The Examination Committee oversees the development, delivery, and assessment of the Architect Registration Examination^® (ARE^®) for use by Member Boards.

 

HIGHLIGHTS/YEAR-END SUMMARY

FY14 included a two-month blackout for the exam followed by the launch of a new exam vendor and a new candidate exam portal known as My Examination. These changes brought greater transparency and improved score reporting for candidates and Member Boards. The Examination Committee was consolidated with the previous Research & Development (R&D) Subcommittee and began evaluating emerging technologies and methodologies related to architectural practice and licensure testing. It also oversaw the work of the ARE 5.0 Test Specification Task Force, the ARE Item Development Subcommittee, the ARE Graphics Pretest Subcommittee, the ARE Graphics Development and Grading Subcommittee.

 

SUMMARY OF CHARGES:

●  Reviewed and modified the ARE Master Plan for the next five years, forecasting the required committees and efforts necessary to continue ARE 4.0 while developing and launching ARE 5.0.

●  Reviewed the ARE 5.0 Test Specification Task Force's recommendation for each of the six proposed divisions, confirming the proposed content and division structure.

●  Reviewed and provided feedback to staff on the new item type functional requirements, the ARE 5.0 test driver functional requirements, and the ARE 5.0 proposed workflow.

●  Developed the credit model to allow candidates to earn credit in ARE 5.0 for divisions passed in ARE 4.0 as part of the ARE 5.0 Transition Plan.

 

ARE 5.0 TEST SPECIFICATION TASK FORCE

The Test Specification Task Force was responsible for developing the ARE 5.0 test specification recommendation.

 

Summary of Charges:

 

The recommendation for all six divisions included:

●  Sections, objectives, and descriptors

●  Section and objective weightings

●  Cognitive complexity for each objective

●  The alignment of knowledge/skills and tasks from the 2012 Practice Analysis of Architecture

 

ARE ITEM DEVELOPMENT SUBCOMMITTEE

The Item Development Subcommittee was tasked with completing a pool review to verify content accuracy and quality for every item in the item bank. The review included designation of the cognitive level of the item, validation of appropriate reference(s) and rationale, and compliance with item writing standards.

 

Summary of Charges:

●  Reviewed statistical performance of under-performing items; provided appropriate direction to correct or retire the item.

●  Reviewed the initial assembly of FY15 exam forms to ensure replacement of any items that substantially overlap with other items within the same form.

 

ARE GRAPHICS PRETEST SUBCOMMITTEE

The Graphics Pretest Subcommittee continuously tests quality assurance of vignettes in development. This will be the last year of vignette pretest as sufficient vignettes exist to continue delivery of ARE 4.0 until this examination version is retired.

 

Summary of Charges:

●  Pretesters created solutions and completed checklists for all scripts and isomorphs in development, confirming accuracy and compliance with item templates.

 

ARE VIGNETTE DEVELOPMENT AND GRADING SUBCOMMITTEE

This newly merged subcommittee for FY14 oversaw the final round of vignette creation and monitored the overall scoring performance of all vignettes.

●  Created solutions and verified compliance with templates and graphic standards.

●  Reviewed all isomorphs authored prior to this fiscal year to determine readiness to be released into the testing channel for FY15.

●  Reviewed computer-assigned scores for each vignette and monitored the adjudication criteria necessary to clarify scoring results.