Credentialing glossary

Accreditation (of a program)

Independent confirmation by a recognized accreditor, such as NCCA or ANAB, that a credentialing program meets a published standard. Distinct from accreditation as a credential type, which is a program that accredits organizations.

Assessment based certificate program

A program that teaches a defined body of content and then assesses whether participants learned it. The certificate attests to the learning, not to competence to practice an occupation, and usually grants no designation.

Candidate

A person who has applied to a credentialing program and is working toward the credential, including anyone eligible to sit the examination.

Certificant

A person who holds a current certification. Certificants are usually entitled to use the program’s designation after their name while the certification remains valid.

Certification body

The organization that owns and grants a certification. It sets the standard, decides eligibility, administers the examination and maintains the register of certificants. A credential management company operates the program on the certification body’s behalf; it does not own it.

Continuing competence

The principle that a credential should attest to current ability, not just ability at the time of the first examination. Recertification requirements, continuing education and periodic reassessment are the usual mechanisms.

Continuing education (CE)

Learning activities a certificant completes to maintain a credential. Many professions require CE to be approved by a third party, such as CME for physicians or CLE for lawyers.

Cut score

The passing score on an examination. A defensible cut score is set by a documented standard setting study, such as an Angoff or bookmark study, in which subject matter experts judge what a minimally competent practitioner should be able to do.

Designation

The letters or title a certificant is authorized to use, such as CAE or ICE-CCP. A designation is usually a registered mark of the certification body and its use is governed by the program’s policies.

Digital badge

A verifiable online representation of a credential, issued through a platform such as Credly, that carries the issuer, the criteria and the expiry so that anyone can confirm it is genuine and current.

Eligibility requirements

The education, experience or other prerequisites a person must meet before sitting the examination. Eligibility should be justified by the job analysis and applied consistently, because it is one of the first things a legal challenge examines.

Examination blueprint

The specification that states what the examination covers and in what proportions, derived from the job analysis. Also called test specifications or the content outline. It is what makes an examination representative of the occupation.

Job analysis

A systematic study of what practitioners in an occupation actually do and what they need to know to do it, usually combining expert panels with a survey of the profession. Also called a practice analysis or role delineation study. Every valid certification examination is built on one, and it is repeated periodically as the occupation changes.

Legal defensibility

The ability of a program’s decisions, such as denying eligibility, failing a candidate or revoking a credential, to withstand challenge. It comes from building the program on a job analysis, following the testing standards, documenting every decision, and applying policies consistently.

Proctoring

Supervision of an examination to protect its security and the fairness of the result. Examinations may be proctored at a test centre or online, with a live or recorded proctor watching through the candidate’s camera.

Psychometrics

The science of measuring knowledge, skill and ability. A psychometrician designs and analyzes examinations so that they are valid, reliable and fair, and documents the evidence that an accreditor or a court will ask for.

Recertification

The process by which a certificant renews a credential at the end of its term, by continuing education, reexamination, practice hours, or a combination. Recertification rate is one of the clearest measures of a program’s health.

Reliability

The consistency of an examination: whether a candidate of the same ability would get the same result on a different day or with a different set of questions. Reported statistically and expected by every accreditor.

Scheme

The term ISO/IEC 17024 uses for a certification program: the competence requirements, the assessment methods, and the rules for granting, maintaining and withdrawing the certification.

Standard setting

Two meanings. In the credentialing world, a standard setting program is any program that defines and enforces an occupational standard. In psychometrics, standard setting is the study that establishes the cut score of an examination.

Subject matter expert (SME)

A practitioner who contributes professional judgment to the program: to the job analysis, to writing and reviewing examination questions, and to standard setting. Credentialing programs run on volunteer SMEs, and managing them well is a large part of running the program.

Test service provider

The vendor that delivers an examination, through a network of test centres or online proctoring, and often provides item banking and scoring. Pearson VUE is the test service provider for programs managed by Metacred.

Validity

The evidence that an examination measures what it claims to measure, and that the inferences drawn from a score, such as "competent to practice", are justified. Validity is the central requirement of the testing standards and of every accreditor.

Missing a term? Ask us, and we will add it. For the four kinds of credential themselves, see Credential types; for the standards these terms serve, see Accreditation standards.