The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a multiple-choice test used by some US states as part of their attorney admission process. The exam tests general legal knowledge and is weighted differently by each state. Raw scores are equated to adjust for difficulty, ensuring fairness.
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) scores are interpreted by taking the scaled score provided by the testing agency as part of the examinee’s test scores and comparing it to the cutoff point for MBE scores in the state in which the examinee is taking the bar exam. If the scaled score is greater than the threshold, the examinee will pass the multi-state portion of the exam. The examinee must also determine the weight given to MBE scores in the state bar exam process. Some states weight the MBE as 50% of the total score needed to pass the bar exam, and other states give less weight to MBE scores.
In the US, each state determines the qualifications for licensed attorneys to practice and administer their own bar exam. The MBE is a standardized, multiple-choice test developed by the National Board of Bar Examiners that a state can choose to use as part of its attorney admission process. It tests knowledge of multi-jurisdictional applications of constitutional law, contracts, criminal law, evidence, real estate, and torts. Most states administer a two-part bar exam, using the MBE to test general legal knowledge and a writing section to test state-specific knowledge. States assign a weight to each part of the exam to determine an overall score on the state bar exam.
The MBE contains 200 questions, 190 of which count towards an examinee’s raw score. Raw scores are subjected to a statistical process called an equation, where the testing agency assigns a level of difficulty to each of the exam questions. Two test takers may have the same raw score or get the same number of questions right, but the difficulty level of the questions may mean that the two end up with different scale scores. There is a bit more to the statistical calculations applied to the raw scores to turn them into scaled scores, but the exact formula is not published by the testing agency.
Equating is designed to adjust MBE scores for each test session according to difficulty, so that no examinee has an advantage or disadvantage in taking an easier or harder version of the test. The process should ensure that the entire test ends with the same overall difficulty level as the test sessions, even if the actual questions change. Its validity depends, however, on a subjective assessment of the difficulty of each question.
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