NY Times: ABA May Eliminate Standardized Tests For Law School Admissions

New York Times, American Bar Association May Eliminate Standardized Tests for Admissions:

No more LSATs?

A committee within the American Bar Association recommended late last month that law schools eliminate the requirement of “a valid and reliable admission test” as part of their admission process.

Its memo added, however, “Law schools of course remain free to require a test if they wish.”

The recommendation was made on April 25 by the Strategic Review Committee, four years after another group, the A.B.A.’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, approved similar changes to its standards for rules and admissions. The council is made up of 21 people, including lawyers, professors, administrators and others. ...

Leaders in the bar association have said that they are less concerned about student performance on an entrance exam than how students do in law school — whether they remain enrolled and how soon they pass the bar exam after graduation.

LSAC:

Studies show test-optional policies often work against minoritized individuals, so we hope the ABA will consider these issues very carefully. We believe the LSAT will continue to be a vital tool for schools and applicants for years to come, as it is the most accurate predictor of law school success and a powerful tool for diversity when used properly as one factor in a holistic admission process.

For a thoughtful detailed analysis, see Derek Muller (Iowa), What Happens If the ABA Ends the Requirement That Law Schools Have an Admissions Test? Maybe Less Than You Think

• The Hill, American Bar Association Supports Ending LSAT Requirement For Law School Admissions
• William Jacobson (Cornell), License to Discriminate? ABA Committee Recommends Eliminating Standardized Testing For Law School Admissions
• Law.com, ABA Considering Eliminating Standardized Test Requirement for Law School Admissions
• Law360, ABA Considers Letting Law Schools Drop Admissions Testing
• Brian Leiter (Chicago), ABA Committee Recommends Dropping the Requirement of Standardized Testing (e.g., the LSAT) For Law School Admission
• Reuters, End of the LSAT? Law School Entry Test Is on the Chopping Block Again
• Mike Spivey, ABA Strategic Review Committee Recommends Elimination of Standardized Test Requirement
• Washington Examiner, American Bar Association Endorses Dropping LSAT For Law School Admission
• Washington Post, No LSAT? Legal Group Weighs Test-Optional Admissions For Law Schools.
• The Week, Another Standardized Test Bites the Dust. Will Standards Follow?