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Law School Learning Outcomes and Assessment

This guide is designed to assist faculty and administrators in their efforts to comply with the ABA Standards regarding learning outcomes and assessment. The resources selected for this guide are practical rather than theoretical.

Learning Outcomes Articles

Crafting Learning Outcomes — What Verbs Do You Use?
Michele Pistone, Best Practices for Legal Education Blog, February 9, 2015
Getting Up to Speed: Understanding the Connection between Learning Outcomes and Assessments in a Doctrinal Course
Joni Larson, Indiana Tech Law School (2016)
Learning outcomes in a flipped classroom: a comparison of Civil Procedure II test scores between students in a traditional class and a flipped class
Schaffzin, Katharine T., . 46 U. Mem. L. Rev. 661-693 (2016)
Outcomes-Based Education One Course at a Time: My Experiment with Estates and Trusts
Carolyn Grose, August 22, 2010
Putting Students at the Center of Legal Education: How an Emphasis on Outcome Measures in the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools Might Transform the Educational Experience of Law Students
Janet Fisher, 35 Southern Illinois University L. J. 225 (2011)

Assessment

Assessment Across The Curriculum Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, April 2014
Beyond Grading: Assessing Student Readiness to Practice Law
16 Clinical L. Rev. 335 (2009)
A Blueprint for Using Assessments to Achieve Learning Outcomes and Improve Students’ Learning
Lasso, Rogelio A., 12 Elon Law Review (2020)
Control-Alt-Incomplete? Using Technology to Assess 'Digital Natives'
Samantha A. Moppett, 2013
Creating Assessment Plans for Introductory Legal Research and Writing Courses
Victoria L. VanZandt, 16 Legal Writing 313 (2010)
Empirical Evidence that Formative Assessments Improve Law Students' Final Exam Performance
Sargent, Carol Springer and Curcio, Andrea Anne, 61 J. Legal Educ. 379 (Feb. 2012)
Empower the Student, Liberate the Professor: Self-Assessment by Comparative Analysis
Joi Montiel, 39 S. Ill. U. L.J. 249 (2015).
Exam-Writing Instruction in a Classroom Near You: Why it Should Be Done and How to Do it
Joan Malmud Rocklin, (February 24, 2017)
The Impact of Individualized Feedback on Law Student Performance
Daniel Schwarcz & Dion Farganis 67 J. Legal Educ. 139 (2017)
Integrating Performance Tests into Doctrinal Courses, Skills Courses, and Institutional Benchmark Testing: A Simple Way to Enhance Student Engagement While Furthering Assessment, Bar Passage, and Other ABA Accreditation Objectives
Berman, Sara, Journal of the Legal Profession (January 20, 2018).
Is Our Students Learning?: Using Assessments to Measure and Improve Law School Learning
Rogelio A. Lasso, 15 Barry L. Rev. 73 (2010)
A Law School Game Changer: (Trans)formative Feedback
Elizabeth M. Bloom, 2015
Moving Students from Hearing and Forgetting to Doing and Understanding: A Manual for Assessment in Law School
Herbert Ramy, 41 Capital University L. Rev. 837 (2013)
Peer Editing: A Comprehensive Pedagogical Approach to Maximize Assessment Opportunities, Integrate Collaborative Learning, and Achieve Desired Outcomes
Cassandra L. Hill, 11 Nevada L. J. 667 (2011)
Prepared for Practice? Developing A Comprehensive Assessment Plan for A Law School Professional Skills Program
Anthony Niedwiecki, 50 U.S.F. L. Rev. 245 (2016)
Say What?: A How-To Guide on Providing Formative Assessment to Law Students Through Live Critique
Sholtis, Amanda L., 49 Stetson Law Review (2019)
Teaching and Assessing Professional Communication Skills in Law School
Denitsa R. Mavrova Heinrich, 91 N.D. L. Rev. 99 (2015)
Teaching for Lifelong Learning: Improving the Metacognitive Skills of Law Students Through More Effective Formative Assessment Techniques
Anthony Niedwiecki, 2013
What You Don't Know (Can Hurt You): Using Exam Wrappers to Foster Self-Assessment Skills in Law Students
Schendel, Sarah, 40 Pace Law Review 154 (2020)

From Self-Assessment to Professional Effectiveness: Five Steps to Teaching Students to Effectively Self-Assess
Katherine A. Gustafson, 88 Miss. L. J. Supra 49 (2019)

Rubrics

Grading rubrics: their creation and their many benefits to professors and students
Brenda D Gibson, 38 N.C. Cent. L. Rev. 41 (2015).
Rubrics - Best Practices in Legal Education blog
Rubrics - Institute for Law Teaching and Learning
Saving the LRW Professor: Using Rubrics in the Teaching of Legal Writing to Assist in Grading Writing Assignments by Section and Provide More Effective Assessment in Less Time
Beverly Jennison, 80 UMKC L. Rev. 353 (2011)
Toward a Unified Grading Vocabulary: Using Grading Rubrics to Set Student Expectations and Promote Consistency in Legal Writing Courses
Jessica L. Clark and Christy Hallam DeSanctis, 63 Journal of Legal Education 3 (2013)

Non-Law