Greetings from the Certification team!

As many of you know, we are currently holding scores for both the CHSOS and CHSE programs as we go through the standard setting process. This process occurs for SSH approximately once every five years and always follows the release of new content indicated by the practice analysis. This brings us to the subject of today’s peek behind the Certification curtain: the minimally competent candidate; who are they and why are they important to a certification program?

While no one likes to think of their colleagues or certificants as “minimally competent,” this is an industry term used to identify standard baseline performance and defining this baseline is a crucial step in maintaining the fairness, validity, and reliability of a certification exam. The minimally competent is still someone who passes the exam and is considered competent to practice. The word “minimally” is not negative or indicative of poor performance. A “minimally competent” rocket scientist is still a rocket scientist!

During the standard setting process, our psychometrician meets with a group of subject matter experts (SMEs) to discuss the profile of a minimally competent candidate. The group works together to develop a shared understanding of minimal competence which acts as the foundation for setting fair and defensible standards. My favorite way of starting to build this profile is asking the SMEs to imagine their own work setting and a scenario in which they would have to recommend an individual to fill in for them. The minimally competent candidate would be the person you would recommend for the job, but the very last person you would recommend. They are not an “all-star,” they are not going to go above and beyond, but they are going to get the job done safely and effectively. The group discusses what knowledge, skills, and abilities this person would have, and once all are in agreement, we have our profile of minimal competence.

This standard is then applied throughout the various activities for the program, from determining the cut score to determining if the content of a test question is appropriate for the exam. Applying this standard helps us to ensure consistent and reliable exams.

I hope y’all found this look into our certification exam process interesting and I encourage you to engage with me through SimConnect if you would like to have a conversation around defining minimal competence and how applying this standard promotes program integrity and value.

Until next time, be excellent to each other!

Rachel Araujo
SSH Director of Certification