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Test user standarts and qualifications  
Symposium Organisers: Dave Bartram, BA, PhD, Professor, Research Director, SHL Group Ltd. Anna Naumenko, BA, PhD, Assistant Professor, South Ural State University Contact: anna-naumenko@inbox.ru (Anna Naumenko) At present European countries differ drastically in terms of test user qualification standards or processes. In some countries (like Russia) people can obtain almost any instrument without any training or formal qualification, in others people are expected to demonstrate that they can meet some very high standards of competence before publishers will supply them with materials. Increased mobility of test users in the globalized world and intensive test use by multinational companies as well as the need for comparable standards in different countries expressed by global test publishers were some of the main reasons for European Federation of Psychologists Associations (EFPA) and European Association of Work and Organisational Psychologists (EAWOP) to develop European Test User Standards for test use in Work and Organizational settings. These standards are about competence in test use. They define knowledge, skills and understanding required from people for safe and competent use of a limited range of tests in a variety of occupational settings or contexts (e.g. personnel selection; assessment for management development; guidance for career development; etc). The Mission of our Symposium is to understand European test user standards and analyse their applicability to Russian realities as well as define ways for us to get ready for the introduction of national and/or European standards. We aim to gather together researchers and practitioners interested in the development and implementation of test user guidelines and certification systems in Russia. As we do not have any legal limitations in Russia for non-psychologists to use psychological tests we invite non-psychologists interested in professional test use (e.g., HR specialists, recruitment consultants, career counsellors, trainers, teachers, educationalists, social researchers, etc.) as well as psychologists to take part in the Symposium. In this Symposium we will have an opportunity to find out about best practice in test user certification in Europe. We are going to welcome Prof Dave Bartram and Dr Patricia Lindley, two prominent speakers from the United Kingdom, who lead the development of test user qualification in the UK in the 1980s and later on took leading roles in the development of international and European guidelines on test user qualification and on test standards. Some of the sub-topics Dave and Pat would like to discuss are: 1. Test user standards (e.g. ITC, EFPA/EAWOP, national standards such as the US APA/AERA/NCME standards) and ways of managing user competence through guidelines, training and curricula, or outcome-based qualifications. 2. Standards for the assessment process: The ITC Guidelines; the EAPA 'GAP'; the ISO 10667 standard and variations in needs and practice between different areas of application (health, education and work). 3. Management of test user qualification through guidelines, education, and certification. However, the Symposium is not supposed to be a workshop lead by Dave and Pat and we do encourage you to contribute in a form of either oral or poster presentations. We kindly invite submissions featuring: · Your experience in composition and implementation of “local” guidelines on test use/ test user qualification in your organisation or any other relevant setting. · Your experience in the development of educational or training modules on test use/ test user qualification as a part of broader courses in tests and testing. · Your opinions and suggestions on the future development of a Russian system of certification of tests and test users. · Any other submissions related to the Symposium theme. Let us create the new responsible face of psychological testing in Russia together! Those who are new to the topic and are interested may wish to download full texts of above-mentioned standards for free: Much of the material relating to test user qualification and test registration and review in the UK can be found and downloaded from http://www.psychtesting.org.uk/ International Guidelines on Computer-Based and Internet Delivered Testing http://www.intestcom.org/Downloads/ITC%20Guidelines%20on%20Computer%20-%20version%202005%20approved.pdf European Test User Standards for test use in Work and Organisational settings http://www.efpa.eu/professional-development/tests-and-testing Report on Task Force on Test User Qualifications, APA http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/qualifications.pdf |
