Products and Services - Fire Department - Promotional Written Test
We offer a variety of promotional testing processes to meet the needs of your department. Our promotional solutions include written tests of technical job knowledge, written tests of practical job knowledge and situational judgment, job simulation exercises, assessment centers and oral board exams. Our tests incorporate recent developments in the fields of public safety and personnel selection. As a company, we are known for our innovative approach, our ability to measure the whole person, and our client centered approach which allows us to address your needs and provide you with the best solution for your department.
A written test is often used as a first step in the promotional process. The test score can be used in a number of different ways. One option is to set a pass/fail score and allow those who pass to proceed to the next step in the process. Other options include combining the written test score with the scores from other steps in the process for a total score, or using the written test score to select a certain number or percentage of candidates to proceed to the next step of the process. For some ranks, it may be appropriate to use the written test score as the primary or only method for selection. CWH will consult with you and your department to determine how the written test score may be used most appropriately for each rank. We will also recommend appropriate weightings for written test scores when they are to be combined with additional steps in the promotional process. CWH offers several written test products including:
• Standard rank-specific tests drawn from our item banks.
• Semi-customized rank specific tests including 10-20 items written for your department.
• Customized rank specific tests tailored specifically for your department.
CWH offers two types of written tests. Our traditional Technical Job Knowledge (TJK) test provides a valid, defensible test that minimizes adverse impact compared to other traditional TJK tests. CWH has had exceptional results with our TJK tests in terms of reducing adverse impact. However, some adverse impact may still occur with this type of test. Our Situational Judgment (SJ) test is the lowest adverse impact option for a written test. This test can be used instead of or along with the TJK test. A description of each type of written test follows.
Traditional job knowledge written testing is a very common and legally defensible way of testing for a position. This type of test measures cognitive skills and technical job knowledge (that is, knowledge of procedures, rules, laws, and theories) and one’s ability to memorize information. This type of test is not a good measure of on-the-job practical skills or application of knowledge. As with other types of written tests, individuals who possess better study skills or who have more successful test-taking experience may perform better on the test than others with similar on-the-job experience and skills.
Our Technical Job Knowledge (TJK) test uses standard text books, technical sources, and department SOP’s to create items. These items are placed in a situational context as much as possible to eliminate the measurement of non-essential test taking skills and the ability of candidates to simply memorize information. As a result, CWH has a history of developing TJK tests that result in lower sub-group differences than is commonly found in the industry. For example, our job knowledge tests typically yield black-white standard deviation (SD) unit score differences of between 0.5 and 0.8, which is substantially lower than the 1.0 to 1.3 SD difference commonly found in tests of this nature.
Our typical TJK test consists of 80 - 100 multiple choice items. Depending on the option you choose, items may be written from department specific source materials such as SOP’s, as well as from standardized texts developed for the public safety profession. The options we offer for our TJK test are summarized below.
Standard, non - custom
A test will be provided by CWH consisting of 100 multiple choice items based on a standard job description for the rank being tested. Items will be taken from our existing item bank and be drawn from 4 – 5 sources from our standard reading list, based on the rank being tested.
Semi - Custom
With this option, your department can include up to 20 additional items to supplement the standard test described above. CWH will write these custom items based on sources specified by your department (e.g., SOPs, SOGs, Rules and Regulations, additional textbooks, etc.) and your Subject Matter Experts will have the opportunity to review the items prior to delivery of the final test.
Custom
The reading list will be determined in consultation with your department. All test items will be developed from the sources on the custom reading list. These sources may include any materials deemed appropriate by your department, along with recommendations from CWH. An unlimited percentage of custom items may be written from department specific source materials such as SOPs, SOGs, or Rules and Regulations.
If your department chooses this option with the TJK test, the TJK test would contain approximately 60 – 80 items, and the SJ test would consist of approximately 20 - 30 situational questions. The job-related situations described are derived from interviews with subject matter experts, as well as the consultants’ extensive past experience with testing for the jobs. Questions are designed to measure constructs such as leadership skills, interpersonal skills, emotional skills, and situational judgment.
This type of test demonstrates high content validity and no or very low adverse impact. CWH recommends using the SJ test with or in place of the TJK test to provide high content validity and low or no adverse impact as the initial screen.
