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Originally Posted by David Emerling
The closed book exam is taken individually, with books closed, and no time limit. The taking of the closed book exam is not mandatory. But failure to do so, and score 90% or above, prohibits an umpire from getting any District, Regional, or State playoff assignments.
Also, there is no feedback on test results. We take the test and that's the last we hear of it. We don't find out if we "passed", "failed", or what our score was. We hand it in, walk out of the room, and that's it.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
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David,
What you described is the way it worked in my area prior to last year, but my baseball and football associations in Middle Tennessee took our "closed book" tests online last year, and I thought the TSSAA went to online testing statewide. We had a week-long window in which to complete it. An official could go online and print the test early in the week, use the books (and other officials) to complete it, then go back online and enter the answers anytime prior to the end of the week. Feedback was immediate. It told us our score and which ones we missed as soon as we hit submit.
One neat thing about the testing procedure was each individual test was pulled from a pool of approximately 200 questions. That eliminated the ability of anyone just getting the answers from someone else, as there was only a small probability of two officals having the same identical test.
The passing score was 80% last year. It was 70% prior to the online testing. I like the 90% level, and hope they do go to it if they have not already done so. If you cannot make 90%, especially open book with other officials assisting you, you probably have no business in the playoffs.