Candidate Information Bulletin

Transcription

1 Candidate Information Bulletin Entry Level Battery P H A S E O N E - E X A M I N A T I O N A message from the United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS) is the contractor to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts for the development and administration of the Spanish/English Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination. The USPS has contracted with Prometric Inc. to administer the USPS s Phase One Online Examination in This bulletin provides you with information about the process for scheduling and taking the examination. At a glance Follow these steps if you are interested in taking the USPS Online Examination. To participate in the Online Examination 1 Register for the examination at during the open registration period. 2 Wait at least three business days (so that information flows from USPS to Prometric). 3 Go to to schedule an appointment to take your online exam. (See Page 3) 4 Appear for the scheduled exam, bringing required identification to the test center. (See Page 5) 5 USPS will provide test results to candidates within thirteen weeks of the test administration window. To get answers not provided in this bulletin Direct all questions and requests for information about registering for the exam and general information to: United States Postal Service th Street, Washington, DC USPS@USPS.org Web site: Direct questions about scheduling your examination (after you have successfully registered) to: Prometric Phone: Copyright 2014 Prometric Inc., a Delaware corporation. All Rights Reserved. 1 Rev

2 Certification eligibility options Understanding certification and registration requirements How do I become a federally certified Spanish language court interpreter? To be a federally certified court interpreter, you must first take and pass a twopart (English and Spanish) Online Examination. Once you pass that examination, you are eligible to register for the Oral Examination. If you pass the Oral Examination, you will be federally certified and will receive official notification from the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The minimum time required to become certified is two years. The Online Examination is administered one year, with the Oral Examination administered in the following year. Is it possible to become federally certified without taking this examination? No. There are no alternative examinations or qualifications for becoming federally certified. State certification or having passing test results on tests administered by other federal, state, or local agencies or interpreter training programs are not accepted in lieu of the USPS examinations. While there are some good educational programs, having a certificate or diploma from one or more of these programs is not a substitute for the USPS, which is a performance test of interpreting skills. How do I know if I m qualified to take this examination? The Examinee Handbook includes material entitled Self-assessment of readiness to take the USPS (Section 5). The assessment is designed to help you determine whether your language proficiency and interpreting skills are sufficient for you to have a reasonable chance of passing the examination. The assessment is only helpful when you complete an honest assessment of your actual skill levels. What are the passing scores for the online and oral examinations? To pass the Online Examination, candidates must score 75 or higher on both the English and the Spanish sections of the test. To pass the Oral Examination, candidates must obtain an overall score of 80 or higher. Test center procedures The following instructions are intended to help you understand the registration and scheduling processes for the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination. You must complete the following steps: 1 Complete the exam registration process and pay your registration fee at 2 Wait at least three business days (to allow your registration confirmation to flow to Prometric). 3 Go to to schedule an appointment to take your exam. Unique USPS examinee identification number (ID). If you are registering for the examination for the first time, you will be assigned a unique USPS examinee identification number. If you have registered for this examination in the past, you were assigned an ID number at that time. You must use your USPS ID number when scheduling your exam with Prometric. The number follows the candidate throughout the entire testing process and protects a candidate s sensitive information while still allowing the candidate to be tracked on attendance rosters 2 Rev

3 and score reports. Record and keep this number for your records as it will be necessary for all future exam scheduling. Photo identification and name. Official identification is required for all examinations and only the following will be accepted: Current Driver s license or State DMV identification card. Current U.S. Passport or passport issued by a foreign government. Current U.S. Military identification card. Important For security purposes, you must register with the same name that appears on your photo ID. If your registered name does not match your photo ID, you will not be allowed to take the exam. Scheduling protocols. You may schedule your exam at any available time at a Prometric test center. Accommodations. If you require testing accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) due to a disability or impairment, you must submit a letter to USPS during the registration process indicating what the disability or impairment is and describing the recommended accommodation. The letter must be on the medical professional s official letterhead, signed by the medical professional, and be submitted to USPS by the registration deadline. Faxed submissions are acceptable for this purpose. Test centers Your online exam will be given by computer at a Prometric test center. A complete list of test center locations may be found by going to and clicking on the Do More button. Alternatively, you may call Test center locations are subject to change. Be sure to verify the address of and directions to your destination before you leave for your exam. Exam sites cannot answer questions regarding exam registrations, scheduling or rescheduling. If you have these types of questions, please call Completing the scheduling process You may accomplish the process by completing all the steps in the following chart. Scheduling by phone or online 1 You may schedule an exam appointment online at At the end of the process, you will be given a number confirming your appointment. Record and keep this confirmation number for your records. OR You may schedule an exam appointment by calling Prometric at between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday. At the end of the call, you will be given a number confirming your appointment. Record and keep this confirmation number for your records. 2 Once you complete the scheduling process, you will receive an notice confirming your exam date, time and location. If you cannot receive confirmation via , you will need to contact Prometric at Confirmation notice Once you complete the scheduling process, you will receive an notice confirming your exam date, time, and location. You will need to reference that if you need to reschedule for any reason. You will not receive a mailed copy of your appointment details. If you do not receive your confirmation within 3 Rev

