Assessing a Reading Score's Ability to Predict PTA Program Student Success

Admission into a physical therapist assistant (PTA) program continues to be highly competitive, with consistently more applicants than available seats. Student success is essential for maintaining CAPTE accreditation. There is limited research on admission criteria and predictors of success in physical therapist assistant education. This study aimed to determine if the Accuplacer or ACT reading test scores can predict student success (program completion and first-time NPTE-PTA) in a physical therapist assistant program using Astin’s input-environment-output (IEO) model as the theoretical foundation. This non-experimental logistic regression study used retrospective secondary data from an associate degree-level physical therapist assistant program 2016 through 2022 cohort student file that contained personal characteristics, ACT or Accuplacer reading scores, program completion, and first-attempt NPTE-PTA success. The data collected were subjected to descriptive Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and binomial logistic regression to create a predictive model of student success. The statistical analyses identified one variable, the Accuplacer reading score, significantly correlated with NPTE-PTA success.