The NCLEX ® Program Reports

1. The NCLEX® Program Reports Brian D. Bontempo, Ph.D. Daniel John Wilson Mountain Measurement, Inc.

2. Agenda • History of the NCLEX® Program Reports • Where do the NCLEX® Program Reports data come from? • How do you use the NCLEX® Program Reports? • NCLEX® Program Reports walk through • Future Directions

3. History of the NCLEX® Program Reports • CTB-McGraw-Hill • Chauncey Group International • Pearson Educational Measurement • Maximum Inclusion, March 2000 • Mountain Measurement • Moved to PDF in Fall 2005 • Released the new Annual NCLEX Program Reportsin 2010

4. Where do the NCLEX® Program Reports data come from?

5. 5-Digit Educational Program Code • What is a 5-digit educational program code? • A 5 digit educational program code is a unique identifier assigned to all nursing programs in NCSBN jurisdictions. • How is an edprog code used? • Students enter this code on their NCLEX application. • Pearson VUE attaches this code to the test results data. • Mountain Measurement analyzes the test results data using these codes. • Nursing Programs use this code to order their NCLEX Program Reports.

6. NCLEX Program Reports Data Diagram NCSBN assigns educational program codes Candidates take the NCLEX examination Educational program codes are publicized in NCLEX application materials, the NCSBN website and the NCLEX Program Reports website Pearson VUE attaches the educational program code to the test results data Mountain Measurement creates NCLEX Program Reports by associating each candidate to their program via their program code Candidates use the program code on their NCLEX application

7. 5-Digit Educational Program Code • Where can you find the list of educational program codes? • https://www.ncsbn.org/NCLEX_Educational_Program_Codes.pdf • https://reports.mountainmeasurement.com/nclex/faq

8. Why do you need to know this? • The interpretation of the information is effected by the integrity of the data. • You can impact the integrity of your data by helping us to make sure that your students know their educational program code.

9. How do you use the NCLEX Program Reports?

10. Discussion • What do you do with the NCLEX Program Reports? • Why did you use the NCLEX Program Reports for? • What information did you use in the NCLEX Program Reports?

11. NCLEX® Program Reports Feedback Survey (2008 & 2009) • Who uses the NCLEX Program Reports? • Most common users • Nursing Program Director (37-48%) • Dean of Nursing (29-31%) • 74-85% reported at least two other personnel from their institution also use the NCLEX Program Reports

12. NCLEX® Program Reports Feedback Survey (2008 & 2009) • How long do they spend using it throughout the year? • 84-85% spend half a day or more • half spent a day or longer

13. NCLEX® Program Reports Feedback Survey (2008 & 2009) • What are they using the reports for? • 96-98% indicated using the reports to identify strengths and weaknesses or spot trends in performance • 90-93% indicated using the reports to make comparisons to graduates from other programs • 90-93% indicated using the reports to plan curriculum

14. NCLEX Program Reports Walk Through

15. Chapters 1 & 2: Introduction & Glossary What's in the report? • Report covers first-time graduates during the specified time period • Contents • Summary Overview • NCLEX ® Test Plan Report • Content Dimension Reports • Test Duration/Test Plan Performance Report • The statistics included in each report include percentages, percentile ranks and averages • Median, percentile ranks and averages are only calculated when there are over 10 valid candidates per reporting period

16. Chapter 3 – Summary Overview • The Summary Overview section summarizes the passing rate for a program • Program performance is compared with performance from up to three comparison groups: • Other (RN or PN) programs within your licensing jurisdiction (state or territory) • Other programs (for RN Programs Only) of a similar degree type (BSN, Associate Degree or Diploma) • All (RN or PN) programs within entire U.S. and its territories • Each program’s passing rate from past reporting periods is also provided for interpreting how performance changes over time

18. Chapter 4 - Test Plan Report • The Test Plan Reports show how well the “typical graduate” from a program performed on each subcategory of clients needs. Compares performance in each test plan area to: • The performance of last year’s typical graduate • The performance of graduates compared to candidates taking the test during the same time in each of the three comparison groups • Performance in each test plan area is reported as the percentile rank of the program’s median graduate in reference to the comparison group

19. Calculating Percentile Ranks • Estimating student ability in each test plan area • Themeasurement model used for the NCLEX® examination allows for the estimation of student ability on any subset of items by adjusting for their difficulty • A program’s typical graduate’s performance • The median (the midpoint in the set of a program’s student’s ranked scores) score is used to indicate the typical program performance because the mean (average) of scores is more sensitive to extreme scores • A percentile rank for each test plan area indicates how a program’s typical graduate did on each content area in each of the reference groups

