JEANNA HUNTER
NIU
At NIU-COL, in an effort to improve our first-time takers pass rate, we
have taken similar to many of those already discussed.
1. In a review of who was failing the bar exam, we determined that
students with cummulative GPAs in the first year of less than 2.2 had a
greater than 50% chance of failing the bar exam. So, in the second
semester of the first year, we teach an exam-writing seminar to all
students who have first semester GPAs below 2.2. This seminar meets
for six or seven weeks and focuses first on organizing an exam answer
and second on effectively communicating a legal analysis. We use very
short essay questions and the students write, re-write and share each
others answers. We meet once a week to discuss the week's problem.
The students who participate in the entire seminar typically see their
spring semester GPAs increase by between .3 and 1 point over their fall
performances. Additionally, the students who move their cummulative
GPA above 2.2 pass the bar at the same rate as the rest of the class,
despite the poor start.
2. In an effort to reach those student still at risk after the first
year of law school, we teach a fall semester upper-level ASP class.
Students who have cummulative GPAs under 2.2 are invited to attend.
Students who are on academic probation are required to attend. In
these sessions, we revisit case briefing, note taking, outlining, as
well as organization and analysis for essay exam answers. Some of the
participants in these sessions are the same students who participated
in the spring exam-writing seminar but many of them are not. These
students typically see a significant improvement in their semester GPAs
and also go on to pass the bar at a higher rate than their colleagues
who did not participate in this program. We often have 100 percent of
these students pass the bar exam on the first attempt.
3. We have had various meetings with the 3L students to encourage them
to prepare financially for a summer studying for the bar exam, prepare
for stress, etc.
4. We offer a summer bar skills review course for free for any of our
students who want to participate in it. The course meets about twice
each week during June. We review basic study skills, including the
importance of time management, memorization, etc. We also have the
students write three or four essay questions and three MPTs, all under
test conditions. These written exercises are individually critiqued
and we discuss common problems in the class meetings. These sessions
are scheduled immediately after the BarBri sessions. I choose problem
topics based on the essay subjects being discussed in Barbri or based
on the areas our graduates typically struggle with on the bar exam.
The students who participate fully in this program pass at a rate
typically exceeding the pass rate for first-time takers at NIU.
5. I will work individually with students who are multiple-takers and
seek my assistance. I met, for example, with a second-time taker this
winter every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 7 p.m. to review essay answers
she e-mailed me during the week. This student was extremely motivated
and I was happy to help. I have also worked indivudally with students
who are struggling to pass the MPRE. I have had many students come to
me asking for information on multiple choice questions but I've come to
believe that some students' problems are not just about memorizing the
material and learning how to take the exam. For example, I worked with
a woman this semester who had failed the MPRE twice, never scoring more
than a scaled score of about 65-68%. She was studying correctly,
focusing on the correct materials. She could do the exam in the right
amount of time, so she was managing her time during the exam well. It
turned out, after many "let's check this" sessions, that I finally
figured out what she was doing. She knew the rules and could virtually
recite them. She could explain them to me. But, when she answered a
question, she was answering based on her personal religious and moral
values. She knew it as soon as I said it and we spent about three
weeks retraining her thinking process. I'm happy to say that she
passed the MPRE, scoring more than 80 percent correct!
Now, my frustration. All of our programs are voluntary and we do not
get the level of participation we would like to have in them. We
"advertise" our success rates and have very good word-of-mouth from our
former participants. Still, when it comes to finding time to
participate in our programs, students just can not seem to do it. I
have students who want to sit in on the critiques of other students'
work but don't want to do the work themselves. I have students who say
they want help but really just want me to give them something to read.
I can do this but it doesn't help the way active participation in one
of these sessions can. So my question would be how do we better
motivate students to participate?
jeanna hunter
MICHAEL SCHWARTZ
WESTERN STATE
At Western State, we have developed a number of bar pass programs. Since we developed
these programs, Western State's bar pass rate has steadily increased; it is now up by 37% (from
35% seven administrations ago to 49% on the July 2004 bar exam).
