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TJJD Begins Piloting Juvenile Supervision Officer Certification Exam

AUSTIN, Texas – TJJD began piloting the juvenile supervision officer certification exam. The pilot will be conducted over a six-month period and the exam will not be required for certification until September 1, 2017. TJJD worked with the Regional Training Officers statewide, along with the Chapter 344 subgroup of the Advisory Council, to develop the first of three rounds of questions that will be used for the new automated exam. The purpose of the pilot is similar to the JPO certification exam and provides an opportunity to gain statistics on wording, timing, appropriateness of questions, etc.
  • During the pilot, TJJD will switch out 50 questions at a time, each for two months, over the six-month period (for a total of potentially 150 questions that will be in the pool of questions).
  • TJJD will send another email in April when the next group of 50 questions is piloted.
  • The JSO exam will be a 50-question test with multiple choice, true/false and matching questions.
  • The JSO exam is a timed, 60-minute exam.
  • For purposes of the pilot, a department may choose to test any existing or new staff. The more individuals taking the exam, the better.
  • The pilot will be for data collection only and not to give official credit for passing the exam.
  • The passing threshold will remain 70%.
  • There will be no exam fee associated with taking the JSO exam, neither during the pilot or once live.
TJJD is in need of departments or facilities to assist with the pilot. One of the best ways to prepare staff for the certification exam is to ensure that all departments or facilities are using the most current training material from TJJD’s Training Resource webpage. During the pilot, departments or facilities will not be required to “proctor” the exam until the live exam is implemented beginning September 2017. The same rules will apply for those proctors as with the JPO certification exam.


Those interested in assisting TJJD with taking the pilot may access the exam online here https://www.classmarker.com/online-test/start/?quiz=rte5894c56c919a1). As of the end of February, 163 individuals attempted the test statewide, with an average score of 85.6% and an average of 18 minutes to complete the exam.


For more information, please contact Kristy Almager at 512.490.7125 or Kristy.Almager@tjjd.texas.gov or Chris Ellison at 512.490.7245 or Chris.Ellison@tjjd.texas.gov
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