Frequently Asked Questions

This is a live webpage, additional questions and answers will be added on a regular basis.

Please check back or for any questions not listed here, email us at info@CASLI.org or Testing@CASLI.org.

About CASLI Exam System

It is a new testing delivery platform that has been developed for CASLI for the purpose of exam purchases, the administration of the exam, and retention of candidate’s exam history. This platform is designed for candidates, test administrators/proctors, and administrators with different features designated to specific roles. CASLI’s goal is to make the process of purchasing and taking exams a smooth optimal experience for the candidate as well as the test administrator/proctor.  Anyone can generate a CASLI Exam System account by going to https://casli.app

On the CASLI Exam System, the following features are available to candidates:

  • Request an Exam
  • Purchase an Exam
  • View Proctors Location to find testing sites for Performance exams
  • Sample an Exam – candidate can become familiar with the interface of an exam
  • My Exams – a quick overview of candidate’s exams history.
  • What to Expect – an overview of what to expect on the day of the scheduled exam
  • Terms and conditions – Candidate’s Agreement Form and various CASLI

Candidates are also able to update their profile and see their exam rating status and results.

Once you purchase your knowledge exam from CASLI, your account information and eligibility will be uploaded to Meazure Learning’s (formerly ScanTron) scheduling system within ten (10) business days. Meazure Learning will then send you a “Notice To Schedule” (NTS) email with a unique username and password to log into Meazure Learning’s scheduling system. Fill out all scheduling information completely and once you have completed this step, you will receive confirmation of your examination date and site by email. Meazure Learning recommends that you submit your scheduling requests 30 days prior to the examination date on which you want to schedule.

The CASLI Exam System is not designed to schedule your performance exam.  You would purchase your performance exam and once your exam is purchased, you will get an exam token number, via your email and in your CASLI account under “My Exams”. Once you have your exam token number, you can proceed to schedule your performance exam with a green-pinned Local Testing Administrator (LTA) site by contacting them via email or phone.

For the CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam (both Fundamental of Interpreting and Case Study – Ethical Decision-Making Process & Cultural Competency), these exams are administered by Meazure Learning (formerly Scantron), our contracted company.   Once the exam is purchased on the CASLI Exam System, each week CASLI will send Meazure Learning the updated report of candidates that can proceed to take their Knowledge exam. Within ten (10) business days,  candidates will receive a “Notice to Schedule Exam” email from Meazure Learning  which will have a link for candidates to register/schedule their exam including the possible testing sites they can take their Knowledge/Case Studies exam at.

For the Performance exams (both CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC and CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – CDI), candidates can click on “View Proctors Location” on the CASLI Exam System.  It is advised that candidates have their address in their profile as this will help identify testing sites within the candidate’s proximity to their address.  Candidates can click on the color-coded pin and it will show the testing site information.  Candidates then can proceed to contact the testing site to schedule their exam.  Prior to scheduling the exam, candidates MUST have already purchased the exam on their CASLI Exam System account and have successfully obtained an exam token number.   CASLI does not oversee scheduling of examinations and leaves that to be conducted between the candidate and the testing site.

**Note – this is ONLY for the administration of Performance exam **

  • Green pin: the site has successfully satisfied all technical requirements and expectations with test administration and is able to administer the exams. These are sites you can contact directly to schedule your exam pending on site’s availability.
  • Yellow pin: the site has completed the application and Quality & Assurance (QA) on technical requirements. Beta testing is pending to be completed to ensure the test administration process goes smoothly without any significant issues.
  • Red pin: the site has recently started its progress in becoming a LTA site.
  • Red pushpin: the site recently ceased administering exams – pins are left for a temporary time to allow candidate to track any changes in site locations
  • Purple pin: the site is temporarily closed until further notice due to the Coronavirus pandemic or other circumstances.

The time for a site to become greenlit varies as each site has its own challenges.  Some sites progress are quicker while other sites may take weeks or even months before they complete all the requirements to be greenlit.

If you do not see an exam in your account, you can complete an Exam Request Form on CASLI Exam System or contact info@CASLI.org   It may not be on the candidate’s account for various reasons pending on the candidate’s eligibility or simply we need to verify the candidate’s eligibility and add the exam to their CASLI Exam System account. 

