Running Tests Fall Down
A public sector physical ability test bit the dust on summary judgment in Easterling v. The State of Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC), No. 3:08-CV-0826 (D. Conn. 6/5/2011). Easterling, an applicant for Correction Officer (CO), failed one part of the physical ability test, the 1.5 mile run in 2004. She subsequently filed a class action sex discrimination suit. The class was certified in January 2010; both sides filed motions for summary judgment.
Experts for DOC admitted that there was no evidence that the 40th percentile cut scores correlated with minimum level of aerobic capacity to perform the CO job. No study had been done to determine cardiovascular capacity for CO.
The physical ability test has four events: sit and reach, one minute of sit-ups, one minute of push-ups, and the timed 1.5 mile run. All events need to be passed. Scoring is age- and sex-normed for the 40th percentile of performance for each age/sex cohort as established by the Cooper Institute. (The issue of age- and sex-norming is discussed below.) The Institute is a non-profit health and preventive medicine organization established in 1970 by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, who popularized aerobics. Adverse impact against women was established in three administrations of the run in 2004-2006 via the Four-Fifths Rule and Fisher’s Exact Test. DOC presented evidence that when results of the run event are pooled over CO, State Trooper Trainee, and Public Safety Trainee, the women’s pass rate meets or comes close to meeting the Four-Fifths Rule. There was an expectation that the norms used would eliminate adverse impact. The plaintiff presented expert testimony that the female norms were based on a sample of women more fit than the overall female population. DOC argued that it had targeted recruitment at racial/ethnic minorities, and these minorities had poorer cardiovascular health than the general population. That could account for the unexpectedly low pass rates for women. But the court noted that DOC had not presented evidence that black or Hispanic women were being recruited; there was no evidence presented by DOC that minority women were less likely to pass than minority men. (more…)
O*NET: What It Can Do For You
The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) has earned a reputation as the nation’s primary resource of information on a variety of jobs. Developed under the sponsorship of the US Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration, the network’s main draw is the O*NET database, which has occupation-specific descriptions for hundreds of job classifications.
O*NET also publishes a number of guides available for free download. Two guides cover best practices in testing and assessment:
- A Guide to Good Practices for Workforce Investment Professionals, focused on workforce investment professionals who promote talent development.
- An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices, intended for HR professionals and managers.
- Helping You Make Better Career Decisions is a guide intended for employees, to help them understand how assessment instruments are utilized in selection.
Let’s break the guides down, shall we? (more…)
Alabama’s Proposed Immigration Law
Alabama’s proposed immigration law is reputedly one of the toughest of any state. But rather than going into effect on September 1, it’s been blocked by a federal temporary injunction. The legislation makes it a crime to knowingly harbor or transport an illegal immigrant, and it suspends or revokes the business licenses of firms who knowingly employ illegals.
The U.S. Department of Justice (U.S. v. Alabama, No. 2:11-cv-02746, N.D. Alabama, 8/29/2011), the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and State, immigration activists, and Christian church leaders had all gone after the proposed law. Conflict was cited with the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and the Fourth Amendment (unlawful search and seizure), the latter pertaining the provision that law enforcement officers investigate the immigration status of people they stop.
The court issued a ruling on the case in late September.
Reprinted with permission from the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington.
Welcome to the New Assessment Services Review
The staff at IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department is pleased to announce the launch of the new Assessment Services Review.
We have long used the ASR as a way to communicate with our customers and share news related to public safety testing and selection processes, as well as announce new products & services and share tips on how to ensure your own test administrations run smoothly and without incident.
Traditionally, the ASR has been presented in a newsletter format; first as a print newsletter that we mailed to our customers, then as an e-mail newsletter. While we will continue to retain the e-mail newsletter format, sending monthly updates to feature content we published over the previous month, we encourage you to subscribe to the blog format in your favorite RSS feed reader or get the Assessment Services Review delivered to your inbox by using the subscribe box in the sidebar on the right side of this page.
You can still view past editions of the ASR on our website, going back as far as 2004.
New Series of Articles Coming Soon
Robert Burd will be joining the ASR staff to write informative articles on HR selection and testing related topics. First up will be an article on succession planning and how assessment centers can be used as part of a developmental approach to promotional opportunities.
Robert is an HR professional with over thirty years of experience in public sector human resources specializing in selection including: test development and validation, designing and conducting oral boards, assessment centers and physical fitness testing. His experience includes functioning as a division head for Recruitment and Selection and Classification and Compensation for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the City of Henderson, Nevada. Mr. Burd has also been a long time member of IPMA, IPMAAC, and WRIPAC. His education includes a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a specialization in Personnel Management, a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology with a specialization in standardized testing and measurement, and a Paralegal Certification for the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Robert will be using a mix of research and his vast experience to bring you articles on informative and innovative topics. Please leave us some feedback in the poll above or the comments below on other topics, issues, problems, etc. that you would like to see covered in future posts.
Look for the first article from Robert Burd soon.
Federal Hiring Reform Marches On
Shorter job announcements and more accessibility to applicants are just two of the goals that are closer to realization thanks to federal hiring reform.
In May 2010, representatives of the United State Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced that President Obama had ordered a major overhaul of the federal hiring process. The goal of these reforms was to shorten the hiring process for federal jobs and make these positions accessible to a wider array of candidates.
OPM Director John Berry speaking at the National Press Club in May 2011
In a press release about the reform, OPM Director John Berry stated that the changes were the result of concerns that many qualified applicants were giving up on their chances of getting these government jobs because the system was inefficient. “I understand the frustration of every applicant who previously has had to wade through the arcane Federal hiring process,” he said. “If qualified applicants want to serve our country through the Federal service, then our application process should facilitate that.”
One of the changes included in reform was the elimination of written essays as an initial application requirement. The OPM web site includes tips and information on other forms of assessment. Also, a group of leading providers of assessment tests formed the Alliance for Hiring Reform to address the hiring overhaul.
The alliance’s goals are to provide information and help educate those involved in federal hiring about the value of using objective assessments to make the hiring process more efficient. Their web site, hiringreform.org, includes a library of HR selection and testing information. The website also contains Performance and Turnover Calculators to assist agencies in accurately estimating the potential gains, in dollars, from improving one’s quality of hire as well as estimating the dollar value of reducing turnover.
According to the government, major progress has already been made as a result of the overhaul. Since the launch of the reforms, OPM has supported federal agencies with 351 training sessions in 66 cities for 17,300 people involved in the hiring process.
The office also reports that, as a result of the initiative, 86 percent of job announcements were in “plain English,” compared with 55 percent in 2009. Also, 92 percent of announcements now allow interested parties to apply with just a resume or cover letter, instead of forcing them to submit complex applications. In 2009, only 39 percent of announcements allowed resume-based applications.
Other changes made as a result of hiring reform include shorter job announcements. OPM reports that 66 percent of job announcements are two to three pages long, compared with 24 percent prior to hiring reform. More progress is likely on the horizon. This year, the government launched the websites USAJobs and USAJobsRecruit to aid both agencies and applicants in the hiring process. Examples of how job announcements have been re-structured and the information included in the announcements can be reviewed on these websites.