Evening star., 1922-06-09

in the departmental service before
they were decided upon. the way the,
teresting and hitherto unknown chap.
ter in the history of the civil service
Sample Given to Clerks.
Samples of the tests. with question.
entirely different from any that will
be used hereafter. were given to 6
hundred selected clerks in the depart.
ments. These clerks were chosen no
only because they had passed the ole
scholastic examinations with higf
grades. but also because they hat
high efficiency ratings in their work
The new tests call for a. higher rat,
of speed in answering questions thar
the old tests did, the forty >snapp.
arithmetic questions. for instance
being confined to a much shoresi
time than the old cumbersome hvi
questions all about how many yardl
of carpet" etc.
When the 100 clerks completed thu
new tests. their averages were com
pared with their efficiency ratings
and then their old marks In the ole
examinations compared with their
emcfency ratings. In order to deter
mine which set Of examinations real.
ly gave the best Zine" on the future
actual efficiency ratings.
Coincide With ABILITY.
1t was discovered that the new
practical tests coincided much bet.
ter with the actual ability OF the
clerks. as revealed in their daily
work than the old tests did. On the
other hand. II the old tests had shown
up the better. it would have been de.
cided that the new examination:
were too severe. or in other ways no'
the best.
The new arithmetical questions are
supposed to be done 'in the head.
space being given merely for the
answers, although a small amour,
of figuring" may be done in the
margin. The forty questions star,
off easy enough, but get more severe
as they go along. 1t is believed tina.
the questions will reveal ability tc
think quickly.
The practical clerical tests are ar
entirely new departure. applicants
being confronted with a variety OF
questions. such problems. as the,
might easily meet delay in any bust.
ness office, in or out OF the govern
ment.
0Rfghts" and "Wrongs.@
For instance. the person taking the
examination will be given a series OF
sentences like this:
birmingham is in Georgia. Boise
Is IN lOdHO
OF course. Birmingham is in Ala.
bama and that Is what the applicant
is expected to indicate. by marking
wrong" after this sentence. He
would mark right" after the sen.
tence telling the location of Boise
for that is correct. With whole list
of such rights" and wrongs" 1t is
no easy matter to speedily indicate
the correct and the wrong sentences
Groups of names will have to bt
arranged in alphabetical order. a.
one finds them in a city directory. fol-
instance Population of cities will
have to be indicated. in another in.
genious right" and wrong" indica.
ton. Code work will be a feature
such as is found in any business es'
tablishment.
The new type examinations will bt
used first July IA. in the fifth. sixth
and seventh civil service districts. ir
examinations for field workers. ant
will not be used in this city until
some clerical examination is sched
uled for the District.
The states in which the ne.v test.
will be used first are South Carolina
Georgia, Florida. Alabama. Missis.
s.ppi, Tennessee. Ohio, Indiana. Ken.
lucky, Wisconsin, Michigan and the
northern part of Illinois.