Educational assessments in entry-level physical therapy education: a scoping review

High-quality educational assessments in health professions education are critical for ensuring that program graduates are competent to perform safe and effective patient care. While scoping reviews of available assessments and assessment tools have been conducted in some health professions, such knowledge synthesis is not available for physical therapy. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically describe the assessment of knowledge and skills in entry-level physical therapy education and identify gaps that need to be filled. The PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC, and Scopus electronic databases were searched from inception through April 2025. Studies were included if they evaluated an educational assessment of knowledge and/or skills in physical therapy students. Two reviewers independently screened the abstracts and full texts. One reviewer extracted information from each article, with verification from a second reviewer. Data charting included study characteristics, assessment characteristics, and validity evidence according to Messick’s validity framework. The level of evidence in each study was rated on a four-point scale. Fifteen physical therapy educators and five health professions education experts provided consultation to inform the interpretation of findings. Of 4705 studies screened, 139 met the inclusion criteria. Ninety-two assessments were included, 74 of which were performance-based assessments. Clinical knowledge, procedural skills, and communication skills were the most prevalent construct types. Knowledge for Practice, Patient and Client Care & Services, and Communication were the most prevalent domains represented from the American Physical Therapy Association’s (APTA’s) Domains of Competence. Content evidence was the most prevalent type of validity evidence, reported for 64 (70.0%) of the assessments. The validity evidence ratings had median ratings of 0 or 1 for each category of validity evidence. This scoping review summarizes and synthesizes the evidence for assessments of knowledge and skills in entry-level physical therapy education. This review helps educators identify and select assessment tools in physical therapy education, reveals gaps in the educational assessment literature, and outlines recommendations for future research areas and approaches.