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The text emphasizes reading comprehension, precise knowledge of rules, legal reasoning that identifies issues, organizes information, follows directions, and writes well-reasoned arguments applying law to facts. It further frames the bar exam as competency-focused rather than trick-based, highlighting communication in the language of law and the disciplined demands of timed, rule-governed testing formats.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-response-to-criticism-of-the-bar-exam/319968/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-response-to-criticism-of-the-bar-exam/319968.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rhys","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-31","2026-09-20",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What does the bar exam aim to assess according to these excerpts?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It aims to test fundamental analytical and communication skills required for competent legal practice, including reading comprehension, reasoning, issue identification, and writing based on application of law to facts.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the author argue the bar exam is appropriate for measuring competency?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Because bar passage reflects jurisdictional criteria and mastery of core fundamentals, including the ability to write well-reasoned arguments and understand rules precisely rather than rely on tricks.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does the bar exam relate to law school learning and core skills?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The text states the exam tests skills that should have been learned in law school, while avoiding the need for sacrificing skills-based courses for substantive courses.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},319968,1790867208,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},687207024643,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","A RESPONSE TO CRITICISM OF THE BAR EXAM  \nby Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus  \nThese excerpts are from an article originally entitled “A Response to the Society of American Law Teachers Statement on the Bar Exam” that appeared in 54 JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION 442–458 (September 2004) and are reprinted with permission of the author and the journal.  \nCopyright © 2004 by the Association of American Law Schools; Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus  \ncommunities; these are not skills but value judgments, surely not within the purview of the bar exam to consider, let alone examine. But the bar exam does test such skills as reading comprehension and reasoning, identifying and formulating legal issues, organizing information, following directions, and the ability to write.1 Each of these skills is fundamental to the competent practice of law . . . .  \nI believe that the bar exam appropriately serves its purpose. I have come to this conclusion after five years of working with candidates who had failed the bar exam multiple times and who passed after we worked together. They passed because they learned to read carefully and actively. They passed because they learned the rules with precision and specificity. They passed because they learned to write a wellreasoned argument based on an analysis of the relevant issues and an application of the law to the facts. They passed because they learned that there were no tricks to be applied, only the law.  \n. . .  \nTHE BAR EXAM’S ROLE IN ASSESSING COMPETENCY  \nThe bar examination seeks only to test the fundamental skills that should have been learned in law  \nA RESPONSE TO CRITICISM OF THE BAR EXAM 􀀳􀀵  \nschool. . . . [There are] two very important aspects of The bar exam adequately assesses competency in the bar exam: first, that bar passage is only one of a the basic analytical skills required for the practice  \nnumber of jurisdictionally set criteria candidates of law.  \nmust meet before gaining admission to the practice The bar exam is designed to see whether the law  \nof law2 and, second, that the bar exam does not pur- graduate has mastered the legal skills and general  \nport to test more than the basic analytical skills knowledge that a first-year practicing attorney  \nrequired for legal practice. Still, the exam has become should have. While this means a firm grasp of black the most analyzed, criticized, and contested part letter law, it also means a solid grounding in basic  \nof the bar admission process. Perhaps that is because analytical, reading, and writing skills. A candidate it stands as one of the final hurdles to admission; must demonstrate mastery of the fundamentals of perhaps it is simply because bar IRAC (the Issue-Rule-Application  \nexam failures are visible for all THE ESSENCE OF LAWYERING Conclusion structure of legal to see. IS COMMUNICATION. ESSAYS analysis), must read carefully,  \nI submit that the bar exam- AFFORD THE BAR EXAMINERS and must communicate in the ination language of the law. Further, the  \nA BASIS FOR EVALUATING A CAN  \nbar exam seeks to test these  \n• seeks to measure the ana- DIDATE’S ABILITY TO COMMUNI- skills, when possible, in a context lytical skills required for CATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SUB- that relates to their practical sigthe practice of law, which STANTIVE LAW IN AN ORGANIZED nificance. Accordingly, when it requires an understanding AND ARTICULATE WAY. tests the applicant’s ability to of the rules and not just read and follow directions on the the ability to memorize. Multistate Performance Test, it  \n• tests the ability to act and not react under addresses the lawyer’s need to comprehend and pressure. adhere to the rules of the federal and state courts as  \n• requires a sound mastery of legal princi- well as the rules of individual judges; similarly, when ples and basic knowledge of core sub- the exam requires the candidate to complete an stance for which tricks or techniques assigned task on the MPT within a prescribed time, it cannot be substituted. acknowledges ","cbCaimZTJWCdc4JQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimZTJWCdc4JQ","pdf",209547,"English","# THE BAR EXAMINER, MAY 2005\n## A RESPONSE TO CRITICISM OF THE BAR EXAM\n## THE BAR EXAM’S ROLE IN ASSESSING COMPETENCY\n## THE ESSENCE OF LAWYERING IS COMMUNICATION\n## A BASIS FOR EVALUATING A CANDIDATE’S ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE","[{\"question\":\"What does the bar exam aim to assess according to these excerpts?\",\"answer\":\"It aims to test fundamental analytical and communication skills required for competent legal practice, including reading comprehension, reasoning, issue identification, and writing based on application of law to facts.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author argue the bar exam is appropriate for measuring competency?\",\"answer\":\"Because bar passage reflects jurisdictional criteria and mastery of core fundamentals, including the ability to write well-reasoned arguments and understand rules precisely rather than rely on tricks.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the bar exam relate to law school learning and core skills?\",\"answer\":\"The text states the exam tests skills that should have been learned in law school, while avoiding the need for sacrificing skills-based courses for substantive courses.\"}]","A RESPONSE TO CRITICISM OF THE BAR EXAM | PDF",1789948395,25]