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An exploratory study investigating the feasibility and acceptability of an assessment tool designed to allow practice educators(1)to classify Specialist Practitioner student practice, identifies issues of interest to all educators involved with practice assessment. Within 3 months of commencing education leading to Specialist Practitioner Awards, the spread of marks awarded for practice achievements was already consistent with final degree classification and within 6 months slightly higher than normal. By the end of the course, continued improvements in practice achievements resulted in 73% of practice marks being 70% and over. The implications for total degree classification are less catastrophic than they appear; even if this trend continues there will only be a slight increase in first class Honours degrees. Although the strategy for practice assessment includes practice educators and students working together to discuss and agree marks for practice achievements, in the study practice educators and students provided marks intentionally without discussion or consultation with each other. Two comparisons of these marks showed that many students overestimate or underestimate their practice achievements as perceived by practice educators. Continuous monitoring of how marks are determined will be a priority for the Specialist Practice team. In most cases, practice educators considered the marked assessment of practice to be a reasonable working proposition, though there were concerns about the timing of assessments and the applied terminology. The main conclusions are that some practice educators may award marks for effort, despite contradictory written comments, and that the ability of specialist students to self-assess remains an unknown quantity but a potential moderating influence. The role of the HEI will be to ensure essential preparation and ongoing support for practice educators to enable a tri-partite assessment process and to provide a robust strategy for internal and external moderation. The marked assessment of practice was implemented in September 2000; to date progress has been remarkably unproblematic with practice educators and students accepting the process with relative ease and much enthusiasm., (Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.)

At present, the practice elements of the Specialist Community Practitioner Awards within the BSc (Hons) in the Community Health degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University do not directly contribute to degree classification. Student evaluation and external examiner concerns about the heavy assessment load motivated the course team to consider classifying practice at 20 Level III credits which would replace 20 theory credits. The process of developing a credible assessment tool for specialist practice was long and hard but the course team is now in a position to undertake an exploratory study of the assessment and classification of practice. This paper provides an overview of the discussion and debates that took place in the years before the study began. A future paper will provide detail of the study and will include practice educators, students and managers views on the structure, process and outcomes of marking specialist student practice in community settings.

In light of the possible demise of the community practice teacher, this paper proposes that a specific system of educationally led clinical supervision would benefit learning, teaching and assessing in the practice elements of specialist community practitioner education. Such a system would be additional to models of clinical supervision currently utilized in practice. An educative supervisory relationship would foster those skills and attributes essential for specialist community practice, enabling students to move toward mature responsible practice. It would provide experience of supportive frameworks that could be later utilized in professional practice. Clinical supervision specifically tailored for specialist community practitioner education would enable equity across branches and could be delivered in a variety of settings without a supervisor having to be 'on-site', thus benefiting comparatively isolated students in practice nursing and occupational health. To work successfully, educationally led clinical supervision necessitates a joint response by educational institutions and those practices where specialist community students undertake assessed placements. Without such a system in place to support specialist community practitioner courses, the standard of education and future practice cannot be assured.