Soils

John Hart

Certified Crop Advisor Update

A few weeks ago, Gordon Cook asked several questions about the Certified Crop Advisor (CCA) examination. I will use Gordon's questions to provide information to those of you considering taking the examination.

When will the examination be offered?

The next examination will be August 1, 1997. The exams have traditionally been held on the first Friday in February and August. If you are interested in taking the exam in August, begin now. The certification process is more than taking the examination. An application form is to be completed. The deadline for receipt of the forms by the American Society of Agronomy is well before the test date. Send requests for information or applications to Northwest Region CCA Program, PO Box 1647, Spokane, WA 99210.

Should I take the exam now rather than later as I've heard it will be harder in the future?

A statement in a magazine article about the test difficulty began a rumor that the test will become harder in the future. The rumor is not true according to Dr. Steve Petrie, Chair of the Northwest Regional CCA Board. Steve explained each test is hopefully comparable to all others in degree of difficulty. A significant portion of the questions (one third to one half) are repeated from one test to another. The responses to these questions are statistically evaluated for responses and consistency from test to test. The same procedure and organization that provides the service for SAT and other national tests is employed for the CCA exam. If you are considering taking the test in August only because you think it will be harder in the future, wait until you want to take the exam rather than cramming one more task in an already full schedule.

Will August be the last time for public sector employees to take the test at no charge?

The CCA exam has two portions, national and regional. The national portion will be offered to public sector employees at no charge in August. No information about charge/no charge for the nation exam beyond August is available. The regional exam provides a half price option ($37.50) for public sector employees. I'll speculate on the future and guess a charge may be placed on the national exam. When both exams were offered to the public sector at no charge, a significant number of people registered to take the exam then didn't appear on examination day. From the standpoint of a proctor, no shows are frustrating. The room has to be arranged to accommodate all who register. At the Corvallis exam site, approximately one third of the registrants were no shows for the February exam in 1996 and 1997. I know several public sector employees were in the group that did not take the test as scheduled. Future exams will probably be offered at a reduced rate, but not at no charge. If you register for the exam in August, take it.

Will any assistance in test preparation be available for County Agents?

A review session is possible if desired. Before saying you would like to participate in a review session, talk with Mike Stoltz, Chip Bubl, Rodney Todd, or Kerry Locke. All have taken the examination. I apologize if you have taken the exam and are not listed. Their evaluation of the exam and their preparation should be considered before saying you wish a review session. If you are planning to take the CCA exam in August and want a review session after talking with one of the above agents, let me know. I will try to accommodate agents with a review session.

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