Law School Academic Support Blog

Pull the Goalie

*I am going to preface this by clearly admitting that I am not someone who regularly teaches bar prep and I know that what I am saying may come from a place of relative ignorance on many issues. I am sure I have missed some important nuances here-and for that, I apologize in advance.*

Recently, we got the news that my youngest child has passed all his required MCAS exams for high school graduation (MCAS is the Massachusetts Child Abuse System according to my kids, but really the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System). These are the standardized tests that students in public schools start taking in third grade and take until they pass the required high school level exams for graduation. The elementary grade exams do not have any impact on grades in classes or promotion between grades-they may indicate a need for other school-based interventions or testing, but that is it. I’ve never let any of my children even see the reports that are mailed to parents.

These yearly exams are meaningless…until they have ultimate, high stakes meaning. Students cannot (without jumping through some significant, fiery hoops)graduate from high school without passing the English, Math and Science exams. Some parents complain that “teaching to the test” ruins learning for their children-which is a valid point. Some parents worry about the achievement gap between various groups of children (mainly along racial and socio-economic lines) which is a complete and unavoidable truth. If a test cannot be administered fairly, what is it assessing at all? And why would we attach such significance to an instrument that is irremediable?

And so, we arrive at the current iteration of the Bar Exam. At times, it seems to test a student’s ability to take the exam more than assessing knowledge of the concepts, theories, and skills it purports to assess. The same criticisms that are true about the MCAS are relevant here. We should not teach to a test-we should be teaching for learning. The achievement gap has not been bridged despite being widely acknowledged. And yet, the Bar is the key that opens the gate to many careers in law. With COVID and remote bar exam issues (technical, physical, and psychological), can we really say that it is an accurate instrument of assessment for practice readiness?

Has it ever been?

My thought for this Monday morning is this: since we all know people (not students, but peers) who have passed the Bar and were not ready for primetime, and we all know people who did not pass but were born ready to practice law, then how is passing the Bar a guarantee of anything? Think about it: (just about) every person who has ever been disbarred must have passed the Bar. So why not just pull the goalie here? What are we protecting when not every shot to the goal goes in--even when no one is there? The fact that law school accreditation is in some part contingent on bar pass rate shows, at best, a lack of creativity in assessment. At worst, it shows that we do not really wish to welcome all the qualified potential members into the profession.  We can do better.

(Liz Stillman)

Gestalt

I was a social psychology major as an undergraduate and I remember studying the psychological theory of gestalt, which is defined as “something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts.”[1] Basically, if I had known about outlining back in those days, I would have written the rule as: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. As bar exam results trickle in from parts near and far, I think it worth revisiting this idea with both students and colleagues.

To students who have passed the bar, I would say, “Wonderful! Remember, there is more to you than this one credential. As an attorney, you will bring your whole self to the table and that will always be more than the sum of your parts.” To the students who have not passed the bar this time, I might say the same thing. I do not want to be dismissive of how meaningful this one credential is for them after a three (or four) year journey that has already been fraught with confidence crushing moments. I don’t want to toss out, “oh well, maybe next time” either because right now, I think these students may see “next time” as a craggy mountain to climb without any safety gear in truly inclement weather.  I also know that social media means that students will know about their classmates’ successes almost immediately and silence will be interpreted as failure. Literally. There really is no good answer other than “I’m sorry. How are you doing?”

I also worry about my colleagues who have poured every ounce of what they have into students to help them pass the bar (regardless of whether the students were willing vessels or not) and now have someone else’s success or failure be determinative of their worth. Is this how we value professionals?

When a football team loses a game, media outlets tend to blame everyone on the team-not just the quarterback or coaches, but the team as a whole: offense, defense, big guys, little guys. Even when one player makes an egregious error, the sportscasters tend to find additional reasons for the loss-even the weather or altitude can be roped in. When the team wins, the press is similarly wide in praise, as seen here by today’s Boston Globe after the Patriots won a home game yesterday, “[e]veryone went home happy Sunday. Mac Jones got his first 300-yard game and hit a 46-yard deep ball. Damien Harris rushed for 100 yards. Eleven players made a catch, and five different players got in the end zone. The defense created two interceptions…Smiles all around.”[2] And remember, these guys probably each get paid more than all the ASP folks at a regional conference combined.

So, when bar results are good, ASP folks are part of the overall winning team with smiles all around. But when bar results are not what we are hoping for, why do our ASP colleagues not get the same level of camaraderie? Why aren’t we always a team at that moment also? ASP folks, and particularly those who do bar exclusively, need to be given the grace of gestalt. So I say to you, regardless of the bar results at your school, you are more than the sum of your parts. As an ASP professional, you bring your whole self to the table and you are mighty.  

Judging someone’s competency or job security based on the performance of other people at a task that is not entirely knowable is something that is far above our pay grade.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gestalt

[2] https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/24/sports/who-cares-that-its-jets-patriots-needed-this-ego-boost/

Bar Exam Pass Rates and Academic Support

Maya Angelou wrote “we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”  One of my favorite songs right now is Bleed the Same by Mandisa where she conveys a similar message.  I believe the message from both of them would apply to the current discussion surrounding factors impacting bar passage rates. 

Most of you are aware Rory Bahadur wrote a series of articles examining the relationship between certain factors and bar passage rates.  He specifically questions whether FIU’s emergence as the leader in Florida’s bar pass rate is significantly impacted by factors such as involuntary attrition, incoming transfers, and incoming credentials.  An oversimplification of his conclusion is that these factors have a major impact on Florida’s bar pass rankings.  His 3 articles are on SSRN here:

1. Blinded by Science? A reexamination of the Bar Ninja and Silver Bullet Bar Program Cryptics
2. Reexamining Relative Bar Performance as a Function of Non-Linearity, Heteroscedasticity, and a New Independent Variable
3. Quantifying the Impact of Matriculant Credentials & Academic Attrition Rates on Bar Exam Success at Individual Schools

FIU’s academic support team, which includes one of our editors Louis Schulze, responded last weekend in a series of blog posts.  You can read the posts here:

1. Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny
2. Does Academic Support Matter? A Brief, Preliminary Response to Blinded by Science and its Progeny, Part 2

Louis’ response questions the statistical methods used in the previous articles and posits that FIU’s new Academic Support program made a statistically significant effect on bar passage rates.  Rory responded to the posts with a message on the ASP listsev/google group.  You should be able to access his message within that group. 

Rory and Louis are engaged in a relevant and important discussion for ASP.  I encourage everyone to read the articles and posts.  AccessLex also published a brief post addressing this topic and one of Rory’s articles.  The AccessLex authors state they are conducting  a couple projects that will provide even more insight.

