Assessment tool
Students’ achievements were evaluated using the APP form, a standardized instrument to evaluate clinical competence in PT clinical training. The APP lists 20 items that evaluate students’ performance in seven domains: professional behavior, communication, diagnostic assessment, analysis and planning, intervention, evidence-based practice, and risk management. A rating scale from 0–4 is used, where a higher value indicates a better performance level. The rating scale also includes a “Not Assessed” option, used if the student did not have the opportunity to demonstrate the item. The total score of the APP is the sum of the 20 items’ scores and ranges from zero to 80. The APP also includes a global rating scale of “Not adequate,” Adequate,” Good,” and “Excellent,” indicating the student’s overall performance. The global rating scale is not included in the total score [The APP is reliable and valid with a percentage of agreement that ranges from 56% (Item number 19, Evidence-based practice) to 83% (Item number 20, Risk Management), and across all domains with an average of 70%. The intraclass correlation value of the total score is 0.92, with a confidence interval of 95% ranging from 0.84 to 0.96. The analysis of the APP content validity using factor analysis and Rasch analysis indicates that two dimensions are being measured by the APP: professional behavior and clinical performance [The APP has been translated into Hebrew and found to be reliable, with a percentage of agreement ranging from 36.6% (Item number 19, Evidence-based practice) to 83.3% (Item number 1, Professional behavior) with an average of 63%. The intraclass correlation value of the total average score is 0.88, with a confidence interval of 95% ranging from 0.77 to 0.94 [