Test User Standards

Background

EAWOP and EFPA established a joint Task Force in 2003 whose original mission was to define the minimum qualifications for European test users in the field of work and organizational psychology.

In the General Assemblies of EAWOP (2005, May) and EFPA (2005, July) the proposed standards were accepted as a basis for further development. A joint EFPA-EAWOP implementation group completed the standards. Their final version was accepted by the EFPA and EAWOP Executive Committees in 2007. The final version of the “European Test User Standards for Test Use in Work and Organizational Settings” (version 1.92) is available here:

Download European-test-user-standards-v1-92 (PDF).

Download Glossary of terms (PDF).

As a supplement, the group defined four main types of test user roles (policy maker, administrator, intermediate level and expert test user) and their qualification needs. Two pieces of empirical research exploring the relationships between context, knowledge and skills and performance criteria associated with each of these roles have been completed.

Because occupational assessment consists of more than tests, the group also developed a draft version of broader standards for the qualification for occupational assessments (multimodal assessment of aptitude, potentials and development needs including work samples, role simulations, tests, interviews etc.) as a basis for further development and validation.

The Working Group members were: Andreas Klug (Germany) as Chair/ Convenor, Henry Honkanen (Finland) as EAWOP liaison, Dave Bartram (UK) as EFPA liaison, Sverre Nielsen (Norway) representing the work of Sweden and Norway on test user qualification development, Vicente González-Romá (Spain) representing countries that are still considering adopting such standards.

For further information, contact Andreas Klug (dr.klug@web.de) or Henry Honkanen (henry.honkanen@kolumbus.fi).