By Dora Fowler

Some weeks ago I visited a beautiful child care center in Northern Ohio. Housed in a church building, the center serves 250 children ranging from infants to school age. The center has a waiting list of over 60 children and, most importantly, has a staff that has been at the center for an average of six years! Several staff members have been at the center since it opened 15 years ago. Turnover is  negligible. Wherever I went I saw staff members interacting with, helping and guiding relaxed and happy children. Most interestingly, the staffs' salaries were no higher than those of others in the field.

What, you may ask, is the secret to their longevity and good work? Quite simply, the secret is in the hiring. At a time when staff turnover across the nation has become epidemic, a new and effective pre-employment test may put the brakes on the revolving door of turnover.

Child care centers across the nation have recently begun administering the Scheig pre-employment assessment program with job applicants. This pre-employment test, developed specifically for the child care industry, is proving to be an extremely powerful tool for hiring child care staff. Located in Gig Harbor, Washington, Scheig Associates, is a human resources consulting firm that has developed pre-employment tests in industries ranging from banking and child care to healthcare, construction, and retail. According to Richard Scheig, Ph.D., "In virtually every industry for which we've developed testing, companies have experienced dramatic decreases in turnover rates, increases in completion of training programs, and overall increases in the quality of service delivered."

According to Mark Tinney, President of Scheig Associates, a conservative estimate of the cost of turnover in a child care center is 20 times the person's weekly wage. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, this includes the cost of advertising and recruiting, the director's time which could be spent directing existing staff, and the loss of customers (parents) because of high staff turnover. Many directors fail to see the correlation among high staff turnover, increased expenses, and decreased revenue. They see the endless hiring and training process as a part of their job---what they get paid to do. In reality, the director's job is to hire well; train well; and maintain a stable, efficient, self-directed staff with a minimum of turnover.

The Scheig Assessment is based on a thorough analysis of the typical tasks and behaviors which make up a caregiver's job. While developing the assessment tool, Scheig conducted a job analysis with known top performers in the early childhood field. This identified the key skills, activities, and behaviors that make preschool teachers successful. The job analysis produced over 450 elements which make up the typical child care provider position. The test essentially assesses applicants against behaviors identified by top performers as critical to job performance. The pre-employment tests comply with the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection and satisfy the requirement of test validity under EEOC standards as well as the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). Scheig has also developed a similar director's pre-employment test.

The Interest and Willingness Checklist

The Scheig Pre-Employment Test is divided into three sections. Section one is an interest and willingness checklist. Most director's have encountered the staff person who is unwilling to perform an assigned task claiming, "It is not my job." What that person is really saying is "I don't want to, or I am unwilling to do that aspect of my job." By identifying the applicant's willingness or unwillingness to perform necessary tasks, the director is able quickly to determine whether the candidate is willing to perform the tasks necessary to be successful in the job for which he or she is applying. For instance, the test asks the applicant to indicate their willingness to "Wipe runny noses, deal with children throwing up, etc." Suprisingly, national data show that 15% to 20% of applicants indicate that they are unwilling to perform one or more key job functions.

Scheig evaluated college graduates and non-graduates using the Interest and Willingness Checklist and found that the level of unwillingness among college graduates is approximately the same as those who never attended college. This insight has led Scheig Associates to point out to college counselors that students waiting to enter the field of early childhood should be encouraged to take the test. Taking it would help students determine whether or not they are willing to perform the necessary tasks in the classroom after graduation. For directors this finding indicates that candidates with a higher level of education will not necessarily perform better on the job.

Forced Choice Checklist

Section two of the test is a Forced Choice Checklist that pairs high performance job elements (e.g., "Determines safety of materials used in projects") with lower performance job elements (e.g., "Tells food service staff when they do a good job"). Because both of the characteristics in each pair are positive attributes, applicants cannot simply choose the item that sounds the best. This powerful part of the test allows high performers to describe themselves as such.

Critical Incidents

Section three is a series of Critical Incidents that child care providers normally encounter on the job. These incidents, and how they are to be handled, were selected by a focus group of experts. Answers are compared with those of known outstanding child care professionals. The closer the applicant's answers are to those of known, successful professionals, the higher the probability the applicant will be successful for the job. For example, the test asks, "The children are doing an art project and you notice one child has scribbled all over his paper in every color he could use. You should: A) Point out to the child that now he has ruined his paper and ask him if he would like to start over again; B) Praise him for the amount of colors he has used in his picture and ask if he would like to play in the block area now; C) Get a new piece of paper, sit down with the child and show him how to make a nice picture; or D) Speak gently with the parents about the child's apparent problem expressing himself in art."

Scheig recommends giving the test to each qualified applicant before proceeding with an interview. There is no time limit on the test, but most people take from 35 to 45 minutes. Applicants may not take the test home to complete. The completed tests are faxed to Scheig for scoring and interpretation, and the results are faxed back to the director, usually within an hour. The director is then able to identify those applicants who are likely to be high performers and is able to proceed with the normal interviewing process.

While pre-screening is increasingly being used to address staff turnover, these tests should not be the only hiring tool used. Directors also need to develop the necessary skills to conduct meaningful hiring interviews. Factors such as the fit of the applicant's philosophy of education and that of the other teachers and the director cannot be assessed using pre-employment tests. Such factors account for a significant percentage of the problems that occur among child care staff and between directors and staff.

Dora Fowler is the founder and past Executive Director of the National Association of Child Care Professionals. For 14 years she crisscrossed the country training over 14,000 child care directors as the President of Associates in Human Development, Inc. She is currently the President and Publisher of Woodhaven Publishing, L.L.C., and Contributing editor to Early Childhood News.