Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
Predictive Accuracy the Reach Exit Exam Using Parallel Versions for Multiple Administrations
Robin B. Britt, EdD, RNC, College of Nursing, Texas Woman's University, Houston, TX, USA
Five previously conducted validity studies with a total sample of 27,809 subjects indicate that the Reach (formerly HESI) Exit Exam (E2) was 96.30% to 98.30% accurate in predicting NCLEX-RN success. Many schools require or recommend remediation and re-testing with a parallel version of the E2 for students who do not achieve the faculty determined benchmark score. All previous studies evaluated the predictive accuracy of the E2 for the first administered version only, and no data existed on the predictive accuracy of the E2 for repeat administrations. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the predictive accuracy of the E2 for the first, second, and third administrations of the E2.
Faculties at 407 schools of nursing from across the U.S. were sent an electronic questionnaire and were ask to identify which students failed the NCLEX-RN on their first attempt. To protect the subjects’ privacy, data provided by the faculty were electronically imported into the database by aggregate only and no researcher was aware of which particular students were unsuccessful in passing the licensing exam. Of the 407 schools of nursing that were emailed the electronic survey, 130 (31.94%) responded; 55 BSN, 66 ADN, 2 Diploma, and one International school of nursing. Findings indicate that the predictive accuracy is congruent for multiple administrations of parallel versions of the E2. Therefore, students who remediate and re-test with a different version of the E2 can expect to obtain accurate predictions of their readiness for successful completion of the licensing exam. Findings specific to types of nursing programs, BSN, ADN, and Diploma, will be presented.