Findings Supports Dual Use for Admissions and Actionable Student Insights

A new study in the Journal of Nursing Measurement provides strong psychometric evidence that supports how nursing programs use the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS®) for admissions and student guidance. The findings reinforce that TEAS measures both overall academic readiness and distinct foundational skills, making it a reliable tool for equitable, data-driven decision-making across PN, ADN and BSN pathways.

How the Research Was Conducted

Researchers evaluated the internal structure and fairness of TEAS using confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance testing. Confirmatory factor analysis evaluates whether an assessment measures what it claims to measure and measurement invariance testing evaluates whether it does so consistently across different groups.

Using two independent samples with more than 5,000 test-takers in each group, the researchers analyzed TEAS scores across associate degree, bachelor’s degree and practical nursing programs.

Unlike earlier studies that focused primarily on the prediction of outcomes, this research examined structural validity. Specifically, it examined whether TEAS accurately captures both general academic preparedness and content-specific skills in reading, math, science, and English and language usage.

Key Findings of the Study

The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated support for a bifactor model. This finding means that TEAS scores reflect:

-A strong general academic preparedness factor

-4 distinct but meaningful subscale areas: reading, math, science, and English and language usage.

The findings confirm that total TEAS scores provide two important advantages for programs:

-TEAS scores are appropriate for summative decisions, such as admissions.

-Subscale TEAS scores provide actionable insights for diagnostic and advising purposes.

This dual reporting supports both individual student feedback and program-level analysis, meaning that TEAS scores help educators identify strengths, address gaps, and make informed curricular adjustments without relying on speculation.

Fairness Across Program Types

Another critical finding of the research is that it confirmed measurement invariance across ADN, BSN and PN programs. This means TEAS measures the same underlying skills in the same way, regardless of program type. Score differences reflect actual differences in academic readiness, not any skew toward degree level.

This finding is especially important as nursing programs evaluate admissions policies amid ongoing concerns about grade inflation, open enrollment challenges, and uneven preparation among applicants.

Standardized assessments like TEAS provide a consistent academic baseline when transcripts alone may not tell the full story.

Implications for Nursing Education

This research reinforces why the value of TEAS is not limited to screening applicants. It also can guide student success strategies after admission. Subscale scores can inform advising decisions, targeted remediation, prerequisite planning, and course sequencing.

At the program level, aggregate TEAS data can highlight patterns that signal a need for curriculum refinements, added support for English language learners, or earlier academic interventions. These uses align with ethical testing practices and support student-centered decision-making.

A Foundation for Admissions and Retention

This research confirms the dual role of TEAS as a valid, reliable and fair preadmission assessment as well as a guide for improving the ability to target areas of academic weakness as part of retention strategies.

“The findings of this study are congruent with the intended test content and scoring policy of the standardized nursing preadmission assessment and provide empirical support for its construct validity across different nursing program types,” said Hanwook Yoo, manager of psychometrics and applied research at Ascend Learning. (ATI is an Ascend Learning brand.) “It justifies the use and comparison of standardized assessment scores as a component of admission criteria in divergent nursing pathways because it validated that the standardized nursing preadmission assessment measures the same underlying constructs in a consistent way.”

For more information on TEAS, visit this page or reach out to your ATI representative.

Reference

Zhong X, Yoo H, Turner S, Zeiher W, Phillips B. Psychometric evaluation of a standardized nursing preadmission assessment: Evidence from bifactor modeling and measurement invariance testing. Journal of Nursing Measurement. 2026. DOI: 10.1891/JNM-2025-0145