EXAMINATION FORMAT

The Certified Running Technique Specialist examination consists of a 106 questions. Questions 1 through 60 are a combination of True/False, Matching, and Multiple Choice. This portion of the exam should take about 60 minutes. Questions 61-65 cover Basic Pose Drills, Video Analysis, and a Running 101 Keyword Completion Essay. This portion of the exam should take about 30 minutes. Some of the questions include tables, drawings, photographs, or video clips. Of the questions, 90 count toward the score. The remaining 16 are not scored but are included for a practice known as “pretesting.” Pretesting means that these items are being evaluated for potential inclusion on future examinations as scored questions. To ensure the CRTS exam is up to date, secure, and always improving, new questions must be continuously introduced and evaluated. Pretesting is an accepted testing practice that helps ensure high quality and consistent scoring. The scored and unscored questions are spread throughout the examination; candidates should answer all 106 questions to the best of their ability. Candidates have 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete the exam, which is administered online through a personal computer. The testing program does not allow candidates to move back and forth through the exam, change answers, mark questions for later attention, skip questions, and review questions. It is very important to pace yourself accordingly to finish the exam on time.

An exam will last 1 hour 30 minutes.

EXAMINATION DEVELOPMENT

Development of this credential was based on a practice analysis: a study of the roles and responsibilities of the sports and fitness coaching professions. The study, guided by industry leaders in certification standards and psychometric services, began with a survey of over 1,000 running coaches and health and fitness professionals. In the survey, they identified and ranked the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to be an effective instructor on running technique and training. From this, an examination content outline was developed, and questions were written according to this outline. Content experts were invited to be on the Item Writing Committee, which was responsible for developing the examination questions. These experts represented the fields of running coaching and training, general strength and conditioning, sport coaching, physical therapy, biomechanics and education; they received training to develop content that meets industry standards. The questions underwent extensive review by this committee and the Certification Board to ensure that they were technically accurate, unambiguous, and clearly stated. After initial testing, the examination results were subject to statistical analysis to ensure quality and fairness in testing. Working under the guidance of testing consultants and psychometricians, a group of content experts used the widely accepted Modified Angoff method to recommend the passing score for the initial examination forms. The Academy Certification Board used this recommendation and additional data to determine the passing score. Additionally, the exam was developed in accordance with standards for security, impartiality, and transparency.

EXAMINATION FORMS

There are multiple forms of the examination, each following the content outline noted in subsequent pages. While candidates have the possibility to receive different exam forms, each form remains statistically equivalent in the domains assessed, number of multimedia content included, and difficulty level.

EXAMINATION OVERSIGHT

The Romanov Academy Certification Board is the oversight group responsible for the certification review process. The Certification Board is in charge of approving the current content outline, as well as future content outline additions or revisions. The Board periodically reviews examination analysis data to examine if individual exam items are performing to standard and ensure the exam forms remain equivalent in testing performance. A new practice analysis is conducted every five years as a part of the review process. This study is compared to the previous practice analysis to determine what changes are needed to either the content outline or examination forms. The Board and Item Writing Committee engage in ongoing review of the exam content and develop new exam forms to reflect updates in the latest standards of running coaching and training.