ASVAB: Story Behind The Name (1980s?)

High School testing program and the asbab asab is an acronym for the armed services vocational aptitude battery our nation's most valuable resource is its people as one of the nation's largest employers the Department of Defense fully appreciates the contrib of the educational community in providing the nation with educated citizens high school graduates who participate in an effective career exploration and planning program will be more likely to be successful in their choice of a [Music] career there are literally hundreds of training opportunities available now for Motivated high school graduates in the armed services no one can absolutely guarantee that inservice jobs will later lead to employment in their civilian counterparts many factors current economic conditions the state of a particular industry or profession the ratio of jobs to the labor pool all have a bearing on civilian employment but there are good opportunities to learn interesting and rewarding skills in the armed services right now Department of Labor projections indicate the during the 1980 885 period college graduates will outnumber the jobs available which require degrees yet fewer than one out of every four high school students is enrolled in vocational education a 1972 National advisory Council report on vocational education provides the following examples some 7 56,000 14 and 15 year olds are employed full-time in the labor market the ratio of Youth to adult unemployment has risen each year since 1960 and The College Dropout rate 50% has earned the unenviable distinction of being one of our more stable educational statistics we have an obligation to make our students more aware of the many and very rewarding career opportunities available in The Vocational Technical occupational areas the Department of Defense EV fully supports programs for Career Education at the national state and local levels through the high school testing program it offers counselors assistance in administering an effective vocational aptitude test battery providing students with information that will give them a better understanding of themselves helping students explore and make choices about various career Fields after graduation additionally the test results are used by the armed services to identify and classify potential recruits since 1972 approximately 1 million high school students per year have taken the ASVAB the content of this battery is based on over 35 years of research conducted by the military services on the measurement and effective classification of the large and diverse group of young persons who enlist in the military services each year let us now direct our attention to the ASVAB test as it is conducted in a typical high school career awareness is an integral part of any Career Education Program we can't very well instruct a student in specific technical areas of which he or she may not even be aware there is no possibility for occupational Choice unless the Chooser has some awareness of what the choice entails the awareness process demands the availability of Occupational information the understanding of what that information means and perhaps most importantly the knowledge of how that information relates to that student's interests aptitude capabilities and since Career Education is a lifelong process individual goals taken as a whole the implementation of an effective career guidance system emerges as a formidable task particularly to professional counselors with a case load of from 500 to 1500 students per counselor the exact time required for administration of the ASVAB varies with the number of students and the local situation counselors should allow three hours for the test the test is composed of 12 individual tests here is a breakdown of the 12 tests general information numerical operations attention to detail word knowledge arithmetic reasoning space perception mathematics knowledge electronic information mechanical comprehension General Science shop information Automotive information research on matching aptitudes to training situations has shown that various combinations of aptitudes are of value in predicting success in given career Fields thus the 12 individual ASVAB tests are combined into six composite scores to give a fairly accurate indication of the directions in which a student's talents May lie ASVAB is one of the relatively few available nationally standardized aptitude tests built around Vocational Technical indicators as previously mentioned the scores on the ASVAB are used to construct aptitude area composits in five human ability areas and one which provides an indication of academic ability these composits are not intended to give students job specific information but rather to encourage them to make further exploration into their own abilities here are the six composits and the individual tests from which they are derived verbal measures knowledge of words ability to understand written materials and to deal with verbal Concepts the composite is a combination of the scores on the general information word knowledge and general science tests analytic quantitative measures reasoning abilities as well as those relevant to understanding quantitative Concepts the composite is a combination of the scores on the arithmetic reasoning and Mathematics knowledge tests clerical measure speed and accuracy in using letters and numbers these are abilities relevant to clerical type activity the composite is a combination of the scores on the numerical operations and attention to detail tests mechanical measures understanding of mechanical principles as well as the ability to visualize objects in three-dimensional space the composite is a combination of the scores on the space perception and mechanical comprehension tests trade technical measures information relevant to automotive and various shop practices the composite is a combination of the scores on the shop information and Automotive information tests academic ability measures abilities needed to do well in school and formal types of training the composite is a combination of the scores on the word knowledge and arithmetic reason ing test if a student happened to score highly in the verbal composite it's reasonable to assume that he or she might have an above average chance of success in training in career Fields leading to jobs such as medical service technicians traffic manager police officer legal secretary nurse let's assume that a student did well in the analytic quantitative composite that student would in all likelihood have an aptitude for training for jobs such as computer technicians purchasing agent lineman Communications technician bookkeeper telecommunication Center specialist if another student were to score well in the clar composite but perhaps not so well in the analytic quantitative composite the composite scores might encourage the student to work harder