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YES WE CAN, PASS THE BAR. 23calculation of students who were in the bottom quartile of the class. 77 The same2.3 requirement was extended to students for the Legal Reasoning II class.The Academic Support Director emphasizes the Self Regulated Learning approachfor students in the academic support program. Self-Regulated Learning isa structured approach which emphasizes cognitive awareness of the process oflearning?8 The Self-Regulated Learning approach was developed by ProfessorMichael Schwartz. 79 Self Regulation is a process whereby students actually controltheir own motivation for learning and in completing academic tasks. 8oSecond year UDC-DCSL students whose GPA is 2.3 or below also are requiredto take Legal Reasoning II, which is an advanced legal skills class. Thecourse emphasizes legal analysis in essay writing and legal memoranda. Testingstrategies are employed using the Multi-State Performance Exam, by deconstructingthe exam in incremental learning steps. Case reading and synthesis, issuespotting, and drafting legal memoranda are also techniques. Second yearstudents are therefore introduced to bar exam and performance style questions asskill building exercises. While the goal is to improve student learning and successin law school, this is also an opportunity to increase student preparation for thebar exam. Early intervention helps with decreasing attrition and increasing theanalytical skills needed for passage of the bar exam. 81 Although no empiricalanalysis was done of the review period in our study, anecdotal evidence showsthat students who matriculated through the Legal Reasoning classes were successfulbar takers on the first attempt despite having GPAs in the bottom quartileof the class. 82Our statistical analysis shows an increase in bar passage for those students inthe bottom quartile of the class over the past five years. Many of the students inthis quartile are in the mandatory Legal Reasoning class. These results are supportedby the experiences of other law school academic support programs. 83 Forexample, a recent study by New York Law School showed that its CombinedCurriculum approach resulted in a substantial increase in the school's bar pas-77 See Memorandum from Derek Alphran, Academic Support Director, to Curriculum Committee,Apr. 2006 (on file with the author).78 See Self Study, supra note 28 (describing the Self Regulated Learning Approach).79 See Schwartz, supra note 58. Professor Schwartz addressed the UDC-DCSL faculty in 2004to introduce his expert learning approach and integrated expert learning strategies in the classroom.80 Schwartz, supra note 58.81 See Riebe, supra note 34, at 326. ("[E]arly intervention would also be beneficial because itwould help students build the skills necessary to perform well in law school as well as to increase theirlikelihood of success on their bar exams and in law practice.").82 Because of time constraints for this project, the study did not disaggregate students who tookthe Legal Reasoning classes. The focus of the study was on the bar passage program which is open toall the students, although academic support is an important part of early intervention. The recordsshowing successful Legal Reasoning students who took the bar exams are on file with the Director ofAcademic Support. A future study is contemplated.83 See Riebe. supra note 34.