It really is a "minimal" standard....Does the individual have a basic understanding of trees and their proper care? I would be curious to know what the pass/fail rate is. I know people still fail it. There was a prep course that a friend helped teach. A local guy who has been in business for over 30 years (and we all know does poor quality work) failed the test even after taking the course.
Even though it is a minimal standard, I still think it is valuable because it should ensure clients that their arborist is doing some continuing education. There is also the
Code of Ethics. My disappointment with ISA isn't how hard or easy the test is, but that they don't push the code of ethics stronger. There was a town in the area that hired a company with a CA to do some young tree structural pruning. They topped all of the trees! It was reported to ISA who said they couldn't do anything because they couldn't be sure the CA did the work (they did have the bid/contract requiring that and an invoice from the company stating it performed as specified). I've heard similar stories as well. They need to enforce that or the standard really will mean nothing.