A National Study of the Certified Diabetes Educator: Implications for Future Certification Examinations

The purposes of this national practice analysis conducted by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators are to (1) maintain the Certified Diabetes Educator^® (CDE^®) examination as a valid measure of knowledge, (2) ensure that the content of certification examinations is related to practice, and (3) define content areas that should be assessed in future certification examinations.

The study involved developing a diabetes educator job task list and survey, distributing 5,053 surveys, and analyzing survey responses from a multidisciplinary and geographically representative sample of certified diabetes educators.

Nine hundred sixty-one surveys were suitable for analysis, with relevant demographic subgroups adequately represented. On the basis of survey data, an examination matrix and a detailed content outline were constructed that will be used by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators to develop future examinations.

Certification examination specifications were developed on the basis of the important job activities certified diabetes educators perform. These test specifications will guide future test development and ensure that the examination has strong content validity and reflects current practice. Future forms of the examination will contain 175 items at specified cognitive levels, with a representative sampling of tasks within 3 core areas from a detailed content outline.