I’ve been reading the many posts regarding the development of a nationally accepted practical examination, and I’d like to reopen the discussion with a few comments and observations.
The NOCE & NCLE exams were never intended to be licensing examinations, but rather credentials for opticians with no licensing alternatives in their state. Formal task analyses were done in 1987 (when PES was awarded the testing contract by the ABO/NCLE), and the NOCE/NCLE were redesigned to correspond with the task analyses. Many states subsequently adopted these exams as a portion of their licensing process. Without the task analyses and psychometric data, most states would never have considered these exams as acceptable for licensing purposes. The ABO has investigated the development of a national practical, but for a number of reasons (including expense, differences in state statutes, etc.) that effort has been abandoned. The vestiges of that effort can be seen in the “head” portion of the current exam. The NCLE uses the CLSA’s Fellow Practical Exam as part of the requirement for Advanced Certification Status. The designation FCLSA is the contact lens equivalent of ABOM.
Capitol Hill Testing Services (CHTS) was awarded a 5yr. contract to administer the NY practical exam in 1997. The terms of the contract specified that CHTS do comprehensive task analyses of ophthalmic and contact dispensing, and develop practical exams based on the task analyses for both areas (NY has a two-tiered license). This process was substantially completed by Fall 2001. The only person posting on this board who has seen this exam beside myself (to my knowledge) is Jon Bright. There have been some comments about subjectivity in the NY exam, but I would counter those comments by saying that there are systems of checks and balances built into the exam process (including examiner evaluation, candidate evaluation, psychometric data, etc.) to eliminate this concern as much as possible. Any exam that involves human scoring of a task is open to this criticism. This practical does not redundantly test skills already tested by the pre-requisite NOCE/NCLE exams. Keep in mind that this exam is based on a task analysis…what opticians told us they did during the course of an average day, both in terms of frequency and criticality. While I am not familiar with the exam developed by Roy Ferguson, (Massachusetts & North Carolina) it appears from the postings that I have read that it is in many ways similar. The one glaring difference is that there is no “stand-alone” task analysis. Unfortunately, “referencing” the ABO/NCLE task analyses was not an option in NY or it would have saved CHTS a ton of money and a lot of effort!
Is opticianry different in NC, PA, NY, AK, MI, CA? I think not! Except for the lack of licensure in the majority of states, we all work in pretty much the same way. So, why can’t we agree on a national standard? Are we so involved in turf wars & power plays that we have lost sight of the original goal? I’d like to hear from other optiboard members what their vision is of a national practical. OK..I put my head on the chopping block, so hack away!
Bookmarks