Focusing on assessment centers, this chapter is one of seven in a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence. Assessment centers are presented first in a historical context (their origins in personality theory), through which their evolution is traced and examined. What follows is a description of current assessment center…

One of seven sections of a report that examines the assessment of occupational competence, this chapter presents competence assessment as it is defined in practice by selection techniques currently used by employers. The chapter begins with a discussion of the major techniques used in employee selection, focusing on the competencies employers…

This paper reports changes in the professional knowledge, general knowledge, and communication skills components of the National Teacher Examinations and explains validation procedures. Research efforts to: (1) establish the tests' credibility and usefulness; (2) identify factors the tests measure; and (3) study their relationship to effective…

Alternative mathematical models for scoring and decision making with criterion referenced tests are described, especially as they concern appropriate test length and methods of establishing statistically valid cutting scores. Several of these approaches are reviewed and compared on formal-analytic and empirical grounds: (1) Block's approach to…