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School-Related Variables as Predictors of Achievement on the National Council Licensure Examination (Nclex-Rn) for a Sample of 418 Students Enrolled in a Diploma Nursing Program

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Claudia R. Wright

School of Communication Arcadia, California

William B. Michael

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

For a total sample of 418 students pursuing the diploma program in nursing and for each of four ethnic subgroups comprising 272 Whites, 67 Hispanics, 34 Blacks, and 20 Asians (an undeclared group of 25 students not being considered), this investigation was concerned with the validity of each of 12 predictor variables representing age, high school grade point average (HS-GPA), GPA in three prerequisite courses and in a composite of these three courses, scores in three reading measures, and scores in three mathematics measures relative to each of two criterion variables reflecting (a) cumulative grade point average in required courses taken in a school of nursing (SN-GPA) and (b) standing in the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Parallel information also was sought for eight intermediate variables represented by scores on standardized achievement tests of the National League of Nursing (NLN) corresponding to the content of key academic courses and administered at the end of each course. Selected conclusions were that (a) SN-GPA is a highly valid predictor of NCLEX-RN scores for members of the White and Hispanic subgroups, but only a modestly valid predictor for those in the Black and Asian subgroups, (b) HS-GPA affords little, if any, predictive validity of either criterion measure for any ethnic group, (c) prerequisite coursework taken primarily in a community college affords moderate predictive validity for White, Hispanic, and Asian subgroups but high validity for the Black subgroup, in the prediction of SN-GPA, but reduced if not marginal validity for all ethnic subgroups relative to standing on the NCLEX-RN, (d) standardized achievement tests in reading and mathematics provide somewhat mixed validity promise across the various ethnic subgroups, (e) the NLN measures, with a few noteworthy exceptions, furnish consistently high validity coefficients across all subgroups for both criterion measures.

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