California Architects Board Votes to Eliminate Oral Format of California Supplemental Exam

California Architects Board Votes to Eliminate Oral Format of California Supplemental Exam
Acting on the recommendation of the California Architects Board’s (CAB), Examination Committee, the CAB Board voted unanimously to eliminate the California Supplemental Exam (CSE) in its current oral format, and will now begin the process to transition to a written examination format.
The recommendation from the Examination Committee was based on a number of considerations ranging from The AIACC’s own concerns regarding low candidate pass rates and support for the format change. Other concerns where the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee’s (JLSRC) continuous inquiries regarding the oral format (as far back as 2004 the JLSRC had recommended that the CAB assess whether a written exam could maintain all standards of validity and test for minimum competency), and, perhaps most significant, the recent change in the CSE format which implemented examination questions being presented to candidates in written format during the exam.
The immediate benefits of this change will be an increase in the administrations of the CSE, a significant reduction in the CSE fees, a much more defensible exam, and expansion of the CAB’s capacity to serve candidates.
The CAB anticipates the written examination will be developed in 2010, administered in 2011, and will be provided via 13 computerized test centers throughout California, as well as 10 additional sites located throughout the US. It will be in a multiple-choice format.
For more information please contact Kurt Cooknick, Assoc. AIA, at (916) 642-1706 or via email at kcooknick@aiacc.org.
News taken from The AIA California Council