on math subjects but a good score in the mechanical composite might indicate success in technical training programs leading to job areas such as stereo equipment technicians graphic arts specialist electromechanical technician sheet metal worker now let's suppose that a student scored well in the trade technical composite this student might have a reasonable expectation of doing well in the following jobs diesel mechanic Hall technician Marine engine specialist brake specialist engine diagnosticians machinist if a student scored well in the clerical composite it could Point toward a degree of success or fulfillment as a passenger service representative stock clerk bank teller key punch operator clerk typist if a student did well in the academic ability composite it might Point toward some success as a dental technician meteorologist pharmacist or Personnel counselor asbab can only indicate an aptitude for absorbing training within different career areas it was not designed to determine the precise job that a student should pursue but it can identify areas in which he or she has a vocational aptitude and should also help Point toward a greater likelihood of success in a given career field we have shown only a fraction of the great diversity of career areas that the student might pursue ASVAB be helpful to all student groups in career exploration regardless of their future educational plans let's talk now to a counselor who has heard of but is not completely familiar with the ASVAB and the high school testing plan how do I arrange for the test you contact your local recruiter from any branch of the arms services are there any costs involved and how are the tests administered there are no costs paperwork whatever and the test will be administered by trained military or civilian testers now we do encourage the schools to provide their own Proctors for best results but the services will provide Proctors if requested in what form will the scores be returned to the students each student will receive a computerized printout that looks like this the portion on the left is detachable for the counselor's records an optional gummed label is available on request on each student how are the test scored the student answer cards for each High School are forwarded to our centralized computer scoring facility they're then read electronically by a mark sense reader each student's composits and percentiles are computed and stored on electronic tape in addition a computer technique is being developed which will automatically check the consistency of each student's composite score this technique will ensure that a composite will not give an inaccurate picture of the students performance on the individual tests which make up the composite these student results sheets are then printed and forwarded to the school within 30 days what additional information will be made available to help me in using ASVAB test results oh we will provide you with interpretive background information counselor's guide specimen set and various technical research report notes data in technical reports and notes which is updated periodically will also help you to understand the development of the tests and the meaning of the scores on a psychometric level in addition we have this mini guide which gives a brief description of the test battery how do I bring the upcoming test to the attention of the parents and students for display in the school we provide time and place posters for parental distribtion we have pamphlets we also have a Spanish language version also for the students to acquain them with the basic format of the tests we have this pamphlet with some sample questions how will your record of the students test results be safeguarded the results of Juniors and seniors only will be forwarded to all local service recruiters plus the Coast Guard in addition all test scores and individual identifying information will be maintained for more than two years for research purposes however no information will be released to any agency outside the Department of Defense except the Coast Guard which is under the Department of Transportation do you impose any requirements on the schools for handling test score information oh this is a matter of local school district or state policy how can asbab assist a student in career exploration like most aptitude tests the ASVAB testing procedure cannot always predict with 100% certainty the correct field for each and every student but on the whole the test can be enormously helpful in stimulating student awareness of career opportunities in The Vocational Technical Fields as you know the best place for a student to get Career Information is from his guidance counselor but we do provide additional job information on the equation of Civilian and military jobs in this occupational Source book all our examples have been hypothetical how has asab affected the lives of your students here are some statements from a few typical seniors whose decisions about careers military and civilian have been influenced by their asab scores I scored well on the analytic quantitative I'd always been good in math maybe that helped got me thinking about working in computers I scored fairly high in the academic ability composit my plan is to go to college but I really haven't decided my major yet I'm kind of interested in personnel management I do well in the veral composite I guess I'll go into some kind of legal work I've scored really well on the clerical composite I've been thinking about the future maybe I'll be a legal secretary or a stenographer to my surprise I did fairly well on all parts of the test Trey technical was my best after I graduate I'm not sure but I think I want to join the military even then I don't know what branch of the service I'll join I did well in my academic ability composite I plan to go to college I did best in the mechanical composite it really took me by surprise the high school testing program using the armed services vocational aptitude battery is available to local high schools at no cost or obligation to the student school or local government it is offered as a service which can contribute to the career awareness of the individual and thus benefit the the civilian community and the military services in addition this program contributes to maintaining the all volunteer Force by identifying likely candidates for enlistment in the armed services the only contribution required from members of the school staff is the scheduling of the time and Facilities needed for the administration of the battery in offering employment to about a half a million high school graduates each year the Department of Defense recognizes that its investment in the high school testing program is repaid when the educational backgrounds of these young people reflect the benefits of effective career education programs thank you so much for your kind attention [Music] [Music]