Frequently Asked Questions
Lessons
Why pay when I can find stuff for free?
The service you are paying for is the painstaking and time saving service of complete lessons including customizable lesson plans, the collection, organization and presentation of both proprietary materials and freely available materials that we host on a site and is available to you 24/7 anywhere in the world with an internet connection at a moment’s notice. We have created a large amount of proprietary study, practice and assessment material as well as pulled from free resources available online to bring to a variety of rigorous and relevant material to use in your classroom lessons.
Our proprietary material is generally stamped with our logo and is created with our signature orange and purple color scheme. Materials that we collected online look different and both have great components to use in your lesson instruction.
We check all proprietary lesson material for accuracy, correct spelling, grammar and punctuation, etc. If we’ve missed something, please let us know by contacting us with details – you work hard and deserve to have ready to go, error-free lessons at your fingertips!
What is the Varsity Education PLC?
The Varsity Education Professional Learning Community will, in the near future, provide hours of continuing education on English and teaching related subjects. At the completion of the course you will receive a notification that you may present to your employer as proof of your commitment to the practice of education.
What formats are used in the lesson materials?
The lessons are available for display directly from the website as Google documents. You may also download all of the documents as an ODT format which will allow you to open them in Google Docs, Microsoft Office, Open Office and Office Libre to edit, print and/or save as needed. Please be aware that downloaded documents will not reflect any updates (including our annual update).
Is all of the material proprietary to Varsity Education?
No. Our proprietary lesson material has our logo and is usually created with our signature color scheme. Other materials pulled from the internet are not claimed to be our work in any way. They are the work of their original author and all credit goes towards their efforts. We simply collected it and created a plan that included it.
No. Memberships are either month to month, quarter to quarter or year to year, depending on your chosen membership plan, with the option to discontinue at the break between periods. Due to the nature of digital media, refunds, even in part, are not available.
I’d like to share my ideas with others – can I receive credit for my shared work?
We will be introducing a lesson share area where you will be able to upload your lesson for others on the site to use. You will absolutely receive credit for this and we’re discussing a compensation plan as well.
Will there be new materials added after I sign up?
Yes. We will continually be adding lesson material with current event / relevant stories to engage your learners with questions for them to think, reflect, and answer based on your teaching.
Can I use a school purchase order to pay for my membership?
Yes. We will be rolling out a PO option in the near future. If you do not see that option but are interested, please contact us to get started.
I am using Firefox as my browser and the embedded Google Docs are not there. How do I fix this?
Open a new tab and go to Google.com. Sign in with your Google account, return to this tab, refresh the page and try again. The embedded Google Doc should appear.
Certifications
How much time do I have to take the exam?
You have 120 minutes to complete the exam.
How many questions are on the exam?
There are 100 questions on each exam.
n order to ensure a secure testing environment, it is essential that every proctor understands and utilizes the following procedures during all certification exams.
THE EXAM
- Certification exams consist of 100 single choice questions. The question bank and order is randomized for each certification exam.
- Each exam has a time limit of 180 minutes
- After the exam has been initiated, the candidate must complete the exam in the same session unless the student has an accommodation that states otherwise.
- For optimum performance, it is recommended to initiate the exam on machines equipped with the latest Google Chrome browser and a hard-wired internet connection.
- Printouts and screenshots of certification questions and reports are strictly prohibited.
THE PROCTOR
- Before proctoring a certification exam, the proctor must read and digitally sign the proctor agreement to ensure all rules and guidelines will be followed during the certification exam.
- District personnel may serve as proctors as long as they have read, agreed to and digitally signed the proctor rules and guidelines and meet local and state requirements for proctoring.
- The proctor can provide support and technical instruction to certification candidates when needed (i.e., technology troubleshooting and exam procedures).
- The proctor must be aware of any accommodations the candidate requires, including, but not limited to, reading questions and/or answers aloud, extended time for testing, multiple test sessions and use of a dictionary
- The proctor should be actively monitoring to ensure the candidate does not have any questions or technical issues and to monitor the candidate’s use of the internet. During the exam, the only approved use of the internet is for the exam itself. Candidates are prohibited from opening additional browsers.
- It is the responsibility of the proctor to ensure candidates accessed the certification exam with their individual exam license.
