ELAP (Entry-Level Analysis Project) Description.
I am attempting to
understand. Questions and Comments in
CAPS.
Submitted by the Entry-Level Analysis Project (ELAP) work
group: Pat Archer, Clint Chandler,
Rick Garbowski, Tom Lochhaas, Jim O’Hara, Cynthia Ribeiro,
Elan Schacter, and Anne Williams
I AM STILL NOT SURE HOW THESE INDIVIDUALS WERE PICKED FOR
THIS PROJECT BUT I AM CONFIDENT THAT THEIR INTENTIONS ARE GOOD. I CAUTION ALL OF YOU IN THE WORK GROUP TO BE
AS UNBIASED AS POSSIBLE AND PLEASE NO PERSONAL AGENDAS OK. I KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS TO DO BUT DO NOT GIVE
ANYONE AN EXCUSE TO QUESTION YOUR INTEGRITY.
Introduction
What is entry-level massage therapy education? What should
core content encompass? How many hours of education are necessary for learners
to obtain the basic knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed to enter the
massage profession and build a viable practice or work successfully as an
employee? GOOD QUESTIONS MANY OF US WHO
HAVE BEEN AROUND A WHILE HAVE BEEN ASKING THEM AWHILE
Many regulatory agencies have settled on a 500-hour
benchmark, but how they and the massage profession arrived at this number is
unclear. Additionally, a variety of topics are taught within or excluded from a
500-hour curriculum based on the philosophy undergirding each particular
training program. THIS IS ACCURATE HOWEVER MOST MASSAGE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
USE COLLEGIATE PUBLISHED TEXTBOOKS AND ARE IN COMPLIANCE WITH EDUCATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS STATED IN LICENSING AND CERTIFICATION EXAM?
As well, the
influence of federal student aid and/or a belief that 500 hours is insufficient
to accomplish desired instructional goals has caused many institutions to set
their program length at 650–900 clock hours. I REALLY TAKE ISSUE WITH THIS
STATEMENT. IT IS REALLY OUT OF
CONTEXT. FEDERAL STUDENT AID DOES NOT
CARE ABOUT MASSAGE CURRICULIUM—AND THE CLOCK HOUR REQUIREMENT SPANS ALL OCCUPATIONAL
EDUCATION. WHAT IS CONSIDERED AS
APPROPRIATE MASSAGE EDUCATION SHOULD NOT BE INFLUENCED AT ALL IN RELATIONSHIP TO
ELIGIBILITY TO FINANCIAL AID. IF AN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN
FEDERAL FUNDING PROGRAMS THEN THEY WILL NEED TO BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLOCK
HOUR REQUIREMENT AND JUSTIFY THAT TO POTENTIAL STUDENTS IF ENTRY LEVEL COMPETENCY
TRAINING CAN BE DELIVERED IN FEWER HOURS
As a result of these diverse decisions and influences,
massage education in the United States can be characterized as inconsistent.
CURRICULUM IS NOT THAT INCONSISTENT.
TEACHING SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM ARE.
While inconsistency
in itself is not necessarily harmful in massage education, it has spawned
problematic consequences – notably too many massage school graduates who
experience short, unsuccessful careers and many geographically mobile
therapists whose career development is stymied by barriers to credential
portability. PORTABILITY IS A STATE
ISSUE AND WILL REMAIN AN ISSUE AMONG VARIOUS STATES. SIMILAR LICENSING STANDARDS WILL HELP STATES
COOPERATE BUT IT IS THE LICENSING PROCESSES NOT THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AT
FAULT.
The Massage Therapy Body of Knowledge (MTBOK) document
details the depth and breadth of topics taught in massage programs of
500–1,000+ hours across the country — programs that prepare learners to sit for
credentialing exams and work in a variety of service-oriented and/or health
care-oriented settings. YES THAT’S RIGHT. It provides an important piece of the massage
education puzzle by capturing a complete set of concepts, terms, and activities
taught in massage training programs. OK I CAN AGREE WITH THAT.
Now, we need to do more work to identify the essential
elements of massage practice that are necessary in an entry-level curriculum;
in other words, we need to identify the key KSAs required to pass a national
licensing exam and provide competent, safe massage in an early massage career. REALLY OR IS THAT DONE ALREADY BY THE
MTBOK? THERE NEVER WILL BE A NATIONAL
LICENSING EXAM—THEY DO NOT EXIST- THIS IS A STATE BY STATE PROCESS.
