Speakers: David M. Waldschmidt, PhD

Program Track: Educator

Course Description: Validity, reliability, and fairness are critical in the development and implementation of high-stakes licensure examinations. Join us for an insightful discussion on what makes licensure examinations effective, fair, and meaningful for both practitioners and public health. Dr. Waldschmidt draws from the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014) and explores their implications for licensure decision making and the public health. This includes a look at the validity evidence for legacy oral health clinical licensure examinations, information about Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), and validity evidence pertaining to the Joint Commission on National Dental Examination's (JCNDE's) Dental Licensure Objective Structured Clinical Examination (DLOSCE). Dr. Waldschmidt will also address the JCNDE's Dental Hygiene Licensure Objective Structured Clinical Examination (DHLOSCE), a valid, reliable, and fair dental hygiene clinical licensure examination scheduled to be introduced late in 2025. Whether you're a oral health care professional, educator, or administrator, this webinar will equip you with a clear understanding of modern clinical assessment methods and their crucial role in ensuring competent oral healthcare providers..

Learning Objectives:

• Describe acceptable forms of validity evidence, as noted by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014).
• Discuss reliability, its relevance to validity, the different ways of assessing reliability, and the information communicated by differing methods.
• Discuss the concept of fairness in measurement, its relevance to validity and reliability, and the implications of measurement bias for test results and decision making.
• Describe the advantages of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, and how OSCEs address the pitfalls of legacy clinical licensure examinations.
• Evaluate the validity, reliability, and fairness evidence for the JCNDE’s OSCEs, against the publicly available validity evidence for legacy oral health clinical licensure examinations.

CE Credit Hours: 1.0

Original Date of Session: March 19, 2025

The American Dental Hygienists' Association is designated as an approved provider by the American Academy of Dental Hygiene, Inc. #AADHADH (Jan. 1, 2025–Dec. 31, 2025). Approval does not imply acceptance by a state or provincial Board of Dentistry. Licensee should maintain this document in the event of an audit.

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association is an approved provider of dental continuing education as recognized by the Dental Board of California, Provider #5238.