Standardized testing tools to support quality educational outcomes

Student success or failure in nursing education, and perhaps subsequent professional practice, can be difficult to predict and likely depends on complex relationships between several variables. Identifying and controlling for these variables is a continuing challenge for college faculty and administrators. Many colleges of nursing across the United States now use standardized, external assessment programs to help students prepare for professional licensure examinations (National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses [NCLEX-RN]), as one means of predicting academic success in a particular nursing program, and as a component of continuous quality improvement efforts within a school. This article reviews recent literature related to NCLEX-RN success and discusses several commercially available testing and remediation programs used today. In addition, the authors discuss the ways in which a testing program supports the college's mission and goals and efforts to continuously evaluate and improve the quality of the program.