News and Updates

Systems of assessment, including testing, are an inherent aspect of the educational environment and serve to meet the needs of a variety of stakeholders, including (but not limited to) learners/students, faculty/programs of nursing, regulatory bodies, and patients/healthcare systems. Assessments may be formal or informal, formative or summative, single or multi-modal, and/or high or low stakes. Overall, systems of assessment are used to evaluate and stimulate learning; to evaluate the outcomes of an educational program; and to demonstrate accountability for making sound decisions in areas, such as student progression and meeting graduation requirements.

In 2023, the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing’s (ACEN) Board of Commissioners published a position statement on one aspect of systems of assessment: high-stakes testing. The ACEN position statement notes that high-stakes testing is not an educational best practice and should not replace evaluation methods specific to a program’s curriculum (ACEN, 2023 and 2024). An addendum to the position statement was released in 2024 to further clarify the ACEN’s stance on high-stakes testing.

Although ACEN Annual Report data indicate that most ACEN-accredited programs refrain from employing high-stakes testing as the sole evaluation method for student progression or graduation, this practice continues to be utilized in certain programs. Therefore, the ACEN Board of Commissioners released a draft of Policy #39 High-Stakes Testing Policy in September 2025 for public comments. The ACEN did receive public comments that were reviewed in their entirety by the Board of Commissioners.

Following a review of best-practices in assessment and stakeholder feedback, the Board of Commissioners has approved a new policy; Policy #39 High-Stakes Testing Policy will go into effect September 1, 2026. In addition to the new Policy, the ACEN developed a new Glossary definition for high-stakes testing. The new policy and Glossary definition are accessible in the ACEN Accreditation Manual online.

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