Subject: Clinical Performance Evaluation Policy: 11
Effective Date: 08/10/2012 Standard Element: 3E, 4J
Purpose: This policy is to ensure the student and clinical faculty understand the grading procedure for their clinical internships.
Policy: The PTA Program utilizes the APTA’s PTA Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) to assess student performance and the clinical education component of the curriculum.
Procedure: The student will be assessed by the clinical instructor/ACCE using the APTA’s PTA Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI). A thorough review of this document will be provided to the student prior to the beginning of their first clinical experience. The following guidelines are utilized by the ACCE /CI.
1. The Student and CI will be required to complete the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) CPI training prior to the start of the clinical experience. Instructions will be provided by the ACCE.
2. The ACCE will provide both the students and CI/SCCE with the expectations and objectives for each clinical experience. Grading anchor indicators will be provided and defined for the student and CI.
3. The RED FLAG Criteria will be identified as the following: During any point of the experience if any of the red flag criteria are rated below the highlighted indicator, this places that student at risk for failure of this clinical experience, and the ACCE should be notified at this time.
4. All RED FLAG Criterion must be at the entry-level rating for the terminal final experience, if this does not occur the ACCE will contact the CI to verify the grading for accuracy and decide if the rating indicates failure or remediation prior to the submission of grades.
5. If a student is at risk for failure the ACCE, CI, and student collectively will discuss the specific clinical issue and provide the appropriate remediation for the student.
6. In most cases a learning contract will be developed to outline areas of concern and will be monitored closely by the ACCE and CI. The objectives set forth must be attained at the specified date/times in order for the student to be deemed successful.
7. If the student is NOT successful post-remediation, the student will fail the clinical experience, regardless of the outcome of the additional criterion.
8. The following performance guidelines are utilized by the ACCE:
- PT 395 E- Students are expected to perform at Beginning Performance to Advance Beginning Performance at the conclusion of this practicum.
- PT 395 F- Students are expected to perform at Intermediate Performance to Advanced Intermediate Performance at the conclusion of this practicum.
- PT 395 G- Students are expected to perform at the end range. Entry-level performance at the conclusion of this practicum will be achieved. If scores are below the ACCE will communicate with the CI to determine necessary action.
9. Refer to “Minimum Required Skills of Physical Therapist Assistant Graduates at Entry Level” which defines Entry-level data collection skills and procedural interventions. It must be emphasized that entry-level should not be compared to an experienced PTA.
10. Clinical Instructors are requested to provide further information in the comment section which supports the given score, to offer ongoing feedback to the student, and are instructed that the evaluation of student performance should be based on repeated performance, not isolated incidents. If conflicting information is provided on the scale from the comments section, the ACCE will contact the clinical instructor member for clarification.
11. The CI will be required to complete both mid-term/final evaluations, as indicated, review their assessment with the student, and submit it electronically to the ACCE for review.
12. The student is also required to complete the CPI as a self-assessment for both the mid-term and final experience. A student’s grade will not be issued until the student completes the evaluation. This could result in a delay in graduation.
13. If there are any discrepancies with the grade of the CPI and/or comments by the CI, the ACCE will verify this with the CI ensuring appropriate use of the CPI assessment.
14. The ACCE reserves the right to determine the final grade for after reviewing the CPI.
15. The ACCE averages the scores of each criterion to arrive at a percentage/letter grade for the student. Each clinical experience grading expectation is based on the level of clinical experience and is defined in the course objectives located in the syllabi for 395E, 395F, and 395G.
16. Students must achieve above stated thresholds for ALL criteria to successfully pass the clinical component of the clinical course.
Reviewed and revised 6/2015, 6/2024
Next Page: Previous Page: