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DESIGNING EMERGENCY SCENE SIMULATIONS FOR POLICE AND FIRE PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS

NCJ Number
144920
Author(s)
P T Maher
Date Published
1993
Length
74 pages
Annotation
This manual reviews legal and psychometric properties of emergency scene simulations designed for police and fire promotional examinations and evaluates the utility of the emergency scene simulation as a general assessment technique.
Abstract
Developing the simulation exercise involves basically the same steps as for any other employment test: validation, test development, test administration, and scoring. While the courts are not going to require strict adherence to every professional and legal standard governing content validation, they are going to require substantial compliance with them. The more consistent any procedure is with professional and legal standards and the more the procedure involves simulation testing, the greater the likelihood that courts will accept content validation. Major issues pertaining to the job analysis process include responding to changing conditions, maintaining flexibility in responses to unusual situations, and making decisions consistent with standard operating procedures. Simulation testing for public safety jobs follows a number of formats, and the strengths and weaknesses of each are discussed. The manual covers written and interactive simulations and related developmental issues. Appendixes contain supplemental information on work behaviors and simulation. References