Toward the Development of a New Selection Battery for Air Traffic Control Specialists

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Toward the Development of a New Selection Battery for Air Traffic Control Specialists

J. O. Boone

In an effort to update and refine the selection battery for air traffic controllers, five experimental tests measuring aptitudes and skills considered important in air traffic work were administered to newly selected Air Traffic Control Specialist (ATCS) trainees on their first day of training at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City. The testing covered a 21-month period from July 1976 to April 1978 and involved a final sample of approximately 2,500 new trainees. The five experimental tests and the five tests presently used by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) for selecting ATCS trainees were correlated with the averaged laboratory scores from FAA Academy training. These correlations were then employed in an iterative stepwise regression (stepdown procedure). The tests that made a significant contribution in predicting Academy socres were then used to form a composite and the multiple correlation was computed for the old test battery and the new battery. The new composite demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the multiple correlation over the old test battery. Use of the new test battery could result in a saving to the FAA in terms of Academy attrition due to failures. It could also aid in upgrading the quality of ATCS selectees and aid in mininmizing human error in air traffic control work. (Author)