and schools for the blind, and ideas developed by the…

The purpose of this document is to help vocational evaluators understand (1) how the concepts of learning and performance relate to vocational evaluation; (2) why learning assessment is important; and (3) how it may be incorporated into work sample testing. The text is divided into three parts. Part 1 defines the learning assessment process. Part…

The vocational evaluation system has demonstrated relatively strong predictive validity in use with handicapped and disadvantaged individuals receiving vocational evaluation services. These findings permit greater confidence on the part of counselors, evaluators, and job placement specialists in determining occupational directions for their…

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…

This guide is intended to assist vocational rehabilitation counselors in planning and conducting short-term vocational evaluations of clients. The first section discusses the elements that must be included in a comprehensive vocational evaluation. Next, strategies for conducting a vocational evaluation are explained. The next section, a case study…

Test takers' preferences for group versus individual administration of the Micro-TOWER System of Vocational Evaluation are reported. The system was administered to 211 clients at a vocational rehabilitation center, and consisted of work samples measuring the following job skills: record checking, filing, lamp assembly, message-taking, zip coding,…

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…

The document presents a vocational evaluation process based on a diverse mixture of proven principles and practices that have been used in school-based vocational evaluation programs for handicapped students. Following a foreword (part 1), part 2 offers several definitions of vocational evaluation and vocational assessment. Part 3 compares…

This publication provides vocational evaluators with guidelines to help facilitate selection and purchase of work samples. It describes some of the essential elements of a well-constructed or "model" work sample (as defined in Vocational Evaluation and Work Adjustment Association [VEWAA]-Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation…

Sixteen papers concerned with vocational habilitation of the severely and profoundly retarded are organized into three parts: issues in habilitation, stimulus control of vocational behavior, and instrumentation for program evaluation. Papers have the following titles and authors: "Structured Employment: Productivity and Productive Capacity" (R.…

Intended for vocational rehabilitation facilities, the document presents guidelines for the provision of vocational evaluation services to deaf persons. Explained in Section I is the vocational evaluation process, with chapters covering an introduction and overview, delivery of services to deaf clients, and objectives and process of the vocational…

A study was conducted (1) to obtain an estimate of the amount of error in prediction that occurs when static measures are used to interpret work-sample performance; (2) to identify a number of dynamic performance measures that reflect learning that might occur on the task; and (3) to compare the predictive accuracy of those measures to that of…

Traditionally, most rehabilitation centers have evaluated a clients' vocational skills on an individual basis. Individually administered work samples, however, may not provide as much individual attention to the assessment process as is usually assumed. Two types of group work sample evaluation systems have been developed: the Valpar Work Sample…