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New online assessment for government job applicants. http://www.govexec.com By: Emily Long April 20, 2011 As Presented By: Maximilian Tokarsky. ASSESS. New online tool developed by The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to replace KSAs. What are KSAs?
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New online assessment for government job applicants http://www.govexec.com By: Emily Long April 20, 2011 As Presented By: Maximilian Tokarsky
ASSESS • New online tool developed by The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to replace KSAs. • What are KSAs? • Testing tools for applicants to 12 job types: • Security adminstrators, human resource managers, administrative assistants, accountants, budget analysts, contracting officers, information technology workers. • Tests job specific competencies: • Problem solving, math reasoning, reading comprehension, decision-making skills.
1 year pilot phase • Used to streamline federal hiring process • Intended to increase timeliness and focus on quality • Agriculture Department Farm Service Agency in Kansas City, Mo. First to pilot • Defense, Health, Human Services, Justice, and Veteran Affairs to follow • OPM will collect feedback from applicants and hiring managers to evaluate assessments and ensure scoring
Test’s uniqueness and future • No two versions of the online, unproctored exams are identical. • Thousands of questions and scenarios are already available and more are in development. • The goal is to spread ASSESS to other agencies • OPM hopes to develop specialized tests for nurses, engineers, etc.
Implications • Increase in the importance of test taking skills? • Hiring a test score and not a person? • Decrease in the importance of writing skills? • Sacrifice depth for efficiency? • Can we teach to the test? Can the test be compromised?