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Written May Be Revamped
As this paper went to press Oct. 23, nearly 16,000 candidates had signed up to take the physical and written exams used by the Fire Department to rank potential hires. The exams will be given in 2007, with the written scheduled for Jan. 20. New Physical Exam The candidates who make it through the background check and pre-screening process will be the first to be tested using the new Candidate Physical Ability Test (CPAT) that the FDNY adopted last week. Although CPAT is currently given to Probationary Firefighters at the Randall's Island Training Academy, it's never been part of the qualifying physical exam before. Candidates will be issued a pass/fail grade based on whether they can complete the physical exam in less than 10 minutes and 20 seconds. Department of Citywide Administrative Service officials haven't commented on what changes - if any - are pending for the written portion of the Firefighter exam. A DCAS spokesman said the test "is still being developed" and that it would be inappropriate to comment. A Revised Written Test? Sources tell The Chief-Leader, however, that at a minimum, the contents of the written test will undergo a fairly comprehensive revision. Questions on the written exam are usually revamped every time it's given to eliminate the potential for cheating. But this year's changes are more likely linked to the city's desire to protect itself from possible discrimination lawsuits, according to several sources. The FDNY over the past three months has drastically altered its hiring requirements - dropping the number of college credits needed from 30 to 15, and eliminating them for those with past military service or six months' work experience - and announced an extension of its training time at the Fire Academy beyond the usual 13 weeks. The recent move toward a pass/fail physical exam means that candidates' final rankings will depend solely on how well they score on the written portion of the Firefighter test - unless the city decides to alter how it scores that exam as well. Unfair to Blacks? The scoring procedures currently used for the written exam are at the heart of an equal opportunity complaint filed by the Vulcan Society on behalf of black firefighter candidates. The Vulcan Society, led by Fire Capt. Paul Washington, has long contended that the multiple-choice exam has a disparate impact on black candidates, who historically don't perform as well on standardized exams as whites and other groups. Captain Washington has argued that the exam, which by the FDNY's own admission can't accurately predict who will perform well under pressure or in a hostile environment, should be graded as pass/fail and coupled with an oral examination administered by a panel of FDNY Chiefs. The U.S. Department of Justice in 2005 began probing FDNY hiring practices following a two-year investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The recent changes in FDNY hiring and ranking practices are widely viewed as pre-emptive measures to avoid any lawsuits stemming from the DOJ investigation. Changes Got Results Fire departments in several other major cities with large black populations that have adopted the changes endorsed by Captain Washington have significantly more diverse work forces than the FDNY. The FDNY remains more than 90 percent white and 99 percent male. The most recent Notice of Exam posted on the DCAS Web site described the upcoming written exam as a series of multiple-choice questions that may test such things as written comprehension, memorization, various types of reasoning, "adaptability, tenacity, integrity," and "establishing and maintaining personal relationships," as well as other abilities. Captain Washington declined to comment on possible changes to the written exam, but reiterated his preference that candidates' rank on the hiring lists be determined "by a graded physical exam - which is color-blind." Double-Edged Sword Making the physical pass/fail and ranking candidates on their written scores "puts us right back where we started," Mr. Washington said. In opting to make the physical exam pass/fail, however, the FDNY has bulletproofed itself for the next five years against any legal challenges from female candidates claiming bias. A 2002 agreement between the EEOC and the International Association of Fire Fighters, which helped develop CPAT, offers an exemption from gender bias claims to fire departments that use the new physical exam - if they give all candidates an opportunity to attend at least two CPAT training sessions within an eight-week period preceding the official test. In addition, fire departments must ensure that each candidate gets an opportunity to perform two timed practice runs of CPAT within 30 days of the official test. Run is Key Element FDNY officials said last week that if candidates pass a timed practice run, they'll be granted an automatic pass for their final scores. The IAFF tracks the results of all fire departments that use CPAT and uses the data to analyze how the exam affects female candidates. The current version of CPAT grew out of a 2002 lawsuit filed by several women firefighters who alleged it discriminated against them based on their gender. The IAFF, in conjunction with the DOJ, various fire unions, major fire departments, fire chiefs and professional firefighters, changed the exam and created guidelines for practice and training sessions, resulting in the promise from the EEOC not to move forward with gender discrimination claims for five years.
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