AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
REVIEW OF THE ATA CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Michael S. Hamm, Principal
Michael Hamm & Associates

The American Translators Association (ATA) contacted Michael Hamm & Associates to conduct a thorough review of the certification program and prepare a written report summarizing the resulting findings. The purpose of this review was to strengthen the program and improve the benefits of certification for the various constituents of this credential. Michael Hamm & Associates is a Rockville, Maryland based consulting organization specializing in meeting the needs of certification and certification programs. Michael Hamm is the former Executive Director of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA), an association and national standard setting body for certification organizations.

This review consisted of an analysis of the records, policies, procedures, grading, written materials and management of the certification program. Part of this process included interviews conducted with staff and volunteers involved with certification. Also, a sample of individuals that had not sought certification was contacted to determine their reasons for not seeking this credential.

ATA should be proud of many aspects of the certification program. The following strengths of the program should be noted:

• The Association is using an actual performance assessment rather than a knowledge-based multiple-choice examination. Many certification organizations using knowledge-based examinations would like to move toward a performance-based testing process. Even though performance assessments create more challenges in terms of grading, applicants are usually more comfortable with a more job-related performance assessment.

• The Association has invested many hours and extensive fiscal and human resources to standardizing the error marking framework, establishing comparable grading standards within and across language pairs, and training language chairs and graders.

• The Association has developed careful procedures for grading, cross-checking by a third grader, and review.

• The Certification Committee is developing new programs to train and upgrade the skills of graders.

• The Association has established clear expectations and guidelines for applicants. This information has been widely disseminated and is published on the World Wide Web. The ATA Website contains more detailed information on the Certification program than is available for many voluntary certification programs.

• ATA translation examinations are considered to be quite rigorous. Applicants passing these examinations should be proud of their achievements.

• Certification Committee members and staff are quite committed to improving the certification process. ATA’s Board of Directors is also very supportive of improving this program.

• Applicants stated that the certification process has become more objective and reliable than it used to be.

Michael Hamm & Associates did identify several areas of potential improvement in the certification program. Some of the highlights of these potential recommended improvements included:

Programs that evaluate the knowledge, skills and abilities of individuals are typically referred to as certification bodies in the credentialing world. Accreditation bodies usually evaluate organizations, systems, or entities other than people. Unfortunately, referring to this process as accreditation is sending a mixed message to individuals that are familiar with the proper terminology of standard setting bodies. Clarification of this terminology will benefit ATA as well as its certificants and other stakeholders.

Most national certification programs are governed by a certification board or commission. These volunteer entities usually operate with a considerable degree of autonomy even when they are based in a membership association. The independence of the certification governing body often helps increase the credibility of the credential with external organizations that sometimes wonder if certification is a rigorous assessment process or just another association membership service.

Even though most certification programs evolve in member associations, the trend is toward making certification available to any qualified applicant. This practice is usually based on marketing concerns for the certification program and the need to build the credibility and reputation of the program by moving beyond the limits of association membership. Also, it should be noted that paying dues to an association has no relationship to an individual’s competence in a profession or discipline. Very few national certification bodies have association membership eligibility requirements.

Most national certification programs establish some minimum eligibility requirements in order to apply for the credential. These requirements usually consist of minimum experience and education requirements related to the discipline. The benefit of establishing these requirements is identifying certificants as having work-related experience, some level of formal training (though not necessarily in translation), and providing evidence of passing a valid examination in a field. These requirements increase the public’s general comfort level with a credential. Eligibility requirements also help protect certification programs from certifying someone who managed to pass an examination without any relevant work experience or educational preparation. Some of the current certificants also believed that adding eligibility requirements would help establish a stronger reputation for this profession and potentially eliminate some candidates with multilingual skills that fall short of the background expected of a competent translator.

Most national certification bodies require some form of continuing competence either in the form of continuing education, evidence of professional development, or periodic reexamination. There are very few fields where one could defend a "one-shot examination" for a lifelong practice. While recertification requirements do require additional work and expense for applicants, everyone benefits from this requirement in the long run because the certification program creates a philosophy of lifelong learning and individual responsibility for professional development. ATA should strongly consider adding a new requirement of this nature.

ATA has good graders and language chairs, but the certification program needs to place more emphasis on setting uniform and high standards for selecting, training, and evaluating them. The translation assessment process is heavily dependent upon these individuals rather than other more objective testing procedures utilized in examination formats such as multiple-choice.

Implementing these as well as other changes suggested in this study will help strengthen the reputation of this credential and better serve the needs of all of the individuals and groups that rely on this process to identify competent and skilled translators.