Updated 22 Sept 2009
Certification Review and Evaluation
The Scrum Alliance first announced plans to evaluate and review the Scrum Alliance certification program to the Certified Scrum Trainer® community in February of 2008. The Scrum Alliance then shared these plans with participants of the Scrum Gatherings in April and November 2008. The Scrum Alliance has completed that review.
One of the outcomes of the review was the determination that we needed to create a standard body of Scrum knowledge and an assessment tool to measure applicants for Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Product Owner against those standards. These measures are necessary to ensure that we are meeting the needs of the Scrum community.
We are now in the quality control phase of our evaluation, with the goal of ensuring that the certification assessment system we have created is reliable and performs the task for which it was designed: that is, to measure the knowledge of individuals who, through participating in a ScrumMaster course, are eligible to become Certified ScrumMasters.
CSM Certification Exam Launch Date Information
The online Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) exam launched October 1, 2009 and is only available at this time for students of CSM courses taught by a Certified Scrum trainer. The exam is not currently available without a course. For more details, click here.
Fee Paid By Trainers
Currently, CSTs pay $50 for each new student. This fee covers one year of membership fees. Beginning 1 April 2009, the fee will cover the first two years of membership fees. Membership in the Scrum Alliance is included in the certification.
The Scrum Alliance will continue to provide subsidies of the $50 per student fee to Certified Scrum Trainers upon request for courses taught in areas of economic hardship.
If you have any questions pertaining to these policies and adjustments, please review the Frequently Asked Questions or contact us.
Background Information
Standard Body of Scrum Knowledge
The Scrum Alliance Board strongly believes that the value of any certification program lies in its ability to meet individuals' diverse needs and interests for both breadth and depth of content, thereby improving the way they perform their jobs on a day-to-day basis. We determined that to meet those needs we needed to develop a standard body of Scrum knowledge. This body of knowledge, in turn, became the framework for developing the standards and measurements for Scrum certification. This body of Scrum knowledge must be mastered by everyone who teaches, trains in, coaches and practices the use of Scrum.
Certification Exam
In general, a profession becomes respected and its practitioners become trusted when standards are set for knowledge, skills, and conduct and when an assessment tool is developed to measure applicants against those standards. These standards help to define a profession, giving it the credibility that comes with the concrete evidence that its members have met certain criteria in order to practice that profession. As with other areas of expertise as diverse as law, accounting, cosmetology, medicine, SCUBA-diving, or engineering, the practice of Scrum brings with it a unique area of knowledge that can be measured through an exam at the completion of a training course. This standard measurement not only helps to protect the integrity of Scrum as it continues to rapidly grow, but also ensures that each ScrumMaster will possess a level of expertise that will enhance his or her professional endeavors. In other words, the ScrumMaster certification program with a final exam will help to ensure that the professionals practicing the Scrum framework have met a uniform standard of competency.
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