Notional Army Enlisted Assessment Program: Cost Analysis and Summary

In the early 1990s, the Department of the Army abandoned its Skill Qualification Test (SQT) program due primarily to maintenance, development, and administration costs. This left a void in the Army's capabilities for assessing job performance qualification. To meet this need, the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (ARI) instituted a 3-year program of feasibility research related to the development of a Soldier assessment system that is both effective and affordable. The PerformM21 program has had two mutually supporting tracks. The first track has focused on the design of a testing program and identification of issues related to its implementation. The second has been a demonstration of concept -- starting with a prototype core assessment targeted to all Soldiers eligible for promotion to Sergeant, followed by job-specific prototype assessments for several Military Occupational Specialties (MOS). The prototype assessments were developed during the first 2 years of the research program. Pilot testing of the prototype assessments was completed in the third year of the project and is documented in a companion report. The present report describes the notional test program and analyzes the anticipated costs and describes the benefits associated with its implementation.