Testing and Assessment: An Employer's Guide to Good Practices for Workforce Investment Professionals

“In today’s competitive marketplace and complex legal environment, employers face the challenge of attracting, developing, and retaining the best employees… [As such,] this Guide is designed to help managers and human resource (HR) professionals use assessment practices to reach their organizations’ HR goals. It conveys the essential concepts of employment testing in easy-to-understand terms so that managers and HR professionals can:

• Evaluate and select assessment tools/procedures that maximize chances for getting the right fit between jobs and employees;
• Administer and score assessment tools that are the most efficient and effective for their particular needs;
• Accurately interpret assessment results; and
• Understand the professional and legal standards to be followed when conducting personnel assessment.

This Guide is structured around a set of assessment principles and their applications…Each chapter covers a critical aspect of the assessment process…Thirteen principles of assessment are explained in the Guide…To assist readers in finding additional information, links to relevant websites are imbedded in the text throughout the Guide. In addition, Appendix A offers a list of resource materials for those interested in more information on a particular topic. Appendix B is a glossary for quick clarification of terms and concepts” (p.ii). (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

Principles of personnel assessments instruments: •“Use assessment tools in a purposeful manner…strategies should be based on both an understanding of the kind of employment decisions to be made and the population to be assessed” (p.9-1). •“Use the whole person approach to assessment…[by] using a variety of tools to measure skills, abilities, and other job-relevant characteristics” (p.9-1). •“[Using] only assessment instruments that are unbiased and fair to all groups…will help you select a qualified and diverse workforce” (p.9-1). •“Use only reliable assessment instruments and procedures…to meaningfully interpret test scores and make useful career or employment-related decisions” (p.9-2). •“Use assessment tools that are appropriate for the target population [so that it is valid]” (p.9-2). •“Use assessment instruments for which understandable and comprehension documentation is available…to be sure that the tools you select do the job you want them to do and furnish you with the information you need” (p.9-3). •“Ensure that administration staff are properly trained [to administer the instrument]…to obtain valid results” (p.9-3). •“Ensure that testing conditions are suitable…and that administration procedures are uniform for all test takers” (p.9-3). •“Provide reasonable accommodation in the assessment process for people with disabilities” (p.9-3). •“Maintain assessment instrument security” (p.9-4). •“Maintain confidentiality of assessment results” (p.9-4). •“Ensure that scores are interpreted properly” (p.9-4).(Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2007
• Author(s): Rivkin, David; Lewis, Phil; Saad, Syed; Carter, Gary W., et al.
• Organizational Author(s): U.S. Dept. of Labor, ETA; NC Employment Security Commission; National ONET Consortium, Et al.
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Melissa Mack
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies