AMP Connection, First Quarter

Connection 2013 Issue 1 Technology That Works

People Who Care

A Day in the Life of a

Test Development Coordinator

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MP’s test development team plays a critical role in our clients’ examination process. We employ qualified test development experts to oversee the item banking, item review, test form assembly and test form quality control processes. Teams of 4-5 Test Development Specialists are assigned to specific client programs and led by a coordinator. They work closely with the Program Director, a psychometric professional leading each client team, and our operational staff which oversee examination delivery to candidates through computer-based testing (CBT), web-based testing or paper-pencil formats. So, what exactly do our test development professionals do each day for AMP’s clients? We asked a Test Development Coordinator to give us a detailed look inside a typical day at AMP. My day usually begins at 7:30 am. An initial hour of quiet and focus before the office officially opens helps me clear out my email inbox,respond to client committee member questions and plan the day ahead. By the time my team arrives, I am ready to begin test development work.

8:00 am I spell check a new examination form for a healthcare client – always a detailed task since healthcare exami-

nations often use technical terminology. I also check spacing on each item since the presentation to the candidate in CBT is critical.

8:45 am I create a secure online version of the final test form for a last review by the examination committee chair.

I send her an email with a secure link to the online review, but ask her to call me personally to receive her log-in ID. This review will be the final sign-off by the client before we prepare the form for deployment in the CBT network. I make a note to call the chair by the end of the week if I haven’t heard from her to ensure the review moves forward and the form is launched on time.

9:15 am I begin to convert an administrative healthcare examination form, typically offered in CBT format, to a paperpencil format for a special conference administration. This includes preparing cover and instruction pages and performing quality control procedures before test booklets are printed. I use a detailed checklist to continued on page 2

New Business

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www.goAMP.com

Shining Service According to Association Management Survey

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AMP to Offer ASAE Certificate Program in Association Management

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On the Road

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Published by Applied Measurement Professionals, Inc. © 2013

“A Day in the Life...” continued from page 1 ensure I follow all procedures and provide a flawless final product. As part of this process, I send an email to a teammate and request a second quality control review and submit a request to our in-house print shop, letting them know when the test booklet will be ready for printing.

10:30 am I hold a meeting with the test developers on my team to discuss our client work. One team member needs help with quality control reviews for five new examinations scheduled to be launched next month, so other staff volunteer to provide final reviews of these examinations. Another team member is preparing to travel to a client committee meeting the following week, so another specialist is assigned to cover a key verification call for her while she is out.

10:50 am It’s never too early for a Diet Coke! A quick jaunt down to our employee cafeteria provides me with a mental break and some much needed caffeine.

11:00 am After returning to my desk, I receive an

urgent call from an examination committee member. Today is the deadline for reviewing their exam form but he wasn’t going to have time to complete the review. I assure him that we allowed ample time and I can extend the online review by two days. I check the response log and notice that several other committee members have also failed to complete their reviews, so I send a reminder email to all committee members with the extended deadline.

11:35 am I review recently signed security agreements from newly trained item writers for a technical examination committee. After ensuring that all item writers have up-todate security agreements, I email item writing assignments to all item writers.

Their assignments include the number of items they are responsible for contributing as well as the suggested content area and cognitive level for the items. I also attach some reminder item writing information from their recent training webinar.

12:10 pm Time to grab a quick bite with some of my coworkers.

1:05 pm I respond to a request from our IT department to test a new software upgrade feature. I run through the process several times, simulating different test development processes each time.

I report back the good news – it works!

New Business: IgNS The Immunoglobulin Nursing Society (IgNS) is an organization serving nursing professionals in education, management, practice and research in the field of immunoglobulin (Ig) therapy. Administration of Ig therapies to patients involves complex procedures. Currently, very limited educational and training opportunities exist to help nurses strengthen their knowledge and expertise. Anticipating that responsibilities and requirements for broader Ig nursing expertise will continue to increase, IgNS is establishing a new certification program for

professionals in the field. In early 2013, AMP and IgNS began conducting a job analysis study to establish the knowledge, skills and abilities required of professionals practicing Ig therapy. An examination will be developed based on the findings of this study with an anticipated launch in early 2014. IgNS certification candidates will be able to take the examination via computerbased testing at nearly 200 test centers in the AMP Assessment Center Network. For more information about IgNS, please visit their website, www.ig-ns.org.