First, because bar pass correlates so strongly with law school grades, we have been making
wholesale efforts to improve law school instruction and law student learning. To those ends, we
have developed a self-regulated learning curriculum, a structured study group program, a
classroom assessment initiative and a course webpage program.
Second, because we believe bar pass correlates with self-efficacy and persistence, we have
developed a bar pass attributional retraining program. The goal of an attributional retraining
program is to help students realize that success on the bar exam is a matter of strategy selection,
self-efficacy and persistence and not innate ability. All students who will be taking the bar exam
attend an event in which recent, successful bar takers (who had mediocre law school grades yet
passed on their first try) discuss how they studied for the bar and why they believe they passed-we screen the speakers carefully), in which the faculty presents "The Ten Best Practices of
Successful Bar takers" (a list of bar study recommendations that reinforces the self-regulated
learning curriculum described above and adapts those suggestions to bar study), and in which an
educational psychologist discusses the learning theory implications of preparing for and studying
for the bar exam.
Third, to reduce social isolation and keep students from becoming discouraged, each student is
assigned a faculty mentor/coach, who is responsible for keeping in contact with the student as
she is studying for the bar, advising the student as needed, helping the student formulate a study
plan, and connecting the student to sources of help (we have a bar pass course webpage).
Students also receive three hours of instruction on taking multiple choice questions.
This year, we have added two additional programs.
First, in a pilot program and based on Richard Litvin's outstanding bar pass work and research at
Quinnipiac, we convinced 15 students who are at the greatest risk of not passing the bar exam
have been participating in what we call our "exit-year program." For the first semester of their
final year of law school, the students have been working on their law school studying skills based
on the self-regulated learning principles mentioned above. The goal was to help the students
recognize what worked for them in the law school classes in which they have done well, to use
those techniques for all of their classes and, thereby, to improve their performances in all their
third-year classes. The students also answered 25 multiple choice questions per week, and, for
each question they missed, identified why their answer was wrong, the correct answer was
correct and where their studying had gone astray such that they missed the question. This
semester, the students have continued doing the multiple choice questions, have been
developing checklists for all the bar-tested subjects, have been writing weekly practice
essays and have been working on memorization, test-taking, stress management, time
management, issue spotting and legal analysis skills. Finally, all the students took a course
called solving legal problems, a course which uses past California Bar Exam performance exam
questions as a mechanism for teaching students law practice skills, such as drafting discovery,
creating discovery plans, etc. We started with a small number of students so we could assess
the program and determine whether the resources we have devoted to it have been worth it! If
the program succeeds, we will expand it.
Second, we have developed a program to encourage students to answer 2,000 multiple choice
questions (because the rest of the California Bar Exam is scaled to the Multistate Bar Exam).
Students have been divided into groups and rewards will be given to groups in which all students
complete the required number of questions and to the group that does so most quickly.
~Mike
Professor Michael Hunter Schwartz
Director, S.T.E.L.L.A.R. Law Student Program
Western State University College of Law
1111 North State College
Fullerton, CA 92831
mischwartz@wsulaw.edu
LINDA FELDMAN
BROOKLYN
We (Brooklyn Law School) have been grappling with this problem. About 3
years ago we offered an early start bar program in conjunction with
BarBri's BEAT program. The program consisted of 5 sessions on 5 Sundays
spread throughout March and April. The attendance at the first session
was fairly good, although more from the top half of the class attended
thatn from the bottom 1/2. That session included a live hour of "Intro
to the Bar" and tapes of a Negligence lecture. Following sessions
included a tape of a substantive lecture with either essay questions or
MBE questions based on the lecture. Students were given an opportunity
to write ansers to the essay questions and have them graded/commented
on by someone at BarBri. The program was open to all graduating
students. Attendance was smaller for each session until approximately
30 students (out of a graduation class of over 450) attended the final
session.
A review of our bar pass rate did not indicate any improvement for
students in the bottom 1/3 who attended v.those in the bottom 1/3 who
did not attend the sessions.
Because of a lack of imagination and no time to focus, we offered a
revised version of the above last year with the same results.
