Wonderlic Testing Professional Appointed to US Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking Committee

Thursday, November 19, 2009

November 19, 2009 – Libertyville, IL - Wonderlic, Inc., the leading provider of student and employment assessment and evaluation solutions, is the sole Ability to Benefit (ATB) test publisher with a representative appointed to the US Department of Education’s Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. This Committee will be addressing various integrity issues related to Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, including comments in an August 2009 report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This report noted that millions of dollars in Title IV funding have been provided to ineligible students as a direct result of weak supervision.

Chris Young, Wonderlic’s Director of Research and Development Operations, who was appointed to the DOE Committee, recently participated in the initial meetings on November 2-6, 2009, in part to aid the Department in determining whether more stringent requirements for ATB testing are required.

“In certain instances, the existing oversight of Independent Test Administrators (ITAs) and test publishers appears to be insufficient,” declares Mr. Young. “Without adequate monitoring of test results by ATB test publishers, errors and irregularities can be common.”

Since the establishment of the current regulations in 1996, Wonderlic has continuously improved upon its internal protocols, facilitating identification of testing anomalies, and making it possible to evaluate ITAs more frequently than the mandatory 3-year review.

Today, Wonderlic continues to raise the bar, incorporating new methodologies into its ATB testing procedures that exceed existing Federal regulations. In addition to developing systems for reviewing ITAs on a more frequent basis, Wonderlic’s ATB program includes practices such as a more stringent certification process, annual recertification, automated processes for controlling applicant retesting, and the creation of a test process that is easy to administer, thus providing more accurate student assessments.

“We are very pleased that Wonderlic is a member of the Committee,” Mr. Young states. “Understanding how potential problems can be minimized and addressed is vital to ensuring that the ATB program meets its objectives.”

Schools that rely on Wonderlic tools for their ATB programs are well-positioned to benefit from the stringent compliance measures already in place, and as the DOE Negotiated Rulemaking Committee moves forward with considering new regulations, Wonderlic will be an integral part of the process.

About Wonderlic
Wonderlic, Inc. is the leading provider of on-demand student and employee recruiting, selection and retention solutions that enable employers and schools to optimize their ability to select, place, manage and retain talent. Since 1937, Wonderlic has over 50,000 clients across more than 60 industries and organizations with solutions to help pre-qualify over 150 million job candidates and students.

For more information contact:

Chris Young
Director of Research and Development Operations
Wonderlic, Inc.
1795 N. Butterfield Rd.
Libertyville, IL 60048
847-247-2544
chris.young@wonderlic.com