Keep in mind, once the exam is assigned to candidate’s CASLI account, candidate needs to purchase the exam within 30 days from the date it is assigned to them.  Once the 30 days has passed and the exam is not purchased prior to that, the exam will disappear from the candidates’ account and candidate would need to resubmit a new Exam Request Form.  Please plan accordingly when requesting for the exam to be assigned to your CASLI account.

CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam – For both portions (Fundamental of Interpreting  AND Case Studies: Ethical Decision-Making Process & Cultural Responsiveness), candidate can expect their exam results within ten (10) business days (approximately 2 weeks time frame) from the date they took the exam.

CASLI Generalist Performance Exam (CDI) – Candidates can expect their exam results for the Performance exam within 90 days from the date they took the exam.  Beta Period for this exam completed January 2023.

CASLI Generalist Performance Exam (NIC) – Upon its release in July 22, the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC continues to be in beta period of testing, a time frame where CASLI collects a pool of candidates’  exams to be analyzed and for a scoring committee to establish scoring criteria and determine the cut score of the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC. This is a normal part of testing development and results will be delayed during this period of 6 months or longer. After the beta period is completed, candidates can expect their exam results for the Performance exam within 90 days from the date they took the exam.

CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam (Fundamental of Interpreting) – Your exam results will be emailed to you within (ten) 10 business days from the date it was taken. Please retain / print a copy for your record and archive your exam result email for your record. In the future, it will be added into your CASLI Exam System account under Public Notes.

CASLI Case Studies Exam (Ethical Decision-Making Process & Cultural Responsiveness) (also known as GAP test) – Your exam results will be emailed to you within (ten) 10 business days from the date it was taken. Please retain / print a copy for your record and archive your exam result email for your record. In the future, it will be added into your CASLI Exam System account under Public Notes.

CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – Your exam results will be emailed to you. Please retain / print a copy for your record and archive your exam result email for your record. It will be added into your CASLI Exam System account under Public Notes. 

NIC-Interview and Performance Exam (retired as of May 18, 2022) For NIC Interview and Performance exam taken between November 2019 – May 2022, the exam results were emailed to you. Please retain / print a copy for your record and archive your exam result email for your record. Your results can also be found on your CASLI Exam System account under Public Notes. 

See the most updated information on exam rates and payment here.

Candidates that are taking their Knowledge / Case Studies exam(s) at Meazure Learning (formerly Scantron) testing sites would need to bring a printout of their exam confirmation that they receive from Meazure Learning.  Candidates must also have their exam token number ready to provide to Meazure Learning.  Additionally, a government issued photo ID is needed to verify your identification to ensure the exam is being administered to the correct individual scheduled to take the exam.

For the Performance exam scheduled under CASLI network of Local Testing Administrators (LTA) sites, candidates only need to bring their exam token number and a government issued photo ID. 

No. At this time, CASLI has not found a viable solution for at-home, remote test administration during the COVID-19 global pandemic as. amidst COVID, there are a limited number of test sites and the candidate’s ability to travel or to go to test sites is limited.

We explored this possibility with some test delivery companies who specialize in online or remote test proctoring which are set up to allow people to test from their homes. There were a few issues that could not be resolved satisfactorily.
  1. Given the nature of our exams, those companies could not guarantee exam security if these exams are administered in a person’s home. It takes one person to illegally record and post the exam online for the entire the test becomes invalid for everyone. Because of insufficient exam security, we can’t allow the exam to be administered at someone’s home. Exams must be administered at secure test sites for that reason.
  2. Also, trained proctor need to be present to troubleshoot any test site or technical issues that pop up during the administration of the exam. If there’s a problem during the exam and it happens in your home, there’s no one there to troubleshoot the issues then the exam would be invalidated. Our local test administrators and proctors are specially trained to deal with technical issues during the administration of the exams.
  3. Third,  everyone’s home computers and internet speeds are different. With a national high-stakes standardized test, technical specifications of the computers need to meet a minimum standard, especially with the performance exam that involves streaming video (downloading) and recording video (uploading) at the same time. This requires a lot of bandwidth and we can’t guaranteed standardization among the technical specifications and internet speed for the exam.
As we stated, we did explore this possibility. We did discussed this with the CASLI Board and people ask us all the time about offering the opportunity to test within their home, but we do have reasons why we are unable to do so and those reasons essentially are: exam security which is critical to validity of the exam, troubleshooting issues, and standardizing technical specifications of each computer and Internet connectivity.  All of these are all critical to the successful administration of the exams.
We wish we could and we are open to that possibility if it becomes feasible, but right now we have to make do as best we can amidst this COVID pandemic.

