It is important to understand the value of the certification exam and how it differs from an end-of-course examination. In addition, the process used by a certification adds reliability, validity, and legal defensibility to the outcome.
When a credentialing organization demonstrates it has followed the proper steps in examination development, it has increased the likelihood it will develop a valid and reliable exam. However, to create a valid and reliable examination that discriminates between truly qualified and unqualified candidates, the exam questions must not only be proportionally directed at identified content areas, but must also be presented at various cognitive levels with an appropriate degree of difficulty.
To assess a candidate’s competency, exams must contain questions that possess a sufficiently high degree of difficulty to challenge the individual’s depth of knowledge. Proper development and delivery of the examination provides assurance that the testing is effective and the results provide a realistic assessment of your HACCP manager’s knowledge.
Simply put, HACCP managers need to be trained in every facet of the system, and an independent examination validates their knowledge as a “qualified” manager across the spectrum of food safety and systems knowledge.
As the industry moves in this direction, food safety can only be enhanced by the proper implementation of HACCP principles.
Reprinted from Food Safety magazine. © 2014 Target Group, www.foodsafetymagazine.com.
