As a cooperative, inter-jurisdictional item bank, the successful operation of WRIB requires the combined efforts of its members. To insure that the cooperative nature of WRIB is maintained, three membership requirements have been established:

1. Payment of an annual membership or test services fee of $2,512.13. WRIB operates on a fiscal year basis, from July 1 through June 30.

2. A commitment to submit categorized items for inclusion in the item bank.

3. A commitment to dedicate time to the qualitative review of designated item groups.

Item review consists of judgment of relevance, significance of concept, adequacy of construction and how current the item is. As the item bank grows, this effort will provide input for major item revision and deletion decisions and assure that items continue to be properly categorized.

In addition to specifically assigned item review, which a jurisdiction may be called upon to perform, there is an ongoing responsibility to inform WRIB of errors detected through item use. When review drafts are sent, a WRIB Request Feedback Form accompanies them. The purpose of the feedback form is to maintain and improve the quality of the item bank. Should the review drafts contain items that require correction, are duplicates, or are obsolete, complete the form, return it to WRIB, and the appropriate revisions will be made.

Contractual Obligations

In addition to the three membership requirements, WRIB members maintain contractual obligations relating to item security and liability.

To maintain security of the item bank, only WRIB users should utilize items for the official purposes of testing applicants for employment, placement, promotion, and test research or development. Thus, items must not be made available to job seekers or other unauthorized persons for studying, copying or publication. In addition, items must be handled and stored in a manner that will prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to the items. It is for this reason that all test items must be processed through a single representative from each member agency. Examiners, subject matter experts, and researchers may review test items. However, these individuals may not retain the items and such review must be under the direct supervision of the WRIB user. Items should not be made available for post test candidate review unless this is absolutely mandatory under a jurisdiction's rules, policies, or regulations. Where such review is mandatory, WRIB urges that efforts be made to revise applicable rules or policies.

Consultant access to WRIB items poses a special concern. Generally, consultants hired to develop written examinations should not be allowed access to WRIB items; sufficient supervision to safeguard against consultant retention of items would be very difficult. Test development contracts should include consultant development of items. Consultants hired for other selection-related purposes, e.g., test validation research, should have highly supervised access to WRIB items. Consultants should never be allowed to remove WRIB items from a member's premises.

WRIB members should not share WRIB items or examinations, which contain WRIB items with other jurisdictions even if those jurisdictions are WRIB members. Test sharing could result in liability to the jurisdiction that developed the exam, should litigation result. Also, it is to a WRIB member's advantage to draw directly from the Bank because local test development will always enhance the content validity of the resulting exam. Finally, requests directly to the Bank provide consideration of the most recently developed WRIB items and allow review of history records at the time of item selection. Requests for test sharing from non WRIB members for tests including WRIB items should be denied. Similar requests from WRIB members should be referred to the WRIB analyst who can provide consultation on the most appropriate categories to use for specific test needs.

In the event of legal challenge to supplied test questions, the burden of defending the test items rests on the WRIB member, as does any liability resulting from the use of such questions. Should a WRIB member become involved in legal proceedings, the member should request that any WRIB supplied test questions be covered by a protective order that sufficiently safeguards their confidentiality and should notify WRIB of the proceedings. Due to the nature of WRIB as a test development resource only, San Bernardino County's responsibility is limited to providing available background information needed to evaluate test questions. San Bernardino County cannot and does not warrant, represent, or guarantee the validity of test questions supplied through WRIB.