Faculty Opinion/Editorial
Raising the Bar
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n recent years, declining bar passage rates have been seen across the nation. The July 2018 bar exam cycle posted the lowest Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) score in 34 years. That posting is particularly significant because the written (or state) portions of the bar exams tend to track the MBE, meaning that low MBE scores will generally mean lower essay scores, and thus, fewer passing applicants. Unfortunately, the declining bar passage rate impacted Memphis Law as well. Which begs the question: Why are bar rates declining?
The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), the organization that creates and scores the MBE (and is responsible for creating other test materials for states and has a large role in licensing), has argued the declining bar passage rates are due in part to declining entering credentials of students now taking the bar exam, particularly lower LSAT scores. Law schools, including many vocal deans, have argued that bar passage rates are declining because the bar exam, a paper and pencil test requiring vast memorization, is outdated for a generation raised on smartphones, computers and the internet. Yet, even with these declining pass rates, some law schools have managed to greatly exceed the bar pass average in their respective states. We hope to become one of those schools through change.
Change has arrived at Memphis Law and with that change, we hope to see our bar passage rates improve. Using what we know through research and data
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gathering, we have and will continue to adopt changes for our students’ success. There is a strong correlation between final law school grade point average and bar passage. For many institutions, those students falling in the bottom quartiles will struggle to pass the bar exam on the first try. It may be the case that if a student has struggled to learn the law in law school, they will likely struggle to do so on the bar exam. To combat this, we started extending students' understanding of the bar exam and the necessary learning techniques into the first-year curriculum. This spring we are offering all first-year students a course titled “Legal Analysis.” In that course, students learn about each component of the bar exam and have an opportunity to see how the subjects they are taking now are tested on the exam. The hope is that this early exposure will help students see the need for better study skills and recognize the work they are doing today can benefit them in the future. As an institution, we started investigating how to potentially incorporate a more robust academic support program to support our first-year students (and maybe even for our second-year students). Our bar efforts also include extending opportunities for third-year law students. We currently offer a spring third-year bar course. In that course, students learn the different components of the bar exam and develop strategies to prepare for each component. This spring we offered, for the first time, a one-credit course that covered all MBE-tested topics across seven days. The course was designed to be an intensive boot camp-like experience to expose students to bar questions and begin their preparation for the subjects. We hope to continue extending our
Professor DeShun Harris
bar-focused efforts by repeating this course, while also evaluating the possibility of a bar course offered in the fall. The idea behind extending bar preparation into the third-year law students’ fall is to give our students more time to learn how to prepare for the bar exam, instead of waiting until the spring, which may be too late. Bar preparation not only means ensuring our students have the capacity to work hard in preparing for the bar exam, it also requires a concentrated effort from our faculty. They have the opportunity to attend workshops that explore what is tested on the bar exam and how to create assessments that are bar-like, which may be used in the classroom. Many are already engaged in providing our students with more bar-like assessments. Because most graduates prepare for the bar exam completely alone and online, we want to increase opportunities for our students to interact with others. Thus, we will enlarge our summer bar preparation efforts for our graduates preparing for the bar exam. Last summer our students had several bar workshops available to them. These workshops explore each component of the exam and provide practical advice about preparing for the bar exam. We hope to expand these workshops to provide more assessments, feedback and stress management activities. We will also extend the reach of the law school by engaging our alumni in mentoring our bar takers. Bar takers can benefit from the support of alumni as they prepare for the bar exam. Change is happening here at Memphis Law. We plan to be back at the top of Tennessee state bar passage soon.