Bar Exam Performance An Unexpected Leader Florida International University is once again ranked No. 1 in the state for bar passage. What’s its secret? One hint: cognitive schema theory. BY MIKE STETZ K, this is getting ridicu-lous. Florida International University College of Law once again topped all Florida law schools when it came to bar passage. Results from the July 2019 bar exam show that 95.7% of FIU Law grads taking the test for the first time passed, a rate nearly 22% above the state average. The Miami school has led all Florida law schools in bar passage for five consecutive July exams. It makes no sense. It defies logical outcomes if you go by traditional measurements. The median Law School Admission Test (LSAT) score for students entering FIU Law is 157. The national median, in compari-son, is 152. On paper, University of Raul Ruiz, FIU Law’s director of bar preparation, is one of the forces behind Florida Levin College of Law the school’s remarkable bar passage success. FIU routinely leads all Florida has better students. Its medi-schools in pass rates. an LSAT score for its entering class is 164. That’s top in the state. weakness that could end up threatening see and duplicate if they wish. Meanwhile, University of Florida’s July their existence. But it can be complicated to grasp and 2019 bar passage rate was 87.9%. That’s The American Bar Association (ABA) time-consuming to implement. In short, good, but not FIU Law good. used to give schools five years to have 75% they use the most progressive learning tech-As we said, FIU’s showing is ridiculous. of students from a graduating class pass niques available — things like metacogni-Preposterous. Absurd. the bar. Now they get two. That recent tion, spaced repetition, cognitive schema Or not. change has sent some schools scrambling theory and retrieval practice. They say it “No, I was not surprised,” said Raul to improve bar prep and bring up their teaches students how to become “self-regu-Ruiz, the school’s director of bar prepara-two-year tallies, which are known as their lated learners.” tion, when asked about the most recent “ultimate” bar passage rates. “We message to them right away what results. “Our students work very hard. And FIU Law’s ultimate bar passage rate for we’re doing,” Schulze said. “When they’re it’s the continuing evolution of our (bar the Class of 2016 — at more than 95% 1Ls, we start to use these methods. By prep) program. We’re constantly identify-— is among the top 15 in the nation. the time they are 3Ls, it’s pretty much ing what works and what works better.” There is no secret to this success, mind ingrained.” When it comes to bar passage, FIU Law you. The brains behind it are Ruiz and And they are ready — with the proper is something of anomaly because similar Louis Schulze Jr., associate dean and pro-guidance — to rock the bar. success has become elusive for a number fessor of academic support. Schulze wrote “We’re not a glorified, three-year bar of other schools. And for some schools, bar an academic paper about their method two prep,” Ruiz said. “There’s no hand-holding. passage is not just a challenge but a major years ago, so it’s out there for everyone to We’re teaching students to teach them-Winter 2020 T he N aTioNal J urisT 11 PHOTO BY ANDREW MILNE
Visit Article: https://bluetoad.com/article/Why+Florida+International+is+a+leader+in+bar+exam+performance/3566439/641735/article.html.