Adam Ferber is the former Examinations Director for the State Bar of California and grader of 40 California Bar Examinations and First-Year Law Students’ Examinations. He provides intensive, individualized tutoring and coaching to applicants for both exams at www.ferberbarreview.com.
“Unsuccessful applicants may seek reconsideration of their grades based on arithmetic or transpositional errors in the compiling of their scores or a departure from established procedures. They may not challenge the evaluation of their answers, although many attempt to do so.” October 26, 2009 Memorandum to California State Bar Board of Governors
When I was the Examinations Director for the State Bar I received hundreds of letters from unsuccessful applicants requesting reconsideration of their grades.
Most struck me as the applicants’ understandable efforts to “cover their bases;” to assure that their answers were properly graded and the results added up correctly. The Examinations Department duly checked the results. Not a single “arithmetic or transpositional” error was discovered while I was Director.
Many were challenges to the grader judgments. Often they enclosed one of more essay or performance test answers, “regraded” by a favorite professor or tutor, in support of their requests. Since these were “challenge[s] to the evaluation of their answers” I did not have authority to consider them. I agreed with this limitation. I believed in the integrity of the bar examination grading system. I believed in the expertise and professional integrity of the graders, many of whom I’d graded with and known for years.
However, I always felt that one very narrow ground for reconsideration was underutilized and not fully understood by applicants. “Departure from established procedures” is applicable most often to a disturbance at the applicant’s test site. Examples are power failures and excessive noise from inside or outside of the test site. When applicants report these incidents and seek reconsideration, the Committee of Bar Examiners’ pays attention. It often requests that its psychometrician conduct a statistical study to determine whether the request has merit. These sorts of studies rarely come down on the applicant’s side. However, one thing that the Committee does not do, is investigate whether, notwithstanding the outcome of the study, the applicant suffered a unique, individual disadvantage. I always thought that a properly documented request on this ground could succeed.
Test site incidents are rare, but they do happen. If you believe that your grades suffered as a result, speak up.
Copyright 2010 Adam Ferber and www.ferberbarreview.com. Reprinted by permission.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I was three points away before reread. The second read took me down 20 points and the two grades that they reduced were for exams taking place on the third day of the test. I took the bar in Oakland and on the third day some genius forgot to leave his/her phone outside and it began to ring during the test. Now for the normal applicant this was more than likely psychologically tense moment just because we knew someone was in deep trouble. For me, someone who has diagnosed ADD, it was a time bomb of internal thoughts that I could not get under control for at least 20-30 mins. Can I appeal this? Do I really have to sit for the bar again? Help
I happen to not pass the bar by 4.14 points this pass June. I am not sure what happen but what is very suspicious is all my essays were above 60 except one that was a 45 and 50 on re-read. Now I know you can’t appeal the grading process but do you think being 4 points away it would be worth it to have my score re-totaled. It is very important for me to know because I failed I lost my job with my firm. So you could save me from bad credit and paying thousands to retake it, especially when I have no money to begin with.
I am writing to ask your advice on my situation. I recently found out that I didn’t pass the California bar. I scored a 1433. The issue I have with this score is not that I feel that my test was graded inaccurately, but instead deals with the fact that someone pulled the fire alarm during a section of the MBE. The alarm went off for probably around 5-10 minutes. I will forever remember staring at a Con Law question dealing with the issue of executive powers and the formation of treaties.
I am wondering if you think there are possible grounds to appeal my score? I understand this is a long shot but if this could save me from spending another 5 months preparing and waiting for results I would gladly go through the process.
Thank you for your time!
If you contact me through http://www.ferberbarreview.com I can respond to your question privately.
I am not in law school nor do I wish to be but have been the loved one of someone that was in the evening program at Georgetown for the last four years. As proud as we could be she graduated and now the Bar which she did not pass. Sure that is possible, my only hope is that when that package comes confirming that she did not pass that it is explicit beyond reason why she did not pass. Even reading the folks below there seems to be so much confusion on grading and how things are marked and remaindered. What still shocks me to this day is that you are the folks we leave interpretation and enforcement of law to and there is no clear grading nor educational platform on how one becomes a, or what is a: attorney.
I have failed the bar exam multiple times. When I took the essay exam I used the typewriter, the only typing instrument allowed by the DC bar. The typing room is small and is always proctored by a woman who properly belongs in a nursing home. After one exam she told me how she had laser surgery and now could see better. After another exam she said I should speak with the judge if I did not hear well when appearing before the court.
I complained to the committee on admissions and was asked to give instances of my complaint, but simply said that she called time too soon when there were a few minutes left, which happened at another time. Now when I take the exam again I am going to be in a much better frame of mind, even though I am not sure they will replace her. Somehow, I felt she was targeting me.
Writing one’s own bar exam appeal can be very beneficial, especially if you pass. There is a certain stucture and flow to the process that works the best and is very persuasive. While I have written over 100 Michigan Bar Exam Appeals over the years, I have also discussed the process with exam candidates from the states of Arizona, North Carolina and even Washington, D.C. While the “setup” is different for each jurisdiction, the underlying argumentative style and appeal writing is basically the same.
Speaking of “covering my bases” I was a re-read victim, again. On one essay I recieved a 50 on the frist read, and a 65 on the second with an operant grade of 60. While the 60 was used for the operant grade on the re-read/1st read average portion, or final grade averaging the two scores, I still did not pass. I was very close, w/a1422. (Here’s my desperate attempt for some faint hope) if the final grade, or operate grade for that essay was applied to my first score, it would be a pass. Since both grades where deemed incorrect, and the final grade from teh committee was used, wouldn’t is make sense (well, from my perspective anyway) to use it across the board and apply the “correct” score to my first read?
I’m not understand your argument, although I absolutely understand why you’d make it. In any case, as an administrator, my question would simply be whether your essay answer was graded in accordance with the applicable procedures then in effect. That’s because of the care and consideration put into developing those procedures by Committee’s psychometricians – measurement experts with particular expertise in “high-stakes” testing. As a general rule, in order to change those procedures, you’d have to establish that grading your answer as you’ve suggested could be statistically supported as providing more valid and reliable measurements of every examination answer.