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Recent
LSAT News
The
whole truth...
According to
Law Services, “Beginning with the June 11, 2007 LSAT administration,
there will be a number of significant changes to test center regulations.
Additional details about the new regulations, and lists of permitted
and forbidden items, can be found in the 2007–2008 LSAT &
LSDAS Information Book. This information will also be provided on
LSAT admission tickets. Ignorance of these new regulations will
not be considered an excuse for their violation. Bringing prohibited
items into the test room may result in the confiscation of such
items by the test supervisor, a warning, dismissal from the test
center, and/or cancellation of a test score by LSAC.
Some of the
most significant changes are listed below:
- Items
permitted in the test room.
Tests takers may bring into the room only a clear plastic ziplock
bag, maximum size one gallon (3.79 liter), which must be stored
under the chair and may be accessed only during the break. The
ziplock bag may contain only the following items: LSAT Admission
Ticket stub; valid ID; wallet; keys; hygiene products; #2 or HB
pencils, highlighter, erasers, pencil sharpener (no mechanical
pencils); tissues; beverage in plastic container or juice box
(20 oz./591 ml maximum size) and snack for break only.
- Items
permitted on the desktop. Test takers may only have tissues,
ID, pencils, erasers, pencil sharpener, highlighter, and analog
(nondigital) wristwatch. No electronic timing devices are permitted.
This is a change from previous testing years.
- Prohibited
items. Candidates are not permitted to bring into the test
center the following items: weapons or firearms, ear plugs, books,
backpacks, handbags, papers of any kind, calculators, rulers,
timers, listening devices, cellular phones, recording or photographic
devices, pagers, beepers, headsets, and/or other electronic devices.
Bringing prohibited items into the test room may result in the
confiscation of such items by the test supervisor, a warning,
dismissal from the test center, and/or cancellation of a test
score by LSAC. Prohibited items may not be used during the break.
LSAC and LSAT testing staff are not responsible for test takers’
belongings.
- Hats/hoods.
No hats or hoods are allowed (except items of religious apparel).
- Handbags,
backpacks, briefcases. No handbags, backpacks, briefcases
or other bags—except the ziplock bag described above—are
allowed in the test room.
- Cancellation/Complaint
deadlines. Test taker complaints and cancellation requests
must be received at LSAC within six (6) days of the test date.
(This is a change from previous years.)”
LSAT to Change
in June 2007
According to
Law Services, "Beginning with the June 2007 administration,
LSAC will introduce a variant of reading comprehension, called comparative
reading, as one of the four sets in the LSAT reading comprehension
section. In general, comparative reading questions are similar to
traditional reading comprehension questions. However, there is one
significant difference: instead of being based on one longer passage,
comparative reading questions are based on two shorter passages.
The two passages together are of roughly the same length as one
reading comprehension passage, so the total amount of reading in
the reading comprehension section will remain essentially the same.
A few of the questions that follow a comparative reading passage
pair might concern only one of the two passages, but most questions
will be about both passages and how they relate to each other.
Also beginning
with the June 2007 LSAT, test takers will no longer be randomly
assigned one of two different kinds of writing prompt—decision
or argument—for the writing sample. All test takers will be
assigned a decision prompt. The writing sample will continue to
be unscored."
Although on
the surface these changes may appear significant, the only important
change for test takers is the Reading Comprehension revision. Fortunately
for PowerScore students, we have a wealth of experience in working
with comparative reading passages from our work with other tests,
and we expect that our students will be able to attack this new
passage type effectively.
LSAT Test
Dates through February 2010 Announced
Law
Services, producers of the LSAT, has announced the testing dates
for the next administered LSATs. The current schedule is as follows:
- Saturday,
October 4, 2008 8:30 AM
- Saturday,
December 6, 2008 8:30 AM
- Saturday,
February 7, 2009 8:30 AM
- Monday,
June 8, 2009 12:30 PM
- Saturday,
September 26, 2009 8:30 AM
- Saturday,
December 5, 2009 8:30 AM
- Saturday,
February 6, 2010 8:30 AM
As in the past
ten years, the February LSAT will be a nondisclosed administration,
meaning that test takers will not receive a copy of the test or
their answers when they receive their scores. The February LSATs
from 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 have not yet been
released as Law Services PrepTests. The February 1997 LSAT was released
as the Official LSAT PrepTest with Explanations, Volume One. The
February 1996, February 1999, and February 2000 LSATs were released
in the LSAT
SuperPrep.
LSAT Test Security Update
Law
Services has recently updated their test security policies, and
they now prohibit test takers from bringing back packs, cellular
phones, and pagers to the test site. Candidates who bring these
items may be denied admission or dismissed from the test center.
Test takers can also be dismissed from the test center for using
any phone or communications device during the break (this prohibition
extends to public phones, phones owned by other people, etc.). More
information is provided in the LSAT & LSDAS Information Book.
