Grading System Policies

A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 75-79
D = 60-74
F = 59 and below

Instructors will schedule final examinations based on the College’s final exam schedule. Final examinations will be scheduled as closely as possible to the College’s schedule for general education courses. A student must notify the instructor at least one week prior to finals, if there is a conflict in examination schedules or if they have more than three finals in one day. Unit examinations and quizzes are scheduled at the discretion of each instructor.

Many courses require demonstration of learned skills and procedures. During these tests, students will be required to demonstrate skills and professional behaviors in patient simulated activities. Students must perform each lab skill with a minimum score of 75%, including all identified critical elements, regardless of the grade earned in the theory component of the course. Failure to perform one of the critical elements, or failure to pass a skill with a score of at least 75%, will result in failure of the practical.

A student cannot fail more than 25% of all skills in one course. If the student exceeds that number of failures or fails the same skill twice, he or she will not be allowed to progress in the PTA program. If the last day to withdraw from courses has not yet passed for the semester, the student will need to withdraw from the course. If the failure occurs after the withdraw date for the semester, the student will receive either a course grade of 74 or the actual course grade earned if lower than a 74. The student will earn the grade on the first attempt that a skill is assessed but will be required to participate in remediation activities as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

Critical elements are defined as those parts of the skill that have serious impact on therapist and/or patient rights, safety, or could put a facility in a libelous situation.

Students will be provided with a specific checklist of all items to be tested prior to each lab assessment with the critical elements identified by an *.

The Clinical Education Coordinator is responsible for assigning grades for clinical performance based on scores given by the Clinical Instructor on the student evaluation form.

The APTA’s Clinical Performance Instrument (CPI) will be used to assess student clinical education performance during PTA 263 and PTA 268 affiliations. The Cl and student will complete and review the CPI at midterm and at completion of the clinical affiliation.

The Clinical Education Coordinator will use a formula to convert these scores to a letter grade, including any outside work required during the clinical practice. Students must score the minimum required score on the clinical evaluation tool which can be found in the course syllabus to progress to the next level regardless of grades received for other assignments in the course. If students fail to meet the minimum score on the clinical evaluation tool in a clinical course, arrangements must be made to repeat the clinical experience. Decisions regarding this repetition will be made on an individual basis. Consideration must be given to the student's overall progress and length of time for the clinical practice to be repeated. The Clinical Education Coordinator, Program Director, and Clinical Instructor will develop a plan of action for the student.

Evaluation forms for PTA 210 will be disseminated to students prior to the affiliation as this affiliation is graded differently from the others.

Displaying professional behavior will reward the student with 30 points for the Professional Behaviors Grade in each PTA course. However, as in the workplace, unprofessional behavior does have consequences. The following are examples of unprofessional behaviors and consequences (list is not all-inclusive):

• Failure to notify instructor of absence: -5 (Notification must be received by the course instructor prior to start of the class)
• Failure to follow established classroom/program policies: -1
• Failure to participate in classroom activities: -1
• Failure to comply with dress code: -1
• Failure to demonstrate general professional behaviors (inappropriate language, respect for others, etc.): -1
• Failure to bring required materials to class (textbooks, notebooks, lab supplies, etc.): -1

General academic course work is integrated into the PTA curriculum in order to better prepare students for PTA course work. For this reason, students must either take the general academic courses as outlined in the curriculum design or have completed the course work prior to the time it is required. In addition, failure to complete any of the academic course work with a “C” or higher will mean that the student cannot progress in the program. Students will be allowed to reapply for the program after that course is successfully completed.

All general academic course work must be completed by the end of the summer semester of the program. If not, students will have to withdraw from the program until the course work is completed. Students must have a 2.0 over-all GPA to graduate from the College. Students must follow the College’s regulations for completion of all coursework and maintenance of GPA necessary to show progression.

Comprehensive exams will be required at the end of each semester and will include material from the current semester as well as all previous semesters. The comprehensive exam will be weighted and placed in one course for the respective semester. The exam score will be weighted as follows based on semester:

1st semester = 20% (PTA 100)
2nd semester = 25% (PTA 250)
3rd semester = 30% (PTA 232)
4th semester = 35% (PTA 263)
5th semester = 40% (PTA 201)