About My Account

This is one of the most common asked question CASLI gets from candidate, and the answer is most likely yes. It greatly depends on your individual Testing Process Cycle timeline, exams history and your eligibility to test.

CASLI has announced several times that due to the testing transition and now due to COVID-19, candidates will be granted up to one additional year beyond their TPC expiration date depending on candidate’s exam history and testing cycle expiration date. Effective as of June 1, 2021, the clock on candidate’s testing cycle has resumed.  CASLI has calculated all of candidate’s testing cycle and has updated it on candidate’s RID account and CASLI account (under Public Note).  If you have any questions regarding your testing cycle expiration date, please contact info@casli.org or  testing@casli.org

See this page for more information on Testing Process Cycles.

Currently, candidate can find their Testing Cycle expiration on their RID account and CASLI account (under Profile – Public Note).  Please keep in mind that candidates in the midst of their testing process cycle will be granted up to one additional year of time during which they were eligible to test but could not because of the testing transition and COVID to their testing process cycles pending on their testing cycle expiration date and exams history.

If you are unable to locate your testing cycle expiration on your RID account, please contact us at info@casli.org

For more information on Testing Process Cycles, see this page. 

CASLI announced the release of the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam for Deaf Interpreters on November 16, 2020. RID has previously stated that six (6) months from the date of the Deaf interpreter performance exam release the educational requirement for the CDI will change from an Associate degree or equivalent to a Bachelor degree or equivalent.

The degree requirement for the performance exam for Deaf interpreters from a AA/AS to a BA/BS degree (or equivalent) went in effect on May 17, 2021. 

See these instructions to help get you started with your account in CASLI Exam System.

When you meet all eligibility requirements for the exam you want to take, you may request an exam using this form, which will be sent to CASLI. Your eligibility will be verified and an exam will be added to your CASLI Exam System account for purchase. Please allow up to 3 business days for CASLI to add the exam into your account and once that is complete, you will receive an email notifying you that your exam is ready for purchase. Once you receive that email, log into your CASLI Exam System account and purchase your exam with a credit card or payment token*.

*Payment tokens used by third parties to pay for a candidate’s exam through an Organization Account. For more information on Organization Accounts, see this page.

No, you do not need to purchase your exam again. The exam fees you have purchased your RID Member account may be transferred over to the CASLI Exam System. Use this form to request an exam to be added to your CASLI Exam System account and then as CASLI verifies your eligibility, we will also check to see which exam price are eligible for. This price may be $0.00 if the exam rates are the same between your original purchase and current eligible rate, or you may be charged the difference between the two rates (For example, you previously purchased a NIC-Interview and Performance Exam two years ago with an RID member discount but are not currently a member of RID. You will be be charged the difference between the regular exam rate and the RID member discount rate when the exam is transferred over to the CASLI Exam System.)

When you fill out this form to request an exam to be added into your CASLI Exam System account, you are given the option of also uploading an image file of your current RID membership card.

To access your RID membership card, log into your RID member account and click on the green button that says “Printable Member Card”. A PDF file of your membership card becomes available for you to download. Attach that PDF to the exam request form.

Yes. You need to submit your exam accommodations request and supporting documentation each time you request an exam, even for retakes of the same exam. The nature of the accommodations may change over time (e.g., a previously broken foot has since healed) or accommodations for one exam may not be appropriate or applicable for another exam.

Please visit this page for more information.

About the Exams

Initially, CASLI was scheduled to film the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam for Hearing Interpreters mid-March 2020, literally just days after the country shut down because of the COVID-19 global pandemic in mid-March of 2020. At the time and out of an abundance of caution, we canceled our plans filming and was finally able to convene late 2021/early 2022 to complete the filming of the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC.  CASLI has completed post-production and built the exam into our testing platform, CASLI Exam System.

