Darany Associates' standard entry level offerings include written tests for peace officer, firefighter, detention/corrections officer, and telecommunicator/dispatcher. These assessment instruments are supported by well-documented validity evidence, including content and criterion-related validity studies conducted in collaboration with public sector organizations. Biographical inventories are a component of several of these tests, being one of the firm's areas of special expertise. The development and validation research for each of these tests has demonstrated their exceptionally high validity and reduced adverse impact.
Peace Officer
Darany Associates' peace officer test is the DELPOE (Darany Entry Level Peace Officer Exam). It is the result of rigorous validation research conducted in collaboration with numerous city, county, and state law enforcement organizations. In that research, the DELPOE has been shown to predict both academy success and performance on the job. Additionally, analysis of gender and ethnicity subgroup score data have consistently shown substantial reduction of adverse impact, directly attributable to the biodata. The DELPOE contains three cognitive subtests as well.
recall of visual details
The Recall of Visual Details component presents a drawing as visual stimulus for examinee observation. The drawing is then removed and 40 questions are asked about the content of the drawing. This component is designed to assess skill in recalling information observed at an earlier time as well as observation skills, including the ability to quickly and accurately perceive details in situations.
Reading with Understanding
The Reading with Understanding component requires applicants to read passages consisting of policies and procedures with a law enforcement context. Understanding of the written information is demonstrated by answering questions that follow each passage.
Written Communication Skills
The Written Communication Skills component presents written material and requires applicants to identify errors in grammar and word usage. This error recognition methodology has been consistently demonstrated to assess writing skills similar to those measured by report writing tasks and essay tests.
Biodata
The Biodata component allows assessment of behavioral, attitudinal, and personal attributes that underlie effective performance and contribute to officer success. Examples of these non-cognitive attributes include service orientation, accountability, teamwork, work ethics, acceptance of structure, and personal development. Biodata questions ask about preferences, opinions, values, behaviors, and experiences in situations that provide opportunities for expression of the targeted attributes. The research-based scoring of the biodata reflects how the most successful current officers respond to these questions.
Firefighter
Darany Associates' firefighter test is the DELFE (Darany Entry Level Firefighter Exam). It's developmental validation research was in collaboration with a large municipal fire department and those results have been replicated. Impressive criterion-related validity has been demonstrated. In addition, analysis of gender and ethnicity subgroup score data show substantial reduction of adverse impact, directly attributable to the biodata. The DELFE contains five cognitive subtests as well.
Following Oral Instructions
The Following Oral Instructions component is designed to assess listening skills and short-term memory of audio input. This includes the ability to understand verbally communicated information, the ability to process information from multiple inputs, and the ability to simultaneously perform several time-critical tasks. To achieve this, content is presented orally by audio recording, including instructions and sample questions. The test questions ask about stimulus materials that appear in the test booklet along with the response choices for the orally presented test questions.
Mechanical Reasoning Skills
The Mechanical Reasoning Skills component contains drawings of basic mechanical devices, such as levers, gears, and gauges. Each drawing is followed by questions that ask how the device works or how it would perform under specific conditions. These questions are designed to assess understanding of simple mechanical devices, including relationships among force, distance, direction, and speed of mechanical motion.
Observation and Memory Skills
The Observation and Memory Skills component is based on a visual stimulus in the form of a drawing. The drawing is provided for test takers to look at for several minutes. The drawing is then removed and questions are asked about the content of the drawing. This component of DELFE is designed to assess skill in recalling information observed at an earlier time as well as observation skills, including the ability to quickly and accurately perceive details in situations.
Computational Ability
The Computational Ability component contains questions presenting arithmetic tasks in narrative or scenario format. The questions require test takers to determine appropriate strategies to solve computational problems. Many questions include formulas, equations, or simple drawings that provide the basis for computing correct answers. These questions are designed to assess the ability to apply numerical reasoning skills and perform basic arithmetic operations.
Reading with Understanding
The Reading with Understanding component contains reading passages on fire service topics. Each reading passage is followed by questions that ask about the content of that passage. These questions are designed to assess comprehension of written materials.
Biodata
The Biodata component is designed to assess behavioral, attitudinal, and personal attributes that underlie effective performance and contribute to firefighter success. Examples of these non-cognitive attributes include teamwork, public service outlook, work ethics, acceptance of structure, and personal development. Biodata questions ask about preferences, opinions, achievements, behaviors, and experiences in situations that provide opportunities for expression of the targeted attributes. The research-based scoring of the biodata reflects how the most successful current firefighters respond to these questions.
