Quinnipiac Law Review, Vol. 27, 2009
Georgia State University College of Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No.
2009-22
ANDREA ANNE CURCIO, Georgia State
University - College of Law
Email: acurcio@gsu.edu
Recent
scholarly literature criticizes law school assessment methods as being
pedagogically unsound, an ineffective way to develop good lawyers, and as
standing as an unjustifiable barrier to diversifying the profession. With the
publication of Educating Lawyers, and Best Practices, the academy finally has
begun to engage in the kind of scholarly scrutiny of assessment that has long
been the practice in other disciplines. This essay seeks to move the discussion
from a focus on law school assessment shortcomings, to a discussion of the
scholarly work necessary to examine and improve assessments. It does this by
providing concrete suggestions for alternative law school assessments which
attempt to incorporate into large-section courses the Carnegie apprenticeships
of legal analysis, practical skills, and professional identity. The essay
acknowledges that whether these alternatives, or even our existing assessment
methods, are valid and reliable is an undetermined question. Thus, the essay
urges empirical exploration of law school assessments. It provides guidance to
those seeking to design empirical assessment research studies and it suggests
some empirical assessment studies that can and should be done. It concludes by
arguing that given the high stakes of law school assessments, law professors
should devote the same level of scrutiny to assessments as is given to other
scholarly pursuits.
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