- It is the responsibility of the proctor to ensure all certification candidates follow the certification exam rules and guidelines.
- If the proctor observes any behavior that violates the rules and guidelines, the proctor must take necessary actions to prevent further violations.
- If cheating or irregularities are discovered by the proctor or the testing platform, the certification candidate will be required to re-take the exam under the observation of a different proctor.
- If a candidate requests to retake a certification exam, it is left to the discretion of educational personnel to decide if and when a candidate can retake an exam with a different certification license.
- In the case of multiple students testing in the same environment, testing exam privacy dividers are recommended.
THE CANDIDATE
- Candidates may not have personal items while seated to take the exam. The testing area must be free and clear of non-testing items – personal items must be placed in a location as determined by the proctor.
- Candidates may have one pencil and a clean sheet of paper provided by the proctor for their use. These items must be returned to the proctor at the end of the exam.
- Candidates must power off all electronic devices and turn them into the proctor prior to taking the certification exam.
- Candidates may take breaks as needed, however, the timer will not stop.
Please contact us with any questions regarding certification exams and the proctoring of certification exams.
As the “PROCTOR,” I promise
- To take reasonable measures to prevent students from cheating or sharing exam content.
- not to share or use the exam and all related materials for personal gain.
- not to assist any students while they are taking the exam.
To the best of my ability, I promise to monitor the students while they take the exam and specifically enforce the following:
- Ensure that testers use the code that I, the Facilitator, issued to them as a unique tester identification.
- Ensure that the testers take the exam by themselves.
- Ensure that all electronic devices have been collected prior to testing
- Ensure that testers do not communicate with one another during the exam, including but not limited to, talking, reading aloud, messaging, and emailing.
- Ensure that all testers take bathroom breaks prior to the start of the exam and that after the tester starts the exam no breaks are allowed.
- Ensure that testers do not copy any exam content, including copy + paste, writing on paper, or taking pictures of the computer screen.
- Ensure that testers have cleared their desks of all materials, including but not limited to scratch paper, notepaper, pens/pencils, exam reference materials, and food and beverages.
“I certify that I have read and understood the above-outlined rules. If I observe a student who fails to comply with these rules I will stop their exam, note the incident to Varsity Education, and inform the student cannot continue to take the exam nor take the same exam for twelve months.”
- Use of district-provided screen reader
- Dictation of exam directions, questions, and answer choices by a qualified proctor
- Extended testing time for an exam (average exam time for exams is 60 minutes)
- Multiple test sessions (exams consist of 100 questions and can be split into two 50 question segments)
For English Language Learners (ELLs), accommodations include the above plus:
- Bilingual dictionary provided by the district
- English dictionary provided by the district
All certification candidates may
- Resize text size: ctrl + to enlarge; ctrl – to shrink
- Take frequent breaks
Summary
VARSITY EDUCATION dba CTE Certifications is an online platform for delivering Career and Technical Education certification exams. VARSITY EDUCATION utilizes licenses to access and complete industry certification exams.
Browser Requirements
The following browsers have been tested and are compatible with VARSITY EDUCATION:
- IE9 or greater
- Google Chrome
- Safari
- Firefox
Many other browsers are also compatible with VARSITY EDUCATION, but have not been tested.
Operating System Requirements
Since VARSITY EDUCATION is a web-based, most operating systems are compatible. Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 as well as upcoming releases of Windows are compatible.
In addition, recent Mac OS, iOS, Chrome OS and Android versions are also compatible.
Bandwidth Requirements
For optimal performance, we recommend a hard-wired internet connection of 20mbps or better.
Whitelisting
VARSITY EDUCATION uses multiple content delivery networks to deliver content. If you need specific server IP addresses and port ranges or subdomain information please contact
How will my business be advertised in schools?
Each certifying business will be prominently displayed as the only certifying business for a particular pathway. Varsity Education, as the host, does not promote itself as an exam certifier.
When schools choose the pathway set of exams that your business certifies, your business’ logo will be displayed on all of the exam information.
When schools contact for any additional information. they will contact Varsity Education and we will field the inquiry, so there is no disruption to your businesses.
How many schools do you collaborate with?
We are a new company working daily to make personal contact with district CTE Directors, campus department chairs, and CTE instructors.
There are over 13,000 school districts in the United States and our goal is to offer our services to each district’s population of students.