The academic debate surrounding this topic is necessary, but we should also recognize the reason why the debate is important and sometimes personal.  While they disagree, both Rory and Louis are passionate about helping ASPers and students.  They both cite the lack of tenure for ASPers as a major concern.  They both argue for more resources for Academic Support.  Knowing them both, I truly believe they are trying to do what is best for both ASP and students.

As long as we are trying to figure out what helps students succeed, I do want this discussion to continue in an academic manner.  One of my major concerns is when schools/Deans evaluate whether ASPers are effective based primarily on bar pass rates.  Bar pass rates are an easy number to stamp on a department, almost treating bar pass numbers as wins and losses.  Media and other entities fuel that perception with articles about who had the highest bar pass rate in the state.  FIU’s success has brought national attention from the ABA journal and other legal news sources.  Deans around the country, especially ones in Florida, do specifically ask, “why isn’t [insert school] having the success of FIU?  Are our people doing their job correctly?”  Those outside ASP want to know, what is the secret sauce?

I also want the discussion to continue to demonstrate the impact ASP has on students.  Both Louis/Raul and Rory presented at regional and national ASP conferences about best practices in teaching.  Many of us agree that law school education and pedagogy needs improving.  Most of us agree that better teaching would improve student learning and that we should use scientifically proven methods to teach students.  We would also agree that improved student learning should have an impact on student success and bar performance.  I want to know what everyone else does, including Louis and Raul, to lead to improved student performance.  I especially want to read studies that quantify the impact of Academic Support and/or specific Academic Support programs.  Anecdotally, we know we have an impact on individual lives.  That impact matters, and should be measurable. 

Promoting ASP is important to the majority of us.  We need ongoing projects to measure what works and how we can all improve our students’ chances to pass the bar exam.  I know we are all striving to promote each other and help students.   I hope we can continue to do that.

(Steven Foster)

This Year's Explanation?

Another year, another set of results to explain away.  The NCBE released the national MBE mean last week, and the change over the last 2 years is massive.  The NCBE ignored 2020 results, and just compared to 2019.  The "changed test" and "different sample size" is an easy explanation.  The explanation also ignores a nearly 6 point drop from last year's July MBE score.  Excuses abound, but if the test is reliable and easy to scale (or they could have used the same test as 2019) the 6 point drop is inexcusable.  2020 graduates dealt with the immediate impact of a pandemic and social unrest.  My rudimentary understand of the LSAC reports indicates 2020's graduates had worse LSAT scores than 2021 and 2019.  Why the anomaly in scores?

I will humor the NCBE for my next query.  If 2020 is an outlier and we ignore those statistics, the 2019 comparison also doesn't make sense.  2021 results were .7 points lower than 2019.  I may be wrong, but I believe 2021 graduates had much larger numbers of the high scoring LSAT takers in the pool.  They should have been closer to 2020 scores than 2019.  If the LSAT correlates to MBE scores (which both the LSAC and NCBE claim it does), then why did the 2021 national MBE mean drop?  "Less able" test takers is no longer an acceptable answer.

I have a number of theories, and the real answer probably includes numerous factors.  Most of my theories revolve around the fundamental thought that the MBE tests more than the ability to practice law. 

2021 graduates endured longer COVID-19 interruptions.  They may have been tired of zoom and online education, and bar prep is primarily online.  The online fatigue may have led to less work.  

Students may have worked at law firms more last summer.  This thought comes from anecdotal conversations, but some jobs decreased in 2020.  When those jobs came back, students did what they could to keep jobs during uncertain times.  That may have included working at firms more and on bar prep less.  They could also make this choice because working is more fun than bar prep, and they didn't get to work as much in the previous year.  Students may have also been in harder financial times from not working the previous year.  

I could give many reasons, but overall, I believe students did less bar prep work last summer.  However, should the MBE really be a test of commitment over 10 weeks?  Why should students be required to devote that amount of time to a test regarding the jurisdiction of nowhere?  RAP, the rule of sevens, common law burglary, and many other rules provide an obstacle to practice.  The test seems to assess someone's ability to financially and emotionally devote extreme time to a task for 10 weeks.  Is that really what we should assess to become an attorney?  The NCBE's creation of a testing task force implicitly confirms the MBE is a poor instrument, but they continue to administer it.  Shouldn't we stop using a poor instrument even if the alternative isn't ready?  Many questions, but my guess is all we will hear is *crickets*.

(Steven Foster)

 

This Year's Explanation?

Another year, another set of results to explain away.  The NCBE released the national MBE mean last week, and the change over the last 2 years is massive.  The NCBE ignored 2020 results, and just compared to 2019.  The "changed test" and "different sample size" is an easy explanation.  The explanation also ignores a nearly 6 point drop from last year's July MBE score.  Excuses abound, but if the test is reliable and easy to scale (or they could have used the same test as 2019) the 6 point drop is inexcusable.  2020 graduates dealt with the immediate impact of a pandemic and social unrest.  My rudimentary understand of the LSAC reports indicates 2020's graduates had worse LSAT scores than 2021 and 2019.  Why the anomaly in scores?

I will humor the NCBE for my next query.  If 2020 is an outlier and we ignore those statistics, the 2019 comparison also doesn't make sense.  2021 results were .7 points lower than 2019.  I may be wrong, but I believe 2021 graduates had much larger numbers of the high scoring LSAT takers in the pool.  They should have been closer to 2020 scores than 2019.  If the LSAT correlates to MBE scores (which both the LSAC and NCBE claim it does), then why did the 2021 national MBE mean drop?  "Less able" test takers is no longer an acceptable answer.

I have a number of theories, and the real answer probably includes numerous factors.  Most of my theories revolve around the fundamental thought that the MBE tests more than the ability to practice law. 

2021 graduates endured longer COVID-19 interruptions.  They may have been tired of zoom and online education, and bar prep is primarily online.  The online fatigue may have led to less work.  

Students may have worked at law firms more last summer.  This thought comes from anecdotal conversations, but some jobs decreased in 2020.  When those jobs came back, students did what they could to keep jobs during uncertain times.  That may have included working at firms more and on bar prep less.  They could also make this choice because working is more fun than bar prep, and they didn't get to work as much in the previous year.  Students may have also been in harder financial times from not working the previous year.  

I could give many reasons, but overall, I believe students did less bar prep work last summer.  However, should the MBE really be a test of commitment over 10 weeks?  Why should students be required to devote that amount of time to a test regarding the jurisdiction of nowhere?  RAP, the rule of sevens, common law burglary, and many other rules provide an obstacle to practice.  The test seems to assess someone's ability to financially and emotionally devote extreme time to a task for 10 weeks.  Is that really what we should assess to become an attorney?  The NCBE's creation of a testing task force implicitly confirms the MBE is a poor instrument, but they continue to administer it.  Shouldn't we stop using a poor instrument even if the alternative isn't ready?  Many questions, but my guess is all we will hear is *crickets*.

