Validity, Reliability, and Fairness Evidence for the JD-Next Exam

Aug 30, 2026

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The report evaluates the validity, reliability, and fairness of the JD-Next exam used to support applicants for legal education. It builds on earlier JD-Next cohorts by applying updated scoring and reliability estimation methods tied to a 2021 assessment redesign, and it updates validity and fairness results using first-year grades rather than only first-semester grades. Findings indicate the exam reliably and validly predicts law school success with significant gains over baseline models. Fairness analyses show smaller score disparities than traditional admissions and comparable predictive performance for underrepresented minority and first-generation students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Validity, Reliability, and Fairness Evidence for the JD-Next Exam

Purpose and context

Approach and updates from prior cohorts

Predictive validity results

Fairness across racial and ethnic groups

Comparison with baseline admissions assessments

Research Report Validity, Reliability, and Fairness Evidence for the JD-Next Exam ETS RR–24-04 Steven Holtzman Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Weeks Christopher Robertson Jessica Findley David Klieger December 2024 ETS Research Report Series EIGNOR EXECUTIVE EDITOR Daniel F. McCaffrey Lord Chair in Measurement and Statistics ASSOCIATE EDITORS Usama Ali Senior Measurement Scientist Beata Beigman Klebanov Principal Research Scientist, Edusoft Heather Buzick Senior Research Scientist Tim Davey Director Research Larry Davis Director Research Paul Jewsbury Senior Measurement Scientist Jamie Mikeska Managing Senior Research Scientist Jonathan Schmidgall Senior Research Scientist Jesse Sparks Managing Senior Research Scientist Klaus Zechner Senior Research Scientist PRODUCTION EDITORS Kim Fryer Manager, Editing Services Ayleen Gontz Senior Editor Since its 1947 founding, ETS has conducted and disseminated scientific research to support its products and services, and to advance the measurement and education fields. In keeping with these goals, ETS is committed to making its research freely available to the professional community and to the general public. Published accounts of ETS research, including papers in the ETS Research Report series, undergo a formal peer-review process by ETS staff to ensure that they meet established scientific and professional standards. All such ETS-conducted peer reviews are in addition to any reviews that outside organizations may provide as part of their own publication processes. Peer review notwithstanding, the positions expressed in the ETS Research Report series and other published accounts of ETS research are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Officers and Trustees of Educational Testing Service. TheDanielEignor Editorship is named in honor of Dr. Daniel R. Eignor, who from 2001 until 2011 served the Research and Development division as Editor for the ETS Research Report series. The Eignor Editorship has been created to recognize the pivotal leadership role that Dr. Eignor played in the research publication process at ETS. 23308516, 2024, 1, Downloaded from [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ets2.12378, Wiley Online Library on [30/01/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ets2.12378, Wiley Online Library on [30/01/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions ()[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions)) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License ETS Research Report Series ISSN 2330-8516 ETS RESEARCH REPORT Validity, Reliability, and Fairness Evidence for the JD-Next Exam Steven Holtzman 1, Jonathan Steinberg 1, Jonathan Weeks 1, Christopher Robertson2, Jessica Findley3,& David Klieger 1 1 ETS, Princeton, New Jersey, United States 2 Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States 3 University of Arizona School of Law, Tucson, Arizona, United States At a time when institutions of higher education are exploring alternatives to traditional admissions testing, institutions are also seeking to better support students and prepare them for academic success. Under such an engaged model, one may seek to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that students would bring to a new academic program but also their ability to grow and learn through the academic program. To help prepare students for law school before they matriculate, the JD-Next is a fully online, noncredit, 7-to 10-week course to train potential juris doctor students in case reading and analysis skills. This study builds on the work presented for previous JD-Next cohorts by introducing new scoring and reliability estimation methodologies based on a recent redesign of the assessment for the 2021 cohort, and it presents updated validity and fairness findin

FAQs

What is the JD-Next exam intended to measure?

The JD-Next exam is designed to help train and assess potential juris doctor students in case reading and analysis skills, and to support predicting success in law school.

How does this study differ from previous JD-Next cohort analyses?

It introduces new scoring and reliability estimation methodologies based on a redesign for the 2021 cohort and uses updated validity and fairness evidence based on first-year grades rather than only first-semester grades.

What do the results show about predictive power and baseline models?

The findings support that the JD-Next exam is reliable and valid for predicting law school success and provides a statistically significant increase in predictive power over baseline models such as entrance exam scores and grade point averages.

Aug 30, 2026

Upload by Skyler