Have you ever wondered how items (questions) are chosen for an ARRT exam? An item writer, someone who is credentialed in that discipline, goes through special training to learn how to write items. The item writer writes items and links each one to the content specifications.
The exam committee evaluates the items and picks some to be potential pilots. All ARRT content specifications indicate the number of pilots that will be on the exam. Pilots don't count toward the examinee's score. Examinees don't know which items are pilots. We want them to try to get every item correct to determine each pilot's difficulty. After a certain amount of time, pilots that have good statistics-this means they were fair, clear, and helped distinguish between examinees who understood the material and those who didn't-can be selected to then become scored items (i.e., they count toward those examinees' scores) when they are used on future exams.
Have you ever thought about becoming an ARRT item writer? Due to our accreditation, educators are not allowed to be an item writer for the same discipline they teach. Items writers receive an honorarium for attending the item writer workshop and are paid for each item submitted and accepted. If you already are part of the Volunteer Portal, be sure to indicate ''item writing" on your profile page. You can also send a message to volunteers@arrt.org and express your interest in becoming an item writer.
