Who Writes the ASE Test Questions?
You would think it's ASE's best-kept secret, based on the number of times the question is asked. But, the answer is quite simple. All ASE test questions are written by technicians, content specialists, and other subject matter experts. These experts represent a cross-section of the motor vehicle service industry including working technicians, technical training representatives from auto manufacturers and the aftermarket, customer service professionals, as well as educators.
To ensure that ASE tests closely parallel actual work situations, a considerable amount of time is spent developing a single question that may or may not find its way into an ASE test. Here's how the process works:
1. Test questions are developed at test-writing workshops, which are typically comprised of 15 to 20 participants. A separate three-day, test-writing workshop is conducted every 2 to 2-1/2 years for every one of ASE's tests.
2. Before the first question is written at a workshop, the participants review and modify the existing job skills, or tasks, necessary for a professional to perform successfully in a particular job category. Say, for instance, steering and suspension systems.
3. With the task list as a guide, individual test questions are written. Each question is reviewed and modified until accepted by the entire workshop group. The questions that are accepted are then "pre-tested."
4. Pre-testing means embedding the questions in actual ASE tests to determine the questions' performance. Since test takers do not know which questions are being pre-tested, all questions are answered with the understanding that the answer may affect the test taker's overall score. However, the answers to the pre-test questions do not affect the test score in any way.
5. Based on how well a given question performs in pre-test, it may become an actual test question or may be sent to a future workshop where the question will be either modified and pre-tested again, or thrown out.
6. Even after a question passes the rigors of pre-testing, it continues to be monitored. Every question is statistically tracked for proper performance every time it is used in a test. Simply put, for a test question to perform properly, it must be answered correctly more often by those technicians who score higher on the test than by those who score lower.
7. When a question becomes technically outdated, it is removed from the pool of test questions (thrown out).
Finally, one more insider scoop: No two ASE tests are ever alike. Every test is newly assembled each time it is given.
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