8/6/2003 -- Tancy Stanbery, senior certification program manager for CompTIA, told CertCities.com yesterday that the company will no longer be using adaptive format for any of its certification exams.

Currently, the organization uses adaptive format -- which is a way of testing candidates using a smaller number of questions based on how the questions are answered-- only on its A+ Core and OS exams, although it had also publicly stated in 2002 that it was considering taking its Network+ exam to adaptive format.

That will change on Sept. 12, when the organization takes the A+ exams back to linear format in order to incorporate unscored beta questions that will eventually be used in its 2003 objective-based exams, announced earlier this year.

This ability to test new exam items by seeding them unscored into the current live exam -- instead of creating a separate beta exam -- is the main impetus for returning to linear format, Stanbery said." [Adaptive exams don't] allow for unscored items," she explained. "[Linear] creates a platform for an ongoing upgrade across the board...we should never have to have a separate beta exam."

Stanbery said that this new item testing method gives the organization more flexibility as far as updating exams: "Keeping our exams current is really important to us," she commented. "We can update every year if we want to, versus every three years."

She also said that the new item testing method reduces headaches for candidates who have to deal with major rollouts and the accompanying beta exams. "Those can be somewhat painful to our candidates...they have to wade through a lot of questions and then they have to wait for results," she explained. "This way, they don't have to adjust to a major revision or sit through a major beta."

Stanbery said that the switch back to linear format will not affect the exams' security by increasing question exposure: "We've made very diligent evaluations of this linear item pool, and we've found it just as secure as the adaptive framework we currently have."

Stanbery said that candidates can expect updates for other CompTIA exams, including Network+, to most likely follow the format. She emphasized that the company will still give at least six months notice when the objectives of the exams will be changed, but that any exams at any time may include unscored test items when the organization is refreshing the question pool.

As for the upcoming linear A+ exams, these will feature 80 questions instead of the current 20 to 30. Stanbery declined to state how many unscored items would be present on the exam, but did say that all questions relating to the new 2003 objectives will remain unscored until the final version of the exams go live in November. The 2001 objective exams will retire on the same day.

The date has not yet been finalized but should be posted on CompTIA's Web site within the next few weeks, Stanbery said.

None of these changes affect current A+ exam holders as all CompTIA certifications are good for life -- they do not retire or have to be renewed.

For more information on the upcoming A+ changes and the linear format, click here and here. -Becky Nagel