TRACE examines what online CE systems permit actual learners to do, distinguishing observations from legal determinations.
The original 2026 white paper, written under the earlier CDE initiative, included a direct observational audit of 30 courses from approximately 15 providers. This synopsis focuses on those course-delivery findings and the safeguards evaluated, not on opinions or perceptions. The audit is an exploratory study, not a regulatory judgment about any individual course.
Read the White Paper Synopsis →Following a discussion with the editor of the Journal of Chiropractic Education about the preliminary white paper, a broader, more formal manuscript was encouraged for possible submission. The manuscript is in development; it has not been presented here as submitted, peer reviewed, accepted or published.
The expanded research examines learner participation, instructional-time enforcement, identity verification, exam access and integrity, course-completion safeguards and the relationship between course approval and observed online delivery. It uses a separate structured study framework from the original 30-course audit. Anonymized preliminary research observations appear further down this page.
This independent research is not sponsored, endorsed, or approved by the journal. Any journal submission or publication would be a future process.
In TRACE's initial observational review, 30 online courses from 15 providers were assessed against a collection of benchmark safeguards. None met every benchmark assessed. This is an exploratory sample and not a finding that every course violated its applicable state's law. Some benchmarks may exceed existing regulatory requirements.
Initial exploratory audit. A 30-course, 15-provider observational audit examined functional course-delivery safeguards using the study's safe-harbor benchmarks. These benchmarks should not be mistaken for identical legal requirements across all states.
Structured course-delivery study. TRACE is developing a separate evidence-linked, course-level dataset examining participation, timing, identity, exam controls, and certificate issuance. Results below reflect the evaluator's entries as recorded; these observations have not been independently retested.
Across both cohorts, observations describe what the platforms allowed during testing. They do not establish whether an individual learner acquired knowledge or whether a provider violated a specific Board rule without a separate rule-by-rule analysis.
These descriptive statistics come directly from completed course evaluations in the investigator-maintained Airtable database. The study is an observational sample, not a representative census or a formal Board compliance determination.
TRACE reports the researcher-recorded observations from its Airtable study at face value. These are study observations, not findings from a separate independent re-test. Provider names, course titles, approval identifiers and identifying recordings remain private. State figures use acceptance reported by providers in the research records; PACE figures use the PACE status entered in the study.
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Instructional-time controls, learner engagement where required, identity measures, assessments and retakes, answer disclosure and certificate controls, using the practical learner experience rather than solely provider policies.
Claims should be documented with reproducible testing records and checked against the actual legal provisions of the relevant jurisdiction. TRACE's research mission is broader than its proposed regulatory remedy.
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