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Description:
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This study investigated interrater reliability and content validity of the Physical Therapist Manual for the Assessment of Clinical Skills (PTMACS ) . Skills from the PT MACS were matched to criteria from fundamental documents of the physical therapy profession by physical therapists and Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education / Directors of Clinical Education (n = 6 ) . A group of Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education /Directors of Clinical Education (n = 28 ) was recruited from accredited professional physical therapy education programs in the United States . The ACCEs / DCEs agreed or strongly agreed that 51 of 54 skills matched the criteria from the fundamental documents at a statistically significant level using a chi -square goodness -of -fit analysis . A third group consisting of physical therapists (n = 54 ) observed videotaped student behavior and rated skills with the five -point rating scale from the PTMACS . Interrater reliability was fair to poor (Kappa =0 .30 ) . When two of the ratings were combined to separate entry -level behavior from below entry -level behavior , the interrater reliability was moderate (Kappa = 0 .57 ) . The PT MACS appears to have good content validity and fair interrater reliability . No previous published studies have reported reliability or validity for any evaluation tool used in the clinical education of student physical therapists . It is important to identify the reliability and validity of evaluation tools used by the profession , so that student physical therapists are being evaluated in a consistent matter using criteria that represent skills important to the practice of physical therapy . |