Development and validation of an assessment tool for a national young worker curriculum

Background

An online, multiple-choice assessment was developed and validated for Youth@Work-Talking Safety, a NIOSH curriculum that equips middle and high school students with foundational workplace safety and health knowledge and skills.

Methods

Classical Test Theory was used for the test development and validation; the Jaeger method was used for cut score determination. A total of 118 multiple-choice items were developed to measure the acquisition of knowledge and skills taught through the NIOSH curriculum. Pilot testing was conducted with 192 8–12th grade students and a cut score was determined.

Results

The mean score for all test-takers on the Talking Safety assessment was 80.9%; total test reliability measured using an Alpha/KR20 statistic was 0.93. A minimum passing (cut) score of 74% was established.

Conclusions

The assessment provides an objective measure of students' acquisition of the foundational workplace safety and health competencies taught through the Talking Safety curriculum. Am. J. Ind. Med. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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