(Steven Foster)

 

Ominous, says a Bar Exam Article

Hat tip to Professor Chris Newman (University of Idaho School of Law):

The NCBE has released information about the median MBE score on this summer's July 2021 bar exam (140.4) and it is down significantly from the July 2020 median MBE score (146.1) and down a bit from the previous national cohort taking the July 2019 bar exam (141.1). Sloan, K, "Ominous early signs emerge for July 2021 bar exam pass rates," Reuters (Sep. 15, 2021).

As a closer look, the NCBE posted a graph depicting the median MBE scores for the past several years:

https://www.ncbex.org/news/national-means-july-mbe-august-mpre/

Because it is likely that so many bar takers either just barely fail or just barely pass bar exams, small differences in scores can result in dramatic differences in pass rates, with Reuters reporting that of the 9 states reporting July 2021 bar exam results, only 1 state had an increase in bar passage.  Reuters.  The article suggests, quoting in part Professor Derek Mueller, that widespread technical difficulties, pandemic fatigue, and perhaps a loss of learning effectiveness with the significant transition to online learning may be contributors.  Reuters.

One fact stands out to me.  Small changes in median MBE scores ought not be indicative of attorney competency issues because, to be repetitive, they are only small differences.  But, because most bar exam cut scores center around the median MBE score (and because most bar exams scale the written scores to the MBE scores), small differences can lead to big impacts.

Academic and Bar Support Scholarship Spotlight

A plethora of recent scholarship to report:

1.  B. Templin (Thomas Jefferson), Integrating Spaced Repetition and Required Metacognitive Self-Assessment in a Contracts Course (2021).

From the abstract:

This article provides an example for doctrinal law professors to integrate metacognitive exercises into their courses in order to increase student retention and understanding of the material as well as improve exam test-taking skills. Teaching metacognition is traditionally the domain of law school ASP departments. However, when ASP methods are supplemented with required exercises in a doctrinal course, student performance can improve measurably.

2.  S. George (Suffolk Law), The Law Student's Guide to Doing Well and Being Well (Carolina Academic Press, 2021). 

From the abstract:

The ABA and most state bar associations have identified a wellness crisis in the legal profession, and called for educating students on how to better cope with the challenges of law school and practice. At the same time, students must learn how to maximize their brain health so that they perform well in law school and on behalf of their clients in practice. The same way musicians would tune their instruments, or chefs would sharpen their knives, law students must sharpen their minds. This book aims to help students “do well” in their ability to learn, and “be well” in the process, by exploring the deep connection between brain health and wellness.

3.  A. Soled (Rutgers) & B. Hoffman (Rutgers), Building Bridges: How Law Schools Can Better Prepare Students from Historically Underserved Communities to Excel in Law School, 69 J. Legal Educ. 268 (2020).

From the introduction:

This article discusses the needs of law students whose circumstances—including but not limited to economic status, race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or educational background—disadvantage them in relation to their classmates whose privileged environment better prepared them for law school. This article first discusses factors that affect academic performance at law school. Second, it illustrates prelaw school and law school programs that target the needs of students from historically underserved communities. Finally, this article proposes ways law school faculty and administration can help these students succeed in law school and in their careers.

4.  K. Testy (Washington), Advancing an Evidence-Based Approach to Improving Legal Education, 69 J. Legal Educ. 561 (2020). 

From the article:

Student-centeredness should not be a remarkable idea for legal education.
Yet, some educators resist student-centeredness on the grounds that such an
approach sounds too much like “the customer is always king.” Under this
line of thought, faculty members instead see their role as the expert with the
duty of deciding what the student needs. As one of my faculty colleagues once
explained to me, “Dean, you pay me to mold them, not to listen to them.”

In my experience, however, students usually do know what they need; we
can learn a great deal by listening

(Louis Schulze, FIU Law)

Two ASP Professors cited in recent ABA Journal Article

Two ASP Professors Marsha Griggs (Washburn Law) and Melissa Hale (Loyola University Chicago School of Law) are cited in an American Bar Association article detailing technical difficulties experienced by some remote bar exam takers with the July 2021 bar exam.  

In my opinion, these sorts of problems demonstrate - for far too long - that regulators and courts are too reluctant, insular, and wedded to a one-sized fits all approach as the only method to determine whether law school graduates are competent to practice law.  It's like trying to fly an airplane regardless of the storm clouds and turbulence ahead.  Our future graduates and our future communities deserve better.  

For the article, please see the following link. :https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/technical-problems-again-plague-remote-bar-examinees-who-blame-software-provider.

(Scott Johns)

For Immediate Release - Re: Technical Issues for Remote Bar Exam (Statement from the Association of Academic Support Educators)

https://associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/statements/aase-statement-re-july-2021-bar-exam-examsoft-difficulties/

High Water Mark for UBE?

Hat tip to Greg Bordelon for sending out the link to New York's report on the UBE.  You can find the report here: 

https://nysba.org/app/uploads/2021/06/9.-Task-Force-on-the-New-York-Bar-Examination-with-staff-memo.pdf

I found this paragraph interesting:

The Task Force reaffirms its central recommendation that applicants for admission to

practice law in New York be required to demonstrate basic knowledge of New York law. It

remains our view that, if passage of a Bar Examination is either the exclusive, or an alternative,

pathway to practice in New York, that examination should include a rigorous test on matters of

New York law. We strongly believe that persons seeking admission to practice law in New

York must be required to demonstrate that they are able to do so competently. Given the unique

complexities of the New York legal landscape, including an elaborate court structure, a

complicated civil practice code, and distinctive rules governing evidence, family law, and trusts

and estates, among a myriad of legal principles unique to New York, it is not enough that an

applicant show competence solely with reference to the “law of nowhere.”

 

This paragraph is the reason I erroneously believed New York would never adopt the UBE in the first place.  Many argue NY adoption is what led many other states to follow, including Texas.  Texas adoption is what led to Oklahoma, etc.  If this is a concern, NY probably shouldn't have adopted the UBE.  

The other interesting conclusion from the report is the worry that the new bar exam in 5 years will be even worse than the UBE.  I will admit to being skeptical of the entire bar task force process, but I was actually impressed with a few of the choices on the drafting committee (I am sure I would be impressed with others, I just didn't know everyone).  The new bar exam may be the best measure of minimum competence the legal profession has seen, and we may also see states flee from it.  The next 4-5 years will be interesting.

