Representing the Public We Serve

FSBPT is dedicated to ensuring that our organization and our members not only recognize the importance of creating a welcoming environment but also take proactive steps to seek out a variety of perspectives from our stakeholders.

As FSBPT President Nancy Kirsch said in a 2020 webinar, for regulators to fulfill their mission of public protection, members of the public must feel comfortable approaching regulatory boards for help, guidance, or to report a licensee. Members of the public must know that they will be accepted, listened to, and be able to participate in the process. Additionally, NPTE candidates and licensees must feel that they will be treated fairly throughout the examination and licensure process.

FSBPT has taken concrete steps to broaden the perspectives of our organization and committees. The Nominating Committee considers representation when slating candidates for our Board of Directors and Nominating Committee. FSBPT has also given members multiple resources to help them consider and advance their own efforts. Additionally, FSBPT created a staff committee to proactively review and create plans to foster a welcoming environment internally.

Fairness is also an essential focus of the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) development process. FSBPT assesses fairness at several steps. First, FSBPT trains item writers in strategies to avoid using insensitive language, or language that may not mean the same thing in every region. Experienced volunteers then help the item writer revise the question so that it only assesses critical, job-relevant knowledge. If the item writer cannot revise it sufficiently, volunteers discard the question. Next, the Exam Development Committee (EDC) reviews items; this is the final step before an item is eligible to be included on an NPTE.

FSBPT continuously examines and improves this process. Since 2016, when FSBPT engaged an external consultant on this topic, we have used a formal internal Fairness Review Committee. The committee has the responsibility to ensure test questions are reviewed for language and sensitivity issues, with the goal of making NPTE questions equally accessible to exam candidates of all backgrounds. At the same time, FSBPT created a tool for volunteers and committee members to more consistently assess item fairness. FSBPT has also adopted more sophisticated statistical analyses to detect test questions that might disadvantage some groups based on their demographic background. Our efforts in this vein continue, and in 2022 FSBPT again worked with an external consulting group to improve processes that promote fairness and access including developing a new training video.

We know we cannot honor our mission of public protection without being intentional about valuing a welcoming environment among our staff, leadership, and members to better represent the public we serve.