Exit Exam Research Articles

Admission Assessment: Linking a Standardized Admission Exam to Nursing Program Outcomes

This article reports the results of an academic program evaluation in which standardized admission test scores are compared to intermediate and final program outcomes. We used two intermediate program measures of progress-first semester nursing grades and performance on a standardized exit exam prior to graduation. Program final outcomes compared are student attrition and graduate nurses’ performance on the NCLEX-RN®. The analysis resulted in identifying statistically significant relationships between entrance exam scores and first semester grades. Statistically significant relationships were seen between entrance exam scores and performance on a pre-graduation exit exam. There was a statistically significant relationship between entrance exam scores and NCLEX-RN® pass rates. These results indicate that admission testing is a viable option for use as part of an admission process for baccalaureate nursing programs.

Intergenerational Mobility in Education: Variation in Geography and Time

Although the measurement of intergenerational income mobility has seen a rapid increase in attention and policy discussions, similar examinations of educational mobility in the U.S. are lacking. This paper begins to fill this gap by documenting differences in educational mobility across time (1982-2004) and geography (U.S. states). The study complements recent estimates of intergenerational income mobility because educational mobility both contributes to income mobility and is a target for education policies. We both develop a method to compute intergenerational correlation coefficients which respects the unique properties of education attainment, as well as utilize standard measures in the literature. While naive intergenerational regressions of years attained suggest a slight increase in mobility over the sample period, we find that mobility fluctuated: decreasing over roughly the first decade and increasing in the second. In addition, there is also substantial geographic variation in education mobility. We identify local community and policy factors, such as the existence of high school exit exams, that are correlated with educational mobility as well as a lack of increase in mobility in the South.

Legal Education Reform Pursuits in Ethiopia: Attainments and Challenges (2006-2019)

This article examines attainments and challenges in the pursuits of legal education reform launched in 2006. Achievements and challenges in LL.B programmes are examined based on the standards of the legal education reform programme relating to admission of students to law schools, staff profile, standards of reform relating to curriculum, course delivery, assessment, law school autonomy, research, publications, quality assessment and the requisite resources thereof. There are commendable achievements such as raising the duration of legal education from four to five years, the introduction of LL.B exit exam, and the preparation of a significant number of teaching materials. However, the data, documents and literature discussed and analyzed in this article indicate that the level of quality and standards in Ethiopia’s legal education stand below most of the thresholds that were envisaged in the 2006 Legal Education Reform Programme.
 Key terms
 Legal education reform · Quality · Standards · LL.B programmes · Ethiopia

Effectiveness of Private and Public High Schools: Evidence from Finland

Abstract A number of papers have compared the effectiveness of private and public schools in different institutional settings. However, most of these studies are observational and do not utilize experimental or quasi-experimental design to evaluate the value-added or the effectiveness of private schools in comparison to public schools. This study focuses on private and public high schools in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. We use two different methods to compare private and public schools, value-added estimation and regression discontinuity design (RDD). Although based on somewhat different assumptions, both methods allow us to evaluate the causal effect of private schools on the exit exam results in high school. We find that private schools perform marginally better than public schools, but the difference in performance is very small and statistically insignificant according to both methods. Various robustness and validity checks strengthen our RDD results and the validity of the discontinuity design.

The relation between standardized test scores and NCLEX-RN failure

First time pass rates on the National Council Licensure Examination – Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) are the desired outcome of Schools of Nursing across the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relation between standardized testing scores and NCLEX-RN failure among students in a baccalaureate nursing program. This study utilized a retrospective correlational design to identify relations between the dependent variables NCLEX-RN failure and the independent variables. The 16 Independent Variables were: Fundamentals of Nursing Practice and Repeat, Adult Health Nursing and Repeat, Mental Health Nursing and Repeat, Pediatric Nursing and repeat, Obstetrical Nursing and Repeat, Community Health Nursing and Repeat, RN Exit Exam and Repeat, and Pharmacology and Pharmacology Repeat. The statistical tests utilized for data analysis were: logistic regression, multiple logistic regression model, and Pearson’s χ2 cross-tabulations. Significant findings identified students “at risk” for NCLEX-RN failure. Faculty intervention early on and throughout the students’ nursing program will help improve student outcomes, NCLEX-RN success, and ultimately helping to alleviate the nursing shortage.

