Innovative Assessments for Recertification: Are Your Certificants Up-to-Date? How Do You Know?

The idea for this session originated with I.C.E.’s Public Member Committee, whose members closely follow the evolution of techniques for assessing professionals’ performance and behaviors as well as their knowledge and skills. At the 2021 and 2022 Exchanges, a panel of experts explored the state-of-the-art in non-cognitive competency assessment in credentialing and speculated about where it might be headed.

This year, we reprise the panel presentation, focusing on the use of non-traditional assessments to strengthen recertification programs. Research suggests that professional knowledge and related technical skills begin a slow decline after a practitioner enters practice, having recently completed education and often internships, fellowships, or other experiences. How can we help ensure that practitioners are maintaining their knowledge and skills after they have been in practice for several years or more? Can we help them stay current while assessing their progress? Can we address non-cognitive competencies in post-credential professional development to help equip certificants to handle the pressures of a rapidly changing workplace that challenges workers to adapt, collaborate, communicate, and think critically and creatively.

Do the recertification policies and techniques currently in use enable professionals to demonstrate to their certifiers and to the public that they are maintaining professional competencies and are equipped to handle their day-to-day practice? Does current practice give certifiers confidence that an individual’s renewal or recertification is appropriate? What assessment techniques are being developed, researched, and tested that would further accomplish these goals?

A diverse panel of experts will examine current and prospective post-credential competency assessment. Panelists will discuss experimental programs, innovative models, methods, and research that present opportunities for credentialing organizations. They will present available evidence and data to support these new initiatives. The audience will have time to pose questions and share information about how their organizations employ competency assessment for recertification.