Factors Influencing Performance on State Board Test Pool Examinations

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Abstract
This study was based on the assumption that candidates for Iicensure will achieve more satisfactory results if they are aware of the factors influencing State Board performance. In order to help the student evolve an effective plan of review prior to taking the State Board examination the Information given must be based on evidence more objective than intuitive assumptions. The primary problem, therefore, was the identification of factors which seem to have bearing upon State Board achievement. The relationship between theory grades and NLN Achievement Examination scores and performance on State Boards were examined for 74 students drawn at random from the classes of 1960–1964 in a 3-year school of nursing. In terms of the factors tested, two conclusions emerge from the findings: 1) NLN Achievement Examination scores provide a basis for predicting State Board scores, even though the bands of probable error are moderately broad; 2) the correlations between theory grades and State Board scores are too low to be useful in prediction. The established relationships between NLN Achievement Examination scores and State Board scores opened the way for the use of a meaningful technique in the guidance of students. Recognizing that students approach the Iicensure examination with varying degrees of concern, knowledge of the point and interval estimates appeared to modify student attitudes concerning preparation and review. When a student can be informed with a measure of confidence that her interval estimate in a given subject, based upon her score in the NLN Achievement Examination, spans failing scores, she can scarcely be complacent about the inevitability of success. Moreover, all students can assume a more realistic approach to preparation and review if their areas of strength and weakness are clarified through these objective means. A concomitant value of this study was an increased appreciation for use of the results of NLN Achievement Examinations among the faculty. Likewise, the predictive significance of the NLN examinations has brought about a more positive attitude among students toward taking these examinations. Since the results do not contribute to their course grade, some students in the past have viewed the examinations with indifference. Although the correlations between theory grades and State Board scores were too low to permit prediction, these findings provided an impetus to explore the current system of classroom evaluation. The consistently high performance on the licensure examination of students in this school is evidence of the adequacy of preparation in theory. Class grades, however, do not appear to properly reflect the degree of such preparation. Acknowledging the obsolescence of the results yielded by the original sample, periodic replication of the study is indicated. Subsequent correlations between theory grades and State Board scores may be high enough to permit prediction equations based on two predictor variables for all five areas. Meanwhile the utility and validity of the NLN Achievement Examinations as predictors of State Board performance provide a firm and objective base for the student's program of review for the licensure examination.

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