Exam Scoring
The CMPC exam is a pass/fail exam developed to measure minimum competence in case management practice by a physician. The certification is earned by passing the CMPC exam. A score report is issued for the exam indicating pass or fail. Additional detail is provided in the form of raw scores by major content category. A raw score is the number of questions (points) answered correctly. The raw score determines pass/fail status.
Pass/Fail Score Determination
The minimum passing score is determined using a modified Angoff Method, which is applied during the performance of a passing point study by a panel of experts in the field. This universally accepted psychometric procedure relies on content experts to estimate the passing probability of each item on the examination. The experts evaluate each question to determine the number of correct answers necessary to demonstrate the knowledge and skills required to pass. A candidate’s ability to pass the examination depends on the knowledge and skill displayed, not on the performance of other candidates. Therefore, passing scores may vary slightly for each version of the examination. A process of statistical equating ensures fairness to all candidates. This process involves selecting an appropriate mix of individual questions for each version of the examination that meets the content distribution requirements of the examination content outline. Because each question has been pre-tested, a difficulty level can be assigned. The process then considers the difficulty level of each question selected for each version of the examination – attempting to match the difficulty level of each version as closely as possible. Slight variations in difficulty level are addressed by adjusting the passing score to ensure fairness, depending on the overall difficulty level statistics for the group of scored questions that appear on a particular version of the examination.
The National Board of Case Management (NBCM) does verify to any individual or organization whether or not an individual is currently certified, but it does not report or disclose actual scores of individual certificants or candidates.
Content Area Scoring
The content area scores on the score report received after you take the exam are not used to determine pass-fail decision outcomes. They are only provided to offer a general indication regarding candidate performance in each content area. The examination is designed to provide a consistent and precise determination of a candidate’s overall performance. It is not intended to provide complete information regarding a candidate’s performance in each content area. Candidates should remember that areas with a larger number of items (questions) will affect the overall score more than areas with fewer items. The precision and consistency of scores diminish with fewer items, and therefore, sub-scores should be interpreted with caution, especially those that correspond to content areas with very few items.
Delay/Cancelling of Test Scores
Test results are normally immediately available at the conclusion of an individual’s testing session. However, under some circumstances, scores may be delayed.
Scores for newly developed or substantially revised tests may be delayed in order to set passing score standards and/or perform post-administration statistical analyses.
Scores may be delayed due to problems with registration, failure to comply with the policies and procedures set forth in the Candidate Handbook -Available after June 30 - and/or with instructions given by the test administrator.
Scores may be permanently voided if the certificant or candidate did not meet the eligibility requirements at the time of application for the CMPC exam.
Ocassionally, occurrences, such as computer malfunction or misconduct by a candidate, may cause a score to be suspect. APLCM and PSI reserve the right to void or withhold examination results if, upon investigation, violation of its regulations or computer malfunction impacting the ability to score an exam accurately is discovered.
Pre-test Questions
All CMPC exams include unscored pre-test items, and examinees have no way of distinguishing these items from the scored items. This testing method allows for the collection of important statistics about how pre-test items perform on the exam, which informs the final decision about whether a particular question meets the standards for inclusion as a scored item on future exams. To ensure the best possible testing result, candidates should treat each question as being used in the final exam computation.
Multiple Test Forms and Scoring
The CMPC exam uses multiple forms containing different items to minimize item exposure and ensure the continued relevance of test items. The examination committee accounts for differences in the exam forms by assessing the difficulty levels of individual items on different versions of the same test. When a candidate completes an exam, testing software calculates a raw score – the actual number of correctly answered questions. Because raw scores can be affected by the difficulty of individual items on a particular form of an exam, these slight variations are accounted for through an equating process. Equating adjusts up or down the number of items needed to answer correctly depending on the difficulty level of a particular exam form. Through equating, the passing raw score is adjusted for each exam so that fewer correct items are needed to pass a “more difficult” form of the test, and more correct answers are required to pass an “easier” form of the test. These statistical adjustments ensure that the overall knowledge and skill that needs to be demonstrated by the candidate remains the same in all test forms. In other words, no one receives an advantage or disadvantage because of the test form administered. Additionally, with multiple exam forms being administered, there is no singular passing score to identify an unchanging number of correctly answered items needed to pass.