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School of Pharmacy Study Finds Value in PCOA as Integral Component of Student and Curricular Assessment
Originally published in the April 2011 NABP Newsletter
Serving as a comprehensive assessment tool, the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment® (PCOA®) was recently cited in one school of pharmacy’s study as a valuable assessment tool. Conducted by the Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBAU), Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy, the study concluded that the PCOA provides a standardized national assessment that can be used as a benchmark for comparing the performance of students at various schools and colleges of pharmacy, as well as within programs as students progress through curricula. Additionally, the study encourages more participation by other schools and colleges of pharmacy as this could increase the value of the PCOA. Since its operational launch in 2008, the assessment has been administered to approximately 10,000 students across 40 schools and colleges of pharmacy.
Having participated in the PCOA since it was first offered, PBAU focused its research on student results garnered over a period of three years, comparing these results with national averages, percentiles, and student grade point averages (GPAs). According to the study, a strong correlation between GPA and PCOA scale score was observed for P3 students in 2008. Additionally, though not as strong, in 2009 and 2010 there remained a positive correlation of GPA to scale score, suggesting that pharmacy students with higher grades also performed better on the PCOA. The study also found a strong correlation between a pharmacy student’s year in the program and his or her PCOA scale score, indicating that scale scores increase as students advance in the curriculum.
The study points out the need for an objective assessment that aligns with Standard 15 of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) 2006 revision of the Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree, which calls for pharmacy programs to “incorporate periodic, psychometrically sound, comprehensive, knowledge-based and performance-based formative and summative assessments . . . that allow comparisons and benchmarks with all accredited and peer institutions.” The PCOA offers a viable standardized national assessment for evaluating pharmacy student performance to meet criteria set forth in Standard 15. PBAU suggests that additional participation from United States schools and colleges of pharmacy could increase the value of potential outcomes and performance data when comparing student performance nationally across curriculums.
Developed and piloted in 2006, the PCOA was created as a response to the need expressed by US Department of Education, ACPE, and some US schools and colleges of pharmacy for a tool to assist with curriculum development and review. The most recent administration was held January 24 to February 4, 2011.
More detail on the PBAU study can be found in the December 2010 American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education article “Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment for Individual Student Assessment and Curricular Evaluation.” Additional information regarding the PCOA is available at www.nabp.net/programs/assessment/pcoa.
