2011 Final Test

Could not disagree more with this post. Both the pre-test and final version are tremendous upgrade improvements over previous years evaluations.  Too many people work WAY WAY WAY too hard for our association to receive such a sarcastic disrespectful commentary.  Was the test an airtight instrument?  Of course not.  But it served its purpose magnificently as it has for the past several years.  If you cannot offer constructive observations, I for one wish you would keep them to yourself.

As we say in the software development world, patches are welcome. If you have a fix to the specific wording of a question, send it in. It's impossible to fix "One question, had 2 possible answers." Which question?

Most of the questions on the test are directly from NFHS, the organization that publishes the rulebook. They often go out of their way to create trick questions. Several years ago, the group moved away from using the NFHS test because it spent too much time focusing on things that don't matter on the field. The exact size of the pitcher's plate. The allowable chemical composition of the chalklines.

If there's something that needs to be changed in a question, send it over. We'll get it fixed. Unlike the fights with your wife, this problem has a solution if you choose to implement it.

I agree with Greg. Helping, rather than criticizing, is what we need. This stuff gets done by guys after they have put in a days work at their paying jobs and a ball game or two, and often in the wee hours of the morning after most of us have said "Nighty Night", and they do it for our benefit. They deserve all the help and gratitude we can give them. Besides, it doesn't really matter how many you get right/wrong on the test. The objective of the test is to get you to study and be familiar with the rules so you get it right on the field. There will surely be mistakes made with some of the learning material, just as I'm sure you will make mistakes on the field. Remember....the last perfect person that walked this earth was CRUCIFIED!

My thank go out to all who make NCOA work as well as it does. You're doing a great job and most of us appreciate it.

I too finished  the Classification Test and found errors as did the instigator of this discussion.  Instead  of complaining I did as Swanny asked us to.  Copied the rule reference # at the  end of the question and sent it to Swanny for possible correction.   The rules come from several different sources so errors are inevitable.   I just wonder if the initial  complainer sees a partner do something that is wrong, rather it be a rules reference or faulty mechanics, will he just complain or help to fix  the problem

Hey guys.

Remember the forum section if for a positive exchange of ideas. Attacking the people who post here could cause people to be hesitant in saying what they feel or think. We welcome all views. I do not think the original post here is out of line. The test does present some issues, but so does umpiring baseball, we all have to learn to interpret situations and develop clear answers.

Written questions will always have some level of controversy over wording. When writing questions the intent is always clear to the author, but also always unclear to a reader without the same perspective. So edits suggestions to test question wording or design are welcome.

Yes we want people to understand the test is not even intended to be perfect. The purpose of the test is to challenge you at least once a year to look things up in the rule book and develop a better understanding of the rules. If by taking the test this was accomplished the test was a success. Do not measure things by their perfection. Measure them by what benefits they provide to you. Does this help you improve your game.

Lets attempt to keep our posts along the same line. Can a discussion of this help our ability to work games well? How do we turn each event into a learning experience? What does this discussion do to help our group get better?

This subject has helped because we have a chance to talk about this very thing.

Fellow Umpires: Have you forgotten "Life is not easy, if you want to succeed, you must work at it and give it your best? Just, take the test, and work with it. Besides, we have the chance if we can't pass it the first time, we can always take it again without any penaltie. Like Gregg says, there too many people that works very hard for our Association to be as good as it is, and we members are the ones benefitting  from their efforts and time they put in for us.  So, please, just take the test, read the book, answer the questions as best as you can and enjoy it.
Manuel Provedor