Pilot Program in Clinical Microbiology Laboratory Simulation for MLS Students

Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) educational programs face the challenge of placing students for clinical practica/rotations. In a non-medical university, this has been particularly true for clinical microbiology practica as local healthcare systems centralize microbiology, serology, and molecular testing services with smaller hospitals housing “stat labs” only. Encouraged by the success of a immunohematology simulation practicum implemented over 15 years ago, in the summer 2018 faculty piloted a clinical microbiology simulation lab to satisfy entry-level practical competency requirements. The pilot program consisted of three weeks of on-campus lab simulation, followed by a two-week hospital clinical experience, as opposed to five weeks in the clinical setting in the traditional practicum. In the lab simulation, students completed clinical microbiology evaluations on all clinical specimen types. Identification techniques included bench top tests, automated identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Students utilized rapid kit tests and performed quality control. Upon completion of the students’ practicum final exam and microbiology section of the comprehensive program exit exam, faculty evaluated student learning using two-sample t-tests to establish if statistically significant differences existed in the scores achieved by students enrolled in the pilot versus the traditional model. We hypothesized that no such differences would exist. There were no statistically significant differences between the post-practicum exam results achieved by both groups (p

Career Paths of Public Health Medicine Specialists in South Africa.

Public health (PH) skills are core to building responsive and appropriate health systems, and PH personnel including medical specialists are embedded in many countries' health systems. In South Africa, the medical specialty in PH, Public Health Medicine (PHM), has existed for over 40 years. Four years of accredited training plus success in a single national exit exam allows specialist registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). However, there are few posts designated specifically for PHM specialists in SA's health system. In view of uncertain roles, this research was designed to determine specialists' career paths, their work, job satisfaction, and perspectives on the future of the specialty. We combined three databases to generate the study population and invited all specialists to participate in an online or hard-copy survey. We found that in 2010, PHM was a small specialty of less 200 physicians. Of the 151 contactable, eligible physicians, 55.6% completed the questionnaire. Participants represented an aging group (median age = 49) of specialists and recent graduates were increasingly women. They largely worked in academic institutions (as managers, teachers, and researchers) and in the public sector health system; were motivated by a sense of social justice and their training was formative, exposing them to work settings which they later entered; were largely highly satisfied at work, but many worked in non-specialist positions. Indeed, one fifth had not registered with the HPCSA as specialists. They were concerned about the specialty's poor visibility and identity, but did not see other PH professionals as a threat. They believed that the specialty should refine its competencies, demonstrate its value and advocate for service positions at all levels of the public sector health service. PHM has a contribution to make—reorienting services to protect communities, preventing ill health, analyzing disease burdens locally, identifying innovations in a resource-constrained health service, largely preoccupied with curative care services.

Creating relevance in managerial accounting

This project course provided experiential realism in the study of managerial accounting and fundamental accounting relevance essential for integration into an organization’s management team. The experiment created an environment that reinforced the fundamental theories, ideas, and concepts necessary for the contextualization of the accounting cycle from a manufacturing perspective. The project highlighted the role of technology in fiscal management. Finally, there is preliminary evidence of improved knowledge retention based on improved exit exam performance.

Women in STEM: does college boost their performance?

This article uses an added value measure to assess the gender-specific impact of attending a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program. Using the results of the mandatory Colombian national exit exams, we compare the math and reading scores at the end of high school and at the end of college by gender. A difference-in-differences technique combined with propensity score matching is used to address selection bias. We find that the gender-related achievement gap in math and reading scores increases after college affecting women. The gap is larger for those individuals studying a STEM major in comparison with a non-STEM major. Moreover, we find that the gender gap is higher in public and accredited universities.

The Impact of Medical Students' Individual Teaching Format Choice on the Learning Outcome Related to Clinical Reasoning.

BackgroundRepeated formative assessments using key feature questions have been shown to enhance clinical reasoning. Key feature questions augmented by videos presenting clinical vignettes may be more effective than text-based questions, especially in a setting where medical students are free to choose the format they would like to work with. This study investigated learning outcomes related to clinical reasoning in students using video- or text-based key feature questions according to their individual preferences.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that repeated exposure to video-based key feature questions enhances clinical reasoning to a greater extent than repeated exposure to text-based key feature questions if students are allowed to choose between those different formats on their own.MethodsIn this monocentric, prospective, nonrandomized trial, fourth-year medical students attended 12 computer-based case seminars during which they worked on case histories containing key feature questions. Cases were available in a text- and a video-based format. Students chose their preferred presentation format at the beginning of each case seminar. Student performance in key feature questions was assessed in formative entry, exit, and retention exams and was analyzed with regard to preceding exposure to video- or text-based case histories.ResultsOf 102 eligible students, 75 provided written consent and complete data at all study exams (response rate=73.5%). A majority of students (n=52) predominantly chose the text-based format. Compared with these, students preferring the video-based format achieved a nonsignificantly higher score in the exit exam (mean 76.2% [SD 12.6] vs 70.0% [SD 19.0]; P=.15) and a significantly higher score in the retention exam (mean 75.3% [SD 16.6] vs 63.4% [SD 20.3]; P=.02). The effect was independent of the video- or text-based presentation format, which was set as default in the respective exams.ConclusionsDespite students’ overall preference for text-based case histories, the learning outcome with regard to clinical reasoning was higher in students with higher exposure to video-based items. Time-on-task is one conceivable explanation for these effects as working with video-based items was more time-consuming. The baseline performance levels of students do not account for the results as the preceding summative exam results were comparable across the 2 groups. Given that a substantial number of students chose a presentation format that was less effective, students might need to be briefed about the beneficial effects of using video-based case histories to be able to make informed choices about their study methods.

