1.1 该实践为证书颁发者制定和管理质量证书计划以及利益相关者确定证书计划的质量提供了指导。 1.2 该实践包括对颁发证书的实体的要求以及对其颁发证书的特定证书项目的要求。 1.3 这一做法为特定实体在成功完成证书课程后向个人颁发特定证书提供了认可或认证或两者兼有的基础。 1.4 这一做法不涉及与个人认证有关的指导，也不涉及与教育或培训计划有关的一般指导，包括颁发参与证书或出席证书的计划。 1.5 本标准并不旨在解决与其使用相关的所有安全问题（如有）。本标准的使用者有责任在使用前制定适当的安全、健康和环境实践，并确定监管限制的适用性。 1.6 本国际标准是根据世界贸易组织技术性贸易壁垒委员会发布的《关于制定国际标准、指南和建议的原则的决定》中确立的国际公认的标准化原则制定的。 ====意义和用途====== 4.1 证书课程通常由社区学院和大学、政府机构、雇主提供，独立于- 利润培训组织以及专业和贸易协会。虽然总体上存在针对继续教育和培训提供者的质量指南（例如，ANSI/IACET 1-2013），以及针对提供人员认证计划的实体的质量准则（例如，ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024:2012），但目前还没有专门针对提供证书计划的实体制定的质量指南。这一做法旨在改变这种情况，并已发展为: 4.1.1 为证书项目开发人员和证书颁发者提供质量项目开发和管理指南； 4.1.2 形成一个认可或认可体系的基础，或两者兼而有之，使消费者、雇主、政府机构和其他依赖熟练劳动力的人能够区分合格工人和欺诈或欺诈较少的工人- 比质量证书更重要； 4.1.3 协助利益相关者区分证书计划和人员认证；和 4.1.4 协助利益相关者将证书项目与其他授予证书的项目区分开来，包括但不限于出席证书或参与证书。 4.2 目前，很难将通过证书计划提供的重点学习和评估获得的证书与通过其他方式授予的证书区分开来。颁发证书并不是一个区别因素。“证书”一词被广泛用于表示取得或完成某事的文件。 个人可能会收到教育或培训机构颁发的证书，作为参加学习活动的证明（通常称为出席证书），或收到证书，作为积极参与学习活动学习体验的证明（经常称为参加证书）。然而，证书的分发并不表明所完成的教育或培训计划是证书计划。在证书课程中，个人参加一项或一系列旨在帮助其在规定范围内取得特定学习成果的学习活动；个人只有在验证成功完成所有课程要求（包括但不限于对学习者达到预期学习成果的评估）后才能获得证书。 4.3 将证书项目与个人认证区分开来也很重要。认证是一个非政府实体在核实个人符合既定的熟练程度或能力标准后，通常通过资格申请和评估，向其授予有时限的认可的过程。虽然认证资格标准可能规定了某种类型或数量的教育或培训，但学习活动通常不是由认证机构提供的。相反，认证机构通过申请程序验证在其他地方获得的教育或培训以及经验，并对当前的熟练程度或能力进行标准化评估。 4.4 相比之下，在证书计划中，学习活动和评估都由证书颁发者开发和管理，它们之间有着重要的联系。也就是说，学习活动旨在帮助参与者实现学习成果，评估旨在评估学习者对预期学习成果的实现情况。 4.5 此外，认证对保持熟练程度/能力有持续的要求，如果不满足这些持续的要求可能会被吊销。相比之下，证书没有持续的维护或更新要求，因此不能被吊销。

1.1 This practice provides guidance to certificate issuers for developing and administering quality certificate programs and to stakeholders for determining the quality of certificate programs. 1.2 This practice includes requirements for both the entity issuing the certificate and requirements for the specific certificate programs for which it issues certificates. 1.3 This practice provides the foundation for the recognition or accreditation, or both, of a specific entity to issue a specific certificate or certificates to individuals after successful completion of a certificate program. 1.4 This practice does not address guidance pertaining to certification of individuals nor does it address guidance pertaining to education or training programs in general, including those that issue certificates of participation or certificates of attendance. 1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 1.6 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee. ====== Significance And Use ====== 4.1 Certificate programs are typically offered by community colleges and universities, government agencies, employers, independent for-profit training organizations, and professional and trade associations. While quality guidelines do exist for continuing education and training providers in general (for example, ANSI/IACET 1-2013) and for entities offering personnel certification programs (for example, ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024:2012), currently, no quality guidelines exist specifically to aid entities offering certificate programs. This practice aims to change that and has been developed to: 4.1.1 Provide certificate program developers and certificate issuers guidelines for quality program development and administration; 4.1.2 Form the foundation for a recognition or accreditation system, or both, that enable consumers, employers, government agencies, and others who rely upon a skilled workforce to distinguish between qualified workers and those with fraudulent or less-than-quality credentials; 4.1.3 Assist stakeholders in differentiating between certificate programs from personnel certification; and 4.1.4 Assist stakeholders in differentiating certificate programs from other programs that confer certificates, including but not limited to certificates of attendance or certificates of participation. 4.2 Currently, it is challenging to distinguish a certificate earned through the focused learning and assessment offered through a certificate program from one granted through other means. That a certificate is issued is not a distinguishing factor. The word“ certificate” is used broadly as a document awarded to designate the attainment or completion of something. An individual might receive a certificate from an education or training provider as verification of attendance at a learning event (often called a certificate of attendance) or receive a certificate as verification of active participation in a learning event’s learning experiences (often called a certificate of participation). The distribution of a certificate, however, does not indicate that the education or training program completed was a certificate program. In a certificate program, an individual participates in a learning event or series of events designed to assist him or her in achieving specified learning outcomes within a defined scope; the individual receives a certificate only after verification of successful completion of all program requisites including but not limited to an assessment of learner attainment of intended learning outcomes. 4.3 It is also important to distinguish certificate programs from the certification of individuals. Certification is a process through which a nongovernmental entity grants a time-limited recognition to an individual after verifying that he or she has met established criteria for proficiency or competency, usually through an eligibility application and assessment. While certification eligibility criteria may specify a certain type or amount of education or training, the learning event(s) are not typically provided by the certifying body. Instead, the certifying body verifies education or training and experience obtained elsewhere through an application process and administers a standardized assessment of current proficiency or competency. 4.4 In contrast, in a certificate program the learning event(s) and the assessment(s) are both developed and administered by the certificate issuer, and there is an essential link between them. That is, the learning event(s) are designed to help participants achieve learning outcomes and the assessment is designed to evaluate the learners’ attainment of those intended learning outcomes. 4.5 Also, certifications have ongoing requirements for maintaining proficiency/competency and can be revoked for not meeting these ongoing requirements. In contrast, certificates do not have ongoing maintenance or renewal requirements and therefore, cannot be revoked.