How Apple Certification Exams are Developed.

The respect that is given to those who have successfully passed the Apple certification exams is given because these candidates are able to pass rigorous exams in order to earn their certification. Each of these exams must undergo a thorough exam development process.

The first step in the Apple certification exam process involves the Job Task Analysis definition. Each potential job task is translated into a thorough set of specific skills. This list of abilities then forms the foundation for the exam’s development. Professionals involved in this stage of development include Apple Certified Professionals and Apple Certified Trainers.

The next step in exam development requires developers to write exam items according to the objectives obtained in the previous step. As the exam items are written, developers review them to make sure that the questions are technically accurate, clear, unbiased, not misleading, and testing for useful knowledge instead of obscure trivia. Exam items that pass this review then must go on to a panel of experts for an alpha review in order to further ensure technical accuracy.

Beta exams allow candidates to comment on exam items and allows Apple to evaluate the quality of exam questions in an exam setting. After beta testing, results are analyzed and the final questions are selected. During this phase, the required passing score is determined.

Finally, the exam is published by Prometric and the exams are given through Prometric or an Apple Authorized Training Center. Candidates who have successfully prepared for their exams using Apple’s exam training resources or TestsLive can then take the exams.