Protective service physical ability tests: Establishing pass/fail, ranking, and banding procedures

Physical ability tests have undergone intense scrutiny in the courts since the 1970s. A recent survey of court-disputed police and fire physical abili ty tests showed a successful defense rate of less than 10%.(1) Faced with s uch odds, public sector agencies have focused on the development, validatio n, and use of physical ability tests. A physical ability test supported by a thorough validity study but poorly used, is just as likely to lose in cou rt as a test poorly developed and validated. Numerous researchers have thor oughly examined performance differences between men and women on physical a bility tests.(2,3) Since job-related physical ability tests are likely to r eflect such differences, setting pass/fail cutoffs that accurately reflect the physical ability levels required for successful job performance is a ke y consideration for any protective service agency involved in physical abil ity testing. A variety of practices are followed by public sector agencies for using physical ability test scores: pass/fail cutoffs, top-down ranking , banding or grouping passing applicants, and weighting or combining the ph ysical ability test results with other pre-employment tests. This article w ill limit discussion to evaluating the use of physical ability test scores outside of other selection devices, although the principles herein may be u sed for combining physical ability test scores with other pre-employment te sts.