1:40 pm I now turn my attention to AMP’s new-

est client, another nursing certification board. I imported their item bank earlier in the week – it was a flawless import!

Now I am spending time updating the format (e.g., font, spacing, size) of their items to AMP’s standard presentation format. This client will be conducting pool conversion next month to reclassify their existing items to an updated content outline following completion of a recent job analysis study. I want the bank and all items to be updated and present consistently before we begin that process.

2:35 pm I move to our in-house quality control lab on the far end of the test development department. This area lets us view and take examinations as if we were a candidate. I log-in using a mock candidate ID and perform quality control procedures for a water quality supervisor examination. I move slowly through the examination, reviewing and answering each question carefully, making sure all items and graphics display correctly.

At the end, I print my score report and make sure it accurately reflects my 100% performance on the examination…thanks to having the key!

3:30 pm I meet with several team members to review the upcoming test development plan for AMP’s Real Estate Program.

This is a large AMP-owned program which serves 12 jurisdictions, and test development activities are ongoing. We

make sure all forms are on schedule and assign upcoming tasks to appropriate team members.

4:00 pm We have a client team meeting for one of our healthcare clients. All staff members assigned to one of this client’s examinations meet to discuss progress. This large client is at the beginning of a new test development cycle, so we develop a detailed timeline and assign tasks.

4:40 pm After a recent meeting with the other test development coordinators, I was tasked with revising our web review checklist. I add a step for saving committee member IDs and passwords to ensure all appropriate staff have access to this information in case the assigned team member is unavailable when committee-members call in. The checklist is updated online and the new version is immediately available to all test development staff.

5:00 already _ the day flew by! While I can't always leave promptly at 5:00, today I feel that all client development tasks are on schedule, which is at the heart of my job as a test development coordinator. I set out materials for a client web meeting the next morning and head home to spend a relaxing evening with my family.

Shining Service According to Association Management Client Survey

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MP recently completed a survey of our association management clients. This survey provides us with valuable information that we use to ensure continued quality service and address any issues that our clients may have that might not come up in day-today interactions. We want to thank all of our association management clients that took the time to complete this survey. Your feedback is truly appreciated and the results are thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the AMP Management Team and management services staff.

We are excited to see that overall feedback was positive and that we can report an increase in our already high marks for client satisfaction. The places you told us we shine the most are in:

Managing annual conference activities Preparing financial statements and budgeting Keeping your Board well-informed Acting as a trusted advisor

We measure our success by your organization’s success, so we want to do everything we can to help you continue to grow and prosper. If you ever have comments or questions regarding your services you don’t have to wait for a survey, contact a member of the AMP team right away!

www.goAMP.com

“It is a pleasure to work with staff at meetings. Efforts are well coordinated between staff and association board personnel.”

“AMP is professional, organized, and reliable.”

“The AMP staff engaged in the conference activities were the “go to” people and complimented by vendors and members.”

“Monthly reports are timely and clear.”

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ARELLO Mid-Year Meeting 04/10/2013–04/13/2013 Scottsdale, AZ Microsoft TechEd 2013 06/03/2013–06/06/2013 New Orleans, LA ARELLO Districts 2 & 3 Conference 06/25/2013–06/27/2013 Biloxi, MS ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition 08/03/2013–08/06/2013 Atlanta, GA ARELLO Annual Conference 09/18/2013–09/22/2013 Seattle, WA

We look forward to seeing you at one of these upcoming On the Road events!

AMP to Offer ASAE Certificate Program in Association Management

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MP is pleased to be selected as the exclusive provider of the ASAE Certificate Program in Association Management in Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri Nebraska and Tennessee. This important new training program allows association professionals to build the competencies they need to manage their organizations more effectively. The program is designed for professionals with fewer than five years of association management experience who want to apply a more systematic approach to their work and improve the success of their organizations. It includes five one-day courses that can be taken individually or as a group and after completing the fivecourse program, participants will receive their Certificate in Association Management (CAM). This training is also a great beginning step for professionals planning to attain ASAE Certified Association Executive (CAE) certification.

The courses cover 1) Essential Practices in Association Management, 2) Effectively Managing Volunteer Committees and Task Forces, 3) Membership Development, 4) Communication and Public Relations, and 5) Developing Your Leadership Potential. AMP will begin offering courses in mid-2013.

For more information, contact Jody Shelton, 913.895.4782, jody.shelton@goAMP.com.

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