Explore the connections between student engagement and bar performance.
This collaborative initiative between AccessLex Institute and LSSSE was created with the fundamental goal of providing tangible information that law schools can use to help increase bar passage. What works for your students? What doesn’t? Where can resources and efforts be best invested? These are some of the questions we’re seeking to answer.
LSSSE provides schools with empirical insights about the extent to which students are engrossed – or engaged – in the law school experience. Student engagement is a holistic concept, capturing the intricate web of individual and institutional processes and actions that contribute to desired student outcomes. There is much potential for using student engagement theory to understand the processes and actions that contribute to bar exam performance.
Eligibility
This initiative will apply a longitudinal approach to analyzing the influence of student engagement on academic and bar success, following the Fall 2021 cohort throughout their law school years. To ensure an adequate sample size, schools must have a Fall 2021 full-time entering class size of 180 students or more to participate in the study. The partnership will span the 2022, 2023, and 2024 administrations of the LSSSE Survey.
AccessLex will provide a 100% LSSSE Survey registration fee subsidy to law schools that yielded first-time bar passage rates below 75% in calendar years 2017, 2018 or 2019. In order to qualify for the subsidy, law schools must commit to the following:
- Administering LSSSE in three consecutive years: 2022 through 2024;
- Ensuring a minimum of 125 LSSSE Survey responses or a 55 percent response rate from the Fall 2021 cohort each year (whichever yields the highest number of respondents);
- Sharing demographic and academic background information for for the Fall 2021 cohort in the three LSSSE administration years with LSSSE and AccessLex researchers; and,
- Allowing aggregate and anonymized school-level data to be used in the building of a clearinghouse of relevant information as well as in reports, presentations, etc.
Once a school qualifies for the subsidy, it will receive it for the three consecutive years it administers the LSSSE Survey. The subsidy will be paid directly to law schools in the form of a restricted grant. Schools must provide a W-9 and documentation of LSSSE registration fee payment to AccessLex in order to receive reimbursement.
View the Bar Success Initiative Framework and Logistics document here.
About AccessLex Institute
AccessLex Institute, in partnership with its nearly 200 nonprofit and state-affiliated ABA-approved member law schools, has been committed to improving access to legal education and to maximizing the affordability and value of a law degree since 1983. The AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence® advocates for policies that make legal education work better for students and society alike, and conducts research on the most critical issues facing legal education today. The AccessLex Center for Education and Financial Capability® offers on-campus and online financial education programming and resources to help students confidently manage their finances on their way to achieving personal and professional success. AccessLex Institute is a nonprofit organization headquartered in West Chester, PA, with a team of Accredited Financial Counselors (AFC®) based throughout the United States.
Deliverables
The primary deliverables will be three individualized reports to each law school being studied – intermediate reports after their first and second LSSSE administration and final reports after their third. These reports will employ applied research principles and methods to provide participating schools tangible, actionable information, including explanation and illustration of significant, useful findings from the project, and as may be appropriate, recommendations.
View a sample final report from the previous AccessLex/LSSSE initiative here.
For more information about the AccessLex/LSSSE Bar Exam Success Initiative, contact:
Tiffane Cochran
Managing Director, Research
AccessLex Center for Legal Education Excellence
research@accesslex.org
Administering LSSSE
LSSSE handles all aspects of survey administration, including invitations, reminder messages, delivery of the online survey, and compilation of data. This ensures comparability across institutions. We analyze your results and deliver a customized data report to you in July.
Timeline
Fall Semester 2022: Register and Plan
Register for LSSSE – Registration Closes February 17th, 2023
Upload population file, customize recruitment materials and schedule
Plan promotional and recruitment strategy
Spring Semester 2023: Survey Launch
Implement promotional campaign
Survey administration begins (Late February – Early March)
Monitor administration progress
Late Spring Semester 2023: Survey Closes April 21st
Summer 2023: Data and Reports Released
Cost
Participation fees depend upon the size of your law student population:
Enrollment/Cost
Fewer than 500 / $4,450
500 – 900 / $5,500
More than 900 / $6,800
The participation fee also includes user workshops, data analysis tools, webinars and consultations with LSSSE staff about your results.
Custom Reports
Law schools that participate in LSSSE receive their results in the form of raw data, customized data reports, and comparative findings. Responsible statistical comparisons with similar schools (including two custom peer groups) help you understand your results in context. Institutions receive detailed analyses and information tools.
Law School Reports
A collection of reports describing your students’ experiences, broken out by class year. Highlights include:
Executive Summary Reports.
Present key findings for your law school, including most and least favorable comparison of your law school and selected peer groups, information related to classroom engagement, student satisfaction and student gains, and a framework for getting oriented to your Law School Report and to interpret and share your results.
Online Law School Report.
A secure web-based version of your Law School Reports as well as your school’s raw data.
User Tools and Resources
Accreditation Toolkit.
Suggests ways to map specific questions from the survey onto ABA accreditation standards. This also includes sample timelines to help you decide when and how often to collect student engagement data.
Workshops & Webinars.
Stimulate discussion about making the most of your LSSSE participation and connecting with other law schools who have participated in LSSSE.
Sample PowerPoint Presentation.
A customizable PowerPoint template to share your school’s results and to stimulate discussion about them.