(Steven Foster)

What if I'm "Behind" in Bar Review (and Thank you AccessLex)

Today AccessLex put on a great webinar, as part of their AccessLex Summer Webinar Series, about Bar Success. Sara Berman, of AccessLex, moderated a fantastic panel about bar success and early intervention. Some panelists included Afton Cavanaugh of St. Mary’s and Nicole Lefton of Hofstra.

Nicole mentioned that she found, in her data, that students that completed at least 80% of the bar prep program each week were most successful, and passed at a much higher rate. This has been consistent with my findings as well. This came right on the heels of seeing an email in the Academic Support Google group about “catching up” in bar review, and how to advise students. I’m also constantly seeing students on twitter ask about how much of bar prep they REALLY need to complete.

So here is my advice. To my colleagues AND to students. First and foremost, I absolutely agree that the greater percentage of your BarBri/Themis/Kaplan course that you complete, the better. The more you completely, the more likely you are to pass. But students are not statistics, and everyone is a bit different. Afton even ended his presentation with the hope that we remember that they are human beings that sit across from us, not data points. This is absolutely true! It should also be noted that there are always variations in this data. But, we ALL agree that practice makes progress. Not PERFECT – there is no perfect, and you don’t need perfect. But practice does make PROGRESS.  So having said this, how do you “catch up?”

First, stop thinning of it as “catching up” and realize that it’s about making progress. Nicole mentioned that it wasn’t just 80% that did the trick, but rather a CONSTANT 80% over the weeks. So, no cramming at the end!  But don’t give yourself the pressure of “catching up “ – work forward and do what you can!

Second, prioritize practice. Practice essays. Practice MBE. Practice MPT. Make sure you are doing something active. Yes, you need to learn the law – so videos, and taking notes, IS important – but you should really make active practice your number 1 priority. This means making perfect flashcards, or outlines, or “reviewing” premade outlines over and over again, are not as effective as writing essays. I even suggest that you write some essays as open note, because THAT is active review. You ca also turn multiple choice questions into “mini essays” by taking off the answer choices, and writing a paragraph long “essay.” Do this with open notes and it will help you remember the law, work on your essay skills, AND help you with multiple choice questions in general. So, even though they aren’t “assigned”, they are a great way to review law in an active way.

As a side note, there were fantastic conversations about how we, as various schools, can work together. Obviously this sometimes creates various challenges, but there are things we can do, especially in regards to advocacy.

(Melissa Hale)

How do I Study For the Bar Exam?

This is the time of year where I see this question popping up all over; from my students, on twitter, probably elsewhere.  And the answer is complicated, mostly because everyone is a bit different. So, with that being said, I can give you a few tried and true things that work.

How much time should I put in?

Conventional wisdom, as well as research and data, shows that those that pass spend at LEAST 500 hours on bar review. It also shows that the more you complete of your commercial prep course, the better.

However, students are not statistics. People are not statistics. So, there is going to be variation and exceptions.

I tell my students to spend 10 weeks (Mid May-July) treating bar prep like a full time job. This means 50 hour or so a week, so a taxing full time job. However, this doesn't mean you aren't eating or sleeping, or doing anything else you enjoy. Think of studying like 8-5 days, with some weekend work. that gives you evenings free - go to the gym, eat good dinners, talk to your friends. I binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer AND Angel. It was worth it.

That being said, not all of my students can do this. Some have families, and it's generally frowned upon if you ignore your kids all day for 10 weeks, or so I've been told. I don't know, my cats enjoy being ignored. Some of my students have full time jobs already, meaning an additional 50 hours a week is just not possible. Some of my students have both, or other things known as "life" that makes a 50 hour week of studying impossible. So, adapt. I tell my students with full time jobs to start early - as early as Feb or March. Or, you just learn to study more efficiently, and do the best you can. 

But, what about life and breaks?

So, having said that you should aim for a "full work day", know that your brain is more likely to retain information if you take breaks. So, your day might not be 8-5, it might be 8-10, and 11-1, and 2-4, and 5-7 and so forth. That's ok, and it's actually encouraged. Give your brain a break to let the information sink in.

Also, if you are overtired, or frustrated, or feeling ill - take a break! If you are frustrated or anxious, you won't retain information, and that will make you MORE frustrated and anxious. Also, if you are ill or tired, the same thing will happen. I get migraine, and it has taken me YEAR to learn that no matter what, I can't just "push through" a migraine, even if I somehow manage to do so physically, the work I do while "pushing through" will not be stellar. Plus, it takes that much longer for my migraine to go away. 

If you are frustrated with one topic, move on to another. Switching it up can be great. 

The point is - give yourself breaks, and don't work to the point of frustration. 

What about time for myself?

Yea, you need that. You need to take care of your mental health. This means different things to different people, so I can't tell you exactly what will work. I just know that, as stated above, the more anxious, tired, or frustrated you are - your brain stops learning.

So continue to meditate, see your friends (safely, pandemic and all), go for runs or go to the gym, binge a vampire related show from the late 90s, paint, dance, play video games, or whatever it is that's going to keep you sane.

 

Stay hydrated and well fed  too. I'm serious on that one. And finally, remember it's a marathon - train accordingly. It's a well used cliche for a reason!

(Melissa Hale)

So You Failed The Bar.....

So You Failed the Bar?

Now what?

First and foremost, this does not define you. Trust me, we have all heard stories of prominent lawyers, judges, and politicians that have failed the bar, sometimes multiple times. I could make you a list of all of the successful lawyers that were unsuccessful on the bar exam their first time.  But I won’t, because failing the bar does not define them. If you try to make a list, you won’t find “failed the bar” on Wikipedia pages, or official biographies, or resumes. It’s not because it’s some secret shame, but because no one cares. In 5-10 years, no one will care how many times it took you to pass the bar. In fact, they won’t care in 6 months or a year. It seems like a defining moment right now, but it isn’t. Your defining moments come from the way you treat clients, the way you treat colleagues, and what you choose to do with your license once you have it.

I write this twice a year, every time results come out, because I think the message is that important. So let me repeat, this does NOT define you.

Having said that, it’s ok to take a few days to be upset. Do what you need to do. But then dust yourself off, and start looking towards the next bar. Also, remember that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s a part of success. Every successful lawyer has failed – on the bar, at trial, in a negotiation, not getting a job. Every failed politician has lost a race. Every failed Olympian has lost a game or a match. That failure is a normal way to achieves success in the future. However, for that to be true, you have to learn from failure.

So how to learn from this?

Step 1: Request your essays back.  Many states allow you to request, or view, your essays.  There are often deadlines for this, so make sure you do it right away.

