The PEER Committee authorized a review of the Landscape Gardener licensure examination processes pursuant to the authority granted by MISS. CODE ANN. Section 5-3-57 et seq. (1972). The Bureau of Plant Industry, a division of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, is responsible for developing and administering examinations for the licensure of landscape gardeners.
Overview
The Bureau of Plant Industry regulates the professional service of horticultural and floricultural work (i.e., landscape gardening), primarily through examining applicants for licensure. The Bureau of Plant Industry is responsible for developing and administering examinations to ensure that licensed individuals possess the entry-level knowledge and skills needed to provide professional landscape gardening services in Mississippi.
The bureau’s current landscape gardener licensure examination processes are not valid because they do not fully comply with recognized testing standards for regulatory agencies. An examination process is considered "valid" if it accurately tests applicants for the knowledge and skills necessary to competently perform work in the profession. Recognized testing standards require that regulatory agencies provide documentation of all facets of the examination to provide evidence that the tests are valid, reliable, fair, and legally defensible. The bureau does not have adequate testing procedures to provide evidence of valid licensure testing. Because of this, the bureau cannot assure the public that it is licensing individuals who can provide competent landscape gardener services.
Also, the bureau does not maintain adequate security over licensure examination information to assure that no applicant has an unfair advantage. The bureau allows test developers to conduct test preparation sessions sponsored by the Mississippi Nurserymen’s Association prior to each examination. The test developers’ involvement in preparing applicants for the licensure examination has the appearance of impropriety.
Recommendations
1. The Legislature should amend MISS. CODE ANN. Section 69-19-9 to require the Bureau of Plant Industry within the regulatory office of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce to administer examinations that measure job competency and comply with professional testing standards such as those advocated by the Council on Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR).
2. The bureau should improve licensure procedures to insure that the examinations measure job competency and comply with professional testing standards such as those advocated by the Council on Licensure, Enforcement, and Regulation (CLEAR). Specifically, the bureau should:
(a) ensure that the licensure examinations measure landscape gardener entry-level knowledge and skills and discriminate between competent and incompetent candidates;
(b) develop written test administration procedures to provide candidates with standardized test administrations; information on test scoring and content; and a plan for accommodating candidates with disabilities which complies with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act;
(c) statistically analyze test results to determine which examination questions need revision to ensure that the test is measuring appropriate knowledge and skills;
(d) develop written procedures to ensure uniform test scoring and due process to candidates relating to test scoring concerns; and,
(e) develop written procedures for responding to possible test security problems and contracts with professionals involved in test development or review to ensure that they do not engage in preparing candidates to take licensure examinations.
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