Abstract:
The ability to produce competent athletic trainers for the workforce, particularly in the secondary school setting, is a growing concern. Athletic training program administrators seek to create programs that graduate competent athletic training students who can pass the Board of Certification (BOC) credentialing examination. The Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) mandates that programs meet a three-year aggregate BOC program pass rate outcome of 70% for first-time test takers. The purpose of this study was to examine whether clinical education and faculty demographic characteristic variables selected from an extensive literature review impacted BOC undergraduate and graduate program three-year aggregate pass rates. The sample for the study consisted of 136 undergraduate and 38 graduate athletic training program directors from across the United States who responded to an 18-item survey that was validated by an expert panel.
Pearson correlations found no correlation between the undergraduate three-year aggregate BOC program pass rate and any of the variables used in this study. For graduate programs, a negative correlation was found between the three-year aggregate BOC program pass rate and both the number of required minimum clinical hours per week as well as the number of dual-appointed faculty associated with the program. Using multiple regression with backward selection, the current study determined that the BOC three-year aggregate pass rate for graduate programs could be predicted using the number of required maximum clinical hours per week and the number of dual-appointed faculty associated with the program. In addition, the use of upsampled logistic regression found that compliance with the mandated 70% three-year aggregate BOC pass rate could be predicted for undergraduate programs using the average clinical preceptor-to-student ratio, the average number of years of faculty clinical experience, the average number of years faculty teaching experience, and the number of full-time faculty associated with the program. Last, a series of factorial ANOVAs found no interactions between the selected variables for undergraduate and graduate programs. In addition, there were no significant main effects for any of the selected variables across undergraduate and graduate athletic training programs.
Keyword 1: Athletic Training Education
Keyword 2: BOC outcomes
Keyword 3: Clinical education
Keyword 4: Faculty demographic characteristics