Principles for Developing Instruments To Assess Students' Clinical Skills

When learning objectives specify that a student must be able to demonstrate a clinical skill, the most appropriate instruments currently available to evaluate that skill are checklists and/or rating scales. To construct reliable instruments of either type, one must (1) identify only significant observable elements in the performance to be rated, (2) clearly define each element, (3) describe each scale or checklist point clearly, (4) determine how discriminating the judgment can be and describe elements and ratings accordingly, (5) carefully consider the scoring procedures, (6) standardize test conditions to the greatest extent possible, (7) select raters who can be objective and train them to use the evaluation instruments carefully and consistently.