20. Percentile Rank Diagram Each program’s median performance is compared to the set of all students from the comparison group Each student’s ability is estimated in each content area The percentage of students in the comparison group that got the same or a lower score as the program’s median performance is reported as the percentile rank All students with the same program code are aggregated together The median score from each program is used to indicate typical graduate performance

22. Interpreting Percentile Ranks • Example: A percentile rank of 50 on Physiological Adaptation in the sample graph indicates 50 percent of the graduates taking the NCLEX-RN® examination in your jurisdiction from April to September, 2010 scored less than (or equal to) the median of your graduates on items related to Physiological Adaptation • Since the median ability of a program (which tends to be less varied) is compared to individual ability scores, extreme percentile ranks are unlikely • Small differences in the median performance level of your graduates result in larger differences in percentile ranks in the middle of the distribution (near the 50th percentile) than at the extreme ends of the distribution.

23. NCLEX Percentile Rank Distribution

24. Chapter 5 - Content Dimension Reports • The Content Dimension Reports show how well your program´s typical graduate performed in the each of the content dimensions • Percentile ranks in these reports are determined the same way as in the Test Plan Report and are also used compare performance to the previous year’s typical graduate and with graduates from other programs • When an individual student does not take at least three items in a given content dimension, their score is not included in the calculation of the program’s median test performance

26. Chapter 6 - Test Duration/Test Plan Performance Report • This section provides information about your graduates NCLEX® examination testing experiences and about their performance in each of the test plan content areas • The Test Duration Report provides information about the number of questions answered and the amount of time spent on the NCLEX ® examination by your graduates • The Test Performance Report shows the percentage of questions the typical graduate from a program would be expected to answer correctly

27. Test Duration Report • The Test Duration Report reports separately for those who passed, failed and the total group: • the average number of questions taken in each examination • the average amount of time spent on the examination • the percent of students taking the maximum and minimum number of questions • Information on this report can be used to understand students’ testing experience • Students taking the maximum number of items have scores close to the passing standard • Students taking the minimum number of items have scores that are not close to the passing standard

28. Test Duration Report

29. Test Performance Report • The Test Performance Report shows the percentage of all possible questions in each area of the NCLEX® Test Plan that would be expected to be answered correctly, the performance based on the program’s typical graduate’s performance • The reports also include the expected percentages for each comparison group and for a student right at the passing score to enable comparisons to the program’s typical graduate’s performance

30. Test Performance Report

31. Future Directions

32. Annual NCLEX Program Reports!!! • On May 1, 2011, the first NCLEX® Annual Program Report (covering students testing between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011) will be released. • The Annual NCLEX Program Reports aggregate data over a one year period as opposed to the six month period used exclusively till now. • Subscriptions to the new Annual NCLEX® Program Reports can be purchased now.

33. Benefits • Provides a third comparison groups • Annual • Spring • Fall • Larger sample size will add stability • Smaller programs will now receive complete reports

34. Introductory Offer! • 2010-2011 NCLEX subscriptions will include the • 2010-2011 Annual NCLEX Program Report (covering students testing between Apr 1, 2010 & March 31, 2011) • Spring 2011 NCLEX Program Report (covering students testing between Sept 30, 2010 & March 31, 2011)

35. Introductory Offer! • 2010-2011 NCLEX Program Reports • $300 – RN • $200 – PN

36. Transition Plan for Annual Reports Subscribers to the 2011-2012 Program Reports can choose either Annual or Semi-Annual subscription or get both for a discounted price Subscribers to the 2010-2011 Program Reports get two reports: the 2010-2011 Annual and Spring Reports – Both released May, 2011 2010-2011 Annual Program Report 2011-2012 Annual Program Report 2010-2011 Spring Program Report 2011-2012 Fall Program Report 2011-2012 Spring Program Report April 1st, 2010 Oct 1st, 2010 April 1st, 2011 Oct 1st, 2011 April 1st, 2012

37. 2011-2012 NCLEX Program Reports • Semi-Annual Subscription • $300 – RN • $200 – PN • Annual Subscription • $300 – RN • $200 – PN • Joint Semi-Annual & Annual Subscription • $450 – RN • $300 – PN

38. Summary

39. Key Points • Know your 5-digit educational program code and make sure that your students know it and use it properly • The percentile ranks in chapters 4 and 5 of the reports are not traditional percentile ranks and must be interpreted differently • We invite you to subscribe to the New Annual NCLEX® Program Reports

40. Thank you for your kind attention and interest in the NCLEX® Program Reports • https://reports.mountainmeasurement.com/nclex/ • 1 (800) 261-6227