The Air Traffic Selection and Training Battery: What It Is and Isn’t (And How It Has Changed and Hasn’t)

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has developed a new selection procedure, the Air Traffic Selection and Training (AT-SAT) computerized test battery, to help select Air Traffic Control Specialists. AT-SAT is an aptitude test and not a test of air traffic control knowledge. Of the 264 applicants who have taken AT-SAT, 155 responded to a job announcement, while 109 previously passed the OPM (pre-employment) test and had to achieve a passing score on AT-SAT before they were admitted into training at the FAA Academy. Of the 155 job-announcement applicants, 131 (84.52%) achieved a passing score of 70 or greater (termed a “qualifying score”), while 24 applicants (15.48%) failed to achieve a minimum score of 70. Those who had been prescreened with the OPM test fared a bit better, with 104 (95.41%) achieving a qualifying score; five (4.59%) applicants failed. Current research efforts include equating a parallel form, rehosted on a Windows 2000 operating platform, with the assistance of research participants from the US Army, Navy, and Air Force. Another recent project was focused on reweighting the subtests and adjusting the overall constant to address issues of potential adverse impact, without compromising validity. A greater concern in this effort was to ensure that AT-SAT performance would predict job performance rather than just success or failure in training. Despite this reweighting effort and updating of the operating platform, the content of the battery remains unchanged. Future efforts will involve a longitudinal validation to compare performance on AT-SAT with success in training and on the job