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COVID-19: Student Achievement Measures

The CAA requires programs to report on the completion status of all students in the accredited or candidate program. The numbers of students who complete the program on time, students who complete the program later than expected, and students who do not complete the program for academic and clinical progress or reasons having to do with program quality factor into the formula the CAA has developed to determine a program’s on-time completion rate. In addition, programs must report on the numbers and percentages of test-takers from their program who pass the PRAXIS examination and graduates who are employed within one year of graduation.

The data for each of these three student achievement measures are averaged over three years, and the 3-year average for each must meet or exceed 80% to meet CAA’s standards. The CAA’s thresholds remain at 80%; however, CAA is considering the effect of COVID-19 on measures (including formulas) on all programs. More guidance will be provided to programs at a later date.

Reporting Student Completion

In response to Standard 5.5 (Program Completion), programs must include those individuals who either did not yet complete or have taken longer to complete the program in the data provided for this standard. At its July 2020 meeting, the CAA approved modifications to the Program Completion Rate Calculator worksheet for use beginning October 1, 2020 with the next round of accreditation reports. The approved changes allow for programs to note students graduating late due to the pandemic, and does not factor those students into the completion rates. The modification to the calculator worksheet is an exemption row for programs to note those graduating late “for non-curricular reasons directly relating to the results of a public health emergency or disaster, that is natural, deliberate, or accidental in nature.” The CAA will not penalize any programs for not meeting the standard due to the effects of the pandemic. As noted above, the CAA uses a three-year-average to determine compliance with student achievement measures.