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I have put some information together for anyone who will be attending the Lieutenants Exam Protest Session. Like you, I will be attending also.
First here is a DCAS description of the process:
Candidates who take a written multiple-choice examination will be afforded the opportunity to protest the Proposed Key Answers. On the day of the test you will be provided with a Candidate's Record of Answers on which you are allowed to record, for your own personal use, the responses that you made on your official test paper. The Candidates' Record of Answers also announces when the Proposed Key Answers are to be published, describes the protest procedure, and informs you how to make a request to attend the Protest Review Session.
Proposed Keys for most Promotion Examinations are published on the 5th Monday following the day of the test. Proposed Keys for most Open Competitive Exams are published on the 4th Monday following the test. A Protest Review Session is usually held during the same week that the Proposed Key is published. Candidates are required to submit the request to attend the Protest Review Session. The request is a preprinted part of the Candidates' Record of Answers form. For scheduling reasons, this request must be postmarked no later than one week following the date of the test.
At the review session, you will be allowed to review the Test Booklet and Proposed Key Answers. The purpose of this review is to permit you to submit protests against the Proposed Key Answers.
You must appear in person; You may not bring with you or have present any other person at this test review. You may bring any reference materials you wish. You may not bring any handwritten notes or recording devices of any kind. There will be no rescheduling of appointments for the protest session.
If, as a result of your review, you decide to submit a protest to any proposed key answer you will have to substantiate your protest. Protests may be prepared and submitted at the time of the review, or they may be submitted subsequently. However, in no case will you be allowed to remove from our premises any materials relating to the test, or any notes that you may make during the review. Bring your Record of Answers and a pen with black ink and adequate personal identification to your session.
The protest period lasts for 30 days following the date of the Protest Review session. Protests and/or supporting documentation may be submitted by mail at any time during the protest period.
After the protest period is over, a Test Validation Board (TVB) consisting of representatives of the employing agency(ies), bargaining unit (i.e., union) and DCAS, Bureau of Examinations is convened to review all protests. The TVB is empowered by Section 50-A of the New York State Civil Service Law, to:
Change key answers, Allow duplicate or multiple answers, or Delete items from the test. After all protests are reviewed, the TVB prepares a report detailing its findings. After the eligible list has been established, all candidates who submitted protests will be called in to read the TVB Reports. The determinations made by the TVB are binding. Therefore, no further changes will be entertained.
Now that you know the process, what should you protest?
Determine the questions that you did not answer correctly according to the DCAS tentative answer key. Read each question that you identified and determine if you think there are grounds to protest. Is there a factual error in the question?
Quote the section in the Patrol Guide, etc Provide documentation Is the question defective?
Example did they fail to articulate who you were in the question? So you cant answer it? Different actors have different duties. Provide documentation Did the question ask about a duty other than a Lieutenant or other rank you can supervise?
If it did, explain why it is not a function of Lieutenant or a subordinate Provide documentation Was it a Judgment/Management/Supervision/Grammar question, where there is no document to refer to for a correct answer?
Articulate why your answer was at least as good as their answer (There are court cases that support this) Bring Police Management & Supervision textbooks with you to the protest Find information in the textbook that support your answer. Provide documentation Was the question subjective to a point of view?
Articulate why your answer was at least as good as their answer. Provide documentation Please feel free to call me or email me to discuss tactics required to protest questions.
Mike Yanosik
Elite Strategic Training
516-761-9101 - please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
I'm rdo that day. hope nothing changes. and if someone pulls no excusals on you just refer them back to this awful test and have someone make the judgement call. see how it goes.