|
Professional exam services are used by schools, government agencies, and businesses to provide certification in dozens of professional fields. The companies that provide professional exam services cover a range of test types, testing environments, and ancillary services detailed below.
Types Of Professional Exams
Professional exam services cover the full range of certification and achievement-based tests on the market today. The Praxis Series™ is taken by elementary and secondary school teachers who want to be recertified for their subject area and grade level by state licensing boards. The School Leaders Licensure Assessment (SLLA) is used by school boards and licensing bodies to determine advancement opportunities for new principals. A final assessment for teachers is the School Superintendent Assessment (SSA) which determines an administrator's comprehension of standards set by their home districts as well as the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC).
Another type of exam offered by test centers around the United States is college preparatory exams. The Advanced Placement Program® allows high school students to earn credit and bypass entry-level classes in several subjects as they head to college. The ACT and the SAT are familiar tests for high school students aspiring to get into their dream colleges. These tests are administered by universities as well as professional exam companies during the summer and fall of each year.
Professional exam services also proctor licensing exams for various industries in their home states. For example, Florida exam centers were used heavily in the 1990s and early 2000s for real estate licensing exams as the housing market exploded in the state. While real estate and insurance licenses are dictated by state and federal agencies, state-specific exams for construction and legal professionals require test centers that are well versed in testing requirements set forth by professional bodies.
Who Uses Professional Exam Services?
The highest volume of business for a professional exam service like Prometric Services (http://www.prometric.com/default.htm) comes from businesses looking to certify employees for specific tasks. Software companies and IT consultancies put their employees through general tests as well as company-specific scenarios to determine their competency in current technologies. Larger manufacturing and financial companies use professional exam services for applicant testing to eliminate candidates without proper qualifications. Experienced professionals like chefs and grocers may take certification tests through professional exam firms to meet state and federal health and safety laws.
Government agencies also use professional exam services to provide licenses and certifications that would be costly to provide on their own. These licenses cover thousands of insurance agents, real estate brokers, beauticians, and plumbers around the United States. The reason why local and state governments use these services is the convenience of housing tests, printing photo IDs, and storing documents in a facility dedicated to testing.
Graduating students applying for college, law school, graduate school, and other advanced programs flock to professional exam companies every year. Professional exam proctors oversee the LSAT (http://www.lsac.org/LSAT/lsat-registration-methods.asp), the Graduate Record Exam (http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.
fab2360b1645a1de9b3a0779f1751509/?vgnextoid=
b195e3b5f64f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD), and the MCAT (http://www.aamc.org/students/mcat/) for students who need to achieve certain scores in order to gain admission for graduate school. Colleges and universities throughout the United States hold these tests in high regard because they use multiple choice, essay, and other question formats to test an applicant's knowledge. These institutions use professional exam services because each test is administered by a proctor, and measures like finger printing are used to prevent cheating.
Advancements In Professional Exam Services
Three areas of professional exam services have improved over the last decade. Advancements in broadband technology and encryption allow test centers to proctor professional exams throughout the world. This technological advancement allows military personnel, students traveling abroad, and professionals to achieve important certifications without geographical boundaries.
Exam writers and editors are also benefiting greatly from the flexible formats allowed by computer testing software used by professional exam services. Rather than sticking to multiple-choice questions, test makers can ask students and professionals to answer essays and identify visual elements on computer screens. This evolution in test formatting comes from advanced software that can pick through essays to find keywords and identify phrases necessary for high exam scores.
The heart of any professional exam service is the security of student IDs and test materials. Exam centers have evolved from classrooms to high-security areas with controlled access, finger print identification, and security cameras keeping out unwanted personnel. Test proctors can sit at control boards and observe cameras trained on each test taker to prevent cheating. While cheating may occur in the professional and academic world, exam centers are taking every reasonable step to avoid the appearance of cheating in their facilities.
Resources For Professional Exams
Several websites offer study guides and tips to test takers about to register for professional exams. ETS (http://www.ets.org) has study materials and test descriptions for professional exams in education. Test-specific websites like ProfessionalExamReview.com (http://www.professionalexamreview.com/index.php) focus on the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) program. Schools like Indiana University Purdue University-Fort Wayne offer department-specific test advice including exam information for financial planners and accountants from the Department of Accounting and Finance (http://users.ipfw.edu/hirschbi/profexams.htm).
|
