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ALA-APA Certification Task Force Procedures
Certification Program Proposal
Any individual, committee, institution or ALA division submits a certification program proposal in a specialty area to the appropriate ALA Division.
The proposal will be submitted on a form made available on the division or ALA- APA Website.
Certification Program Proposal
All proposals will include the following information:
ALA Division initiating concept
Names of Certification Program Development Committee
Identification of assessed need / Current trends / Future needs
Name of Certificate / Specialty Area
Relevance to mission and goals of the APA Certification Program
Description of the competencies required for this area of specialization
Outline of subject coverage
Description of assessment exam and evidence of expected results
Target audience
Eligibility requirements
Background, experience, and number of potentially affected
Outcomes/results for the profession
Description of specific, observable, or demonstrable results for individual
Description of program evaluation methodology (including both quantitative and qualitative data)
Additional information to be attached as appendices to the proposal:
Contact information for the lead individual submitting the proposal
Identification of other agencies (divisions, committees, etc-co-sponsors) represented by the submitting individual
References to existing documents establishing the competencies or standards for professional practice to be certified
References to regional or state librarian certifications where appropriate
Specifications for delivery of the program content [here include standard guidelines against discrimination, promoting accessibility, etc.] and any special requirements for delivery of content
Recommendations of content providers, if available
Literature review
Letters of recommendation or support
Division Approval
The entity within the ALA division designated to deal with certification program applications (division Education Committee, Board subcommittee, etc.) receives and acknowledges the application, and may
establish a timeline for dealing with the application in a timely manner;
assign a division member as a liaison to the proposers;
task individuals to evaluate the application.
Individuals designated by the division evaluate the certification program proposal following established criteria:
Completeness of the application
Perceived need for the certification program in the context of ALA-APA, including feasibility, and in context with other established certification programs
Recognition of the specialization as comprising a distinct set of certifiable competencies
Relation to existing State or jurisdictional certifications if relevant. [links to state certification Websites]
Other evidence of need for the certification
Methodology including assessment
Cost-benefit analysis
The division reviewers submit a recommendation to accept or reject the proposal to the division Board, or in some cases, send the proposal back for more information. The recommendation to the Division Board should incorporate all information elements required by the Committee on Education and the ALA-APA Board. This includes:
Additional evidence or supporting documentation not included in the application
Completed ALA-APA required documentation. Such documentation could include names of division level sponsoring individuals or contacts, possible content providers, an implementation plan supplementing the original proposal [to be worked out by ALA-APA].
The division board submits the proposal to the ALA Committee on Education.
Committee on Education Review of Proposal
COE receives and acknowledges the application, and may
establish a timeline for dealing with the application in a timely manner;
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assign a Committee member as a liaison to
the proposers;
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task individuals to evaluate the application;
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track the certification program proposal
on the master schedule starting with pre-approval
review and running through evaluation of the
certification program.
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establish a liaison with the ALA Office if
none has been designated by this point.
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In evaluating the proposal, COE reviews the complete
proposal paying special attention to Association-wide
and extra-Association issues. COE in particular
will note the following decisions recorded in
the ALA-APA Status and Background Summary: March
8, 2002 document:
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Continuing education programs and some ancillary
products may be provided by ALA and its divisions
and/or by other organizations (e.g., ALA Chapters,
AASL Affiliates, LIS programs, other university
programs, independent trainers or other organizations).
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A candidate for first-time certification
must have a minimum of three years experience.
(The CPLA program requires three-years supervisory
experience.)
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Initial certification will be based on (a)
demonstrated commitment to ongoing professional
development and (b) successful completion
of a professionally-validated examination
covering the particular specialization. The
examination process will be available in geographically
dispersed locations.
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Certification will be for a three-year period,
with re-certification based on demonstrated
continuing professional development (e.g.,
continuing education courses, portfolio),
not re-examination.
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All applications for certification and re-certification
will be made to the ALA-APA.
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Both ALA members and non-members may participate
in the certification program; membership in
ALA (or any other organization) may not be
required for certification. Differential fees
may be charged to members and non-members
for courses and ancillary materials.
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Statistics will be gathered by the ALA-APA
as part of the application and certification
process and used in program assessment.
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The ALA Committee on Education, working with
ALA's eleven divisions, has a continuing role
to:
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ensure that proposals for new certification
programs include a consistent and adequate
articulation of specialized competencies
and requirements and that ALA members
are informed about new standards for professional
practice (e.g. knowledge base, experience);
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work with ALA staff to ensure that new
standards for professional practice become
accessible to the ALA-APA for adoption
as standard competencies for certification;
and,
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report to the ALA Council on development
of standards for professional practice.
