| Two-hundred and two first-time matriculating students attending an accredited chiropractic program in the Midwest participated in a study to determine whether or not there was a significant correlation between the Chiropractic College Assessment Test (CCAT) and basic science grade point average (GPA) at the end of the fourth trimester of a ten-trimester chiropractic educational program, and whether or not there was a significant correlation between the CCAT and the National Board of Chiropractic Examination (NBCE) Part I.;A multiple regression study allowed the researcher to analyze multiple variables including the response variables basic science GPA and NBCE Part I scores. Predictor variables used in the study included age, gender, ethnicity, pre-chiropractic GPA, post-secondary education, and scores on the CCAT. The researcher used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program to analyze descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients for the total sample of students who took the CCAT exam in July, 2001. A multiple regression analysis was employed to develop models for predicting basic science GPA and success on the NBCE Part I.;In Model I, three of the four predictor variables (post-secondary education, pre-chiropractic GPA, and CCAT scores) had significant (P < .001) zero-order correlation with basic science GPA. The model accounted for 48 percent of the variance explained in basic science GPA. In Model II, three of the five predictor variables (age, basic science GPA, and CCAT scores) had significant (P < .001) zero-order correlation with NBCE Part I. This model accounted for 70 percent of the variance explained in NBCE Part I.;To ensure generalizability of the current findings to the entire chiropractic student population, the present study may be replicated at additional chiropractic colleges and with larger numbers of students. The present study could also lead to additional studies to identify valid instruments that could be used to measure non-cognitive attributes of chiropractic students and determine their effectiveness in predicting students at-risk for academic difficulty. Future studies would benefit from samples based on a national representation of students for greater validity of findings. |
