Reporting school data on the dental licensure examination

Area of Science:

• Dental Education
• Assessment and Evaluation

Background:

• Since 2012, the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) uses a pass/fail reporting system.
• Numerical NBDE scores were previously vital for dental school curriculum evaluation.
• The current pass/fail NBDE reports offer limited insights for dental schools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and validate a novel model for reporting standardized, school-level NBDE performance data.
• To reintroduce meaningful performance metrics for dental schools.
• To enable dental schools to benchmark student performance against a national cohort.

Main Methods:

• Development of a new NBDE performance data reporting model.
• Validation of the new reporting model's effectiveness and reliability.
• Implementation of school-level performance data reporting.

Main Results:

• The new model provides standardized, school-level performance data on the NBDE.
• Schools can now compare their students' NBDE performance to national averages.
• The system facilitates more informed curriculum evaluation by dental schools.

Conclusions:

• The newly validated NBDE reporting model offers significant advantages over the pass/fail system.
• This model empowers dental schools with actionable data for educational improvement.
• Standardized NBDE performance data enhances the evaluation of dental education programs.