Once you have your essays, I want you to do a couple things. Review your answers. Now that you are removed from the day of writing, what do you notice? Then, if possible, compare them to the sample answers. See if you can pick out patterns. Don’t just focus on the conclusions, or the issues spotted. Did the sample answers use more facts? Or have a more in depth analysis? Be honest with yourself. Also, if you have a varied set of scores (one essay is a 1, while another is a 5) compare the 2. What is the difference? Don’t just shrug it off as you know one subject better. Pay attention to the writing in both.

In addition, here is a CALI lesson on assessing your own work. It may seem geared towards law students, but it can help you assess your essays: https://www.cali.org/lesson/18101

Assessing your essays is the really important first step. I have seen so many students that know the law, and know it well. But they don’t put enough explanation in their essays, and that costs them. So really take that time to be critical, and see what you need to work on.

Step 2: Analyze your score  How close or far away are you from passing? Did you do better on a certain subject? Is your written score considerably better than your MBE score? This is an excellent place to start. Some things to keep in mind:

• If your essay score is higher than your MBE, it may be tempting to place most of your energy into MBE practice, and forget about essays. This will only result in your score “swapping.” So, while it is good to note that you might need more work on the MBE, don’t forget that you aren’t carrying the score with you so you still need to practice essays. The reverse is true if you did better on MBE than the essays.
• Perhaps you did really well on the torts MBE, but your lowest score was civil procedure. Again, do not just focus on civil procedure, and forget other subjects. Your scores will just swap places, and not improve overall.
• You might be only 2 points away from passing. Great! However, your score is still starting from scratch. Meaning, in one sense, you only need 2 more points, but that’s not how the bar works, obviously. You have to still work to get the points you already got AGAIN, and it is likely you forgot things, and are out of practice.

Step 3: Think about external things  Did something unrelated to the bar impact your studying? Perhaps a health issue, physical or mental? Perhaps a family emergency, or ongoing family issues?

Have you suffered from anxiety in general or related to exams? If you do, are you being treated for the anxiety?

These things can and will impact your studying. Not matter how much time and effort you put in, if you are not physically and mentally healthy, you won’t process the information correctly.

Not to mention, if there is something in your life that is distracting you, that will also impact how you process information.

And again, we were in a pandemic. This likely impacted your ability to study and focus. That’s ok, and that’s normal.

Step 4: Accommodations  If you were entitled to accommodations in law school, did you use them on the bar exam? If not, make sure you apply for them this time around. If you were denied accommodations, still try again. They likely need more recent testing, or paperwork.

Step 5: Think about your Study Habits.  The most important thing you can do is practice. Many bar students get caught up in trying to memorize every sing law, or master every subject. While this is admirable, and takes quite a bit of time and effort, it's not a surefire way to find success.  This is because mastering the bar is a SKILL. You need to practice. When I work with repeat takers, I often find that they knew the law, and they studied hard, but didn’t practice enough essays or enough timed MBE.

This matters for a few reasons. One is timing. You can know all the law in the world, but if you can’t write an essay in 30 minutes, you will struggle to get the scores you need. Similarly, doing 100 MBE questions in 3 hours is not easy, even if you DO know the law. You need to practice the timing, and practice for the stamina.

Secondly, the skill being tested on the bar is applying the law to the unique set of facts. Yes, you need to know the law to do this, but knowing the law is not enough. You need to practice the application. The application is typically where you will get most points. 

This means that writing essays, fully out, not just passively reading sample answers or issue spotting, is key. It has to be a priority in studying.

In fact, all of your studying should be active. Don’t focus on rewriting, or reviewing, outline after outline. Again, yes, you need to know the law, but you are also more likely to remember the law if you apply it – in MBE questions, writing essays, and so forth.

Step 6: Change it Up.  Different study habits work for different people. If you studied at home and found that you were easily distracted, find a space at the library or nearby coffee shop to study. If you did go the library/school/coffee shop every day, maybe try studying at home.

Finally, if you can, reach out to your school's bar prep person!

And good luck!

(Melissa Hale)

Academic and Bar Support Scholarship Spotlight

M. Griggs (Washburn) & D. Rubenstein (Washburn), It’s Time to Re-Set the Bar for Online Proctoring (Bloomberg Law, March 24, 2021).  

ASP's own Professor Marsha Griggs and her colleague ask crucial questions here.  Everyone in ASP should be aware of these troubling issues.  

From the intro:

Online bar exams administered during the pandemic were marked by controversy around the use of proctoring using artificial intelligence and allegations of cheating that mostly were proved false.  Washburn University School of Law professors David Rubenstein and Marsha Griggs say regulation and best practices are needed, since online exams appear to be here to stay.

(Louis Schulze, FIU Law)

 

 

 

SALT Webinar next Friday

Society of American Law Teachers Presents:

Social Justice in Action Webinar Series

Can You See Me?
Inclusive Practices for Entry
into the Legal Profession

Friday, March 26, 2021 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM ET
From law school classes to artificial intelligence proctoring, students of color are asking, “Can You See Me?” Myriad stressors contribute to disparate bar pass outcomes that deprive the legal profession of much needed diversity. Some stressors are the costs, content, and cut scores of the bar exam; others manifest in the law school classroom.

Can we challenge and mitigate these stressors without exacerbating stereotype threat? Recent law grads, professors, and an identity researcher will address the problematic invisibility of students of color and present law faculty with interventions to promote inclusion.
Panel discussion with including Octavia Carson, Areeb Been Khan, Victor Quintanilla, Heidi Williams, and Pernell Jackson

Moderators: Marsha Griggs and Joan Howarth

Panelists will be available until 4:15 PM for Q&A.

 

 

NY Bar Exam Remote and Capped at 10k Students

Hat Tip to Shane Dizon who forwarded the NYBOLE news to the listserv.  If you haven't seen it, the excerpt is below.  With another round of remote bar exams, will the NCBE consider whether computer testing leads to different scores?  The inability to effectively notate, draw property transactions, and write out the communications in contract formation must have an impact on taker's ability to solve the legal question.  I don't believe the functions through the exam software are as effective as the ability to write in the book.  My hope is the NCBE would analyze the impact of remote testing on MBE performance.  I also hope they publish their findings.

(Steven Foster)

 

https://www.nybarexam.org

NOTICES:

UPDATED MARCH 5, 2021:

JULY 2021 BAR EXAMINATION

On February 2, 2021, the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) announced that it will make a full set of Uniform Bar Exam materials available for a remote examination in July 2021. Although vaccinations are now available and the number of COVID-19 cases is decreasing, the COVID-19 pandemic has not abated sufficiently to permit the Board of Law Examiners to safely conduct in-person testing of large numbers of bar applicants in New York. Therefore, in order to provide sufficient notice to prospective bar exam applicants, the July 2021 New York Bar Examination will be administered remotely.
 
