Predicting Student Success on the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy® Examination

Abstract

Importance: A predictive tool to support academic and practice outcomes for occupational therapy students is needed for use in advising students.

Objective: To determine whether characteristics of academic and professional behavior across cohorts could indicate the likelihood of student success in passing the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy^® examination.

Design: Causal-comparative research.

Participants: Master of occupational therapy students (N = 315; eight cohorts).

Measures: Demographics, college entrance exams, grade point average, program benchmarks (i.e., specific course grades, fieldwork grades, Occupational Therapy Knowledge Exam scores), licensure exam.

Results: Baseline and in-program characteristics were used to determine success; for each unit increase in the success score, the odds of passing the exam were 4.11 (95% confidence interval [2.23, 7.60]).

Conclusions and relevance: Case studies that have used this success score suggest that additional resources and targeted interventions could be allocated to help students at highest risk of not passing the licensure exam.

What this article adds: Using a predictive tool to support student success can enable more effective academic advising throughout an occupational therapy program and result in positive outcomes on the licensure exam.