Information for this section was adapted from Wonderlic Basic Skills Test User’s Manual.

The Wonderlic Basic Skills Test (WBST) is designed to measure verbal and quantitative job-related skills.

The WBST measures the language and math skills identified as necessary for jobs classified in the first three levels of the six-level General Education Development scales of the U.S. Department of Labor. General Education Development requirements have been assigned by the Department of Labor to over 12,000 jobs in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles.

The WBST evaluates skills at grade levels 4, 6, 8, and 10. The WBST also provides scores for the General Education Development levels 1, 2, and 3.

The Test of Verbal Skills has 50 questions that assess a broad range of job-related skills. Both explicit and practical application questions are presented. There are two equivalent forms of the verbal test, Form VS-1 and Form VS-2. The skills assessed within the alternate forms are equivalent.

Each Verbal test assess the twelve verbal skills listed below:

• Locate specific information in various formats
• Understand and use how-to instructions
• Use literature and other written information

• Complete a sentence with an appropriate word in context
• Recognize word meanings
• Recognize multiple meanings of words in context
• Recognize meanings of unfamiliar words in context

• Identify a complete sentence
• Identify agreement of subject and verb
• Recognize standard sentence structure
• Complete compound and complex sentence construction
• Recognize errors in a compound and complex sentence

Explicit, applied, and interpretive question items are on the Verbal Skills Test.

Explicit questions require knowledge about word meanings, grammar, and sentence construction. Applied problems require general knowledge of word meanings, reading comprehension, grammar, and sentence construction in practical application passages.

Interpretative problems require the interpretation, understanding, and use of information presented in charts, diagrams, graphs, and tables.

The test of Quantitative Skills has 45 questions that are designed to assess a broad range of job-related quantitative skills in both explicit and practical applications. Alternate forms are equivalent.

The Quantitative Skills test assesses skills from grade levels 4 through 10 and General Education Development Levels 1 through 3. The Quantitative Skills Test assesses the 14 quantitative skills listed below:

Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division with:

• Whole numbers
• Whole monetary units
• Whole units of measure, including time, English and Metric units, length, weight, and distance

Math Computation - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division with:

• Whole numbers
• Whole monetary units
• Proper and improper fractions and mixed numbers
• Fractional monetary units
• Fractional units of time, English and Metric units of length, weight, and distance
• Computation of rates, proportions, and percentages

Quantitative Evaluation

• Evaluation and interpretation of line, bar, or pie graphs
• Comparisons of fractional magnitudes

Algebra

• Computation of rates, proportions, and percentages
• Evaluation, simplification, and solving of variable expressions and equations

Geometry

• Computation and identification of magnitude of lengths, angles, areas and volumes of plane and solid geometric figures

Questions on this test are also presented in the format of explicit, applied, and

interpretative problems.

The WBST can be administered untimed. Also students who request reasonable accommodations under the American Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines may take the test untimed. A circumstance, according to the User’s Manual for the Wonderlic Basic Skills Test, that may prevent timed assessment from providing a fair assessment of skills include high test anxiety. Procedures for administering the test untimed are the same as for the timed test, except for the time limit. The User’s Manual indicates that most students taking the test untimed will work for an additional 15-20 minutes. After 20 additional minutes, it is suggested that teachers remind students that it is not necessary to answer all the questions on the test.

If interruptions, illness, distractions, or other appropriate reasons for re-testing exist, the WBST alternate form can be given. The minimum suggested break for testing between alternate forms is one-half hour.

Scoring of the WBST can be through the use of the PC and the WBST Scoring Program diskette or through the Wonderlic Reporting Service. The WBST Scoring Program can provide the following reports, which can be printed: Individual Summary Report, Individual Detailed Report, Summary Listing, and Interpretation Guide. The Wonderlic Reporting Service will score and run diagnostic analyses to evaluate individual assessments. The Wonderlic Reporting Service also provides quarterly reports.

The WBST scores can be interpreted by job requirements, occupational norms, and grade levels.

Jobs listed in the Dictionary of Occupational Title by the Department of Labor are grouped into six levels according to their language and math skills. The Wonderlic Basic Skills Test User’s Manual contains a listing of the 184 most common jobs and their language and math requirements.

Occupational norms scores for a job provide information about a provisional qualifying score for job and training programs. Verbal, quantitative, and composite scores for each job/program title are given.

Grade equivalent scores are also provided. The WBST scores were normed with both students in high school and adults at work; for example, "adult workers at the 9^th grade level" are 21 years old or older in the workforce who last attended school at the 9^th grade level.

The WBST is designed to be a part of career counseling and applicant selection. The WBST is not intended to be used as a diagnostic tool for math and reading instruction. For students who do not meet the minimum WBST scores it is recommended that appropriate diagnostic tests be given.