Goals
• To implement an Entry-Level Analysis Project (ELAP) to
delineate key learning outcomes schools can be encouraged to address in their
core instructional programs to ensure attainment of KSAs for competent and safe
application of massage in an early massage career. THE ALLIANCE FOR MASSAGE
THERAPY EDUCATORS LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS OF THE MTBOK COVERED MUCH OF THE
BACKGROUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES. BE AWARE ALL,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONALLY SOUND LEARNING OUTCOMES NEEDS TO BE
DONE BY PROFESSIONALS TRAINED SPECIFICALLY IN THIS PROCESS. THAT IS WHY THE COMMITTEE THAT DID THE LINE
BY LINE ANALYSIS OF THE MTBOK DID NOT MOVE INTO THAT PROCESS.
• To assess how many program hours are needed to attain this
KSA goal, assuming capable instruction. I AM SO TIRED OF THIS
CONVERSATION. SPELL OUT THE COMPETENCIES
IN AN EDUCATIONALLY SOUND MANNER AND LET THE SCHOOLS AND LICENSING FIGURE THIS
OUT.
Methodology
Methodology
A work group has been formed of eight individuals rich in
experience in massage curriculum development, teaching, and assessment of
established research. Working with skilled psychometricians, this group will
develop questions for a companion survey to the FSMTB 2012 Job Task Analysis
(JTA) that will allow segmentation of findings to provide insight into KSAs
actually utilized and perceived to be important for safe and competent massage
practice by individual massage therapists. Work group members will also assess
the results of a newly administered employer survey, and the work products of
previous profession projects addressing curricula, competencies, and standards
for relevance to the ELAP goals. Knowledge garnered through these diverse
activities will be funneled into the development of learning outcomes maps in
each topic area related to practitioner- and profession-identified important
KSAs. Work group members will then analyze the learning outcomes maps, based on
their own experience in curriculum design and teaching, to quantify estimated
training hours necessary for students to become competent in these KSAs.
A work group has been formed of eight individuals rich in
experience in massage curriculum development, teaching, and assessment of
established research. Working with skilled psychometricians, this group will
develop questions for a companion survey to the FSMTB 2012 Job Task Analysis
(JTA) that will allow segmentation of findings to provide insight into KSAs
actually utilized and perceived to be important for safe and competent massage
practice by individual massage therapists. Work group members will also assess
the results of a newly administered employer survey, and the work products of
previous profession projects addressing curricula, competencies, and standards
for relevance to the ELAP goals. Knowledge garnered through these diverse
activities will be funneled into the development of learning outcomes maps in
each. CAUTION—MAKE SURE THAT THE FSMTB
2012 Job Task Analysis IS NOT DIRECTLY LINKED TO THIS PROCESS. IT WILL APPEAR BIASED AND SELF SERVING EVEN
IF THIS IS NOT THE INTENT.
LEARNING OUTCOME MAPS
NEED TO BE ACADEMICALLY SOUND AND PROFESSIONALLY CREATED. I BELIEVE THE DATA
SHOULD BE GIVEN TO AN INDEPENDENT GROUP TO COMPLETE THIS DESIGN.
Benefits
The new understanding gained through this project is
expected to benefit the profession in a number of ways. The profession’s
leadership could make an informed statement regarding what constitutes evidence
based, minimum educational requirements a student should meet to qualify for a
license to practice massage. MAYBE
Massage schools will
have a blueprint of essential topics, key learning outcomes, and appropriate
clock hours on which to base their foundation curriculum. MAYBE
Organizations accrediting massage programs potentially will
gain a consensus view from the massage profession of core education components
to factor into their accreditation expectations for program approval. MAYBE
Project outputs could
be used to inform regulatory bodies about essential curriculum components, which,
if broadly adopted, would help ensure greater consistency in massage education.
I DOUBT IT.
The Federation of
State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB) will have a more informed basis for the
education component in its development of a Model Practice Act. THIS COULD HAPPEN AND I WONDER IF THIS IS NOT
A MAJOR DRIVING FORCE.
Adoption of consistent core education requirements by
multiple states could increase regulators’ confidence and encourage the
portability of credentials long sought by the massage profession. WELL I
ALREADY ADDRESSED THIS BUT MAYBE
A broadly accepted
foundational education core would allow for a more accurate differentiation of
additional expected knowledge and competencies to qualify for certification and
advanced credentialing. MAYBE
Improving the
consistency of massage education is important for the continued health and
evolution of the massage profession; all the major U.S. stakeholder
organizations have undertaken projects at various times that support this
vision. TRUE
With a clearly defined baseline, the massage profession will
be in a better position to determine appropriate next steps, develop resources
that help schools and professional therapists fill education gaps, and provide
meaningful and informed leadership to both students and practicing massage
therapists. SEE, I THINK WE HAVE THIS IN THE MTBOK AND THE LINE BY LINE
ANALYSIS BUT IN RESEARCH DATA COLLECTION DUPLICATION IS OK SO LONG AS IT IS
COMPARED.