This year I went to great lengths (multiple emails)to get the bottom
1/3 of our graduating class to attend a special version of Joe Marino's
essay writing program. (Joe Marino is an 'expert" on the NY Bar essays.
The law school funded the program. We offered 3 essay writing sessions
to 163 students (bottom 1/3 of our graduating class). So far, 31 have
signed up, and Friday was the deadline! I don't know what else to do.
PATTY ROBERTS
WILLIAM & MARY
Thanks for a great topic - one we're all grappling with.
At William & Mary, we had a Bar Supplemental Program last summer for our Virginia
Bar Takers. We offered free pizza as an incentive immediately following the morning
BarBri session, then had our supplemental sessions. There was a pass rate of 93.5%
among those students who attended the supplemental program regularly. We made the
sessions available on Blackboard too, for our students who were taking bar courses in
some other location. The sessions we offered included the following topics:
Writing a Successful Virginia Bar Essay Answer
Virginia Procedure Review
Criminal Law Practice Question/Model Answer
Virginia Civil Procedure and Equity Practice case applications of the law
Equity and Virginia Procedure Practice Question/Model Answer
Trusts & Estates Review
Trusts & Estates Practice Question/Model Answer
Virginia Real Property Law
Commercial Paper
Secured Transactions
Many of the sessions were led by one of our adjuncts who has written questions for and
graded answers for the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners in the past. A number of the
topics were covered by faculty members. This year, we plan a similar program, though it
won't have free pizza and we will charge a minimal amount to recoup some
administrative costs (last year's program was free to students). All sessions will include
live lecturers, and the answers to the practice questions are turned around very quickly,
each with individual feedback provided. Our students' interest in the program is
significant, and we expect about 50 participants from our own graduating class. We've
also had some interest from students at other schools.
In the spring semesters of last year and this year, we also included a number of sessions
that were available for all our students - tips from past takers, tips on Virginia's Essay
Exam, tips on other states' essay exams, and tips on the multistate.
Hope this helps!
Patty Roberts
Associate Dean of Academic Programs
Director, Academic Support Program
William & Mary Law School
________________________________________________________________________
RACHEL ROUSE
DEPAUL
Here at DePaul, we have taken the following measures to prepare
students for the bar exam.
1) Bar/Bri Early Bird Program: We have contracted with Bar/Bri to
provide our students with four subtantive workshops. The four areas
covered are Equity,Crim. Law, Evidence and Future Interest. These
areas were chosen to give the students a preview of what material they
would have to learn, but also because these areas have received the
lowest scores in our state most recently. The student attendance and
response were very strong.
2) DePaul Bar Prep Workshops: I teach four workshops covering the
exam format and teaching the various exam taking techniques necessary
for the various portions of the exam, including exam writing (CIRAC),
mc questions and the MPT portion. We also cover time and stress
management and scheduling. These workshops were well attended and
received.
3) Website: We have a website where students can get a variety of
information including; what subjects are tested, what law school
courses are recommended, what commercial courses are recommended and
Bar Study Loan providers.
4) Town Hall Meetings: Each semester we hold a town hall meeting
where students can ask questions and share concerns. In these meeting
students are again encouraged to take bar courses and work on testing
skills.
5) Repeat Taker Care: We also host a series of workshops each December
for our repeat takers and review exams with those who failed.
Unfortunately response for this has not been great.
6) MLER Reimbursement: Finally, we reimburse our students for a
portion of the fee required to enroll in MLER, a local bar prep
organization that specializes in helping minorities prepare for the bar
using a tutorial format.
Last year these efforts resulted in a 10% increase in our first time
takers pass rate. As an ASP employee assigned the task of dealing with
the Bar issue the hours dedicated to the task are significant, I would
say it is equivalent to a part-time job.
RUTH MCKINNEY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Here at Carolina Law, we were surprised by an unexpected dip in bar
passage rates a few years ago. We don't have anyone on staff who is
responsible for academic success after the first year (although our
first year program takes on a lot of upperclass queries unofficially).
