In the winter of 2007, as part of the update of the CGFM
Examinations, AGA undertook a full-scale Job Analysis Study of
the role of the Certified Government Financial Manager and
created a survey of the knowledge elements required of
government financial managers. A Job Analysis study is the
foundation of a standards-based certification program. The
results of the job analysis study establish the link between
what Government Financial Managers do on-the-job and successful
performance on the examinations as valid and reliable measures
of competency.
The first phase of the job analysis process includes
conducting an exhaustive review of the role of the occupational
professional. A comprehensive approach is used to develop an
exhaustive list of tasks or behaviors to be included in a
survey. The job analysis survey outline was developed using the
current content outlines of the three CGFM Examinations and a
comprehensive literature search. The survey outline was
finalized in February of 2007 by a Job Analysis Advisory
Committee made up of representatives from the AGA Professional
Certification Board as well as other subject matter experts
representing the diversity of practice among CGFMs across the
country.
Invitations to participate in the survey were sent via email
to all active CGFMs who had provided AGA with email contact
information. A total of 1,032 surveys were successfully
completed, resulting in a response rate of 20%, which is typical
of an unsolicited survey. Statistical analysis of
the responses indicated a standard error approximation of
.03. The inferences from the survey are therefore
associated with minimal error, providing adequate confidence in
the survey results.
Over 99% of the respondents indicated that the survey
elements either completely or adequately described the critical
knowledge, skills and abilities required of competent
entry-level government financial managers. This supports a high
degree of confidence that the survey depth was reflective of
practice across the geographic settings, and among various
practice work settings. Reliability estimate calculations for
both the instrument and the respondent group were also high,
indicating that that if the same survey was offered again, but a
different collection of CGFMs responded, the results would
likely be very similar. These results further substantiate the
survey results.
Another Job Analysis Advisory Committee meeting was held in
August of 2007 to consider and review the results of the survey
analysis. The primary goal of this meeting was to establish task
exclusion criteria to differentiate between the critical and
non-critical tasks. Of the original 217 tasks, 5 tasks were
eliminated from the outline based upon criticality exclusion
criteria or because they were duplicated in another area; 7 were
restated in 2 new tasks within the same sub-content area,
supporting the clarity and readability of the outline; and 4
tasks were added to the outline, identified by respondent and
SME review. The final approved content outline contains 211
tasks.
After discussion and adoption of the continued use of the
three examination model, the Job Analysis Advisory Committee
reviewed the resulting listing of 211 tasks, and evaluated each
for distribution across the three examinations. Examination I
was identified as including 68 tasks, Examination II included 65
tasks, and 78 tasks were identified for inclusion on Examination
III. The committee recommended that each of the three
examinations would contain 100 scored items, and 15 non-scored
pretest (beta test) items.
View the final
exam content outline.
AGA expresses its deep gratitude to the subject matter
experts on the Job Analysis Committee for their work on updating
the CGFM Examinations content outlines:
Ms. Virginia S. Brizendine, CGFM, CPA
Mr. Richard O. Bunce, Jr., CGFM, CPA
Ms. Vandee V. DeVore, CGFM
Dr. Larita J. Killian, CGFM
Mrs. Mary E. Lechner, CGFM, CPA
Ms. Carol Lynn McFarland, CGFM, CPA
Ms. Georgie Ortiz, CGFM, CPA
Ms. Wendy M. Payne, CGFM, CPA
Mrs. Virginia B. Robinson, CGFM, CPA, DABFA
Mr. Pete Rose, CGFM
Mr. Jeffrey C. Steinhoff, CGFM, CPA
Mr. William L. Taylor, CGFM, CPA
Ms. Sherri Voigt, CGFM
Mr. John D. Webster, CGFM