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Scoring the Exam
All candidates will receive notification of pass/fail status after completing the
computer-based exam. Formal PNCB exam results are sent approximately three weeks from your test date.
In this mailing, you will receive an Individual Performance Report (IPR) to inform you of
your performance on the exam.
All On-site candidates will receive official formal PNCB exam results approximately three weeks from the On-site testing date.
In this mailing, you will receive an Individual Performance Report (IPR) to inform you of
your performance on the exam.
Successful candidates will receive a certificate of achievement and a
Certified Pediatric Nurse lapel pin. No results are given over the telephone or
Internet.
Unsuccessful candidates may repeat the CPN® Exam.
Candidates may apply for re-examination afer receiving formal notification of fail status from the PNCB.
PNCB's eligibility requirements must be met at time of application. On receipt of an application and re-examination fees,
a new 90-day testing period will be assigned.
How is the exam scored?
The CPN® Exam is a criterion-referenced exam and
is scored by statistical analysis of test items according to standard
psychometric procedures. On your Individual Performance Report (IPR) three
values are presented to reflect your performance. One score is the "raw
score" - the number of items that you answered correctly. This number
by itself does not mean much, so the "raw score" may be converted
to a "percentage score" - indicating the percent of items you
answered correctly. The third score is called the "scaled score".
To understand the "scaled score", you need to know the scoring
process used by the PNCB.
In the PNCB criterion-referenced certification exam
the raw score (percent score) is measured against or compared to an absolute
criterion of mastery. This criterion is called the "cut-point".
The number or percentage of items that must be answered correctly in order
to pass is not decided arbitrarily. Rather, a panel of experts (CPNP® &
CPN® National Exam Committees) evaluates each item individually for its
level of difficulty. The average of these item values determines the criterion
or "cut- point" for the exam depending on the items that appear
on the exam. This means that if, for example, Form A of the exam contains
more difficult items than Form B of the exam, the cut-point of Form A
will be lower than that of Form B. Remember that the cut-point reflects
the difficulty level of the items on the exam and indicates the score
considered necessary to pass the examination.
Because not every candidate sits for the same form
or version of the exam, the cut-points for evaluating the obtained score
will differ. The "scaled score" is a way of putting all scores,
regardless of the version of the exam a candidate takes or the total number
of items on the exam, on the same scale or frame of reference. We use
scaled scores that range from 200 (0 items correct) to 800 (all items
correct) with a scaled score of 400 corresponding to the cut-point on
the exam.
Exam Statistics
The cumulative passing rate (since January 2003) for RNs taking the CPN® Exam is 84%.
The 2007 passing rate was 88%.
In 2007, 1,935 RNs took the CPN® Exam and 1,702 passed.
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