ATI exams tied to course progression???

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Specializes in Surgical Trauma ICU.

Our school ties ATI score to progression for almost every couse. Even courses like nurse leadership. So if you get an A+ in the course and clinical, but you scored below a level II (two attempts) on the ATI then you receive an F for the course and a U for the clinical. You then have to retake the entire course and the clinical. It's complete horse-ish, and we have lost quite a few students who in my opinion would've had made really great nurses.

The ATI has cost some students their scholarships (some scholarships require that students maintain a 3.0 gpa)

Is the ATI being applied the same way in your program????

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Specializes in Telemetry.

No. Thank God not to my program. I do not know what I would do with such an arrangement...Gosh! These schools are doing all types of things to get their NCLEX rates up which is a good thing but it is like a form of demotivation for the students.

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yeah that really sucks....my school uses ATI but as a learning tool, not the way yours does it....in some courses so far it was for extra credit (5 pts just for taking it, and up to 5 more depending on how well you do) where as other classes, it's worth maybe 10 out of 300 points or so....that's horrible that your school uses ATI the way it does....

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In our program they have just started tieing progression to ATI...for the first two terms they were just for practice, now a level 2 is required for progression in some classes...but not all classes. Not thrilled about it, as ya'll know, a good test score does not neccesarily a good nurse make...

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I agree that schools should work hard to boost their NCLEX pass rates, but they should do so in meaningful ways that benefit the student, such as improving curriculum and teaching methods. Using the ATI to determine who progresses amounts to an artificial boost. The only benefit is to the school's image.

My school required the ATI for most courses, but only to determine what areas of the curriculum needed improvement. If you passed the class, you progressed. If you graduated, you received an ATT, period.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

My school is the same way. We have an ATI for all of our nursing courses that have a clinical component. We have to score in a certain percentile to pass, and get one additional try if the score is below that. If we don't reach the percentile the second time, we receive a C- (failing) for the course & clinical and have to repeat it (regardless of our grade in that class). We're allowed to repeat one class, one time, and after that you're kicked out of the program. :cry:

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Yup my school here in Cali uses ATI to progress on. You have to reach a certain level of proficiency in order to continue on. Like for our last Med/surg the comprehensive exam is our final... Scarey stuff. I've only taken it for fundamentals so I'm not looking forward to taking the med/surg comprehensive test : (

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Wow! I did not know that it was like that in some programs. In my program, we have to take the ATI tests but they are only worth a percentage of our grade. So if we meet Level II we get the full percentage of the grade usually around 1%. If we do not meet benchmark we do not get that percentage of our grade and we have to do remediation. In order to graduate we have to have made Level II (or benchmark) before they will allow us to graduate.

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In my BSN progam we had to take the ATI exam that corresponded with each course, and if you passed it at or above the national mean they added 2% to your grade. You got two tries. If you didn't meet the benchmark, you just didn't get the extra 2%. So, they weren't tied to course progression, but that 2% was an incentive to do your best and to pass.

So, it wasn't tied to course progression throughout the program. We did however have to pass ATI's RN Comprehensive Predictor at or above the national mean in order to graduate.

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Ivy Tech uses ATI also. I balked at the ATI books and such we were to read for the tests, but, when I broke down and read them I realized the ATI books are like reading notes. They are very helpful, and remember, the ATI questions are getting you ready for n-clex questions!

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At our university they do implement ATI as a progression tool. You have to get a score within the 2nd percentile in order to pass the class. They give you two shots and if you don't pass the 2nd time you must enroll into a bridge course. At the end of this course you are allowed to take it one more time. It is very stressful, but I hope it is better preperating us for HESI and NCLEX. Good luck!

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