将来的美国法学院将是女性的天下

因为要考听力

Test Development at Work: Potential New LSAT Question Types
Perhaps you have noticed or even participated in the recent open-invitation from LSAC to take one of their two new experimental field tests. The initial testing phases-a February writing pilot test and a March full-LSAT field test-are part of the test maker's ongoing efforts to challenge future test takers with fresh, innovative question types. The findings by LSAC have suggested two potential categories that could be added to future LSATs: a scored writing measure and a listening comprehension assessment.

For a number of years LSAC has considered adding a scored writing assessment to the LSAT (the current writing sample, added in 1982, is unscored and often ignored in the application process). It is LSAC's belief that scoring this section would further standardize evaluations by application committees as well as offer a more reliable assessment of an admission candidate's writing ability. Some of the field-tested question types were multiple-choice, some required a brief (one-to-two sentences) response, and some required an extensive essay. Further analysis and testing will be conducted before a final format is decided upon.

A second question type under consideration is a listening comprehension assessment. Test takers listen to prompts, both long (about 3-5 minutes) and short (about 30 seconds), consisting of either a dialogue or monologue played just once on a CD player. For each long prompt, six questions are administered, while the short prompts support a single question. Obviously, questions of this nature would test not only a familiarity with the English language, but also retention over an extended period of time (as you cannot go back and review the audio prompt) and dictation (as reliable notes must be made during the stimulus).

The field tests also included new analytic reasoning and reading comprehension questions. A recent LSAC Report describes the potential question types as follows: "Analytical reasoning questions are grouped in sets based on scenarios. Some new analytical reasoning questions focus on discerning common structural aspects of the scenarios (formal analogy questions). Comparative reading questions use two related passages rather than a single passage as the basis for a set of questions. The Skills Analysis Study indicated that among the fundamental tasks required for law school are analogical reasoning and creativity, as well as understanding and analyzing information from multiple sources. Law students read multiple cases in which they must find relevant similarities and differences, and comparative reading question types have been developed to assess these skills."

While progress is certainly being made toward developing these new questions, the test makers report that "much work remains to be done." In fact, there is no certainty that any of these question types will ever be incorporated into an officially administered LSAT. What deserves acknowledgement is that LSAC continues to make important steps towards constructing a comprehensive test to accurately indicate future law school success, and perhaps these new question types will one day assist in that effort.