The use of "high-stakes testing" in nursing education: Rhetoric or rigor?

The expectations for clinically ready graduates have increased over the years, paralleling changes in the NCLEX exam with increasingly cognitively difficult items in preparation for professional nursing practice. Yet, it is widely recognized that nursing program exit standardized exams have come under increased scrutiny in several public cases. Several articles have frequently been cited in the opposing argument against use of the HESI Exit Exam or other standardized nursing exit exams. We review two of these for logical coherence and standard psychometric adherence given their recurrent use in arguing against nursing program exit standardized testing. In light of patient safety implications and school accreditation consequences, it's more important that schools use exit standardized testing and assess minimum competency of students based on an exit program standardized exam. Measurement standards are critical to these analyses. The use of a program exit standardized exam also alerts students that faculty are holding them accountable for their time in the program.

The Causes and Consequences of Test Score Manipulation: Evidence from the New York Regents Examinations

We show that the design and decentralized scoring of New York’s high school exit exams—the Regents Examinations—led to systematic manipulation of test scores just below important proficiency cutoffs. Exploiting a series of reforms that eliminated score manipulation, we find heterogeneous effects of test score manipulation on academic outcomes. While inflating a score increases the probability of a student graduating from high school by about 17 percentage points, the probability of taking advanced coursework declines by roughly 10 percentage points. We argue that these results are consistent with test score manipulation helping less advanced students on the margin of dropping out but hurting more advanced students that are not pushed to gain a solid foundation in the introductory material. (JEL H75, I21, I28)

Self-regulated learning in English-language learners who are persisting despite failure on a high school exit exam

Purpose This study aims to explore whether English-language learners (ELLs) who have struggled to pass a high school exit exam (HSEE) self-report that they are able to self-regulate their learning. It is of interest to find out whether, in addition to limited English proficiency, these students are struggling to exert control over their learning. Design/methodology/approach Using semi-structured interviews, the study sought the perspectives of eight ELLs who had repeatedly failed their state-mandated HSEE. Interviews were transcribed using a modified grounded theory approach, and thought units were coded with a focus on the following elements of SRL: self-understanding, goal directedness, flexibility and strategy use. Findings Results indicated that all interviewees demonstrated a greater, more specific awareness of their academic weaknesses than their strengths. Half the interviewees demonstrated an awareness of how they learned. Similarly, half of them verbalized that they approached learning flexibly. None of the interviewees reported using evidence-based strategies. However, all interviewees were goal-oriented. Research limitations/implications This research approach may limit the external validity of the results. The richness of the data may also be limited because interviews were conducted in English. Practical implications The findings from this study have implications for educating ELLs in an era of standards-based education and helping them pass HSEEs. Social implications These results also have implications for advancing social justice through informed educational policy. Originality/value This paper fills a gap in the literature by extending the theory of SRL, which is associated with academic success in diverse students, to ELLs, a rapidly growing demographic in US public schools that is struggling to achieve academic success.

