2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

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issues will be increasingly important and controversial constructs as web assessment testing now
easily transverses national boundaries (Klion, et. al, 2002).
Delivery of media-rich assessments is an emerging mega-trend (Jones & Higgins, 2001) awaiting
fuller implementation of broadband delivery capability. High quality audio and video delivery
will be able to present complex assessment stimuli as “virtual” realities, allowing for an
advanced form of simulation-based evaluation.
Meanwhile, the advent of reliable, low-cost Internet devices is upon us. Many hospital and health
care systems are already using hand-held thin clients as the basic data point-of-entry for
clinicians. Similar devices are being used in corporate surveys, and it is probably inevitable that
most large-scale certification and standardized educational testing will eventually utilize thin
client Internet devices as the data harvesting hardware.
Case example
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration utilizes a very rigorous skills-based standards
framework for job role definition, identification of skills and competencies, and the alignment of
selection and assessment strategies within this model (Figure 1, from Kolmstetter, 2003). The
project is among the largest web assessment-based testing programs ever executed and involves
close coordination with TSA and a host of other vendors in the hiring and human resource
management of a 75,000 employee federal agency.
Figure 1. TSA Skill Standards – Integrated Web Assessment Model
Performance Appraisal
& Management
Certification-
Annual
Proficiency
Review
Train
Advertise, Recruit,
Provide Applicant
Information
Skill
Standards
Hire
45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003
Qualifications Screen
Competency Assessment
Medical Examination
Background/Security Check