AccessLex Resource Collections (AccessLex Institute)
Not a member yet
537 research outputs found
Sort by
The LSAT and the Reproduction of Hierarchy
No full textOn the whole, admission to law school is not a very selective process, with roughly three-quarters of applicants gaining admission to one or more programs each year. As a result, the LSAT serves less a gatekeeping function than a sorting function, funneling applicants into a hierarchy of law schools based primarily on their LSAT score. In so doing, reliance on the LSAT in admissions reinforces existing inequities, with lower income and minority students disproportionately directed toward less selective schools with poorer post-graduate employment outcomes. Reliance on the LSAT in the award of merit scholarships further exacerbates this hierarchy, disproportionately burdening the low scorers with heavier educational debt burdens. This Article describes the mechanisms of this process and offers proposals for change
Battling Biases: How Can Diverse Students Overcome Test Bias on the Multistate Bar Examination
No full textDrafters of standardized tests, such as the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) and Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), strive to eliminate biases in multiple-choice questions by assembling representatives of diverse backgrounds to screen and discard prejudicial questions. But in reality, intelligence tests will always contain some aspect of bias because a committee of test administrators can never represent the views of every person. Nevertheless, the bar exam incorrectly assumes that all applicants learned the same information throughout their academic careers and possess similar cultural experiences and opinions. The bar exam has not fully recognized that questions can be interpreted differently.
Scholars advocate to abandon intelligence tests as a measure of a person’s future success, but this is unlikely to happen anytime soon because intelligence tests have been used since the early 1900s. Thus, in the meantime, professors must teach students how to identify and eliminate personal biases to increase the students’ chances of selecting the best answer. We must acknowledge that biases will never fully disappear and figure out how to properly support students who experience biases. This article does not promote conforming to social norms, changing our students core beliefs, or decreasing diversity. This article addresses the reality of the bar exam and provides students with a chameleon-like skill that they can use to ensure they are triumphant on the MBEs.
Part I provides background information on the components of the bar exam and disparity in performance results between Whites and people of color. It defines test validity and explores test biases as a possible reason for the lower passage of minorities, such as language barriers, the equal experience assumption, promotion of dominant values, and bias in item selection. Part II discusses test biases on the MBE portion of the bar by exploring the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) five myths and breaking down specific multiple-choice questions from NCBE’s Online Practice Exam #4. Part III shares how academics can (a) reframe stereotype threat to help students overcome test anxiety and (b) reframe the speediness and memorization requirements of the bar exam to requirements of grit and determination to join the profession. Finally, Part IV acknowledges that test biases are unlikely to disappear and provides a step-by-step solution to help students be successful on the MBEs. The step-by-step approach is supported by statistics from the Logic for Lawyers class at the University of San Francisco School of Law, a multiple-choice skills-based test that employs the step-by-step method
Millennials, Minorities, and the Gig Law Movement
No full textIn this episode, we view the diverse future of gig law and discover how lawyers are finding success on the fringes, and then we interview lawyer and director of academic success at University of Tennessee College of Law, Renee Allen, and discuss where diversity, education, and the legal profession are headed
Sticky Floors, Springboards, Stairways & Slow Escalators: Mobility Pathways and Preferences of International Students in U.S. Law Schools
No full textThis article addresses the participation of international students in US law schools. Historically, international students congregated in U.S. law school graduate programs such as the LLM; while graduate degree programs still account for the largest segment of international students studying law in the United States, there has been a concurrent rise in the number of international students who pursue a more mainstream U.S. law degree and choose the JD. In fact, in recent research we highlight that while certainly not a seamless assimilation, the percentage of international students in mainstream JD programs not only has increased substantially in the last decade but also has surpassed other domestic minority groups in certain instances. In tracing these students and their mobility contexts, this Article makes three main contributions. First, it maps the changing demographics of international student participation in U.S. law schools and explores the factors shaping students’ preferences, including the relative importance of access to training opportunities, language, immigration status, prior work experience, and lawyer regulation and licensing (at home and abroad). In doing so, we highlight, following earlier work, the importance of local contexts in shaping students’ trajectories and the changes in these trends, especially with regard to what we term the “big Asia story.” Second, this Article offers a set of four metaphorical categories to help think about these empirical processes: sticky floors, springboards, stairways and slow escalators. Using each of these broad categories, we suggest that students find different sources of persuasion and pushback as they navigate their respective paths within law schools. Students’ decisions are molded at different stages by different actors and institutional constraints, with ultimate choices (and, therefore, tracks) reflecting a range of interactions between each of these constraints and capacities. Finally, the pathways provide a framework for theorizing about malleable social capital and recursive transnational theory. While global legal education is not technically a transnational legal order, the framework aids in thinking through the implications of these mapped paths and trends and the important perspective international students can offer to reveal the ways in which local and global actors emerge and intersect
Why Didn\u27t Students Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)? A Detailed Look
No full textDespite the importance of the FAFSA, some students do not complete it. McKinney and Novak (2015) found that completion rates were higher among Black students than among White students; among students whose parents had lower levels of education than among students whose parents had higher levels of education; among public school students than among private school students; and among full-time postsecondary enrollees than among part-time enrollees. Research indicates a variety of reasons why students do not fill out the FAFSA: the perception that they may not qualify for financial aid, the perception that they do not need aid, the perception that the forms and application process are too burdensome, and concerns about debt (Chen, Wu, and Tasoff 2010; Davidson 2013; Kantrowitz 2011)
Law Student Success and Supports: Examining Bar Passage and Factors That Contribute to Student Performance
No full textIn recent years, law schools have experienced a decline in enrollment and bar passage. Higher education has been challenged to understand this new phenomenon and conduct research that can inform law student success practices and policies. This paper presents findings from research conducted at a large, Midwestern public university that investigated the factors and student characteristics most strongly associated with bar passage. Results suggest that bar passage can be predicted by a wide battery of variables. Despite some literature that suggests otherwise, however, LSAT and undergraduate GPA are weakly predictive, while information from the first year of law school – even the performance in just one first semester course – explains significantly more variation in bar passage. These preliminary results provide important first insights into bar passage
A Framework for Thinking About Law School Affordability
Get PDFThis research report, authored by Sandy Baum, Ph.D., explores the most constructive ways to think about the affordability of legal education in the context of trends in law school enrollment, prices, debt and employment. However, the report cautions that law school affordability cannot be evaluated through simple metrics; it must be measured by taking into account the lifetime value of the investment. The report was commissioned by AccessLex Institute to add to the public discourse about what makes law schools affordable for students in different circumstances
Racialized Interactions in the Law School Classroom: Pedagogical Approaches to Creating a Safe Learning Environment
No full textThis article will define racialized interactions and psychological safety within the classroom and discuss typical professor responses. It will also explore best practices and practical tools for professors to help students navigate and learn from these interactions while maintaining psychological safety. It will conclude with my own reflection on my practices in the classroom and provide examples from which others can learn
After Graduate and Professional School: How Students Fare in the Labor Market
Get PDFoai:arc.accesslex.org:commissioned-1000This brief explores employment and earnings outcomes among advanced degree recipients. Examining these outcomes across degree, occupational and demographic categories paints a nuanced picture of the payoffs of graduate and professional education. This information is critical for prospective students and others seeking to assess the value of these degree programs
Conditional Scholarships
No full textA conditional scholarship is any financial aid award that depends on the student maintaining a minimum grade point average or class standing, other than that ordinarily required to remain in good academic standing. School-specific conditional scholarship and enrollment data come from the American Bar Association