4 24 hours, or if you do not have , you are responsible for contacting Prometric at Rescheduling your appointment To avoid an additional fee, you must contact Prometric at least twenty nine full business days (does not include weekends and holidays) before the day of your originally scheduled appointment. Rescheduling fees will apply as follows: $50 fee if rescheduled 5-29 full working days before your test. To pay this fee by Visa or MasterCard and reschedule your appointment, call Prometric at You may also pay the rescheduling fee by mailing a cashier s check, company check, money order or Visa or MasterCard information to Prometric. Forfeit of your full exam fee if you reschedule less than twenty nine full working days before your test, or if you are denied admission into a test site for arriving more than 15 minutes late or for not providing valid ID on the day of your test. To avoid forfeiting your exam fee, you must contact Prometric at least twenty nine full business days before the day of your scheduled exam appointment. Before you reschedule your exam, refer to the following table to determine the last day you may reschedule without paying another full exam fee. Last day to reschedule with no fee If your exam is on: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Call by 9 p.m. EST on: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Note that this schedule does not include holidays. Since holidays are not business days, they do not count against the twenty nine days (call earlier). If you do not allow at least twenty nine full business days to reschedule your appointment, your exam fee will be forfeited and you will need to pay another full exam fee and schedule another exam appointment. If late or absent for your appointment If you miss your appointment or arrive late and are not allowed to test, you will forfeit your exam fees and will need to pay another exam fee when you schedule your next examination in two years. If you are unable to attend your scheduled exam due to illness or emergency, call Prometric. Under certain circumstances, the fee to reschedule may be waived. Prometric reserves the right to request documentation to support any illness or emergency claim. Emergency closings Severe weather or an emergency could require canceling scheduled exams. If this occurs, Prometric will attempt to contact you by phone or ; however, you may check for testing site closures by calling Prometric. If the site is closed, your exam will be rescheduled without a rescheduling fee. 4 Rev

5 Taking the computer-based Online exam If a test center is open for testing and you choose not to appear for testing, your fee will be forfeited and you will need to resubmit a new exam registration form and pay the exam fee(s) again in two years. Important There are no refunds or rescheduling if you fail to appear for your scheduled examination. Arrival. You should arrive at least 30 minutes before your scheduled examination appointment in order to verify your identification and allow time for you to sign in. Computer testing process Your exam will be given by computer at a Prometric test center using Prometric s user-friendly, Microsoft Windows -based, computerized testing system. Before you start the exam, you will receive a personalized tutorial to the testing system. The tutorial features: Moving the mouse and using the mouse to select answers and to change answers. Marking a question for review. Reviewing questions. Viewing a summary list of questions showing answered and unanswered questions. You have 15 minutes for the tutorial. The tutorial is not included as part of the testing time. The time remaining for your exam is displayed in the upper righthand corner of the computer screen. If there is a power outage, the time will stop counting down. When power is restored, the examination will resume at the point where it left off. Once the exam is finished, you will be asked to complete a brief survey sponsored by the USPS, as well as a computer-delivered questionnaire about your testing experience. Test Drive tutorial If you are anxious or concerned about taking a computer-administered examination, you can take a separate, 30-minute practice run in advance of your scheduled test date. You will be able to familiarize yourself with the look and feel of the computer-based testing environment and minimize pre-test mistakes such as getting lost on the way to the center, failing to arrive with the correct I.D., etc. You will be able to take a live 15-minute sample test demonstrating the testing process on an actual computer. The cost for the Test Drive tutorial is $30. Contact Prometric at to schedule a Test Drive. Required identification You must present a valid, government-issued form of identification before you can test. The following are the only acceptable forms of identification: Current Driver s license or State DMV identification card. Current U.S. Passport or passport issued by a foreign government. Current U.S. Military identification card. 5 Rev

