Conducting the Performance Test - Continued

DOE-STD-1012-92

All questions asked during a performance test should relate to the evaluation standard.

Questions asked during a performance test may include theory, system equipment, and a

discussion of routine and/or emergency procedures. Most facilities require the trainee to

memorize the immediate actions of an emergency procedure and expect the trainee to be able

to rapidly locate the supplementary or follow-up actions in the procedures. In many

instances an employee in the trainee's job classification does not perform all of the steps in a

procedure. The instructor should ask why the trainee does not perform these procedural steps,

who does, how the actions of others affect the task, and how he/she would know when to

continue with his/her part of the procedure.

The trainee may answer a question incorrectly during the course of a performance

test. The instructor's response to the wrong answer should be as neutral as possible. The

instructor may rephrase the question and if the trainee still does not know record it in the

evaluation standard and go on to a different area. At the completion of the performance test,

the instructor may clarify any misconceptions or have the trainee look up what he/she did not

know.

The instructor should remember that the evaluation standard contains 100% of the

required knowledge. With regard to most tasks, the trainee is usually not required to know

everything in the evaluation standard. Many facilities require that the trainee accomplish the

skills portion of a performance test with 100% accuracy and achieve at least 80% of the

information required by the evaluation standard. Other facilities require 100% accuracy on

the skill requirements and a satisfactory or unsatisfactory assessment of the knowledge

requirements. Facility specific procedures written in the training management manual or the

OJT program's training development and administrative guide should set the task-specific

skill and knowledge levels.

At the completion of a performance test the instructor needs to make a judgment call,

compared to the evaluation standard--did the trainee have satisfactory knowledge and skills or

not? The use of a detailed evaluation standard which includes questions and answers will

reduce the subjectivity of this decision. There are many possible outcomes of a performance

test. The following three are generic examples:

Satisfactory skills and knowledge; no weak points. The instructor signs the trainee's

OJT checklist.

Satisfactory skills and knowledge; the trainee lacked information on some minor

details. The instructor may cover those details during the debrief and signs the

trainee's OJT checklist.

Unsatisfactory; the trainee lacked necessary skills or showed a significant lack of