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YES WE CAN, PASS THE BAR. 31tion, students are assigned weekly homework assignments, which require answeringone essay exam question or one MPT question. A self-assessment form mustbe completed and turned in with each homework assignment. 113 The self-reflectionexercise directs students to evaluate their answers in the areas of organization,issue spotting, legal knowledge, factual analysis, and effective writtenexpression. Each homework assignment is graded by a PTEX Instructor and returnedto the students with both a numerical assessment and narrative commentaryreflecting the quality of the answer.114The in-class drills and homework assignments are designed to allow studentsto master the competencies essential to effective exam writing and cement goodstudy habits that target those competencies. The self-reflection exercises assiststudents in assessing accurately the quality of their written responses and developingtheir ability to recognize and cure specific deficiencies that impair the qualityof their answers. Strengthening these skill sets benefits students during thecourse and improves the effectiveness of their bar preparation during thesummer.Because of the application-based character of the course, attendance, activeclass participation, and completion of all homework assignments are essential toensuring that students derive the maximum benefit from the class. llS The twocreditcourse is offered pass/fail, and regular attendance, completion of weeklyin-class and take-home written assignments, and successful completion of the finalexamination are requirements for course credit. 116The course materials consist of a workbook containing PTEX Attack StrategyOutlines, which are outlines that highlight distinctive features of the substantivelaw frequently tested on bar examinations. These outlines are uniquely designedto facilitate conceptual understanding of the law and issue spotting. The work-Professors must teach the student how to deconstruct the questions to determine what is asked andneeded and highlight what is good and bad about the sample writing.").113 The self-assessment form requires students to identify the strengths and weaknesses of theiranswers, explain what caused the deficient aspects of their answers (e.g., missing issues due to failureto read the facts), and state how they will address/correct these deficiencies.114 Grading of homework assignments is done according to a detailed grading rubric so thatstudents receive consistent, standardized evaluations of their essay responses. Homework assignmentsare returned to students within one week of their submission so that they can use the feedback providedto improve the quality of their exam writing on other in-class and homework writingassignments.115 See, e.g., Day, supra note 63, at 330 ("Students must regularly attend class and activelyparticipate, [and] answer the exam questions asked with cogent analysis .... ").116 See Day, supra note 63, at 350 ("Classroom learning is critical to the mastery of law andcannot be replicated by distance learning or solitary study. If schools hold to attendance requirementsand strive to make classes professionally sound, schools will likely help students to pass the bar.").Students enrolled in the PTEX course are permitted no more than two absences or two missed homeworkassignments or any combination thereof if they wish to earn course credit. There is no passingscore requirement for the final examination.
32 UNIVERSITY OF TilE DISTRICr OF COLUMBIA LAW REVIEWbook also contains essay questions from past Maryland bar exams and Board andStudent Representative Answers. 117 Students are provided past MPT Exams andPTEX model answers for each MPT question, which are designed to teach studentshow to effectively and efficiently approach, organize, and analyze responsiveissues, doctrines, and facts under timed conditions. All practice questions,including the final examination, are formatted like actual exam questions so thatstudents become familiar and comfortable with the look and feel of the writtenportions of the bar exam} 18Although the course is focused on exam writing techniques 119 (not memorizationof substantive law) to effectively teach and strengthen issue spotting, analysisand essay exam writing skills requires the use of a body of substantive law toserve as a context for imparting this skills set. 120 Maryland law is used in thePTEX course for that purpose. The practice questions assigned for homeworkand in-class administration are designed to test general propositions of law, however,that are frequently tested in all jurisdictions rather than the substantive lawof any particular jurisdiction.The course ends with students receiving their graded final examinations andpresentation of the PTEX Schedule for Success, a study schedule that providesstrategies for effective bar preparation during the summer. This daily calendarhelps students to organize their time and adopt a disciplined approach to preparingfor the bar exam. 121 It directs examinees to engage in specific preparation117 The Board Answers are prepared by the authors of the Maryland Bar, and the StudentRepresentative answers are answers selected by the Board written by examinees sitting for that administrationof the bar. The PTEX model answers that are presented to students in class are distinctfrom the Board and Student Representative answers. PTEX model answers are designed to teachstudents how to present the issues they have identified as responsive to the call of the question andthe relevant legal and factual analysis of those issues in an organized and grader friendly format. TheBoard and Student Representative Answers present the responsive issues and relevant law and analysis,but do not provide students with guidance as to how to organize and express their issues andanalysis, which are key exam writing skills.118 The final examination is formatted like an actual bar examination and administered undersimulated exam conditions. It is a one hour and sixty-five minute exam comprised of three essayquestions and one MPT question.119 Richard Cabrera, Working to Improve: A Plan of Action for Improving the Bar Exam PassRate, 27 WM. MITCHELL L. REV. 1169, 1186 (2000) ("Experience tells us that the reason most peoplefail is not lack of substantive knowledge, but the failure to correctly apply substance to the exam'shypotheticals. ").120 See, e.g., Riebe, supra note 34, at 294 ("One of the most significant findings in the UCLAstudy was that teaching skills combined with substantive material was more effective than teachingeither skills or substantive material alone .... [T]his makes sense; skills are more effectively learnedwhen students can immediately practice and apply those skills in connection with learning substantivematerial, and substantive material is more effectively learned when students actively process it inskills-based tasks.") (citation omitted).121 See, e.g., Riebe, supra note 34, at 308 ("Educational research demonstrates that studentswho take control of their learning and plan effectively are more successful learners than those who do
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