6 Important Failure to provide appropriate identification at the time of the exam is considered a missed appointment. As a result, you must register and pay another registration fee during the next test cycle in two years. If you cannot provide the identification listed above, contact Prometric before scheduling your appointment to arrange an alternative way to meet this requirement. Test center climate Test center temperatures may be cooler or warmer than your comfort level. Please consider wearing several layers of clothing. Any clothing removed must be stored in your locker. Hats and outerwear, such as coats, are not permitted in the testing room. Test center regulations To ensure that all candidates are tested under equally favorable conditions, the following regulations and procedures will be observed at each test center. 1 You will be continuously monitored by video, physical walk-throughs, and the observation window during your test. 2 You must present valid (unexpired) and acceptable ID(s) in order to take your test. (See Required identification in the above section). 3 You are required to sign out on the test center roster each time you leave the test room. You must also sign back in and show your ID to the Test Center Administrator (TCA) in order to be re-admitted to the test room. If you leave the test room at any time, you will lose exam time. 4 You are prohibited from communicating, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting any part of your test, in any form or by any means, verbal or online, for any purpose. 5 You must not talk to other candidates or refer to their screens, testing materials, or online notes in the test room. 6 You may not use any written notes, published materials, or other testing aids, except those allowed by your test sponsor. 7 You are allowed to bring soft ear plugs or center-supplied tissues into the test room. 8 Any clothing or jewelry items allowed to be worn in the test room must remain on your person at all times. Removed clothing or jewelry items must be stored in a locker. 9 You must not bring any personal/unauthorized items into the testing room. Such items include but are not limited to: outerwear, hats, food, drinks, purses, briefcases, notebooks, pagers, watches, cellular telephones, recording devices, and photographic equipment. Weapons are not allowed at any Prometric Test center. You will be asked to empty and turn your pockets inside out prior to every entry into the test room to confirm that you have no prohibited items. 10 You will be scanned with a metal detector wand prior to every entry into the test room. If you refuse, you cannot test. 11 You must return all materials issued to you by the TCA at the end of your test. 12 You are not allowed to use any electronic devices or phones during breaks. 13 Your test has no scheduled breaks. 14 Repeated or lengthy departures from the test room for unscheduled breaks will be reported by the TCA. 6 Rev

7 15 If you need access to an item stored in the test center locker during a break such as food, water or medicine, you must inform the test center administrator before you retrieve the item. During the test you are not allowed to access notes, books, reference materials or electronic devices. 16 You must conduct yourself in a civil manner at all times when on the premises of the test center. Exhibiting abusive behavior towards the TCA, or any other staff member of the test center, may result in criminal prosecution. 17 To protect the privacy of all testers, the TCA can neither confirm nor deny if any particular individual is present or scheduled at the test center. 18 Persons not scheduled to take a test are not permitted to wait in the test center. Important Failure to follow any of these security procedures may result in the disqualification of your examination. Prometric reserves the right to audio and videotape any examination session. If questions arise. Test center administrators are not allowed to answer any questions pertaining to the exam content. If you do not understand a question on the examination, you should answer the question to the best of your ability. Exam results Copyrighted questions. All exam questions are property of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and are protected by copyright. Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or exhibition of copyrighted materials. Any candidate who is found to have access to equipment or material that could be used to assist in taking the examination or that could be used to record or transmit any portion of an examination will be permanently disqualified from taking any test in the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination program. Score reports will be issued by the USPS within thirteen weeks of the testing window. Written inquiries If you have a question or concern, you may write to: Prometric ATTN: USPS 7941 Corporate Drive Nottingham, MD Rev

8 PROMETRIC 7941 Corporate Drive Nottingham, MD FIRST CLASS MAIL