The Effectiveness of Remediation Type in Promoting Student Success on Standardized Test Scores in a Traditional BSN Program

Abstract

Many nursing schools have adopted the practice of utilizing standardized predictor exams as a method to prepare students for the licensure exam upon completion of the program. These predictor exams serve as a tool for the nursing program to predict student success or failure, which guides nurse educators as they work with the students on identified areas of remediation to increase the students’ chance at success on their licensure exam. As students work through the different components of the specific testing company, suggested remediation is developed based on the students’ testing results. This creates an individualized plan that focuses on identified weakness with the intention to better prepare the student as they work toward program completion. While remediation is commonly understood to be necessary to improve student success, a gap in the evidence to support the effectiveness of specific types of remediation for educators has been identified. The purpose of this non-experimental comparative project using retrospective data was to look at the impact of remediation type on student success in the area of standardized testing. Using the Mann-Whitney U test for data analysis, the faculty-facilitated remediation strategy was shown to be an appropriate method to help increase final predictor exam scores for students in a traditional baccalaureate nursing program.

Keywords: nursing student, faculty-facilitated remediation, NCLEX predictor, standardized test