The folks in Student Services and an ad hoc committee appointed by the
Dean, which I sat on, looked into it and here's what we came up with on
short notice and short budget. It seems to be working better than
nothing, but we'd be open to other ideas (and hope to get some at this
summer's conference in Las Vegas!):
(1) we used to ignore the bar; now we mention it during our
preorientation program so students begin to understand how their legal
studies can impact their passage of the bar (and, hence, their ability
to practice law);
(2) we make sure students are well-informed early on about bar tested
courses and encourage students to either take all bar tested courses or
figure out a way to self-teach so the Bar Review period after
graduation is a review;
(3) we have an informational session for 2Ls in the fall and 3Ls in the
fall to tell them about Bar Review courses, applying to the bar, and to
show sample essay questions and answers. At these programs, we
emphasize
the importance of being rested, having a financial game plan, etc., for
the bar review period;
(4) we have a 3-day workshop (several hours each) for interested 3Ls in
the spring before graduation that specifically targets strategies for
studying and taking the bar (including a self-scoring essay writing
workshop). We've been lucky to have one of our colleagues from Duke
Law School, Denise Chapin, run this workshop for several years. This
is an area of special interest for Denise, who has prior experience not
only teaching legal writing but also as a former regional rep. for
Bar/Bri.
(5) I volunteer to go look at the essays/scores with students who have
failed the bar to help them figure out where they could have written
more effective answers;
(6) we connect students (esp. second time takers) occasionally with
local lawyers who tutor.
I would be especially interested in knowing if people have targeted bar
preparation as a specifically assigned task for one of their academic
support professionals and, if so, how many person-hours they factor in
for such a program.
Thanks! - Ruth
Ruth Ann McKinney
Clinical Professor of Law
UNC School of Law
DESIREE SANCHEZ
FLORIDA A&M
At Florida A & M University College of Law, we completed a series of bar review live lecture
sessions on hot topics on the multi-state bar exam. These sessions were taught by renowned
Barbri professors. During the summer, we are also conducting a supplemental program whereby
faculty and attorneys from the community will meet with students once a week in small groups to
work on essay writing. If you would like more information, feel free to call me.
Desiree Sanchez
Director, Academic Success Program
Florida A& M University College of Law
407-254-3230
YVONNE TWISS
CAPITAL
All,
In response to the revision of ABA Standard 302, Capital University Law
School will offer a three credit bar review course beginning next year.
The course, entitled Advanced Bar Studies, is replacing our non-credit
bar review workshop series, which was held for seven Saturdays during
the spring semester. I am anxious to know if any other schools are
planning to offer a for-credit bar course next year and, if so, whether
they'd be willing to discuss with me proposed course content and
materials. Many thanks!
Regards,
Yvonne Twiss
Yvonne Lundwall Twiss
Director of Bar Services
Capital University Law School
303 E. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 236-6619
ytwiss@law.capital.edu
MARIO MAINERO
WITTIER
When Prof. Swain first inquired on this subject, I replied to her, but
failed to reply on the list-serve. Here is my response.
Whittier Law School has instituted, and continues to expand, a free,
year-long Early Bar Preparation Program. This program begins in
September, and occupies 16 weekends during the Academic Year. The
program includes live lectures and practice essay writing on all the
California Bar Exam topics, as well as an intensive MBE Review put on
in coordination with Professor Richard Litvin of Quinnipiac University
School of Law. The MBE Review includes an initial Mock MBE, and
tracking of students' improvement in answering MBE questions over the
year. The lectures and the MBE Review are generally held on Sundays,
with replays on the following Saturday. In addition, each semester, as
part of the program, a commercial provider offers a free 1 or 2 day
workshop on the California Bar Exam's Performance Examination, and the
students' answers that are produced in the workshop are critiqued. The
students also take a Simulated Bar Exam during three days of Spring
Break, and are given feedba! ck on their performance. Finally, after
graduation, again in coordination with Professor Litvin, the Law School
offers a free intensive MBE and Essay Writing review, the dates of
which are synchronized so they do not interfere with students taking
the Bar/Bri commercial bar review held on campus.
