Registration for the January 23 – February 4, 2012 PCOA now open. More »

Responding to the need expressed by the United States Department of Education, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and some US colleges and schools of pharmacy for an assessment tool to assist with curriculum development and review, NABP has worked closely with key stakeholders to develop the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment (PCOA).

The PCOA is a comprehensive tool for schools of pharmacy to use as they assess curriculum development – it enables schools to analyze and evaluate critical factors in the curriculum. Suitable for students in all professional years, the PCOA provides data to the college or school in order for the college or school to review an individual student’s strengths, weaknesses, and progress from year to year in relation to the curriculum. It also supplies schools of pharmacy with data on national results.

As part of a school's commitment to continuous quality improvement, the school may use the PCOA to help evaluate whether it is meeting the desired outcomes of its doctor of pharmacy program as determined by the faculty and dean of the college or school. 

Format of the Assessment

The 220-question, multiple choice assessment may be administered to students in all four professional years. Content on the assessment follows a blueprint that reflects actual curriculum hours established through a national sample of PharmD programs in the US.

Questions on the PCOA are broken down into four areas:

• Basic biomedical sciences (16% of the assessment)
• Pharmaceutical sciences (30% of the assessment)
• Social, behavioral, and administrative sciences (22% of the assessment)
• Clinical sciences (32% of the assessment)

Why Should My School Use the PCOA?

• The PCOA measures performance and provides a comparison to national samples
• The assessment provides data on students’ knowledge in four content areas and 28 subtopics
• Score reports supply the school with a tool to provide constructive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of students
• Reports allow the school to track individuals’ scores from year to year and chart their growth over time in the program
• The PCOA serves as a component of an evaluation plan, as suggested by ACPE Guidelines, that:
  • Has formative and summative measures
  • Provides for collective analyses of findings
  • Evaluates trends over time
  • Includes standardized instruments and data
• The PCOA can provide documentation of improvement in student performance after curriculum has been modified or updated
• The assessment imparts score data that can be used in research and correlational studies with existing assessments such as PCAT scores, academic proficiency, and future NAPLEX scores

Registering for the PCOA

The PCOA is administered during the first quarter of each calendar year. Each participating school chooses one date within a two-week time period to have the assessment administered to its students.

Registration materials for the PCOA are sent to the pharmacy school in late summer each year. Schools that wish to register submit a roster of the P1, P2, P3, and/or P4 students taking the assessment. There is a charge of $75 for each student registered for the assessment, which is administered at a site of the school's choosing. This per-student price covers the cost of administration materials, personnel to supervise the administration, thorough analysis of resulting data, and score reports provided to the school. 

The next PCOA will be held between January 23, 2012 and February 4, 2012. New for the 2012 PCOA, a computer-based format of the assessment will be available. Schools have the option to administer the assessment in the new computer-based format or the paper-and-pencil format offered in past years. Only one format may be offered at each school.

Score Reports

After the assessments have been scored, a thorough analysis of resulting data and score reports are provided to the school. These scores are sent to the pharmacy school for its use in assessing its curriculum and for dissemination to participating students. NABP issues three types of reports to the schools.

The individual student score report details the student’s score and provides a comparison of the student’s performance against national results. This report supplies the school with a tool to provide constructive feedback on a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The school of pharmacy score report includes data on results of the assessment as a whole.

The school of pharmacy student summary score report contains a side-by-side comparison of each student’s data including where they rank in the national average.

Student- and school-specific scores are never released to other schools; however, national percentiles for scores and program years are provided in all reports.

Download a sample score report (PDF) or contact custserv@nabp.net for more information.