Standardized Tests as Predictors of NCLEX-RN Success

@#PURPOSE: This study examined the predictive ability of Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) standardized tests on Fundamentals of Nursing (FON), Pharmacology (PHARM), Medical-Surgical Nursing (MSN), and RN Comprehensive Predictor (RNCP) on the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) performance of nursing graduates. BACKGROUND: Various assessment tools in nursing education are used to predict the success of students in nursing licensure examinations. There are inconsistent findings on the predictive ability of course-specific standardized tests on NCLEX-RN success. METHODS: A retrospective correlation research design was used to determine the association between ATI standardized tests and NCLEX-RN success. Secondary data analysis of 141 ATI student scores from 2017 to 2018 from a Southeastern university in the United States were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, set at 0.05 level of significance. Three models of logistic regression were used to determine the predictive ability of ATI standardized exams on NCLEX-RN success. RESULTS: ATI MSN standardized test is the strongest predictor of NCLEX-RN success, followed by ATI FON and ATI RNCP tests. ATI PHARM standardized test is not predictive of NCLEX-RN success. CONCLUSION: Standardized tests can help in identifying students who are at-risk for failing the NCLEX-RN prior to taking the examination. Understanding the impact of standardized testing on NCLEX-RN performance is essential in addressing the students' ability to become successful in the nursing program and NCLEX-RN.

Tasks for assessment of the episodic buffer: a systematic review

The aim of the present study was to review the tasks that have been used to assess the functioning of the episodic buffer in Baddeley's multicomponent model of working memory. A systematic review of studies published from January 2000 to February 2013 was conducted. The search term "episodic buffer" was used in the Web of Knowledge, PsycINFO, PubMed, Embase, and BVS-Psi databases. The selected articles consisted of empirical studies that used tasks to assess the episodic buffer. Theoretical and review papers and studies with animals were excluded. The final sample comprised 36 papers. The tasks were categorized as experimental tasks or standardized tests. The experimental tasks were grouped by modality (unimodal or crossmodal) and described according to four criteria: task to be performed, type of stimulus used, secondary task employed, if any, and retention interval. The standardized tests included classical measures of working memory. Some tasks were found not to meet experimental criteria that were needed to evaluate the episodic buffer. Moreover, some of the standardized tests did not provide theoretical arguments or empirical evidence that the episodic buffer is recruited to perform them. The results are discussed in the context of the multicomponent model of working memory...

Feasibility of clinical application of language sample analysis / 上海第二医科大学学报

Objective To explore the feasibility of language sample analysis in assessment of language development in children in order to provide evidences for its clinical application. Methods The study population consisted of a cross-sectional sample of 50 preschool Putonghua-speaking children aged 4 to 6 years. The data on measurement of utterance length (MLU) and lexical diversity (D) were computed from 20 minutes' conversational language samples, and correlation analysis was conducted among MLU, D, age, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT). Splited sample analysis by comparing MLU of first one hundred utterances and MLU of last one hundred utterance, D of odd lexicals and D of even lexicals were conducted to test the validity of language sample indictors. Results MLU and D development of the preschool Putonghua-speaking children were positively related to age. MLU, D, age, verbal intelligence quotient (VIQ) and PPVT were associated with each other (P<0.05 or P≤0.01) except age and VIQ(P>0.05). There were significant correlations between MLU of first one hundred utterances and MLU of last one hundred utterances and between D of odd lexicals and D of even lexicals(P=0.000). Conelusion Language sample analysis proves to be feasible in assessment of language development in preschool children aged 4 to 6 years.