At the June 2016 meeting, the Commission approved changes to regulations and procedures related to the Training and Testing Specifications and the Basic Courses Test Management and Security protocols. The Commission approved changing Regular Basic Academy testing from 21 separate Learning Domain tests (plus retests) to three comprehensive multi-domain tests (plus retests). The new testing process is referred to as TMAS II.

The report is an informational update to Basic Courses testing activities that have happened since the June 2016 Commission meeting.

With the implementation of TMAS II, POST has changed the Basic Course testing process to more closely mirror the complexity of actual law enforcement activities.  The prior testing process allowed students to study only for a very specific set of content, and thus by default could foster a "learn and purge" study behavior, reducing the likelihood of long- term retention and comprehension.

Further, the original testing process could be administered via pen and paper, thus increasing vulnerability to compromise of test material.

TMAS II is delivered exclusively via an online platform, with built in security measures to reduce the likelihood of test compromise.

In TMAS II, each comprehensive test contains several written vignettes that are appropriate in content and difficulty to what the students are required to learn up to that point in the academy. Each vignette, which describes a typical law enforcement situation, is associated with several test questions that require the student to be able to apply the knowledge they have learned up to that point.

One additional test (and retest) is required by the California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA). This test is the Learning Domain 34 (First Aid and CPR) test. It has a passing score of 80% dictated by EMSA and is in the traditional short question stem and one question style test.

As noted in June 2016 Agenda Item Report, these changes required a “testing culture change” in the basic courses. Students are now required to learn, retain, and be able to apply knowledge across multiple learning domains for each comprehensive test. Each vignette, and there will be several of them on each test, can assess the application of knowledge from a number of learning domains. The comprehensive tests are similar in intention to the scenario tests that are administered in the Regular Basic Course.

In preparation for the new testing format, POST conducted a variety of pilot tests, analyzed the data, and held a number of meetings to report findings and update the tests. The goal of these activities was to ensure that each test accurately measures required student abilities at appropriate difficulty levels. To date, the field has expressed overall satisfaction with TMAS II.