|
 |
GRADING SYSTEMS IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL DOCTORAL EDUCATION. Kathrins B and Yellen J; Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, NJ, USA. jyellen09@ hotmail.com. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the grading systems of select schools with long standing entry-level clinical doctoral programs. BACKGROUND: In the United States, the clinical doctorate has become an increasingly popular entry-level degree for such schools as physical therapy, pharmacology, and audiology. In other instances, health professions have a long-standing history of offering entry-level clinical doctorates including schools of medicine, dentistry, and chiropractic. Schools of physical therapy could benefit from the experience of those professions with long standing experience offering the clinical doctorates in many areas including grading systems. SUBJECTS: One hundred seventy two school grading systems were reviewed. This represented 93, 87, and 85 percent of all accredited schools of medicine, dentistry, and chiropractic, respectively. METHODS AND MATERIALS: From November 2002 to January 2003, one researcher gathered the available information about the grading systems of accredited schools of medicine, dentistry, and chiropractic. Sources utilized to gather this information was College Source® Online (http://www.cgf.org/ home.asp) and school websites. It was assumed that these sources provided current and accurate information. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: Descriptive statistics were employed. Grading systems were grouped into 4 categories as follows: pass/fail (or equivalent such as honors or high pass); letter grading; combination of pass/fail and letter grading; other grading system. All the professional schools combined employed the following: 39.0% pass/fail, 46.5% letter grading, 13.4 % combination, and 1.2% used other grading. Concerning each profession, the majority of schools of medicine employed pass/fail (54% or 60 programs). The majority of schools of dentistry and chiropractic employed letter grading at 80% and 84.6%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Professions with long-standing schools offering entry-level clinical doctorates did not show a clear preference for grading systems for the assessment of student proficiency. The majority of schools of medicine employed pass/fail and the majority of schools combined employed pass/fail or letter grading. This information may help schools of physical therapy as they plan to convert to the Doctor of Physical Therapy. FUNDING SOURCE: This study was partially funded through the Graduate Assistantship Program of The Richard Stockton College of NJ. Potential material gain by the authors as a result of the study: none.
Copyright 2004 by the American Physical Therapy Association Reprint Information |