CERTIFICATE PROGRAM VALIDATION QUESTIONNAIRE

(5/1/2015)

A clear distinction must be made between certificate(s) of completion, attendance or

participation at a conference, seminar, workshop, webinar or other event and a
certificate program where the certificate is awarded upon achieving a passing grade on
a testing instrument that measures what participants have learned in a training course
or series of courses.

This document outlines the issues that must be addressed in evaluating a certificate
program. For a certificate program to be valid, answers to all of the following questions
should be Yes.

Regarding the certificate program itself:

1. Are there publicly available, well defined statements of the course objectives and
expected learning outcomes?

2. Are the curriculum and learning objectives developed, maintained, reviewed and
updated by Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)?

3. Is the course (or series of courses) taught by qualified experts in the field(s) they
are teaching?

4. Are the selection criteria, names of instructors and background on the instructors
publicly available?

5. If the course instructors have any vested interest or financial ties to the
education/training course vendors, are they fully disclosed?

6. Is the certificate awarded on the basis of a testing instrument which objectively

measures the full scope of learning as outlined in the course objectives and
expected outcomes, with appropriate emphasis and weighting given to each
objective?

7. Can the course provider demonstrate that an objective method has been used to
determine the minimum level of individual course competency (pass/fail grades)?

8. Are all certificate candidates graded against the same standards?

9. If work experience or other factors are required as pre-requisites to attend the

course(s) and take the certification test, are all pre-requisites and requirements
publicly available?

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10. If the certification claims to be endorsed by the US Government, or to be accredited
by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or other professionally
recognized accreditation organization, is there documentation to prove that)?
[NOTE: Formal ANSI accreditation is not the same as being an ANSI member.]

11. Does the certificate expire after a certain period of time, and/or is continuing
education or retesting required to maintain it?

Regarding the organization administering the certification:

1. Has the certificate provider organization disclosed whether it is non-profit or for-

profit?

2. Does the provider or parent organization make only truthful claims which can be
substantiated, (e.g., US Government or industry endorsement, recognition,
support)?

3. Are any logos and branding displayed on the providers website/marketing materials
approved in writing for use by the organizations they represent?

NOTE: A trademark represents a brand. There is no correlation whatsoever between a

registered trademark (i.e. at superscript circle symbol with the R inside) and a valid
certificate program. A registered trademark means someone filled out the paperwork
and paid the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) a fee. It is not a measure of
content or quality. Likewise, the symbols TM and SM are not a measure of content or
quality. TM and SM are simply a claim to alert the public of a "common-law" mark and do
not require USPTO registration.

[For questions, comments or suggestions regarding this questionnaire or its contents,

contact Betty Fishman, Certification and Testing Consultant, 301-742-7045,
bettyjfishman@gmail.com]