Predictors of Performance in the California Acupuncture Licensing Examination (CALE) at the College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at SCU

The Acupuncture Board of California establishes that each applicant for an acupuncture license possesses the minimum level of competence necessary for safe practice. Accordingly, candidates must meet the educational and experience requirements, and pass a written examination that measures the competencies necessary for independent practice.

The acupuncture licensing examination (CALE) is developed in accordance with the legal and technical guidelines for producing a valid examination. The entire examination process occurs under the direction of test validation and development specialists. Examination development begins with an occupational analysis. The occupational analysis is a study of the profession to determine the specific tasks and the knowledge required for independent practice. All content and associated weighting are in direct proportion to the importance of each area in overall practice. The objective of this study is to identify academic and non-academic predictors of success in the CALE at Southern California University. Specifically, we are interested to know if the GPA in the term they take the exam as well as the Cumulative GPA in the program at the time of taking the exam will have any effect on their success in exam. Similarly, we are also interested to know if gender, ethnicity, educational background and their performance in the prior ACE I, II, III exams will have any influence over their CALE performance. Students, who took CALE exam between 2010 and  2013, will be included in this retrospective data analysis.  

We believe that by identifying the predictors of performance, we will be able to prepare the students better to improve their success in this exam.