Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Supports National League of Nursing's Fair Testing Guidelines With PrepU, an Adaptive Quizzing Platform

PHILADELPHIA, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the National League of Nursing (NLN) raising concerns about the use of standardized tests to block graduation or deny licensing eligibility in nursing education, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins' (LWW) online adaptive quiz platform PrepU is emerging as a way to both improve student comprehension and meet the NLN's fair testing guidelines.  LWW, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, has offered PrepU since 2010.  PrepU, in coordination with LWW's market-leading nursing textbooks and licensing exam tools, personalizes student learning and helps educators tailor instruction to student needs. 

In February, the National League for Nursing (NLN), a membership organization for nurse educators, issued The Fair Testing Imperative in Nursing Education.  In the document, the NLN raises concerns that one in three nursing schools are using standardized tests to block graduation or deny students eligibility to take the NCLEX, a national licensing exam required for all registered nurses.  In response, the NLN developed fair testing guidelines to ensure that all students are given comparable opportunities to demonstrate knowledge.  The NLN recommends that multiple sources – not just standardized tests – be used to evaluate student competence. They also suggest that tests be used to support learning, customize teaching and improve nursing programs, not just evaluate achievement.

"Our customers are using PrepU's adaptive testing feature to identify areas of student weakness, and then customize course content, for both the entire class and the individual student," said Susan Driscoll, President of Wolters Kluwer Health Professional & Education unit.  "Because the quizzing feature is ongoing and immediate, they can continue to adjust and refocus, and often times identify particular students who need additional support in a subject area."

"I look at the content my students are the weakest in and spend more time in lecture on those areas rather than the ones that they all get right," said David J. Dunham, DHEd, MSN, RN, Hawaii Pacific University. "PrepU helps me guide my lecture and tells me what I should spend time on."

With a 100 year history as one of the most trusted names in nursing education, LWW launched PrepU in 2010 to support its market-leading nursing textbooks, including Smeltzer: Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical Surgical Nursing, Taylor: Fundamentals of Nursing, and NCLEX-RN 10,000 Powered by PrepU.  Following extensive testing in nursing schools across the country, LWW is offering PrepU to support 27 nursing textbooks and e-books for the fall 2012 semester. 

"The goal for all schools is to create nurses who are ready to practice upon graduation, and knowledgeable enough to pass their licensing exam," said Driscoll.  "PrepU helps schools do so in a progressive and adaptive format, which can reduce their reliance on summative tests that evaluate student knowledge with limited guidance on how to address deficiencies."

About PrepU

Built by teachers for teachers and students, PrepU is a powerful adaptive quizzing engine that bridges the gap between what students know and what they don't know. PrepU focuses study time with personalized, adaptive quizzes that move students toward a better grasp of the material—and better grades. For instructors, PrepU makes it easy to track the progress of each student and the class as a whole. Instructors can compare their class's individual and overall scores to those of classes that are using PrepU for the same course across the country. PrepU is part of Macmillan New Ventures, a division of Macmillan, a leading global publisher in education.  For more information, please visit http://study.prep-u.com.

About Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW) is a leading international publisher of trusted content delivered in innovative ways to practitioners, professionals and students to learn new skills, stay current on their practice, and make important decisions to improve patient care and clinical outcomes.

LWW is part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information, business intelligence and point-of-care solutions for the healthcare industry. Wolters Kluwer Health is part of Wolters Kluwer, a market-leading global information services company with 2011 annual revenues of euro 3.4 billion ($4.7 billion).

SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Health