Project Activities
• In March 2012, participating national organizations
nominated candidates to participate in an interview process to populate a work
group of six experienced massage educators (minimum requirements: massage
curriculum development experience and at least five years of experience
teaching massage-related topics in a massage therapy program preparing students
to become licensed) and two education professionals holding a master’s degree
or doctorate in instructional design or a closely related subject. In fact, the
selected massage educators each have experience substantially exceeding the
minimum criteria. I AM NOT QUESTIONING THE QUALIFICATIONS AND INTEGRITY OF THE
WORK GROUP.
• With collaborative input from psychometricians WHO? with prior experience working with the
massage profession, the work group has begun writing early-career
education-specific survey questions to identify KSAs required for safe,
entry-level practice. The questions will help identify what therapists need to
know and to be able to do in order to meet the needs of most clients in a
beginning private practice or in early career employment. BE VERY VERY CAREFUL
TO NOT BIAS OUTCOMES THROUGH HOW THE QUESTIONS ARE WORDED AND CONTENT IS
PROVIDED.
• Survey questions will be asked within a companion survey
to the FSMTB’s 2012 JTA. CAREFUL IT LOOKS BIASED AND SELF SERVING. JUSTIFY WHY
THIS IS THE PROCESS--
Demographic and practice-descriptive information will be
collected that permit segmentation and analysis of findings according to
experience and practice success dimensions. I DO NOT TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS
GOING ON HERE.
One important group
will be respondents who are in the early stages of their careers but who have
been “market tested”—that is, who have been practicing massage from 12 to 48
months and have delivered at least 500 hours of massage during that time. As
shown by their persistence for this time, this group has demonstrated
perseverance and the skills to develop a functional practice or work
productively as an employee. Another important group will be respondents
displaying diverse indicia of long-term practice success. These and other
methods of analysis will allow the work group to eliminate the experience bias
present in most surveys about massage practice (veteran practitioners
consistently have higher survey participation rates) and to examine the
education foundations of massage therapists trained in different eras. GOOD
IDEA HOPE IT WORKS
• Using the results of the education survey, survey data
analysis by psychometricians, and a comparison of findings with other important
massage profession resources, the work group will produce a learning outcomes
map detailing learning outcomes, competencies, and learning objectives in the
cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains related to each early-career job
task. I AM NOT SURE THE WORK GROUP HAS
THE SKILLS TO DO THIS WITHOUT BIAS AND STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT AN INDEPENDENT
AGENCY BE USED TO COMPLETE THIS ASPECT OF THE PROJECT.
Competencies are defined here in the classic sense as
learning objectives written from a behavioral perspective. They are precise
statements that answer the question, “What behavior can the learner demonstrate
to indicate that he or she has mastered the skills specified in the instruction?”
THAT IS GOOD
Competencies are important starting points, but to truly
understand the needed breadth of entry-level knowledge and skills, the
feelings, values, and attitudes of the learner (not typically addressed by
competencies) also need to be captured. TRUE
• The profession resources that will be consulted for
comparison of findings include an employer survey about perceived strengths and
deficiencies of newly-hired massage employees, results of the current FSMTB
JTA, results of the current NCBTMB JTA, COMTA curriculum competencies, the
MTBOK project and its subsequent analysis by AFMTE, relevant AMTA and ABMP data
on liability claims filed against massage therapists, and the attitudes and
experiences of clients as compiled by consumer reports produced by ABMP, AMTA,
and other organizations. SHOW YOUR WORK
IN THE REPORT SO WE KNOW HOW IT WAS DONE.
• The best and most useable learning outcomes maps are
highly detailed and specific. YES AND
THAT IS WHY INDEPENDENT SPECIALISTS TO DO THIS PART.
The learning outcomes map that will be created in this
project will enable the work group to accurately determine the amount of time
needed to teach each identified content component and to recommend core
entry-level education clock hours. OK, I ALSO SUGGEST YOU CONTACT ALL OF THE TEXTBOOK
PUBLISHERS AND COLLECT THE CONTENT THEY HAVE DEVELOPED
To ensure a
manageable process, the key outputs will focus on learning within a
brick-and-mortar environment rather than on online or distance education, which
is taught differently and is currently a small proportion of massage therapy
foundational education. BIG BIG BIG BIG
MISTAKE. DO NOT DO THIS. INCLUDE ONLINE
LEARNING NOW—YOU WILL BE SORRY IF YOU DON’T.
