Kim Michaud Rachana Pandey

Michael MatthewsRobin Jackson

Cristina Nazario

            

                                                      

     

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General Information

Authors: Eliot R. Long,

Victor S. Artese, Winifred L. Clonts

Publisher: Wonderlic Inc.

Date of Publication:1999-2000

Cost: Unavailab

leProvided only to

administrating

organization

Wonderlic Basic Skills

Test

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Description of Purpose and Nature of Test

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Purpose:

The Wonderlic Basic Skills Test is a brief, multiple-choice test intended to measure the language and math skills of adults, and to be used in assessing the job-readiness of the test-taker  WBST Measures: Job Readiness Job Readiness can be defined as:  “Having sufficient language and math skills to successfully handle the written and computational requirements of a particular job.” (Donlon & Hanna, 2003)

What is its purpose? What does it measure?

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Where might this test be utilized? How would it be

used? Often used as part of the hiring process

In assessing basic skill levels, one can find a job of “best fit”.

In assessing results, potential employers can also find employees that they feel are “best fit”

Generally used to assess entry level positions and occupational training programs

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What type of test is the WBST?

Classified as a basic skills achievement test

*Handout

  

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Who is the WBST Intended For?

The WBST is intended for those high school-aged and up

Designed for those who wish to assess their basic skills when entering the workforce.

Skills assessed can lead to jobs in many vocations

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What scores does the WBST provide?

The Wonderlic Basic Skills Test aims to measure general intelligence or 'g,' which provides insight into how easily individuals can be trained and how well they adjust in work and school settings.

Characteristics of Results: Production Machine Tender:

Level Two Verbal Level One Quantitative Mathematics

Each level indicates one’s attainment ability

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What do the results tell you about a client?

WBST Assesses: Math skills Language skills “coachability” 

*The Wonderlic measures potential to learn, rather than how well that potential is utilized.

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About The Test

Verbal: 50 Questions– General Educational Development (GED)

level– Word Knowledge– Sentence Construction– Information Retrieval

Quantitative : 45 Questions– General Educational Development (GED)

level- Explicit Quantitative Skills- Applied Quantitative Skills- Interpretive Quantitative Skills

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About The Test

Use one test or both as needed Question Types

– Multiple Choice– Increasing order of difficulty

Administration time: 20 min. per test

No calculators Two equivalent forms: VS1, VS2

and QS-1 and QS-2

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Critical Evaluation

Clean, clear, attractive design and presentation

Provides a range of appropriate scores for 900+ entry level jobs

Customizable job profiles Appropriate for intended purpose

and audience

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Administration and Scoring

Easy administration and scoring Paper and pencil

– Individual or group administration– Fax in scoring– Online template scoring

Online – Individual or group administration– Online scoring– Results in minutes

Critical Evaluation

Validity

Reliability

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Content Validity

Content should represent whatexperts say it should for that particular domain

WBST based job related language and math skills published by the U.S. Dept. of Labor

Reviewers agree that it is sound

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EXAMPLE excerpted Revised Handbook for Analyzing Jobs (RHAJ)

U.S. Dept. of Labor 1991http://www.skilltran.com/rhaj/chapter7.htm

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Level 2

READING:   Passive vocabulary of 5,000 - 6,000 words.  Read at rate of 190-215 words per minute.  Read adventure stories and comic books, looking up unfamiliar words in dictionary for meaning, spelling and pronunciation.  Read instructions for assembling model cars and airplanes.

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Level 1

MATH: Add and subtract two-digit numbers.Multiply and divide 10's and 100's by 2, 3, 4, 5.  Perform the four basic arithmetic operations with coins as part of a dollar.  Perform operations with units such as cup, pint, and quart; inch, foot and yard; and ounce and pound.

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Normative Validity

The test is appropriate for the population it is intended for without gender, cultural or content bias

U.S. Dept. of Education reviewed and approved for language/math skills for postsecondary occupational training

Expert reviewed for cultural sensitivity

Differential item functioning analysis for gender, culture, content bias

1 Reviewer wants more info re: students in school vs. adults at work

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Construct Validity

The scales measure what they are supposed to measure

Reviewer’s positivesGood grade-progression dataGood discussion how item ordering

minimized impact of speediness on score

Reviewer’s negativesMore evidence needed for test wiseness,

sensitivity coaching, and context dependence

Demonstration that scales accurately represent DOL scales

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Reliability

The measurements reported are accurate

Test-Retest

&

Chronbach alpha

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Test-Retest

- for both same and alternate forms on: (a) same day, (b)30 days, (c) after 30 days- Results Reported: .83 - .93

Reviewer’s positives: Item Response Theory/computer feature

which flags significantly different response pattern

Item Response Theory enabled standard error of measurements to vary with score level

Reviewer’s negatives: Too many small item scales (11 to 12) with

insufficient summary information re: how IRT impacted accuracy

No standard deviations or means described

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Chronbach AlphaInternal Consistency

Results: .90 - .93 for Verbal /Quantitative, timed/untimed20 minutes appropriate time & sufficient to measure the verbal and quantitative domains

Reviewer’s positives: Chronbach alpha good choice for speed test

Reviewer’s negatives: No means and Standard deviations Insufficient summary accuracy information

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Summary Evaluation

Strengths

Weaknesses

Strengths

Gives warning signals of inconsistent patterns. Easy administration, brief test, flexibility in format

administration and scoring. Provides accommodations for individuals with disabilities. Evaluates the verbal and quantitative skills often

necessary for entry level jobs or programs.

Weaknesses

The multiplicity of the scales too broad to be specific. Scales do not demonstrate high levels of precision.

Not enough detail to determine if the reference group is representative in respects to the national populations of students in school and adult worker populations.

More information is needed in the manual to determine the accuracy of the scores.

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National Football League

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Questions