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NPTE Quarterly Faculty Newsletter Volume 13; No. 3

Third Quarter 2016

The mission of the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy is to protect the public by providing service and leadership that promote safe and competent physical therapy practice.

The NPTE Quarterly Faculty Newsletter is published by the Federation (FSBPT) as one mechanism to communicate with educators in PT and PTA programs. This effort to provide ongoing communication includes current information and updates on the NPTE as well as information on other regulatory issues that might impact or be of interest to program educators.

Please share this newsletter with other PT or PTA educators.

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Table of Contents

Program Directors: Did you see your webinar invitation?

On September 13, we sent PT and PTA program directors an invitation to attend a webinar on Thursday, September 22 at 3:00 PM EDT.

The webinar will review the new role for schools in the exam registration process that will take effect in October. We will walk you through new process, website enhancements, and plans for transitioning to the new system. Please plan on attending this important webinar!

To find the email, look for the subject line, New NPTE Registration Process “How To” Webinar

Jurisdiction Board Staff: Did you see YOUR webinar invitation?

On September 13, we also emailed jurisdiction board members and staff an invitation to attend their own webinar on September 22 at 1:00 PM EDT. The webinar covers updates to the exam registration process from the board’s perspective.

To find the email, look for the subject line “How the New NPTE Registration Process Works” Webinar for Board Members & Staff.

Mark Your Calendars: 2016 NPTE Workshop for Educators October 14-16

The next NPTE Workshop for Educators is scheduled for October 14-16, 2016 in Alexandria, Virginia.

Why do educators attend? Because they learn:

  • How to write better multiple-choice questions for their exams that follow the same format as the NPTE
  • How to statistically analyze test questions to determine if they are good questions
  • How the NPTE is developed from content outline through scoring
  • How to prepare students for the test administration experience
  • How to interpret and effectively use school pass rate reports

And it’s a great opportunity to ask questions of FSBPT staff!

For more information, go to NPTE Workshop for Educators.

This Quarter’s Question: How will programs be involved in the new NPTE registration process?

Under the new exam registration process, which will be rolled out in October, you (programs) will initially provide us with your students’ names, email addresses, and expected graduation dates. You will not need to provide any other identifying information at that time. We will ask students to finish their candidate profile themselves.

The other key involvement for you will occur when a class is close to graduation. Prior to a student being able to register for the NPTE, you will need to validate whether they are on track to complete the program on time. The rest of the registration process will not change for the student.

Note that any procedures that occur between you and the state board for licensure purposes will still take place.

We believe this will result in more accurate pass rate reports with less work on your part!

How? You will be the source of information about the students in your program. And by verifying and correcting student information earlier, you will no longer need to correct erroneous information within a short window of time after testing.

See the articles on the September 22 webinars in this newsletter for more information.

What Students Need to Know: What abbreviations will I need to know when I take the NPTE?

When developing and approving test questions for the NPTE, we generally try to avoid using abbreviations. However, in some cases the abbreviation may add clarity to a test question, as the abbreviation may be the most generally accepted way of communicating a concept within a clinical environment.

For a complete list of the abbreviations that a candidate may see on the NPTE, check the following page:
http://www.fsbpt.org/FreeResources/NPTECandidateHandbook/Abbreviations.aspx.