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The article links a portion of the improvement to higher LSAT entering scores (about 20%) and suggests better preparation while noting that exact drivers are not definitively known. It also examines whether gains were uniform across groups and shows gender and ethnicity differences, including differing score increases without corresponding LSAT changes for Black examinees.",{"@graph":69,"@context":127},[70,84,106],{"@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/the-testing-column-july-2008-performance-on-the-mbe-performance-analysis/321572/",{"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/the-testing-column-july-2008-performance-on-the-mbe-performance-analysis/321572.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Berry Peter","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-01","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",12,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119,123],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"What explains the increase in proficiency in July 2008 compared with the prior year?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"A portion is attributed to higher LSAT entering scores (about 20%), and the remainder is likely due to better preparation, though the specific factors are not fully known.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"Did the score increase affect all groups equally?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"No. Blacks and women showed larger increases than other groups, while whites increased by nearly 2 points and men increased by about 1.6 points versus women’s about 2.6 points.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"Why could pass-rate changes be large even when mean score differences are small?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Most pass/fail standards fall in the middle of the score distribution, so small mean score shifts can translate into large pass/fail rate differences due to the size of the population near those thresholds.",{"name":124,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":125},"Does the increased pass rate suggest graders were more lenient or essay questions were easier?",{"text":126,"@type":114},"The article argues no when written and performance test scores are scaled to the MBE, because scaling eliminates the effect of grader stringency or leniency on the scaled essay value.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":129,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":131,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":133,"site_id":62},321572,1790433904,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":136},{"doc_id":133,"user_id":137,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":138,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":139,"file_id":140,"file_url":141,"file_type":142,"file_size":143,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":81,"language":144,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":148,"read_time":39,"preview_page_count":4},1374402524268,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","The TesTing coLuMn  \nJuLy 2008 perforMance on The MBe  \nby Susan M. Case, Ph.D.  \nwere more proficient than the previous year’s group. In this case, they were almost 2 points more proficient.  \n2. What accounts for the increase in  \nperformance?  \nThe examinees were more proficient in July 2008 than in July 2007. A small portion of this increase (about 20%) can be attributed to higher entering scores on the LSAT.  \nThe rest can likely be attributed to better preparation. This group  \nmay have benefited from taking forcredit bar prep courses at the law schools they attended. However, although we can speculate, we don’t actually know what factors resulted in the increase in proficiency.  \n3. Did the score increase apply to all groups evenly?  \nNo. Analyses to date have shown that blacks and women had larger increases in scores than other groups. In a data set of examinees from July 2008 (n = 25,934) and July 2007 (n = 26,060) with gender and ethnicity information, whites had an increase of almost 2 points from July 2007 to July 2008, while blacks had an increase of 3.6 points. Overall, men had an increase of 1.6 points, and women had an increase of 2.6 points.  \n32 The Bar Examiner, November 2008  \n\n| Figure 1 |  |  | Trend in average JuLy MBe scaLed scores |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Average MBE Scaled Score | 150\u003Cbr>145\u003Cbr>140\u003Cbr>135 | \u003Cbr>1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 |  |\n| Year |  |  |  |\n\nThe increase in performance by blacks is not explained by any difference in their LSAT scores. Blacks’ July 2007 LSAT mean was identical to their July 2008 LSAT mean in this data set. For women, the LSAT results account for about 20 percent of the difference.  \nWe will continue to monitor these gender and ethnic differences for future examinations.  \n4. Why was there such a large increase in the pass rate for some jurisdictions?  \nThis question can be best answered by looking at the distribution of scores. Figure 2 shows the distribution of examinee scores in July 2007 and July 2008. The July 2008 curve is just slightly to the right of the July 2007 curve; it is also slightly more peaked. The curves in Figure 2 highlight how small the differences in performance were. However, although the differences seem small,  \nthere are a lot of people represented in the middle region of the curve where most of the pass/ fail standards lie. As a result, the small differences in mean scores can create large differences in pass/fail rates.  \nNote that the reverse phenomenon occurred several years ago when the mean score dropped. Several jurisdictions saw a large drop in the pass rate. Large swings in the pass/fail rates are seen more commonly in small jurisdictions, but large jurisdictions will obviously see large swings in actual numbers of passers and failers.  \n5. Could the increased pass rate be a function of  \nthe essay graders being more lenient or the essay questions themselves being easier?  \nNo, not if the essay and performance test scores are scaled to the MBE. For example, let’s consider Jurisdiction A that has a mean MBE score  \nThe Testing Column 33  \n\n| Figure 2 | \u003Cbr>disTriBuTion of MBe scores in JuLy 2007 and JuLy 2008\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>Percentage of Examinees\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>0\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>110\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>120\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>130 140 150 160\u003Cbr>MBE Scaled Score\u003Cbr> 170   180 \u003Cbr>| July 2007\u003Cbr>(~~ ~~~~ ~~ Mean = 143.7)\u003Cbr>July 2008\u003Cbr>( Mean = 145.6) |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n\nof 145. If the average total written score in that jurisdiction was 46, the scaled score for that 46 would be a 145. If the graders were more lenient or the essay questions were easier, so that the average total written score was 49, the scaled score for that 49 would still be 145; the same scaled essay value is achieved regardless of the raw total essay score. Scaling the written scores to the MBE eliminates the impact of grader stringency or leniency. We have written about scaling in several previous issues of The Bar exaMiner. Articles that describe the process in more detail are “Fre","cbCaibCpy5qJ1pWY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibCpy5qJ1pWY","pdf",115289,"English","# Performance increase in July 2008 vs. July 2007\n## Drivers of increased proficiency\n## Differences across groups\n## Causes of large pass-rate changes\n## Grader leniency vs. essay difficulty\n## Interpreting pass-rate shifts","[{\"question\":\"What explains the increase in proficiency in July 2008 compared with the prior year?\",\"answer\":\"A portion is attributed to higher LSAT entering scores (about 20%), and the remainder is likely due to better preparation, though the specific factors are not fully known.\"},{\"question\":\"Did the score increase affect all groups equally?\",\"answer\":\"No. Blacks and women showed larger increases than other groups, while whites increased by nearly 2 points and men increased by about 1.6 points versus women’s about 2.6 points.\"},{\"question\":\"Why could pass-rate changes be large even when mean score differences are small?\",\"answer\":\"Most pass/fail standards fall in the middle of the score distribution, so small mean score shifts can translate into large pass/fail rate differences due to the size of the population near those thresholds.\"},{\"question\":\"Does the increased pass rate suggest graders were more lenient or essay questions were easier?\",\"answer\":\"The article argues no when written and performance test scores are scaled to the MBE, because scaling eliminates the effect of grader stringency or leniency on the scaled essay value.\"}]","The Testing Column - July 2008 Performance on the MBE - Performance Analysis | PDF",1789959696]