Application to the July 27-28, 2021 bar examination will be open to all eligible applicants. However, the Board will cap the number of applications at 10,000. The application filing period for the July 27-28, 2021 New York bar examination is April 1 – 30, 2021. The application will close on April 30, 2021 or when the 10,000 cap is reached. Applicants shall apply through their BOLE Account in the Applicant Services Portal.
 
Since the results from the February 2021 bar examination are not anticipated to be released until late April, applicants who are unsuccessful on the February 2021 New York bar examination will be provided an opportunity to apply for the July 2021 bar examination after the release of the February 2021 New York bar exam results. 

Lessons From Surgeons for the Last Two Weeks of Prep until the Feb 2021 Bar Exam

Wow; do I ever get distracted...with emails...incoming snapchats....Facebook posts....and just the overall buzz of the omnipresent internet.  There is so much NOISE that takes up so much of my TIME that I seem to get so LITTLE done.  That's particularly true for me in preparing for big exams because, to be honest, I am a big-time procrastinator...with a CAPITAL P!

In fact, I was just fretting about how much I had to do (which, of course, is related to my procrastination issues) when I came across an article by Lucette Lugando describing how surgeons stay focused during organ transplants.

Hum...That's what I need.  To Focus. To Stay on Task.  To Just Get Something Meaningful Done Today!   http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-surgeons-stay-focused-for-hours-1479310052  

So, here are a few thoughts that I gleaned from Lugando's article that might be especially handy for law graduates preparing for the Feb 2021 bar exam (and for people like me who live to procrastinate):

First, put away my cellphone.  Turn it off.  Hide it.  Ditch it.

As detailed in Lugando's article, "Transplant surgeons, whose work includes stitching minuscule blood vessels together, minimize their distractions. No one checks cellphones in the operating room during surgery."  

No one checks their phones?  Really?  Are you kidding?  Of course not, at least not during surgery.  And, bar exam preparation requires us to do surgery, so to speak, on our study tools and on loads of practice exams.  

Thus, as I create study tools or as I learn by taking practice exams, I can help myself mightily by placing my focus on my work at hand... rather than the cellphone that is so often in my hand...by removing the "cellphone temptation" out of my grasp.  Who knows?  It might even lower my anxiety to stop looking at it constantly.

Second, sharpen my field of vision to just the essentials (working on my study tools, practicing lots of exam questions, and looping the lessons learned from my practice problems back into my study tools) by creating an environment that is free of my own personal distractions...so that I focus on learning rather than the noise that is so often around me.

As Lugando points out, "The surgeons often wear loupes mounted on eye glasses to magnify their work, which limits their field of vision to a few inches."  

In other words, with respect to bar exam preparation, maybe I need to limit my field of vision to the "few" essentials, namely, creating study tools, testing my study tools out through practice exams, and then editing my study tools to incorporate what I learned about problem-solving through the practice exams.  

There's a saying, apparently by Winston Churchill, that says: "You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks."  Or, as Bruce Lee put it, "The successful warrior is the average [person] with a laser-like focus."

So, instead of having the cellphone bark at you constantly, you might just try out what surgeons do...and turn your focus into a laser by getting rid of distractions during the final two weeks of bar prep as you create your study tools and practice lots and lots of bar exam problems.  

In the process, you'll become, to paraphrase Bruce Lee, a bar exam champion.  (Scott Johns).

12 Days Before the Bar Exam - What Now?

I’ve had multiple students ask me this week “What should I do with the remaining 12 days before the Bar Exam?” so I thought I’d share my advice with anyone else that may be wondering.

First, 12 days is more than you think. I promise.

Second, remember that the goal is NOT to memorize everything. It’s not possible. So, if you don’t feel like you know every last piece of law ever that can possibly be tested on the exam, you are not alone. It’s a normal feeling!

So, what CAN you do?

Practice. Between now and the 19^th or so, this is the last big push where you can practice. Make sure you’ve practice MBE sets in 100, and timed. Make sure you’ve written more than one essay at a time. Now might be the time two take 90 minutes and write 3 essays, or take 3 hours and write 2 MPTs! It’s one thing to write one essay in 30 minutes, it’s an entirely different thing to get through 6 at a time! It’s hard, it’s tiring, and it’s easy to lose focus. So, the only want to work on your stamina and timing is to practice. This upcoming weekend and week is the perfect time to get that in, and really make sure you are practicing in test like conditions, or as close as possible.

Start to work on memory and recall. Yes, there are things you just NEED to remember. This week, and until the day of the exam, take 5-10 minute chunks to work on memory. See this post for more on memory: https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/academic_support/2021/02/memorization-v-understanding.html

Finally the days leading up to the exam, the weekend before, take some time to relax. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s important.

Here is a little timeline to help:

Four Days Before the Bar Exam

This should be your last day of “heavy lifting” activities. Complete a set of 50 timed MBE questions. Complete a set of three MEE questions, timed. Complete a full-length timed MPT. Do not pick and choose between these – do all of them. This is the last day you will do practice that improves your stamina and timing. Remember, you should be doing these things all week, but four days before the exam is your cut off point.

Three Days Before the Bar Exam

In terms of bar exam preparation, today you should complete 15 to 20 MBE questions, complete one timed MEE question, outline three to five additional MEE questions, and complete one full-length timed MPT. You are tapering off. This isn’t an exact science – the point is that you are practicing, so you will feel prepared, but you aren’t tiring yourself out.

This is also the day to do something relaxing for yourself – watch a movie, go on a run. Do something that is going to make you feel less stressed. You should also be sure to go to bed early and eat well. Yes, that sounds like “mothering” but it’s good advice. On the days of the exam you will NEED to be well rested and refreshed.

Two Days Before the Bar Exam

Rinse and repeat yesterday. Today you should complete 15 to 20 MBE questions, complete one timed MEE question, outline three to five additional MEE questions, and complete one full-length timed MPT.

Take some more time to do something relaxing for yourself to help relieve some of that bar exam stress. And again - you should be sure to go to bed early and eat well.

Also, when I say do something relaxing for yourself, that can be almost anything that makes you happy. The point is to get out of your head a bit, and give yourself a break. I realize it might seem like the worst time to take a break, but it’s not. Your brain needs to feel “fresh” on exam days. Think of it like running a marathon – you don’t run 26.2 miles, or even 13 miles, the day before the marathon. You’d be exhausted. The days leading up to the actual marathon you might run 1-5 miles and stretch, and relax, and eat pasta. This is your mental marathon, so treat your brain accordingly.