The new CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC was released July 6, 2022 for candidates to take and continues to be in beta period for the time being.  The beta period is the time frame when CASLI collects a pool of candidates’ exams to be analyzed and for a scoring committee to establish scoring criteria and determine the cut score of the CASLI Generalist Performance Exam – NIC. This is a normal part of testing development and results will be delayed during this period of 6 months or longer. At this time, we anticipate that candidates will get their exam results Summer 2023.  CASLI will continue to make announcements for our candidates as we have more updates to share.  Please keep checking CASLI News and Announcements for updates.

(Last updated 4/25/2023)

For the most up-to-date information on exam scoring, visit this page.

The areas of improvement are mere suggestions form the raters. They are not directly correlated with specific patterns of errors as in a diagnostic assessment. Each vignette is scored by a different set of raters which may have different suggestions of your work on that given vignette. The feedback is not diagnostic and does not represent a custom critique of a candidate’s knowledge or performance.

For diagnostic feedback, we recommend that people work with a qualified language mentor or ASL-English Interpreting mentor who is experienced in giving that kind of critique of an interpreter’s product. CASLI’s exams are simply not designed to be a diagnostic instrument, but is only use to determine whether or not a candidate demonstrates the level of competency needed for RID certification.

The passing rates are published by CASLI every year and are available on our website here.

The most up-to-date information on exam rates are available on our website here. The rate you are eligible for will depend on which exam you’re taking, whether you’re taking it for the first time or it’s a retake, and whether you are eligible to receive RID member discount or not.

In September of 2020, CASLI established the eligibility requirements for all CASLI exams. Those eligibility requirements are outlined here. One of those eligibility requirements state:

Exam candidates … must… not currently hold any other national certification recognized by RID, specifically: CDI, CI/CT, CDI, NIC, NIC-advanced, NIC-Master, NAD III/IV/V, CSC, RSC, MCSC, IT/IC, CLIP, CLIP-R, OTC, or any other RID certification, general or specialist, as listed on RID’s Certification Overview webpage. *Note: RID Members in the Certified category holding an Ed:K-12 designation, but no other national certification recognized by RID, are exempt from this limitation.

Our psychometrician, Buck Chaffee of The Caviart Group, LLC, made this recommendation based on a few factors:

  1. This is in alignment with certification industry standard practice: Mr. Chaffee, stated specifically “Access to operational certification examinations are normally restricted to individuals pursuing initial certification or when re-testing is required for recertification. I am not aware of any programs other than the RID examination that allow any individuals who do not fall into these two categories to take a certification examination.” … Only those who are sitting for the certification examination for the purpose of acquiring or maintaining certification should be permitted to take these examinations. 
  2. Examination Security might be compromised due to unnecessary exposure of exam content : As a candidate is exposed to the items on an exam, they may unwittingly or purposefully pass along information about the content of the exam to other people. Again, Mr. Chaffee’s recommendation was CASLI limit eligibility requirements to those who are pursuing initial certification to limit exposure to the actual exams as a means protecting the security and integrity of the exam.
  3. Conflicting examination results undermine the integrity of the certification: Mr. Chaffee states, “If a certified person re-takes a test and fails, it should be concluded that they no longer possess the knowledge and skill required.  Therefore, their certification should be revoked. To allow a certified person to re-take and fail the certification examination and still retain certification provides a conflicting message to the public in essentially saying that the certification sponsor allows people who demonstrate insufficient knowledge and skill (i.e., who fail the test) to remain certified.”
  4. Exams are not appropriate for the demonstration of keeping up with the profession or with industry standards: “That is, that the certification itself is supposed to represent that certified persons have the current knowledge and skill required to practice the profession. Demonstration of keeping up with the industry is normally established through continued professional development requirements and/or recertification requirements.”
  5. Taking a certifying exam as a way for interpreter mentors or instructors/professors to prepare their lessons is an inappropriate use of the exam and inappropriate method of teacher preparation: “Other reasons that certified people might want to take the certification examination are to see what the current exam looks like and to assess the subject matter covered.” CASLI often receives email from interpreter mentors or instructors requesting to take the CASLI Generalist Exams for the purpose of preparing for their interpreter preparation classes, however this is an inappropriate use of the exam. Interpreter instructors/professor or mentors may view the CASLI Generalist Exam Content Outline and Preparation Guide to help them, the may view the CASLI Sample Exams available for free on the CASLI Exam System, or they may consult the NIC Job Task Analysis or the Deaf Interpreter Job Task Analysis to help with any lesson plans or curriculum development.