June 2005 LSAT Reading Comprehension Question Withdrawn
For the first time in the modern LSAT era (1991 to the present),
a Reading Comprehension question has been withdrawn from an LSAT
for quality control reasons. According to Law Services officials,
the ninth question of the Reading Comprehension section was withheld
from scoring, leaving the test with only 99 questions. After the
test, many students had complained that the question was one of
the most difficult in recent memory, and apparently that difficulty
was due to a flaw in the question. This withdrawal is the most recent
in a series of question withdrawals (although several LSAT questions
were withdrawn in the 1980s, none were withdrawn from June 1991
to June 1997). Copies of the withdrawn question were not released.
ItemWise:
A new Law Services LSAT Tool
Law
Services has announced a new LSAT assistance service: LSAT ItemWise.
"With ItemWise, you can answer questions comprising all three
LSAT® item types-logical reasoning, analytical reasoning, and
reading comprehension; keep track of answers; and view explanations
as to why the answers are correct or incorrect. Although it is best
to use paper-and-pencil Official LSAT PrepTest® products to
time yourself and otherwise prepare for taking the LSAT, you can
enhance your preparation by understanding all three LSAT item types
and why answers are right or wrong. For a one-time fee of $18, you
can have unlimited access to LSAT ItemWise for as long as you have
an active LSAC online account.”
LSAT
Writing Sample Changes Announced
Law
Services announced recently that, “Beginning with the June
2005 test, the time allotted for the unscored LSAT writing sample
will increase from 30 to 35 minutes, the writing space will increase
from one to two pages, the directions have been revised, and each
test taker will be randomly assigned one of two different kinds
of writing prompt. One kind is new to the LSAT. The other is very
similar to the kind of writing prompt that has previously been administered
with the LSAT and that has appeared in official LSAT preparation
materials produced prior to June 2005. The writing sample will remain
unscored.”
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Test Development at
Work: Potential New LSAT Question Types
Perhaps
you have noticed or even participated in the recent open-invitation
from LSAC to take one of their two new experimental field tests.
The initial testing phases-a February writing pilot test and a March
full-LSAT field test-are part of the test maker's ongoing efforts
to challenge future test takers with fresh, innovative question
types. The findings by LSAC have suggested two potential categories
that could be added to future LSATs: a scored writing measure and
a listening comprehension assessment.
For a number
of years LSAC has considered adding a scored writing assessment
to the LSAT (the current writing sample, added in 1982, is unscored
and often ignored in the application process). It is LSAC's belief
that scoring this section would further standardize evaluations
by application committees as well as offer a more reliable assessment
of an admission candidate's writing ability. Some of the field-tested
question types were multiple-choice, some required a brief (one-to-two
sentences) response, and some required an extensive essay. Further
analysis and testing will be conducted before a final format is
decided upon.
A second question
type under consideration is a listening comprehension assessment.
Test takers listen to prompts, both long (about 3-5 minutes) and
short (about 30 seconds), consisting of either a dialogue or monologue
played just once on a CD player. For each long prompt, six questions
are administered, while the short prompts support a single question.
Obviously, questions of this nature would test not only a familiarity
with the English language, but also retention over an extended period
of time (as you cannot go back and review the audio prompt) and
dictation (as reliable notes must be made during the stimulus).
The field tests
also included new analytic reasoning and reading comprehension questions.
A recent LSAC Report describes the potential question types as follows:
"Analytical reasoning questions are grouped in sets based on
scenarios. Some new analytical reasoning questions focus on discerning
common structural aspects of the scenarios (formal analogy questions).
Comparative reading questions use two related passages rather than
a single passage as the basis for a set of questions. The Skills
Analysis Study indicated that among the fundamental tasks required
for law school are analogical reasoning and creativity, as well
as understanding and analyzing information from multiple sources.
Law students read multiple cases in which they must find relevant
similarities and differences, and comparative reading question types
have been developed to assess these skills."
While progress
is certainly being made toward developing these new questions, the
test makers report that "much work remains to be done."
In fact, there is no certainty that any of these question types
will ever be incorporated into an officially administered LSAT.
What deserves acknowledgement is that LSAC continues to make important
steps towards constructing a comprehensive test to accurately indicate
future law school success, and perhaps these new question types
will one day assist in that effort.
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Nonstandard
LSAT Scores Examined
The
LSAC Board of Trustees has recently reviewed its policy on flagging
nonstandard LSAT scores, particularly those earned with extra time,
and has strongly affirmed the current practice of "flagging."
This decision was based on a concern for the integrity of the test
and LSAC's psychometric research finding that additional-time scores
are not comparable to standard scores. The Board did decide, however,
that beginning next year the nonstandard score letter will include
information on how the nonstandard scores should be interpreted
and used.
10 More
Official PrepTests
In response
to the popularity of "10 Actual, Official PrepTests,"
Law Services has released of "10
More Actual, Official PrepTests," which includes PrepTests
19 through 28 and "The
Next 10 Actual, Official PrepTests," which includes PrepTests
29 through 38. The cost of each book is $30.
October 2000
LSAT Rescored; Test Taker Identifies Flaw in One Question
The following
Law Services press release can be accessed on the PRNewswire:
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) announced today that 3,571
of the 37,847 people who took the October 7, 2000 LSAT will receive
a one-point score increase following a decision to give all test
takers credit for a flawed question on that test.
