Developing a Tool to Assess Physical Therapist Educational Program Quality With Engagement Theory: The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy Benchmarks for Excellence Task Force

Background and Purpose. The American Council of Academic Physical Therapy (ACAPT) convened the Benchmarks for Excellence (BenEx) Task Force with a charge to define and assess excellence in physical therapist education. The purpose of this article is to describe the process employed by the BenEx Task Force in the development of a tool to measure physical therapist education program excellence, to provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the tool, and to describe the future goals of the BenEx Task Force. Method/Model Description and Evaluation. The BenEx Task Force members adopted the Engagement Theory of Program Quality as a framework for defining excellence. In 2013, the task force developed the initial Physical Therapist Measure of Educational Program Quality survey. The task force worked closely with a Web site design company to develop a comprehensive item database, survey format, survey delivery mechanism, data-entry process, and data summary and interactive display platform. The final student survey included 36 elements representing 11 attributes within the 5 clusters of quality hypothesized by the Engagement Theory, and the faculty survey included 38 elements representing 13 attributes within the 5 clusters. Outcomes. In 2015, 88 of 193 (46%) ACAPT-eligible programs participated in the survey: 706 students, 717 faculty, and 88 program directors. The analyses revealed some areas of the survey that may require revision; however, 35 of 36 elements on the student survey and 30 of 38 elements on the faculty survey met the expected acceptable alpha reliability coefficient levels (≥.70) of internal consistency. Discussion and Conclusion. Defining excellence in physical therapist education is a difficult undertaking. The process used by the BenEx Task Force to begin the work of defining excellence in physical therapist education underscores the need for continuous engagement of stakeholders. Enlisting literature from other areas of education and a theoretical framework helped to present a cohesive structure that allowed ACAPT members to agree to the process enough to move the project forward. Furthermore, a transparent process promoted success. Continued data collection and analysis will determine the inclusion/exclusion of specific items that may not fit well into particular elements, any necessary survey revisions, and facilitation of the development of benchmarks in physical therapist education.