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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:
- Monday, June 11, 2007 12:30 PM
- Saturday, September 29, 2007 8:30 AM
- Saturday, December 1, 2007 8:30 AM
- Saturday, February 2, 2008 8:30 AM
- Monday, June 16, 2008 12:30 PM
- 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.”
2006 Law School Forum Schedule
Law Services recently released the 2006 Law School Forum Schedule:
| Washington,
DC |
|
Boston,
MA
Thursday, October 19 Hyatt Regency Cambridge |
|
| Dallas,
TX Saturday, September 9 InterContinental Dallas |
New
York, NY Saturday, October 21 Sunday, October 22 Hilton New York |
||
| Bay
Area, CA Saturday, September 16 Hilton San Francisco |
Atlanta,
GA Friday, November 3 Saturday, November 4 Hyatt Regency Atlanta |
||
| Chicago,
IL
Friday, October 13 Saturday, October 14 Hyatt Regency McCormick Place |
Los
Angeles, CA Friday, November 10 Saturday, November 11 Los Angeles Airport Marriott |
If you have a chance to attend, we strongly urge you to do so.
BACK
TO THE TOP
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.
BACK
TO THE TOP
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.
BACK
TO THE TOP
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.
BACK
TO THE TOP
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.