NCLEX Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT)

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

NCLEX, an acronym that stands for National Council Licensure Examination, is a crucial gatekeeper in the nursing profession because no one is granted a nursing license in the US without satisfactorily passing this test.

The 85 percent of US-educated candidates who pass NCLEX on the first attempt walk across the open gate to their new roles as licensed nurses, while the people who fail must contend with a closed gate until they manage to pass. Once these candidates pass, the gate swings wide open. Furthermore, nursing school graduates cannot legally secure employment as registered nurses (RNs) or licensed practical nurses (LPNs) without a license. So a nursing career cannot come to fruition unless NCLEX is conquered. Therefore, it would be prudent to unearth as much information as possible about this exam before visiting the Pearson Vue testing center. Preparation is the key to conquering the NCLEX.

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) is the way in which NCLEX has been administered since the middle 1990s. CAT acclimates to each test taker's ability level by selecting subsequent questions based on how well or poorly the individual has been answering previous questions. Due to the cutting-edge uniqueness of CAT, no two NCLEX exams will be the same since candidates come to the testing center with different funds of knowledge and starkly different techniques of applying what they know.

All NCLEX test takers start with questions that are classified as possessing a lower level of difficulty. The candidate who does reasonably well on these low-level questions will soon begin to receive moderately difficult test questions. If the test taker continues to answer the moderately difficult questions correctly, the computer acclimates to the person's ability level and starts pulling questions from the test bank that are classified as having a high level of difficulty. But if the test taker answers too many of the moderately difficult questions incorrectly, the computer adapts by pulling low-difficulty questions from the massive test bank.

While the test taker is answering questions, CAT is constantly adapting to the ability level by determining how previous test questions are being answered. The test abruptly ends once CAT has determined the test taker's highest ability level. If a candidate continues to receive questions after having already answered 200+ questions, this is occurring because CAT has not yet determined the test taker's ability level. If the test shuts off after the test taker answered less than 100 questions, this happened because CAT determined the person's ability level relatively quickly.

Candidates can satisfactorily pass NCLEX after answering 200+ questions. These test-takers answered hundreds of questions because CAT took longer to determine a passing standard. Also, candidates fail NCLEX after answering less than 100 questions because CAT quickly established that a large number of moderate-level and higher-level questions were answered incorrectly during the session.

CAT is like a figurative balancing beam. The test taker who answers too many questions incorrectly is performing like a beam that tilts to the left (read: failing). The test taker who answers the majority of questions correctly is performing like a beam thay tilts to the right (read: passing). On the other hand, the candidate who answers some questions correctly and some questions incorrectly will perform like a beam that remains stuck in the same position during the exam, which may translate into being forced to answer 200+ questions before the test finally ends.