Examining the Impact of ASVAB Renorming Upon Selection and Classification in the Army

DOD will implement new norms for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) in July 2004. These norms will reflect the 1997 Youth Population, replacing the 1980 Youth Population norms currently in effect. The purpose of this Study Note is to document the descriptive analyses undertaken to examine the impact of the new norms upon selection and classification in the Army (Regular, Reserve, and Guard). The analyses were conducted with 2002-2003 test data denominated in both 1980 and 1997 scale scores. Under the new norms and existing Army selection standards, and in the absence of newly focused recruiting effort, we would expect some decline in the proportions of Test Score Category (TSC) 1-3A and 3B applicants, and some increase in TSC 4. This holds for all three components. Greater effects are projected for racial-ethnic minorities, and for females to a lesser extent. With regard to classification, small adjustments to cutoff levels for Aptitude Area (AA) scores are recommended to maintain existing percentage qualification rates for Army MOS. The adjustments actually adopted by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (0-1) in some instances differ slightly from the ARI recommendations, and the cutoff score recommendations found in this paper do not represent official policy.