Child Life Certification Practice Test

Passing the Child Life certification exam certifies you for a five-year period to practice as a certified child life specialist (CCLS). This exam is designed to test the skills and knowledge that professionals in this field deem necessary to competent performance.

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Child Life Certification Exam Eligibility

To be eligible for the Child Life certification exam, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must have a bachelor’s degree
• You must have graduated from a child life academic program endorsed by ALCP, or you must have completed 10 college courses in the following content areas:
• Child life course taught by a CCLS
• Child development courses
• Family Systems course
• Play course
• Loss/bereavement or death/dying course
• Research course
• Three additional courses in related subjects

Child Life Certification Exam Outline

The Child Life exam contains 150 multiple-choice questions, 25 of which are unscored, and you will be given a time limit of 4 hours. The unscored questions are used by the test administrators to evaluate questions for future versions of the exam.

The exam is split into three content domains.

I. Professional Responsibility (26%)

The questions in this domain cover the following tasks:

• Adhere to standards of ethical practice
• Engage in opportunities for continuous improvement in child life practice
• Collaborate effectively with multi-disciplinary professionals

II. Assessment (37%)

The questions in this domain cover the following tasks:

• Assess and prioritize children and families based on psychosocial risk and need
• Assess relevant health care data to develop a comprehensive plan of care
• Assess developmental data to develop a comprehensive plan of care
• Assess family variables to develop a comprehensive plan of care
• Assess cultural and contextual variables to develop a comprehensive plan of care

III. Intervention (37%)

The questions in this domain cover the following tasks:

• Provide patient- and family-centered care
• Incorporate play theories and apply to practice
• Provide education specific to the individual needs of child and family
• Support child and family through diagnosis, treatments, and transitions of care
• Support child and family experiencing loss, grief, and/or bereavement

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Child Life Certification Exam Registration

To register for the exam, you must take an eligibility assessment to establish that you meet all of the necessary requirements. Once the assessment is complete and your eligibility is approved, you may register for your exam and pay the $450 examination fee ($300 for ACLP members).

Test Day

You should arrive 15-30 minutes early to the testing center on exam day, which will leave time for the check-in process to take place. This process involves checking your ID and signing a confidentiality form.

Once you are checked in, you will be asked to place all personal or prohibited items in a secure locker outside the testing area, and you will be given a piece of scratch paper and two pencils to take notes with during the exam.

Once you are ready, the proctor will lead you to the testing station and provide a brief introduction to the testing system before the exam begins.

How the Child Life Certification Exam is Scored

The Child Life exam is scored using a criterion-referenced scaling system. This system takes your raw score, which is the number of questions you answered correctly, and converts it to a numerical scaled score.

If you pass the exam, you will not see a numerical score value, only that you have passed. You will receive a wall certificate and information to maintain your CCLS credentials shortly after you have taken and passed the exam.

However, if you do not pass the exam, you will receive a scaled numerical score as well as a percentage of correct answers to help you understand what you will need to focus on for the retest.

Retaking the Child Life Certification Exam

If you do not pass the exam, you may retake it up to three times per year and up to five times total.

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By Peter Rench

Peter Rench joined Mometrix in 2009 and serves as Vice President of Product Development, responsible for overseeing all new product development and quality improvements. Mr. Rench, a National Merit Scholar, graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in mathematics from Texas A&M University.