5. Observation and Simulations — observations of the manner in which candidates engage in
debates and activities during the Assessment Event can highlight a candidate’s general level of understanding, confidence, and professionalism. The Assessment Event may require
candidates to demonstrate particular competences—e.g., conducting a guided tour or enforcing regulations. Candidates may be required to participate in role-plays that simulate
events such as meetings between MPA staff and local communities and their performance in these can provide evidence of specific competences—especially those that involve
communication and understanding of the subject matter. While observations are most useful in assessing overall competence, confidence and professionalism, they can also provide
insights into the candidate’s ethical stance in terms of how they deal with others.
6. Face-to-face Interview — probes more deeply into those areas of evidence that appear less
certain, and provides validation of evidence from other sources, such as the portfolio. The interview can provide both firm evidence of a range of competences; particularly those
concerned with ‘understanding’ and ‘knowledge’, and corroborate other evidence. Final assessment of many of the competences should be achieved through the interview.
2.6 Scoring System for Certification
Candidates for certification are assessed based on their cumulative experience across the seven competence areas. Candidates must provide some evidence that they have already performed each
competence to the standards required. Though they don’t need to have experience in every individual competence – only enough within each competence area overall.
Candidates must participate in all of the assessment instruments – from presenting a work portfolio, to attending the event, to producing a workplace case study, to completing a written assessment.
Candidates do not receive scores for these instruments, only the individual competences receive scores.
Each competence is allocated a weighting of either 2 or 4 points to reflect overall importance in the full assessment scheme. For example, competences assigned a weight of 4, can be scored from 0-4
while those assigned a weight of 2, can be scored from 0-2. Again, candidates do not need experience in every competence. The candidate’s overall score is based on the tally of all competence scores.
To receive certification, candidates must score a minimum of 70 overall and at least 60 within each of the first six competence areas. The Leadership competence area requires a minimum score of
25. Candidates who score between 60 - 69 can undertake additional professional development focused
on the competence areas in which they are weakest, and submit further evidence of their increased competence for certification within one year of the assessment event they are not required to attend
another assessment event. If the evidence indicates sufficient improvement has been made, the individual may be certified. Costs related to this professional development are the sole responsibility
of the candidate. Candidates scoring below 60 overall are ineligible to be certified at the level in which they enroled.
These candidates should seek certification at a lower level more appropriate to their experience or may reapply for the same level of certification after two years and increased experience in the
competence areas in which they scored low. At the close of the Assessment Event, assessors will produce a short report on each candidate they
assessed. The report includes the assessor’s judgment of the candidate’s overall performance and the candidate’s assessment scores in each competence area. Assessors also provide candidates with
Pro g ra mme Ha nd b o o k v1.9 11
individualized guidance on professional development to further the candidate’s career. The WIO- COMPAS Secretariat forwards the assessors’ recommendations for certification to the Board for their
review and approval. Once approved, the Secretariat mails a formal letter of acknowledgement to the candidate’s supervisor and agency director. The supervisor is encouraged to formally acknowledge
the candidate’s achievement in a public forum of colleagues. The certified professional now called an MPA-PRO will be mailed a set of signed certification documents, including the signed certification
award, code of ethics, transcript and professional development guidance.
Example of the Scoring Process Scoring is based on the competences, not on the assessment instruments. This means that the
instruments case study, portfolio, presentation, interview and written assessment do not carry particular scores. Rather, they are used as methods to provide evidence for scoring an
individual’s competenceperformance in a specific area. For example, candidates are not scored on their case study report. What they are scored on is their mastery of the competences
used to develop the case study and the topics covered. While low scores on the report would not subtract points from the candidate’s overall assessment score, it would translate into one
less opportunity for the candidate to provide evidence of hisher competence and experience. Improved performance demonstrated through results from another assessment instrument can
still lead the candidate to attain their maximum score.
2.7 Professional Development