One Day Before the Bar Exam

Today you should lighten the mental lift even more. Review your flashcards and other memory devices. Outline three to five MEE questions. Do five MBE questions to keep your brain in the practice of thinking through MBE questions without overly taxing it.

You also want to make sure you have everything ready for tomorrow. What types of ID do you need? What are you allowed to bring in with you to the exam? Make sure to have all those items pulled together and ready to go. Make sure your laptop is fully charged. And as silly as it sounds, map out how you will get to the exam location (if you are going to a location). Do you need to worry about parking? Are you taking a train? Do not leave anything to chance. Most of you, but not all, are currently looking at virtual exams. So do you have a good space to take the exam? Do you know how you will log in? What the timing is? Etc?

Finally, relax. You’ve put in so many hours, weeks, months of preparation – you’ve got this. Take some time to relax and unwind before bed. Eat a simple meal that will sit well with your potentially uneasy stomach. Lastly, head to bed a bit earlier than usual to account for nerves keeping you awake.

Day One of the Bar Exam

Today is the day. Make sure you are on time for check in and have everything with you. Today is filled with the MPT and MEE. At the lunch break and after the day of testing ends, do not talk with others about the contents of the exam. Invariably, one of you will think you saw a subject the other did not spot – and you won’t know who was right or wrong until you get your final bar results, so there is no benefit to discussing such matters now. Doing so will only freak you out and add to your anxiety.

After the testing day is complete, eat dinner and mentally decompress. If you must, review a few flashcards – perhaps the ones you still struggle with and want just one more run at. But this is not the time to do any serious review or learning because your brain is tired from today and needs to rest up for tomorrow. What is there is there. Have confidence that your hard work will pay off tomorrow!

Day Two of the Bar Exam

It is almost over! Today you will tackle the MBE and then – be done! After the testing day is over, just like yesterday – do not talk about the exam! Instead, relax, take a nap, celebrate!

(Melissa Hale)

Memorization v Understanding

If you are taking the February Bar Exam, you might be currently feeling the panic of how much you have to memorize. Well, don't! I know, easier said than done, so let me give you some tips.

Full disclosure - this is from an upcoming book, The Ultimate Guide to the UBE,  written with my co-authors Toni Miceli and Tania Shah. (I have edited it slightly for brevity)

So hopefully this helps you tackle all the memorizing you need to do. And remember, it doesn't feel like you have much time, but you DO, just use it wisely!

Why Not Just Memorize?

First of all, memorization is a bad word. We hate it. We want you to remember, or recall, but not memorize. Why do we make such a big deal about this? Well, for a couple reasons:

First, our brain is awful at memorization. Briefly, we have short term memory, long term memory, and memory retrieval. Short term memory can also be called working memory. It’s like a short picture that only lasts a few minutes. Next is long term memory, where memories are stored for – you guessed it – the long term. And finally, memory retrieval, or the ability to pull that information out of long-term storage so you can actually use it. This is the piece you are concerned with for the bar exam and it is also the most difficult to achieve.

So, your aim isn’t really to “memorize” – that is just putting information into storage, perhaps without understanding what it even means or how to apply it. Your aim is to remember the information and be able to recall it when you need it on the exam. Recall means that you can remember a concept AND remember how to apply that concept. If you have only memorized the law, but don’t sufficiently understand it, you won’t be able to effectively apply the law. 

Also, if you focus on memorization, instead of learning, you will get overwhelmed and stressed.  It is pretty much not humanly possible to memorize ALL the law that is tested on the bar exam, so if you are striving for memorization, you are already fighting a losing battle. Striving to memorize that much law verbatim is a stressor you just don’t need.

Conversely, if you work to understand the law, meaning you have a general understanding of the concepts, the recall part comes naturally, without the struggle. We once had a student who had taken the bar 13 times before he met us. After working with him, we realized he had memorized all of the rules, and we mean verbatim. He could tell you the rule number, and the exact wording. But he kept failing because he didn’t know how to apply the rules he memorized to the question. We want more for you – so stick with us and learn just how to get to that magical recall stage!

Okay – So There Is Some Memorization Involved

Even though we stress that recall and understanding is better than memorization, there ARE some things you will need to memorize. After all, whether it’s an essay or MBE question, you need a rule before you can start to do your analysis. In addition, there are some rules where it is important to know it verbatim, such as the various standards of review in constitutional law. So, what CAN you do to make that memorization process a little easier?

1. The Power of Story and Emotion

Let’s start with a story. Memory is often tied to stories, and strong emotions. That is why our autobiographical information is easy to recall. We might smell a certain food, and fondly remember a lovely family celebration we had as a child. These memories are typically vivid and strong. That’s because we process them as stories, not facts. If you are at a party, you don’t focus on individual details to remember, like the color of the walls, or the music playing, and consciously try to memorize it. You remember it because it’s happening to you – it’s a story. In addition, you are more likely to have a vivid memory of that party if you are feeling a strong emotion, usually intense happiness.

So, how do you make this work for bar review? The act of studying doesn’t make for a good story, and you aren’t likely to feel very strong emotions (at least not about the material you are studying). You may be feeling frustration, or stress, but those feelings actually have a counterproductive impact on memory.

That means it’s up to you to manufacture stories and happiness for the bar exam. Don’t just stare at outlines, or black letter law. Instead, complete more and more practice questions, which are, themselves, stories. Or, even better, make up new hypotheticals of your own – the more ridiculous the better. If you’ve seen any of us lecture on any bar topic, you know we love crazy stories. We are sure our students often roll their eyes and wonder why we are being ridiculous. But it’s to help with memory. The more absurd or ridiculous our examples, the more likely you are to remember the law!

Also, manufacture happiness, as much as you can. Studies have shown that people who are placed in a room with simple smiling faces do better on memory tasks. So, surround yourself with happy photos or pictures of your pets. Call one another on zoom and make up ridiculous hypotheticals until you are all laughing. You don’t have to be happy about taking the bar exam to manufacture happiness that will help you be properly prepared for the bar exam.

2. Practice

Remember how we mentioned that practice questions are actually stories? That means that each MBE fact pattern you read, and each essay hypothetical you mark up, are stories that you can hold onto! So, not only will practice questions make you better at tackling the actual essays or MBE questions on your bar exam, but practice questions give your brain stories to hold on to, which also helps your memory! For instance, if you are trying to memorize the rule for parol evidence, completing 10 MBE questions on parol evidence, and then really reviewing the answer and explanation for each question and learning from each question, will serve you much more than just reviewing your outline over and over again. Actively engaging with the material trumps passive reading and re-reading of the material every time.

