Program Evaluation of an Assessment Center

In many settings, several of these resources are incorporated into a single comprehensive design or program to address multiple issues or needs, or answer multiple questions. One such program is the assessment center, which you were introduced to in your Psychological Testing and Assessment text. Since an assessment center, or any similar program using multiple assessment techniques (for example, school counseling programs, and special education intervention programs), typically provides decisions regarding a number of questions, then it is important, if not a requirement, to evaluate the program for efficacy and utility.

You also learned about the concept of utility in the context of testing and assessment as applied to a single measure in Unit 5. Considerations involved in determining utility can also be applied to large-scale testing programs that employ multiple tests or measures in a selected battery.

While the authors of your Psychological Testing and Assessment text introduced an assessment center from 1956 that incorporated multiple tools and methods, the Thornton and Gibbons’ 2009 article, “Validity of Assessment Centers for Personnel Selection,” elaborated on a review of the validity of elements of contemporary assessment centers and considerations when employing them.

Instructions
For this discussion, take into consideration the factors that affect a test’s utility, which was identified in your Psychological Testing and Assessment text as psychometric soundness, costs, and benefits (pages 212–218), as well as practical considerations when conducting utility analyses, which includes pool of applicants, complexity of the job, and use of cut scores (pages 232–235).

Identify three specific measures for a management assessment center addressing selection, placement, promotion, and career training.

Identify a specific instrument for each of the following areas:
Ability or aptitude testing.
Occupational career or interests.
Personality.
Discuss one advantage and one disadvantage in selecting these tests for the battery.
Identify at least one issue regarding factors of utility and utility analysis with this battery of tests.
Include how you would evaluate the effectiveness of incorporating your measures into this battery. How would you determine that the three tests are adequate for addressing the purposes of selection, placement, promotion, and career training?
Include, in your discussion, if and how computerized assessment could be incorporated into your battery or evaluation.