Test Development: Ten Steps to a Valid and Reliable Certification Exam

The intent of a certification program is to evaluate the knowledge and skills of practitioners seeking a credential to ensure a desired level of competence. For certification examinations to serve their intended goal, the examination must assess the performance that the scores are intended to represent. Subsequently, each item on the examination must serve to assess the performance or knowledge being measured by the examination. The purpose of this paper is to describe the steps necessary to develop a valid and reliable certification examination which would fulfill the goal of a certification program.