The 2019-2020 Catalog is Available!
Woohoo! The new Assessment Services catalog is available online for viewing — or download your very own copy! What’s new? SO MUCH! I can’t even tell you how cool it is. You really should see for yourself.
Well, okay, here’s a sneak peak: new tests (paging Public Works …), new services (I can take my test from where?!), new and updated publications (setting that passpoint like a pro now!) and new ways to communicate with you (your awesome sense of humor is now available on social media?!) — oh, my!
Check it out! Tell your friends! Tell your dog! Tell your friends and your dog. It’s that awesome.
Exciting News: New Answer Sheets and Data Collection Method
Attention hand-scoring customers: You will notice new and improved candidate answer sheets and scoring stencils in your test orders starting June 5, 2019! The most notable change to the answer sheets, besides minor layout improvements, is the collection of demographic information directly on the answer sheets. The Assessment Services Department recently made these changes to facilitate test response data collection and to make the submission process easier for customers. Gone are the days of having to physically mail your test response data back to IPMA-HR (unless you want to). You can now conveniently scan, upload, and send your completed and ungraded candidate answer sheets securely online to IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department!
Why share scores from your test administration with the Assessment Services Department?
Have you ever called the Assessment Services Department and asked for guidance on setting cut scores or for national data on adverse impact? As a member of IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department, I can personally attest that we receive these calls all the time! I am always happy to be able to share national data with customers to help guide their decisions regarding setting cut scores, investigating/addressing adverse impact, and handling item challenges.
As test developers and test users, we have a legal responsibility to make fair assessments and selection decisions. IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department is dedicated to helping our customers make fair decisions. To assist with this process, we routinely collects test score and demographic data for each of our tests from our customers. The purpose of collecting this information is to allow us to run adverse impact analyses on our exams; this information is then provided to our test users in the form of a Test Response Data Report and includes the score frequency distribution and adverse impact data. It is our hope that these reports can help inform our users’ selection decisions. However, we would not be able to compile and share these reports to help inform your selection decisions without your help! These reports are compiled thanks to the agencies that choose to voluntarily submit their candidate data from each test administration. All data is held completely confidential and reported only in the form of group statistics.
How can I submit data from my agency’s test administration?
Be on the lookout for the new Test Response Data Submission forms in your test orders, which contains important instructions for how to submit your data either electronically or by mail. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Assessment Services Department: assessment@ipma-hr.org or 1-800-381-TEST (8378). Thank you!
Exciting News!
We’ve expanded our products and services to serve you better! Here’s what’s new:
- Customer Service. This new test line is designed for use across many different job classifications particular to public sector agencies including 311 Center representative, customer service representative, front desk positions, clerks, office assistants, etc.
- Public Works. We added a new test category this year and are happy to announce that our new Wastewater Treatment Operator and Wastewater Treatment First-line Supervisor tests are now available to order!
- Administrative Support. Custom Combined Modules allow you to choose from any combination of 10 of our most popular individual modules to create one customized test booklet for easy administration and scoring. To make administration even easier, customized modules can also be accessed through our Online Test Administration Service (OTAS).
- Live Remote Proctoring. IPMA-HR has partnered with ProctorU to equip agencies with the ability to allow job candidates to take tests from any location — wherever they have a computer with a high-speed internet connection.
- Passpoint Guide. Efficient and effective, IPMA-HR’s Passpoint Guide provides you with step-by-step instructions and Excel spreadsheets to show you how to determine a threshold of acceptable performance on the score continuum. In other words: who should pass the test.
-
Engage! We are excited to announce that the Assessment Customer Group is now live on Engage and open to all our test security agreement signers! Log in to learn more!
Follow the links above to learn more, or call us at: 1-800-381-TEST (8378).
Accounting Clerk Test Development Project
IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department is developing a new Accounting Clerk module in 2019. To create top of the line tests for this position, we need agencies to participate in the test development process. The next step in the test development process is the completion of job analysis questionnaires.
We are asking for experienced Accounting Clerks from each agency to complete a Job Analysis Questionnaire online. The job analysis will identify the most important tasks and competencies needed to perform on the job effectively. Completion of the question takes approximately 30 minutes.
Participating agencies will receive a discount toward a future IPMA-HR assessment product purchase. Additionally, all participating JAQ respondents will be entered into a raffle to win a catered lunch for their department.
If you are interested in participation please complete the participation form on our webpage and we will contact you with more information on the next phase of the test development process.
Public Safety Voices | Sheriff Joel Merry
The opioid epidemic and succession planning are my two top concerns right now.
In Sagadahoc County, the opioid epidemic is of real concern. There are a lot of issues related to it that require a great deal of our time, from the number of calls we take regarding overdoses, to investigators working on trafficking cases, dealing with the number of people in our jails who are addicted and getting folks into treatment and recovery – it’s a lot for any department.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff Joel A. Merry | Image: Bangor Daily News
Succession planning is my top human resources issue. Retirement is the main reason we’re losing people, though we recently lost two transport deputies to the private sector. On the patrol side, we’ve had a very stable workforce, but we do have some pending retirements. This concerns me due to what my fellow law enforcement administrators are going through with recruiting. It’s a real concern. When I started my career in law enforcement 35 years ago, it was so competitive that I didn’t get my first two attempts.
We’re answering the call with life-saving aid, aggressive tactics, education and recovery.