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Coursework and some ancillary products may
be marketed by ALA and its divisions. Such
marketing may indicate that the coursework
and ancillary products are designed to provide
the knowledge necessary to be certified by
the ALA-APA in that specialization (e.g.,
the CPLA program). The certification program
itself and study guides for the certification
exam must be marketed by the ALA-APA—which
may also market the coursework and
ancillary products through appropriate arrangement
with ALA and its divisions—or other organizations
offering related coursework and ancillary
products.
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COE may send the proposal back to the division
for additional work, reject the proposal (incompleteness,
redundancy, etc.) or recommend approval of the
program to the ALA-APA Board. The approval recommendation
may include:
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Additional evidence or supporting documentation
not included in the application
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Completed ALA-APA required documentation.
Such documentation could include names of
COE level sponsoring individuals or contacts,
in addition to the Chair, additional recommendations
on possible content providers, and additions
to the schedule and implementation plan supplementing
the original proposal [to be worked out by
ALA-APA].
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Additional material to expedite implementation
of the program. Such material could include
advertising copy announcing the program and
soliciting content providers, a certification
program Web page, and recommendations for
teaching-learning-technology dissemination
of the program.
ALA-APA Board Review
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The ALA-APA Board receives and acknowledges receipt
of the proposal and deliberates its approval.
Upon approval of the certification program, the
ALA-APA Board establishes a Certification Review
Committee for that specific certification program.
The Certification Review Committee will be appointed
according to the following guidelines:
"The Board may establish committees and prescribe
their purpose and composition. Committees may
include persons not on the Board of the ALA-APA.
A majority of members of any committee must
be members of the American Library Association.
The Board will establish a Certification Review
Committee, of three to seven members, for each
proposed certification specialty program. Each
Certification Review Committee will include
active practitioners and LIS educators. The
primary purposes of a Certification Review Committee
will be to oversee development and administration
of a validated testing instrument, based on
the subject standards for professional practice,
licensed from the American Library Association
and to approve providers of continuing education
targeted to that certification area. Appointments
to a Certification Review Committee will be
for four years, non-renewable. Initial appointments
will be staggered. The Certification Review
Committee will report to the ALA-APA Board of
Directors."
It is expected that the Committee would include
some individuals from the sponsoring Division(s).
Certification Review Committee
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The Certification Review Committee oversees the
development of the certification exam, using professional
psychometricians to validate the instrument. The
Certification Review Committee writes and publicizes
specifications and requirements to be fulfilled
by providers. The Committee receives applications
from those individuals, institutions, and organizations
who wish to offer coursework leading to certification.
All applicants must abide by established ground
rules for workshops. Commissioned developers and
approved applicants must enter into a contract
with ALA for the delivery of the coursework.
Ground Rules for ALA Certification Approved
Providers
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All workshops must be ADA accessible.
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All workshops must use *credentialed trainers.
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All workshops must go through a sunset review
every five years.
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All workshop sponsors must financially support
the initial development, start-up costs, and
costs that are not recovered by fees.
* Credentialed trainers are those with a demonstrated
record of success in providing training and/or
who are graduates of one or more train-the-trainer
educational experiences. Potential providers will
complete the following application and submit
to the Certification Review Committee:
Application to Deliver Coursework for Individual Certification
Implementation
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The initial implementation strategy is aimed at (a) minimizing the startup time and cost, (b) acquiring technical expertise gained from working
on other professional certification programs,
and (c) preserving the broadest range of future
options based on evaluation of the initial five-year
period of operation.
Outsourcing of most of the technical aspects
of certification by the ALA-APA is proposed to
minimize startup time and cost. Technical aspects
would include candidate record maintenance (enrollment,
review, certification, re-certification), test
administration (including scheduling, training
of examination administrators), and marketing.
This does not preclude the ALA-APA from developing
such capacity internally should that be programmatically
and/or economically desirable. If technical aspects
are outsourced, day-to-day oversight should be
maintained by ALA-APA staff.
Certification Exams / Appeals
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Certification exams will be offered throughout
the country through officially designated sites.
High standards will be maintained in the integrity
of the testing situation. All exams will be sent
to the ALA-APA office or an official off-site
designee for scoring. Results will be distributed
to the participants by the ALA-APA office.
If a participant has a complaint that cannot
be resolved by the delivery institution, the participant
may forward the complaint to the certification
committee. If the participant is still not satisfied,
an appeal may be sent to the appropriate division
executive committee and then, if necessary, to
ALA-APA's Executive Committee.
Program Review
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The ALA-APA Board will review the program each
year at Annual conference, in order to determine
the overall effectiveness and possible need for
modifications of the program. Information provided
by staff, under the auspices of the Committee
on Education, should include, but is not limited
to, the following elements:
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Number of participants
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Number of organizations/individuals offering
coursework
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Coursework completed by all participants
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Quality of learner assessment products
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Evaluation of each delivery institution or
individual
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Participant evaluations
The Committee on Education should summarize the
strengths and highlight any concerns in an annual
report to the ALA-APA Board.
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