| For decades, Florida law enforcement training academies have been teaching basic law enforcement practitioner skills. No researchers have conducted a study to determine if any statistical correlation exists between scores on the academy admission test, known as the Criminal Justice Basic Abilities Test (CJBAT), the scores achieved by students during training, and the scores those same students achieved on the State Officer Certification Examination (SOCE).;The purpose of this study was to determine if a statistical correlation exists between the test scores achieved by students during training and their scores achieved on the SOCE. The following were the research questions of this study: 1. How do the demographics of the academy students, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and military experience, relate to performance on the SOCE? 2. How do performance indicators of the CJBAT and subject matter tests relate to student scores on the SOCE? 3. What combination from all the performance indicators explains the unique variance in the SOCE?;The results supported a hypothesized relationship between the CJBAT scores, the academy subject matter test scores, and the SOCE. Additionally, a relationship existed between gender, ethnicity, prior military service, and test performance.;This study indicated a relationship existed between higher scores on the CJBAT and academy test scores. In particular, two academy tests, Introduction to Law Enforcement and Vehicle Operations, had a significant relationship to performance on the SOCE. Although this study primarily involved investigating any correlation between test scores and performance on the SOCE, the findings indicated older, White males with prior military experience tended to perform better on the SOCE than others. |