• The work group will produce a preliminary project report
(targeted for November 2012) detailing the research findings integrated with
other profession resources. The report will review the work group’s approach,
summarize the survey results, summarize the analysis of additional massage
profession resources relevant to the ELAP, defend the learning objectives
taxonomy and learning outcomes mapping references, explain the selection of key
KSAs identified from this research, and describe problems, solutions, research
and synthesis of the research, summary of findings, suggested uses and
application of the work group outputs, and conclusions. SUMMARY OK BUT YOU MUST INCLUDE THE WORK UPON
WHICH THE SUMMARY IS BASED.
• The preliminary project report will be presented to the
leadership group for feedback in December 2012. I THINK YOU ALSO NEED AN INDEPENDENT
ADVISORY GROUP TO LOOK AT THIS- I WILL BE PART OF THIS PROCESS AND SURE OTHERS
WILL AS WELL.
The work group will then complete its task in time to allow
a public release of the draft report for comment in the first quarter of 2013. LEARN
FROM THE MTBOK PROJECT. LOTS OF CRITICISM OF HOW THEY DID THIS AND I THOUGHT
THEY DID A GOOD JOB.
Public comments will be reviewed by the work group and
incorporated into the final report to be available within 60 days after the
public comment period closes. CONDUCT THIS WHOLE PROJECT LIKE A RESEARCH STUDY
AND USE RESEARCH DESIGN EXPERTS DURING YOUR PROCESS PLEASE.
Scheduled Key Milestones
• April 13, 2012: Project work group members selected.
• May 2, 2012: Work group representatives vet the
preliminary project description with the massage
leadership group.
• May 3–4, 2012: Initial project work group meeting to
develop survey questions to be administered in June–July 2012 as a companion
survey to the FSMTB Job Task Analysis survey.
• June 14, 2012: Work group webinar to review existing
profession resources and assign responsibility for analyzing specific documents
for relevance to ELAP, to report back to the work group at the August 23–25th
meeting. INVITE THE PUBLIC PLEASE.
• August 23–25, 2012: Work group meeting: Review and analyze
survey results. Report on existing profession resources and their relevance to
ELAP. Participate in activities to ensure appropriate understanding of the
latest thinking and use of learning objectives, learning outcomes mapping, and
instructional design for effective learning. Select appropriate learning
taxonomies in the three domains and the most effective learning outcomes
mapping model for this project. Make substantial progress to create a detailed
learning outcomes map of all key KSAs necessary for success in an early massage
career. IF THIS MEANS VISUAL, AUDITORY AND KINESTIC DOUBLE CHECK YOU DATA—THIS MAY
NOT BE VALID. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW YOUR
DEFINITIONS OF TAXONOMIES AND DOMAINS
• November 16, 2012: Completion of the preliminary project
report, including the full learning outcomes
map, to be sent to leadership group members. AN ADVISORY GROUP WOULD BE GOOD HERE.
• December 5, 2012: Live presentation by work group to
leadership group for feedback.
• December 6–7, 2012: Work group meeting: Revise report
based on leadership group feedback. Complete second draft of report suitable
for public release and comment solicitation.
• 1st Quarter 2013: Draft report to be released for 60-day
public comment period.
• 2nd Quarter 2013: Within 60 days of close of public
comment period, work group completes final report and products based on
feedback.
Perspective
We view this project as an important, early foundational
step. We have no illusion that successful completion of this project will by
itself transform massage education and the quality of massage being provided to
clients. Other important work, most notably strengthening the teaching
abilities of all instructional personnel, commands parallel attention if this
ELAP is to have an opportunity to have meaningful impact. We work group members
also understand that our group has no permanent standing. Our job is to produce
a thorough, defensible final report that is sufficiently compelling to motivate
diverse national and local massage therapy organizations to rise to the challenge
to ensure the massage profession embraces and implements the report’s
recommendations.
Accepting these caveats, and acknowledging both the
opportunity and need for improvement throughout the massage profession, we
believe this project comprises one important foundational step upon which
additional curriculum, teacher preparation, and regulatory standards can build.
The animating spirit of this project is not to criticize,
but rather to contribute to the construction of a more solid and consistent
educational foundation that will help those entering the profession to thrive
in their massage therapy careers while ensuring the practice of massage is safe
and beneficial for all clients. I BELIEVE
YOU