Determinants of Accounting Students’ Competency: Kuwait University

Kuwait University is the only state university with accounting education that has commenced in 1966. So far, accounting education is offered by the College of Business Administration – CBA- as a full degree of 4 years span, in addition to some other private universities that started recently. CBA periodically reviews the accounting program particularly after earning AACSB accreditation in the late 90’s, which has pressed for more academic excellence. CBA has introduced an exit exam process in 2009 since inception. Results revealed some areas of concern such as the shallow technical background of graduates, ill-use of advanced accounting systems and software, and inadequate research ability. One would add to these, student's tendency toward the classical type of learning or “spoon feeding”, which questions their ability in the judgmental type of cases as well as their self-expression.The purpose of this research is to explore factors associated with accounting student’s competencies at Kuwait University and subsequently to suggest remedy policies. A survey has been conducted through out the period from April 2018 till August 2018 exploring factors affecting accounting student’s competency. Multiple factors that influence student's competencies were entrenched within a statistical model which later resulted in comparable results. Moreover, stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the relationships between students' competency and the independent variables. Results expose that students lean heavily on in- class materials and do less reading in advance. Also, learning techniques used and practices by students are well classical as it depends primarily on lecturer delivering the materials. Finally, this study provides evidence that GPA earned by accounting students at CBA is the most important variable associated with their overall performance upon graduation. Other variables such as MGPA, external assistance (EA), in-class assignments (ICA), students' personal and technical abilities (PFT), and other financial and social factors (FT) have lesser degree of significance on their performance.

Development of concentration-specific equine exit exams to evaluate course content and competency of graduates

Development of concentration-specific equine exit exams to evaluate course content and competency of graduates

Scholarships and student effort: Evidence from Colombia’s Ser Pilo Paga program

Launched in 2014, Colombia’s Ser Pilo Paga program aimed to increase college enrollment for low income students by providing 10,000 means-tested scholarships annually to the highest performers on the country’s high school exit exam. We theorize that the introduction of the scholarship incentivized these students to better prepare for this exam. Exploiting the SES thresholds for eligibility using a regression discontinuity design, we find that students who qualify for the scholarship score about 0.09 test score standard deviations higher than those who do not. We also find that the program increased the representation of the poorest students in the top 9% of test takers. Survey evidence suggests that students spent more time and money preparing for the test.

Standardized testing in nursing education: Preparing students for NCLEX-RN® and practice.

Standardized testing that predicts nursing student success accurately and identifies weak content areas has played a critical role in nursing education. Critics of such testing lament the harm of this type of testing, often misinterpreting common practices as well as overlooking all value. The goal of nursing school is to graduate competent professionals with adequate knowledge to practice safely, who can pass the NCLEX-RN® and gain employment. The use of standardized exit exams or comprehensive exams that are valid and reliable should be embraced as evidence-based, academically rigorous evaluation tools, much like the discipline of education has embraced the Praxis Exam. This paper will present evidence supporting the value of "program exit standardized testing" and address the importance of assessing students and focusing on minimum competency. As a profession that prides itself on the use of evidence to guide practice, we need to use evidence to guide policy development with respect to the use of standardized testing in nursing education.

Signaling or better human capital: Evidence from Colombia

We use data from the admissions process from a highly selective private university in Colombia to analyze the impact of prestigious university attendance on the education trajectory and labor market outcomes of individuals. The university´s selection process allows the use of a regression discontinuity design. We estimate both intent-to-treatment (offer admissions) and treatment-on-the-treated (enrollment) effects. The results show positive effects of offering admission to the prestigious university on the probability of enrollment, 13.8 percentage point (pp), 1.3 pp increase in academic credits a student need to repeat, and increment in 7 pp in probability of graduation. Despite no significant effects on the standardized university exit exam, we found positive effects on the probability of employment and earnings, 7.4 and 4.6 pp respectively. These results suggest that prestigious universities are more effective source of signaling in the labor market, but they are not more effective than other universities in developing human capital.

Predictors and students’ perceptions of NCLEX-RN success in a BS program

Background: First time National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) pass rates and successful student progression in a program are considered key indicators of quality of nursing programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictors of first-attempt NCLEX-RN success among multiple factors, and to explore the students’ perception for NCLEX-RN.Methods: A retrospective descriptive design was used including a total of 671 students who were admitted as a junior to the program between spring 2012 and fall 2015. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression models were conducted to find significant predictors of first time NCLEX-RN success.Results: Course grades for adult health, family health, critical care health, and the repeated course history, and HESI scores for adult health, family health, and the EXIT exam were significant predictors of NCLEX-RN success. Students perceived that the review course and practice test were helpful in passing NCLEX-RN.Conclusions: Findings of this study would be beneficial for nursing programs to strategize effectively for students who are at risk of failing and support them in their NCLEX-RN preparation.

Predicting HESI® Exit Exam Success: A Retrospective Study.

Controversy surrounds the use of standardized exit exams to predict and prepare students for NCLEX success. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between Kaplan integrated exam scores and the HESI® exit exam score to determine early indicators of success on the exit exam. A retrospective records review was used to explore relationships between performance on integrated tests and the standardized exit exam. A solid Kaplan comprehensive medical surgical exam score was highly correlated with success on the HESI exit exam. Tracking and follow-up resulted in exit exam success for nearly all students.