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CERTIFICATION TESTING

AAERT's ongoing certification program for electronic court reporters and transcribers is a test of our members' professional skills by written and direct practical examination, with either an analog or digital focus.

Numbered certificates are granted under three headings:

• CER (certified electronic court reporter)

• CET (certified electronic court transcriber)

• CERT (certified electronic court reporter and transcriber)

2008 Examination Schedule:

Click here to view the standard test day schedule.

Date / City	Address	Proctor
Saturday, October 25, 2008: Click here for a printable application for an October 25 test registration. Application deadline: Wednesday, October 15.
Tucson, Arizona	Microbusiness Advancement Center 330 North Commerce Park Loop Tucson, Arizona 85745	Kimberly McCright, CET**D
Wilmington, Delaware	New Castle County Courthouse 500 North King Street Wilmington, Delaware 19810 Note	Sherry Simmons, CER
Orlando, Florida	Orange County Courthouse 425 North orange Avenue Orlando, Florida 32801 Note	Steve Simon, CERT
West Palm Beach, Florida	Palm Beach County Courthouse 205 North Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 Note	Carlos Santiso, CERT
Logansport, Indiana	Holiday Inn Express 3939 Market Street Logansport, Indiana 46947	Gail Malm Armstrong, CERT
Mercerville, New Jersey (near Trenton)	RWJ Hamilton Center 3100 Quakerbridge Road Mercerville, New Jersey 08619	Sharon Dunham

AAERT 2900 Fairhope Road Wilmington, DE 19801-1624	Contact AAERT's Treasurer, 866.420.7966 (toll-free, Pacific Time), if you would like to fax your application and remit via credit card.
For questions concerning the certification process, contact Certification Committee Chair Steve Simon, CERT, at ctadss1@ocnjcc.org.
NOTE: Submitting a registration form and / or fees does NOT complete the process! Applicants must receive advance notice from the Certification Committee before they can sit for any examination. The Committee will also provide instructions and test-related materials to eligible applicants. AAERT does not supply equipment or computer hardware / software for either reporters or transcribers who are taking the tests.

Who may take the exams?
AAERT members in good standing, who
(a) are eligible for notary public commissions in their states,
(b) have a high school diploma or equivalent,
(c) have one year of experience in reporting or transcribing.
Note: A member with less than one year of experience may sit for examinations if referred by an AAERT-certified member or a current employer.* A referral must be signed and submitted in writing to the Certification Committee along with the test application form and corresponding fee. *More . . .

To become a member of AAERT, click here.

What are the testing fees?
The examination fee is $100, reporter or transcriber.
The re-testing fee for only the written or practical portion of an examination is $50.
What are the tests like?
There are two parts, written and practical.
To become AAERT-certified, you must pass each of the three written test sections with a score of at least 70%, as well as pass the practical test.

WRITTEN: The timed written portion covers three areas:
(1) technical aspects of electronic practice — including, for reporters, microphone protocols;
(2) legal procedures and principles; and
(3) vocabulary.

The reporter and transcriber written exams are not identical, although there may be some areas of overlap where practices / principles converge.

PRACTICALS:

REPORTER PRACTICAL:
Reporters view a twenty-minute, five-voice courtroom scene on video, one prepared specifically by AAERT for this purpose, and are scored on their actual note-taking skills. Digital reporters arrange for their own laptops, log-noting software, and properly formatted CDs or diskettes.

TRANSCRIBER PRACTICAL:
Transcriptionists listen to an AAERT-prepared audio recording of a court proceeding, whether analog or digital, to produce ten (10) text pages of verbatim transcript during a 120-minute test session. Transcript accuracy must exceed 98.0 percent.

Technical requirements are specified in advance, so appropriate templates or macros can be prepared. The final transcript file may be submitted in WordPerfect, Word, WordStar, or as a generic ASCII ("plain text") export to CD or diskette. Transcripts are not hard-copy printed at the test site, but are printed by the Committee for subsequent scoring.

AAERT uses the federal district court transcript format
as our national transcription test standard.
When are test results sent out?

Tests are scored by Certification Committee members who are themselves AAERT-certified, and results are sent to a test-taker's membership address of record, usually within four to five weeks after the examinations.
How will I maintain my certified status over time?
Will continuing education (CE) credits be required?

The Association maintains certified reporters and transcribers on its rolls while they remain members in good standing.

CE credits are available, and can be earned by attending Conference seminars, lectures, and other presentations. AAERT provides an attendance / participation record upon request. Not all jurisdictions or employers have established CE standards, and AAERT itself has not reached a consensus position at this time.

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Introduction to AAERT's
CERTIFICATION TEST STUDY GUIDE

This copyrighted (1996, 2003) 246-page manual is available in PDF format as an Internet download; $45.

Click here for an overview of the Guide's table of contents.

Electronic reporting / transcribing is an industry with a varied clientele; therefore, no single manual can address all situations or cover all bases. This selection covers at least a wide range of professional skills required for proficient electronic court reporters / transcribers. Transcript formats center on federal district court transcript requirements and practice.

Whether reporters, transcribers, or both, we share a professional goal: turning ephemeral human communications (messy and disorganized as they almost always are!) into a permanently accessible record -- on paper or disk, via tape or video -- and on what is yet to come!

Sometimes there are no "right" or "wrong" solutions to particularly sticky problems, and we are left with questions of professional good judgment -- while keeping in mind that our product must always be an undistorted, reliable reflection of proceedings, at the same time useful and helpful to our clients.

Those who master a field not only know what they are doing, but also why. Thus, certain sections contain remarks on developments over time. These may even spark your curiosity to delve further into some of the esoterica people lump together as "the law."

The Guide is available for purchase as a PDF Internet download; $45.
Click here to place an order.

When downloading the Guide, we strongly recommend that you use the current version (9-series) of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Older versions may no longer display properly, if at all.
Click this icon to get the latest FREE Adobe PDF Reader:

Transferring a copy of the Guide to an unregistered user violates federal copyright laws, and can result in legal consequences.

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Introduction to AAERT's CERTIFICATION TEST STUDY GUIDE

Introduction to AAERT's
CERTIFICATION TEST STUDY GUIDE