Kris Kern Stark, CPLP - Curriculum Designer, Kohl's Department Stores

"It's the vast amount of knowledge that CPLP candidates are required to know that is most daunting. You need to stick to your project plan so you're not overwhelmed."

It was the weekend before Kris Kern took the written exam. To see the storm of papers and study materials covering nearly every flat surface in her dining room, you might not have guessed at the disciplined, methodical strategy that helped Kris score so high on the test.

"There's such a vast amount of knowledge you could be tested on," she says. "And I was all alone. There was no study group in my area." Fortunately word of mouth led Kris to Owl's Ledge.

"Support from Trish really helped keep me going. It was so nice to know you had someone else to bounce ideas off of. And I really liked all the practice tests."

With her master's degree in instructional design, Kris had expected the CPLP process would be mostly review for her.

"I thought the CPLP would be a piece of cake! But I learned a whole lot more than I expected to, and it turned out to be a very good growing experience." The key to doing well turned out to be her systematic approach.

"The CPLP Learning System is a concise collection of all the material you're being tested on. ," she explains. "And I figured that if anyone was going to use ADDIE, it would be ASTD. So I studied according to the printed objectives. It turns out you really are tested on those objectives."

The practice tests that had first appealed to Kris when she found Owl's Ledge helped her make course corrections as she went along, and support from Trish Uhl gave her the element of camaraderie that she was missing as the only CPLP candidate in her area.

Owl's Ledge services turned out to be even more impactful with the work project.

"Trish was great with the work product," Kris enthuses. "She was a terrific sounding board. For example, I could have gone one of several ways on one of the challenge questions. I rewrote my answer three times! But I did well on that question, so I made the right choice."

Would she recommend Owl's Ledge to others considering CPLP certification?

"Oh, yes!" says Kris.

"The support and information I got from Owl's Ledge was invaluable."

Kris Kern Stark is a Curriculum Designer for Kohl's Department Stores. You can reach her at Kris.Kern@kohls.com.

Owl's Ledge Work Product coaching details:

http://www.cplpcoach.com/products/department6.cfm