Excerpt from "Building a Better Admissions Test" (Inside Higher Ed):
What if a standardized test managed to predict much more than first-year success? And what if there existed the possibility of having standardized tests that didn’t have ethnic or racial gaps, but better predicted long-term success?
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have been engaged in a long-term research project to produce such tests for use in its law school — and they think they have a model that does those things exactly: predicts success as a lawyer (not just as a first-year student) and finds success across demographic groups. Given that law schools exist to produce lawyers, not first-year law students, Berkeley officials think their findings are significant and they are now releasing them for public view [pdf] and — they hope — for testing on a national scale.
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[T]he law school, accepting the premise that a national comparison is needed, had Berkeley professors devise the research project that has now been released. First they looked for models to “predict effective lawyering,” by conducting a series of interviews and surveys with more than 2,000 Berkeley law alumni. Eventually, they focused in on 26 factors that relate to success as a lawyer. Then the researchers started compiling a series of additional tests that could be used in some way to evaluate prospective law students — these included existing personality tests such as the Hogan Personality Inventory and the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory. Customized tests were also developed, such as a review of situational judgment and an analysis of biographical information.
Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have been engaged in a long-term research project to produce such tests for use in its law school — and they think they have a model that does those things exactly: predicts success as a lawyer (not just as a first-year student) and finds success across demographic groups. Given that law schools exist to produce lawyers, not first-year law students, Berkeley officials think their findings are significant and they are now releasing them for public view [pdf] and — they hope — for testing on a national scale.
...
[T]he law school, accepting the premise that a national comparison is needed, had Berkeley professors devise the research project that has now been released. First they looked for models to “predict effective lawyering,” by conducting a series of interviews and surveys with more than 2,000 Berkeley law alumni. Eventually, they focused in on 26 factors that relate to success as a lawyer. Then the researchers started compiling a series of additional tests that could be used in some way to evaluate prospective law students — these included existing personality tests such as the Hogan Personality Inventory and the Motives, Values, Preferences Inventory. Customized tests were also developed, such as a review of situational judgment and an analysis of biographical information.
Note (added November 11, 2008, 8:55 PM Mountain): I see that Diane Levin at Mediation Channel weighed in on this topic since my posting: Testing for negotiation skills, creativity: an LSAT for the 21st century.
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