The question's flaw was discovered by a test taker who notified
the LSAC earlier this month. After a careful review, officials at
the LSAC determined that the logical reasoning question had no correct
answer. "Because we cannot determine the question's impact on any
individual test taker, we decided to rescore the test after giving
everyone credit for it," said Philip D. Shelton, LSAC President
and Executive Director.
"I have written to thank the test taker who brought this to our
attention," said Shelton. "This is a rare event, one that we take
every precaution to avoid. But when something like this occurs,
we are ready to admit our mistake and take whatever steps are necessary
to correct the error."
This is the first time since the September 1989 LSAT administration
that LSAC has had to recalculate and rereport LSAT scores due to
a flawed question. More than 4,000 different LSAT questions have
been administered to well over 1,000,000 test takers since that
time without a similar incident.
"The one-point score change is well within the standard error of
measurement for LSAT scores," Shelton said. "A difference of one
point should not have an impact on any law school admission decisions.
Nonetheless, the LSAC is reporting revised scores in the interest
of accuracy."
The LSAT is a half-day standardized test required for admission
to all LSAC-member law schools. It consists of five 35-minute sections
of multiple-choice questions. Four of the five sections contribute
to the test taker's score. These sections include one reading comprehension,
one analytical reasoning section, and two logical reasoning sections.
The fifth section is typically used to pretest new test items and
to equate test forms. The score scale for the LSAT is 120 to 180.
The LSAC is a nonprofit organization whose membership includes 183
ABA-approved law schools in the United States and 15 Canadian law
schools.
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Computerized LSAT Delayed
The Law
Services Board of Trustees recently approved a three year extension
of the research and development process for the computerized LSAT.
Accordingly, the earliest date a computerized LSAT could appear
is 2007. In the meantime the LSAT will retain the traditional paper-and-pencil
format.
Last year a prototype of the computerized LSAT Reading Comprehension
section was shown at the Law School Forums. Although still in development,
the program allowed students to underline text, eliminate answers
graphically, and return to questions within a passage question
set. However, of concern to test takers is the fact that in the
Reading Comprehension section the passage is split on a paragraph
basis into different viewscreens. Thus, the test taker must click
on a tab or arrow to view different paragraphs which are then displayed
on a new screen. (The same process is required to move from question
to question). In addition, there is no way to make notations on
the screen text. Hopefully, the additional three years of research
and development will yield improvements in the prototype. Until
then, PowerScore will continue to oppose the use of computerized
tests.
LSAT Thieves Sentenced
This report
from the PRNewswire:
The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) today hailed a decision
by a California Superior Court judge sentencing two men to a year
in prison for stealing a copy of the LSAT in February of 1997.
"We hope this sends a strong message to those who think they can
cheat their way into law school," said Philip D. Shelton, LSAC President
and Executive Director. "Instead of promising careers in the legal
profession these men now face futures as convicted felons."
Danny Khatchaturian and Dikran Iskendarian were each sentenced to
a year in county prison and 5 years probation by Superior Court
Judge Larry Fidler for their role in the conspiracy. A third conspirator,
Ashot Melikyan, was sentenced in October to a year in prison for
stealing the test at knifepoint. The answers were transmitted to
Khatchaturian and Iskendarian via pager at a LSAT administration
given later the same day in Hawaii. Fidler also ordered the trio
to pay nearly $97,000 in restitution to the LSAC to compensate it
for the cost of developing the test.
"If you are going to cheat you may be caught and if you're caught
you will be punished," said Fidler at the sentencing.
For more on this story, see our original report below.
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October 1999 Answer Sheets Missing from Rutgers
The following
report was released by ABC
News: "Answer sheets for more than 100 aspiring lawyers who
took the Law School Admissions Test at Rutgers University are missing.
They were supposed to be sent to the grading center by Federal Express.
But the test administrator sent the sheets by regular mail. The
Post Office has NOT been able to locate the sheets from the October
second exam. If they're NOT found by November second, the scores
will NOT count and test takers will have to retake the exam or get
a refund." One suspects the Rutgers' test takers will go postal
if the results are not located soon.
October 1997 LSAT Question Withdrawn
For the first time in the 1990s, a question has been withdrawn from
an LSAT for quality control reasons. According to Law Services officials,
the first question of the second Logical Reasoning section was withheld
from scoring, leaving the test with only 100 questions. Although
several LSAT questions were withdrawn in the 1980s, none has been
withdrawn since the advent of the most recent LSAT test format in
June 1991. Copies of the withdrawn question will not be released.
Strangely, student score reports indicate that the answer to the
withdrawn question was (C).
February 1997 LSAT Stolen in Los Angeles;
Three Charged.
In events proving that some people don't know what the "law" in
"lawyer" actually means, Law Services officials announced that a
copy of the February 1997 LSAT was stolen from a University of Southern
California test center. Several suspects have been arrested in the
case, and the possible loss to Law Services totals $500,000. Attempting
to exploit the Hawaii-California time zone difference, one test
taker walked out of the testing center with the exam and then allegedly
transmitted answers to another test taker in Hawaii via pager. For
more details, read the article
in the USC Daily Trojan.
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