In addition, I currently teach a 3-credit course, titled "Legal
Analysis Workshop," in which students discuss and practice written
legal analysis in fourteen separate subjects. Each week, students write
two practice exams*one a "take home," and one in class. These are
critiqued individually by me, and discussed in a group setting. This
current academic year, there are 77 students enrolled in two sections
of the course. Next academic year, it will also be offered in the fall
for students graduating in December.
Please feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Mario Mainero
Mario Mainero
Director, Academic Success Program
Whittier Law School
3333 Harbor Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 444-4141, x230
________________________________________________________________________
JON STRAUSS
ROGER WILLIAMS
Dear colleagues:
At Roger Williams University School of Law, I teach a two-semester Bar
Examination Training course covering the substantive law of all the MBE
subjects, plus multiple-choice and essay-writing strategies. The course
meets for two hours a week. Because the course extends for a full year, it
allows for class discussion, including Socratic method when appropriate,
which the post-graduation bar review courses (such as Bar/Bri and PMBR)
cannot provide. And because the Bar Exam Training course focuses on
developing legal reasoning skills in solving the problems presented on the bar
exam, it is nicely integrated into the rest of the law school curriculum.
Students who attended 75% or more of last year's Bar Exam Training
classes had a 100% pass rate on the three most popular bar exams among
Roger Williams students (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut),
despite having both lower LSAT's and lower law school GPA's than students
who did not. Moreover, students who attended most of last year's classes
reported that they did not experience the intense anxiety that they
observed their fellow law school graduates enduring during the two months
prior to the bar exam.
I respectfully object to the original subject title of this discussion,
"Supplemental Bar Review Options." My belief is that this subject title
perpetuates a mind-set that is harmful to our students.
If law schools have an obligation to prepare their students to become
attorneys, it follows that law schools also have an obligation to prepare their
students for the qualifying examination which they must pass in order to
become attorneys. When a law school fulfills this obligation to prepare its
students for the bar exam, it is appropriate to regard post-graduation bar
review courses as supplements to law school. Regarding law school as
providing "supplemental bar review options" is backwards thinking. This
backwards thinking is, in my opinion, one of the major reasons why law school
graduates either fail the bar exam or pass it only after enduring enormous
anxiety. We can be most helpful to our students by thinking of postgraduation bar review as being a supplement to law school, not the other way
around.
Under current rules, bar exam courses in law school may not be required and
may not provide course credit. Nevertheless, bar exam training courses can
be fully integrated into the law school curriculum and regarded by both
students and teachers with the same respect as other, more traditional, law
school courses. Law schools which provide bar exam training courses are not
providing "supplements"; they are simply fulfilling their obligation to prepare
their students for the practice of law.
I welcome your feedback.
With respect,
Jon Strauss
Adjunct Professor and Associate Director of Academic Support
Roger Williams University School of Law
Ten Metacom Avenue
Bristol, RI 02809
Telephone: 401-254-4609
HERB GANT
REGENT
Hi ASP folks,
I have not been able to read all the posts on this topic, but for those who are keeping track, I
thought I'd add that we also have a supplemental bar program here at Regent. The school pays
for an individual who is an expert on the Virginia Bar exam to come and lead our third-year
students in several workshop sessions on essay writing and MBE preparation. This individual
runs an entire bar prep program and has a team of instructors who work with him. He provides
numerous sample questions and tests to the students.
We do not charge students to attend the workshop, but we do require that they pay a $100
refundable fee to take part in each part of the workshop (the section on essay writing and the
section on the MBE) . Students can attend one or both parts, and those attend all the sessions
for each part receive back their $100 fee. The fee is essentially an incentive to get students to
attend all the sessions. The workshop sessions are all during the spring semester.
We have anecdotal evidence that students have benefited from the program, but we have not run
statistically rigorous tests on the benefits of the program.
Thanks,
Natt
Natt Gantt
Assistant Professor and
Director of Academic Success
Regent University School of Law
1000 Regent University Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23464