[IPAC-List] Measurement education

[Joel Wiesen]

Hi Steven,

Would it help if you involved some of the critics in the exam 
development and administration process?

Do the critics have suggestions of approaches they think will work 
better than what you are using?  If not, perhaps can you ask the critics 
to contact their peers across the country to seek out better approaches.

Joel


- -
Joel P. Wiesen, Ph.D., Director
Applied Personnel Research
62 Candlewood Road
Scarsdale, NY 10583-6040
http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelwiesen
(617) 244-8859
http://appliedpersonnelresearch.com




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On 10/24/12 7:26 PM, Partain, Steven C. wrote:

> Folks, I am facing a bit of a crisis of understanding related to measurement in promotional exams.  Every-so-often we have a promotional exam in which the names and ranking of eligibles on the list don't match what our folks know about those candidates.  We've had several recently with the "best" people failing the exams.  As you might imagine, HR is to blame, and we are under great pressure to change our approach to exams to ensure the "best" people pass and are appropriately ranked.  I won't go through all the practices we use to ensure validity, reliability, standardization, etc.  We certainly are always looking at those factors and have room to improve.  But the underlying message is to make our exams "more successful," which means that the resulting eligible list matches the perceptions of our workforce about their true ability.

>

> So, here's my question.  I feel pretty well-versed in the folly of holistic assessments, the relatively low validity of others "sizing up" candidates intuitively, etc.  I have attempted-and obviously failed-to convey some of the science underlying this.  How have others successfully overcome this challenge?  Are there metaphors that have worked?  A written piece published that captures the issue in laymen's terms?

>

> Any help is appreciated.  Otherwise, I fear we will head down the road of having the workforce rank candidates-kind of a popularity contest.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Steven Partain

> HR Manager

> Human Resources

> Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue

> 11945 SW 70th Avenue, Tigard, Oregon 97223

> www.tvfr.com<http://www.tvfr.com/>

> Ph. 503-259-1292

>

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