3. Chunking

In cognitive psychology, chunking is a process by which a larger unit of information is broken down into smaller units (or chunks) of information, that are easier to retain in your memory. Research shows that your brain can typically only remember 7 items at once. By chunking related items together into these smaller chunks, you are reducing the number of items your brain has to remember.

So, what does chunking information mean for you and your bar exam preparation? The short answer is that chunking is going to help you memorize learn the law you need for the bar exam, and help you group it in ways that will assist you in both recalling and applying it, as needed.  So, the first step in chunking is to think not just about how the pieces of information relate to each other, but also about how you will need to use the information. This is one reason we place practice so highly. When you go to memorize the law, you can’t memorize it in a vacuum.

Spacing It Out So You Don’t Space Out

Your brain learns more effectively when you space out information. Think of it like this: If you are building a brick wall, you need to let the mortar in between the bricks dry before you stack even more bricks on top, or the wall will topple. Similarly, you let one coat of paint dry before you put on another. The same is true with memory. By taking strategically placed breaks between study, we can improve our memory of that material. So how does this work? Read on!

1. Let’s Begin with the Forgetting Curve

It is almost universally accepted that memories decay over time. The good news is that researchers have discovered that we can predict when those memories will begin to decay. This is known as the forgetting curve.  In 1885, psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that beginning just after a person learns new information, their ability to remember that information (or recall it) starts to decay. He tracked how much information his subjects could recall over time, and discovered that the greater the period of time in between the subject taking in the new information and being asked to recall it, the smaller amount of that information the subjects were able to recall. However, Ebbinghaus also discovered that while the initial rate of decline in recall is fairly steep, the rate of decay declines with time. This means that memories that “survive” become less likely to be lost over time. This also means that the longer you are able to retain a memory in the initial stage, the slower the information will decay over time

2. The Spacing Effect

So, how do you slow down this memory loss, or memory decay? The answer lies in spacing out your study. Spacing out learning and review helps adjust the forgetting curve. If you allow longer periods of time in between review sessions, you’ll improve memory.

Now, the trouble with the spacing effect for purposes of your bar exam preparation is that you really have too much learn, and not enough time to learn it in! So, what can you do instead? You can still apply the concept of spacing but pair it with something called interleaving.

Interleaving is mixing subjects up as you study. So, while normal, or “blocked”, practice is the idea that you will study one concept, or topic, until you feel comfortable and then move on, interleaving is the mixing of those subjects. Interleaving has been shown to be more effective than blocked practice for developing problem solving skills, and also leads to long term memory retention – both things useful for the bar exam!

Interleaving also forces the brain to continually retrieve information, which is also something you need for the bar exam because each MBE or essay prompt is different from the last, which means your short term memory won’t help you. Interleaving also improves the brain’s ability to differentiate between concepts. Again, something you need for the bar exam!

So what is the catch? Well, because interleaving involves retrieval practice, it feels more difficult than blocked practice. So, it’s going to feel worse. It’s going to feel like you aren’t understanding concepts. So, it’s important to remind yourself that while this style of studying feels worse, it has better long-term results. Think of interleaving like working out; you know it’s working when you are sore the next morning.

So, each day during your bar exam preparation study a variety of topics. Yes, there will be instances where it makes more sense to focus on one topic for a few hours. But if you are looking to increase your ability to recall the information, make sure you are switching in between torts and contracts, and then civil procedure, and then property, and so forth.

Another version of interleaving, which isn’t quite as effective, but is still helpful, is to change how or what you are studying. Don’t spend one full day practicing MBE questions, and then another full day practicing essays. Similarly, don’t spend one day completely listening to videos, or reviewing outlines. Instead, complete 15 MBE questions, and then write out one essay, and then review some flashcards, and so forth. The more you are making your brain jump between topics and activities, the more your brain has to work, and that means your brain is more likely to recall the information you are studying. You are also less likely to lose focus or get bored, which again, means you are more likely to recall the information.

3. The Testing Effect

Finally, to our favorite part of the puzzle – the testing effect. We mentioned before that practice increases memory. We regularly hear students stress over getting questions wrong during practice and review. While we understand why they might get frustrated, they are missing the point of the practice – by testing yourself, you are actually increasing the odds that you will remember that concept the next time it appears before you.

Basically, people recall previously-learned information at a higher rate when they have tested themselves, versus just passively observing or reading the information. This is why we encourage you to complete more practice questions instead of merely reviewing your outline. There is a time and place for passive review, but your memory really gets better each time you actively engage with the material by testing yourself on it.

In addition, while testing without feedback will help with recall, the effect is even stronger when the testing is associated with meaningful feedback. So, what does this mean for you? Make sure to fully review each and every answer and explanation, whether it is an MBE question or an essay question! In fact, that is one of the purposes of this book: reviewing with meaningful reflection and feedback. 

Finally, as you practice bar exam questions, don’t think of doing practice questions as assessment, or as an indicator of how much you know. While practice questions can be both of those things, we want you to start thinking of practice questions as a way to increase long term memory!

Studies show that self-testing even a single time can be as effective as reviewing information five times. One study gave students a schedule to learn vocabulary words, some including testing and some including studying. A week later, the students who did the testing remembered 80% of the vocabulary words, while non-testing students only remembered 35% of the vocabulary words. Now, first, we should point out that memorizing vocabulary words is easier than memorizing legal concepts. In addition, the bar exam is asking you to APPLY those legal concepts, which you can’t do with memory alone. So think about it – do you want to do one multiple choice question, or review your flash card five times? We think the answer is pretty clear.

So – what’s the takeaway from this chapter? Well, practice definitely makes prepared because it helps your memory and your recall. And again – breaks are still a good idea!

 

(Melissa Hale)

 

Save the Date - Webinar "Leveraging Student Engagement to Maximize Student Success" Jan 26, 2021

There's exciting research concerning the relationship between student engagement, academic success, and bar exam success.  

In brief, according to AccessLex, research findings "suggest[] the probability of bar passage is highest not only among those who consistently perform well in law school, but also among those who have a rocky start but improve along the way."  And, based on work of the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) organization and others, student engagement is a powerful tool that can lend a hand in helping students improve academic performance.  

Now, AccessLex and LSSSE are looking to partner with more law schools to conduct further empirical research into this exciting field of possibilities.  [In my mind, I picture a triangle to illustrate the learning relationship: The Legal Education "Learning Triangle" ].  

To learn more, AccessLex and LSSSE is hosting a free webinar on January 26, at 2 pm EST.  If you've ever wondered about the relationship between student engagement and success, now's the chance to learn more.  And, now's the chance to participate in empirical research for the public good.  

Here's the link for more details and to register:

https://www.accesslex.org/accesslex-lssse-bar-exam-success-initiative