Sagadahoc County is one of the first agencies to start carrying Narcan in Maine. We did this because we service a lot of small rural communities where EMS are 15-30 minutes away. Having a deputy with AEDs and Narcan can save a life.
The other thing we’ve done is get more aggressive on the law enforcement side trying to eradicate the traffickers and educate the public. We’ve trained patrol in interdiction strategies and we work closely with MDEA (Maine Drug Enforcement Administration) on public awareness, as well as some diversion tactics.
The tactic I’m most proud of is one where we connect people with a recovery coach and group counseling. Our programs deputy carries a caseload of 7-15 folks who are required to check in every night and meet with him face-to-face once a week. They are also subject to random drug testing and need to be employed or looking. We want to hold them accountable. It’s another level of probation and provides additional support to the probation office to help keep them on the right track.
Thinking ahead, we’re providing leadership training, adding specializations, and performing youth outreach.
Everyone who applies for a promotional position gets to attend a leadership training program through Granite State Police Career Counseling. It consists of a one-day leadership course and a three-day course on supervision, teaching them what supervision is within an agency, what does it mean and how will your role change as a supervisor.
Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Dept. attending a You Matter event at Woolwich Central School. The officers greet students as they arrive.
We’re also adding in some specializations to build skills and to help keep our deputies interested in this agency. To that end, we recently restarted a K-9 program, and we have another deputy who is specializing in accident reconstruction.
We have done some youth outreach, including Project ALERT, which is similar to DARE. Prevention work is something I would like to do more of. I’ve toyed with the idea of a visitation program such as deputies stopping by schools to say hello and have lunch with the kids.
9/11 was a defining moment in my career.
One of the defining moments of my career came when I was a lieutenant with the Bath Police Department. My chief at the time was away attending the FBI academy, which corresponded with 9/11. A lot of things were fast moving. There were so many unknowns: are we a target, are we next?
The USS Zumwalt at Bath Iron Works. Image: Bangor Daily News
In Bath we have Bath Iron Works, which is a major U.S. shipyard and producer of naval ships. We had a lot of protocols around that – we had to provide guards 24/7 to protect the military assets. We were working very closely with neighboring law enforcement departments and built strong partnerships during that time.
Working with other agencies in both the private and public sector, I had to learn a lot of communication skills very quickly and make sure information was being shared — that I was communicating with all stakeholders. I had to focus. It provided me with insight into what leadership needs to be: As a leader, you have to be thinking about the now and what happens tomorrow at the same time.
We care.
What is the one thing I’d want our community to know about law enforcement? We care. We really do care about the health and well-being of our community.
Our communities are a great place to live, work and play, and as members of law enforcement, we work hard to keep them as safe as possible so people can live without fear and enjoy their lives.
-Sheriff Joel Merry, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, Maine
Test Fairness and the Release of IPMA-HR’s New Passpoint Guide
I love a good underdog story — stories about people who started from nothing and, despite their circumstances, were able to climb to the top and experience success. In the American culture especially, underdogs are highly regarded. Why do Americans love underdog stories so much?
Underdogs are the manifestation of the American Dream. For decades, immigrants have flocked to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream: The idea that in the United States of America, all citizens have equal opportunities and an equal chance of achieving their goals and dreams. My parents, like many other American parents, instilled in me the ideology that if you work hard to achieve your goals, you will succeed.
Despite the ideology America was built on, our country has struggled to consistently provide equal opportunities to all. As discussed in the previous legal law series posts, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first pivotal piece of American legislation toward equal opportunity for all because it outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. The purpose of this piece of legislation was to ensure fairness, and as test developers and test users, we know all too well the importance of fairness in selection decisions.
Importance of fairness in selection decisions
Fairness in testing has recently been thrown back into the limelight due to the recent 
College Admissions Cheating Scam (Yan, 2019). The scandal has caused an uproar in America because it has exposed hypocrisy in the American Dream, which instead feels like it should be defined as, “in the United States of America, wealthy citizens have better opportunities and a better chance of achieving their goals and dreams.” The public is questioning now, more than ever, test security, fairness, and the people in positions of power who make the important and life-changing decisions of who gets in, who gets hired, and who gets promoted.
As test developers and test users, candidates are looking to us to make fair decisions. Test developers have a responsibility to develop tests according to professional and legal guidelines. If fairness and/or adverse impact analysis data has been collected on assessments, test developers should make that information available to test users to help inform their selection decisions. IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department provides several free white papers to help test users ensure fairness in testing, including Considerations in Addressing Adverse Impact, and Considerations in Test Accommodations.
Test users have the responsibility to make fair selection and promotional decisions, which includes the choice of proctor. I receive many calls for advice on test fairness, adverse impact and test accommodations. But hands-down, the most common fairness-related question I receive is: Where do I set my passpoint?
Setting a valid, fair and appropriate passpoint is often the most challenging activity associated with the test development and administration process. Agencies have a responsibility to use great care and consideration when setting a passpoint, particularly when hiring decisions are based, even in part, on exam results.
IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department now offers an efficient and effective solution: the Passpoint Guide. The Passpoint Guide provides step-by-step instructions and Excel spreadsheets to show you how to determine a fair threshold of acceptable performance on the score continuum. In other words: who deserves to pass the test. And, as always, our Assessment Services staff is available to help answer any fairness related questions you may have.
References
Yan, H. (2019, March 19). What we know so far in the college admissions cheating scandal. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/13/us/what-we-know-college-admissions-cheating-scandal/index.html