FAQs

  1. What is the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment® (PCOA®)?
  2. Why is the PCOA needed?
  3. How was the PCOA developed?
  4. When and where will the PCOA be administered?
  5. How do the schools of pharmacy register for the assessment?
  6. How is the PCOA scored?
  7. What information is provided in the score reports?

1. What is the Pharmacy Curriculum Outcomes Assessment® (PCOA®)?

The PCOA is a 220 item multiple-choice assessment developed by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy® (NABP®). The content of the PCOA follows its blueprint, which covers four content areas and 28 subtopics. The PCOA is intended to be a valuable and integral component of the process that schools use to assess student performance and pharmacy curriculum. The data obtained from the PCOA will provide participating schools of pharmacy with detailed feedback related to the subject matter covered throughout the professional pharmacy curriculum. Data can also be used to provide detailed information to individual students on their strengths and weaknesses in regard to the curriculum. Because the PCOA is administered on an annual basis, resulting data are both formative and summative in measuring student progress and allow comparisons to be made to a national reference group.

2. Why is the PCOA needed?

The schools of pharmacy have expressed a need for an objective assessment that is psychometrically validated to assist with measuring performance. The PCOA is similar to medical in-service examinations that are administered annually across years of study in order to evaluate progress. The PCOA can be used:

  • To measure the overall performance of pharmacy students and compare their scores to a representative national sample of students
  • As a tool for faculty to provide constructive feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the student and to track individuals’ scores from year to year and individual growth over time
  • To document improvement in student performance after the school’s curriculum has been modified or updated
  • For research and correlational studies with existing assessments such as Pharmacy College Admission Test scores, current grades, and future North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination® (NAPLEX®) administrations.
  • As a component and outcome measure of the evaluation plan suggested by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards. As such, the PCOA:
    • Has formative and summative measures
    • Provides for collective analyses of findings
    • Evaluates trends over time
    • Includes standardized instruments and data analyses
    • Documents that the school is providing the scientific foundation necessary for achievement of the professional competencies

3. How was the PCOA developed?

The PCOA was developed using gold-standard test development principles and psychometrics. Content of the assessment is based upon a blueprint that was derived from the ACPE Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree. NABP convened a select committee of 11 stakeholders who collected curriculum data from 55 accredited US pharmacy programs. The committee estimated the average number of curriculum hours that were allocated to the different areas of the new draft blueprint for each of the 55 schools in the sample, and used those averages to establish proportions upon which the number of questions in the PCOA should be assigned. These results were incorporated into a survey instrument sent to all US schools of pharmacy. Constructing the survey in this way utilized the number of credit hours allocated to the topics in the pharmacy schools’ curriculum and created a draft blueprint that would result in an assessment that reflected the relative emphasis of the various topics.

In March 2006, this survey instrument was sent to all of the schools of pharmacy. Surveys were obtained from 53 accredited pharmacy programs. Statistical and psychometric analyses were completed on the 2007 pilot PCOA as well as the 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 operational administrations, and the evidence demonstrated that there is high level of confidence in the reliability and validity of the assessment, in its scores, and in its inferences about the abilities of students and the effectiveness of a school’s curriculum.

In 2010, the College of Pharmacy Curricula Survey was developed using input from examination review committee members. The results of the survey were used to develop a new blueprint for the PCOA. NABP will also use the data to examine trends of schools of pharmacy in support of the infrastructure of the Association’s examination programs. One hundred and twelve schools of pharmacy were invited to take the survey online. The survey received responses from 66 pharmacy schools, a return rate of nearly 60%. Responses came in from across the nation representing all eight NABP/American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy districts, which were created to represent the schools and boards of pharmacy throughout the US, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands. The respondents represented the diversity of the pharmacy schools throughout the US with respect to size, geographic location, public/private, etc.

4. When and where will the PCOA be administered?

The PCOA is administered during a predetermined testing window, which is typically during the first quarter of each calendar year. Administration of the assessment during this time each year allows for consistent measurement of the knowledge and skills acquired during most of the program curriculum year, while still allowing enough time for the schools to receive the scores and provide feedback to students before the end of their program year. The assessment is administered on the campus of each participating school of pharmacy, so no additional or unusual travel is required of the students. 2012 will also be the advent of the first computerized PCOA. In 2012, all schools of pharmacy may choose either the computer-based or the paper-and-pencil PCOA.

5. How do the schools of pharmacy register for the assessment?

Prior to the assessment, NABP will provide the testing window, registration materials, PCOA testing policies, and proctor requirements. To avoid possible conflicts of interest, assessments may not be proctored by pharmacy program faculty, though other employees of the institution are permitted to proctor. Registration is to be completed by the school of pharmacy, which includes a listing of the names of all students that will be taking the assessment, the assessment fees ($75 per assessment), and the designated school of pharmacy contact’s information.

6. How is the PCOA scored?

NABP uses a Rasch-based item response theory model to produce individual scores. Rigorous psychometric analyses are performed to assess model fit, item functioning, accuracy of the key, and form-level reliability. Scores are produced for the total assessment as well as for each of the content areas. Assessment forms from each annual administration are equated to one another. As a result, scores across administrations are placed on the same measurement continuum, which permits accurate comparisons to be made between the content area scores and between the scores from one year to the next.

7. What information is provided in the score reports?

Two types of score reports are provided: one is customized for each individual student and another is prepared as a school-level summary report. Both types of score reports are sent to the pharmacy school. Student reports are provided to pharmacy school faculty so that they may disseminate to individual students. It is recommended that faculty meet with students to provide and discuss individual results and plan for the students’ next program year.

Student score reports include students’ scale scores and their national percentile for their program year for the total assessment and for the four content areas. Additionally, the percent of items correct on the 28 subtopics is provided.

School score reports include summaries of data for the particular school by program year, including the number of examinees, mean school scale scores, mean school percent correct, and mean school percentile. For information about the national reference group, the mean national scale score and mean national percent correct scores are provided. All these scores are provided for the total assessment as well as for each of the four content areas. Also, the average percent of items correct on the 28 subtopics is included, as is the mean number of items correct for the national reference group. Finally, a score roster listing the schools’ students’ scores (in a condensed format) is provided. 

Download a Sample Score Report (PDF).