Detention/Corrections Officer
Darany Associates' written test for Detention and Corrections Officers is supported by well-documented content and criterion-related validity evidence. Extensive job analysis has been conducted including content and criterion-related validity studies conducted in collaboration with public sector organizations. The biodata component was validated in a criterion-related validation project conducted in a large corrections organization. The inclusion of a biodata component ensures assessment of both the cognitive and non-cognitive determinants of successful job performance. The Detention/Corrections Officer test contains five cognitive subtests as well.
Following Oral Instructions
The Following Oral Instructions component was designed for audio administration and is presented by means of an audio recording. The test instructions, sample questions, and test questions are contained on the recorded medium. The test booklet contains only the stimulus materials about which the test questions ask and the answer choices for each question. This subtest is designed to assess listening skills and short-term memory of audio input.
Reading with Understanding
The Reading with Understanding components contains reading passages on detection/corrections topics. Each reading passage is followed by a set of questions that ask about the content of the passage, its meaning, or how it would apply to specific situations. These questions are designed to assess comprehension of written materials.
Observation and Memory Skills
The Observation and Memory Skills component presents a drawing as visual stimulus for test takers to look at. After a brief observation period, the drawing is removed and questions are asked about the content of the drawing. his subtest is designed to assess observational skills and short term memory, including the ability to quickly and accurately perceive details in situations and skill in recalling information observed at an earlier time.
Basic Computational Skills
The Basic Computational Skills component contains questions that present arithmetic tasks in narrative or scenario format with detention/corrections contexts. These questions require test takers to determine appropriate strategies to solve computational problems. These questions are designed to assess numerical reasoning skills and the ability to perform basic arithmetic operations.
Knowledge of Basic Writing Concepts
The Knowledge of Basic Writing Concepts component presents written material and requires applicants to identify errors in grammar and word usage. This error recognition methodology has been consistently shown to provide assessment results that are equivalent to those obtained from multiple ratings of test takers' writing samples.
Biodata
The Biodata component allows assessment of behavioral, attitudinal, and personal attributes that contribute to officer success. Such non-cognitive attributes include public service orientation, teamwork, work ethics, and acceptance of structure. The biodata questions ask about preferences, opinions, values, behaviors, and experiences in situations that provide opportunities for expression of the desired attributes. The scoring of the biodata reflects how the most successful current officers respond to these questions.
Public Safety Telecommunicator
Darany Associates' written test for telecommunicator is supported by well-documented validity evidence. Validation research conducted in collaboration with public safety organizations has demonstrated this test's exceptional criterion-related validity. In addition, adverse impact analyses has shown minimal mean score differences.
The nature of the telecommunicator job virtually mandates a performance design. Consequently, the entire test is administered in an audio format. The instructions, sample questions, and test questions are contained in an audio recording. The test booklet has only the stimulus materials about which questions are asked and the answer choices for each question. In addition to the specific assessment focus of each of the four test components, the presentation format allows assessment of the ability to process related information from multiple sources and the ability to simultaneously perform several time-critical tasks.
Error Recognition
The Error Recognition component requires comparison of orally presented alpha and numeric information with the same information appearing in written form. The oral presentation is quickly and carefully paced so that the time between test questions is limited, requiring prompt response. This subtest is designed to assess the ability to understand verbally communicated information and process alpha and numeric data from multiple inputs.
Categorizing Information
The Categorizing Information component requires applying a written mutli-factor coding system to an orally presented information set and identifying the correct coding sequence for that information set from among the answer choices presented. This task is designed to assess the ability to understand verbally communicated information, skill in information processing, ability to simultaneously process oral and printed information, and short-term information retention and recall skills.
Information Identification
The Information Identification component requires identifying the written form of an orally presented set of information from nearly identical written response choices. This subtest is designed to assess the ability to understand verbally communicated information, the ability to simultaneously process oral and printed information, and short-term information retention and recall skills.
Information Recall
The Information Recall component consists of orally presented scenarios containing information comparable to that which a telecommunicator might receive from a caller. The orally reported events include names, addresses, times of day, and descriptions of people and things. Questions about the content of each call follow the scenario and answer choices are provided in the test booklet. This subtest is designed to assess the ability to understand verbally communicated information and retain and recall information.