Each area of competency within a course varies in length and amount of content. Tests can cover one or several areas of competency. There are many tests to take throughout the course, but there is no final exam. No test questions are based on linked websites or appendix material. The tests are always tied to the material just completed.

In all cases, the passing score is 80%. This score is a recommendation from Professional Testing Corporation, a psychometric consultancy in New York City. Because learners can take the test three times and the test is open-book, we feel that 80% is appropriate.

Seven Principles

The test questions were written by the FMEDB with these seven principles in mind:

1. Questions display three possible answers, only one of which is correct.

2. There are no true or false questions.

3. There are no questions styled “all of the above” or “none of the above” as an option.

4. There are no questions styled “A and B only” as an option.

5. Questions are stated in the positive, asking “Which of the following is?” rather than, “Which of the following is not?”

6. All answer possibilities must exist. For example, there is an E13B MICR font. The possible wrong choices cannot be E31B or 13BE because they do not exist.

7. The best wrong answers are distracting; that is, there is something about them that nags and could seem reasonable if you don’t really know or are not fully informed. See #6 above with the E13B example; clearly E31B or 13BE are distracting but they do not exist and cannot be used on the exam. Instead, a question with a distracting answer could be: “Which of these are used in four-color process printing?” Answers: (1) Cobalt (2) Cerulean (3) Cyan (4) Cygnet.” Cobalt, Cerulean and Cyan are all blue and all begin with C. Cyan and Cygnet share the “Cy” beginning. There is only one correct answer but the others may be distracting.

Question Development Methods

Most test questions were written by assignment in order to thoroughly cover the content, as per the Forms Management Competency Elements Chart. There are nearly 1,500 questions in the question bank for the various tests.

After writing a question and sourcing it to a particular element and page, the question was reviewed to ensure that (a) it is relevant, (b) there is only one correct answer, and (c) incorrect answers are real but distracting. Each question was reviewed for clarity, grammar, capitalization, and sentence structure. Very few questions were accepted without editing, and there was substantial conversation on each question and each answer.

Questions with too many problems were returned for a re-write or for a new question on the assigned topic.

At times, the question review discussion indicated a change to the Forms Management Book of Knowledge to ensure clarity. There were never fewer than five reviewers at any question review session.

Test Formats

There are multiple formats of each test, so you may not get the same questions if you need to retake the test. In addition, the software that contains the tests shuffles the correct answers. As an example, for one person the correct answer of “apple” may be answer 1 but for someone else “apple” may be answer 2.

In addition to test questions, there are activity quizzes scattered through the learning material to verify that you understand the concepts of the material just presented. Activity quizzes are not scored and they exist in various formats, not adhering to the strict standards described above. If you don’t do well on these activity quizzes, you know it immediately and can return to the material to read again.

Ongoing Review

Once the certificate program is launched, test results and individual question results will be examined with an eye to ensuring that the questions are performing correctly. For example, if test takers who generally do very well on the test consistently miss a particular question, that question is examined to ensure that it is clear, has only one correct answer, and is addressed in the source material. For example, each question is examined to see which of the wrong answers are consistently chosen over the correct answer and how those results relate to the overall test score. With this information, the tests can be refined by removing, improving, and adding questions as needed.

Standards and External Sources

While the book mentions standards unique to certain countries (e.g., postal codes in the U.S. or telephone numbers in Canada), the Certificate Program does not focus on these, nor does it test on them. Instead, the book compiles, formalizes, and adapts relevant knowledge and training specific to the forms industry. Specifically, it targets best practices.

Similarly, the book references many English-language websites for additional information for the learner. There are also external links to numerous samples that illustrate forms policies, job descriptions, record retention schedules, etc.; yet, however useful this information may be, no test questions are based on these websites or materials.