As part of its commitment to finding appropriate and fair solutions for test takers during the February 2025 Bar Exam, the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) met on April 18 to make its recommendations for scoring adjustments and set a minimum raw passing score. After reviewing data and performance from the February exam and in recognition of the reported experiences of examinees, performance data, and the challenges associated with fairly and accurately categorizing the level of disruption experienced by individual examinees, the CBE recommended:
- That the raw passing score for the exam be set at 534. This represents two standard errors of measurement below the psychometrician-recommended raw passing score of 560.
- That scores be psychometrically imputed as follows:
- For missing multiple-choice answers, where the test taker has answered at least 114 of the 171 scored multiple-choice questions.
- For missing essays or performance tests, where the test taker has answered at least 4 of 6 written sections of the exam. With respect to this resolution, examinees should be aware that all content entered in notes fields was exported and linked to corresponding answer fields for review by grading teams.
Stallings said though the July bar exam will be in person, leaders recognize the need for a longer-term solution that offers robust and reliable remote testing and test center-based exam administration; staff have been directed to create a plan for that. Performance of questions Also discussed during the CBE meeting was the performance of the different types of questions on the bar exam, including the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and their sources. A majority of the MCQs were developed by Kaplan, a subset of questions came from the First-Year Law Students’ Exam, and some questions were developed by ACS Ventures, the State Bar’s independent psychometrician. The ACS questions were developed with the assistance of AI and subsequently reviewed by content validation panels and a subject matter expert in advance of the exam. When measured for reliability, the combined scored MCQs from all sources performed above the psychometric target of 0.80 (0.89 on a scale from 0.00 to 1.00).
“We have confidence in the validity of the MCQs to accurately and fairly assess the legal competence of test-takers,” State Bar Executive Director Leah Wilson said. “Lessons learned are being incorporated into the July exam, and all future tests will include additional levels of independent review and validation.”
Content maps The State Bar also conducted an external review into concerns raised that new subtopics were reflected on the State Bar’s published multiple-choice questions content maps, as compared to the NCBE MBE Subject Matter Outlines (also referred to as content maps). Based on this review, the State Bar concluded the majority of the subtopics are encompassed within the NCBE MBE content maps.While a smaller number of subtopics could arguably be considered outside of the scope of topics found in NCBE MBE content maps, it's important to note that both the NCBE and State Bar content maps explicitly state they are not exhaustive. Moreover, no questions from the smaller subset of subtopics were tested on the February 2025 bar exam. Nevertheless, Wilson said, in the State Bar’s commitment to clarity and excellence it will continuing to examine the content maps for future refinement if appropriate. Student and faculty guides will also be modified, and additional study questions will be released to support applicants’ preparation for the exam.
“This refinement reflects our ongoing dedication to providing candidates with the clearest possible guidance and maintaining the highest standards in our examination process,” Wilson said. “The State Bar remains committed to a fair, transparent, and accurate assessment process that properly evaluates minimum competence to practice law in California.”
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