Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Michigan Law School

Legal Education

Grades

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Law School Grades And Their Effects: The University Of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey, David L. Chambers Aug 2019

Law School Grades And Their Effects: The University Of Michigan Law School Alumni Survey, David L. Chambers

Bibliography of Research Using UMLS Alumni Survey Data

This short paper is based on a study of graduates of the University of Michigan Law School that was initiated in 1966 and continues today. The paper draws upon information about graduates’ grades in law school as recorded in the law school’s records and combines it with data from surveys of the graduates conducted by mail five, fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five and forty-five years after graduation. Among the central findings reported are the following. (1) grades and gradepoint averages of Michigan law students rose hugely during the 1960s and 1970s, which can be explained in part by simple grade inflation but …


Uncivil Procedure: Ranking Law Students Among Their Peers, Douglas A. Henderson Jan 1994

Uncivil Procedure: Ranking Law Students Among Their Peers, Douglas A. Henderson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article does not argue against evaluation, testing, or assessment within law school or outside of it. Nor does it argue against the use of standardized assessment procedures. This Article attempts to discredit the institutional practice of ranking law students among their peers. Part I presents a brief overview of the present system of testing and ranking, its impact on law student careers and the present justifications for these practices. Part II evaluates ranking, and the single end-of-term essay on which it is based, according to psychometric theory, learning theory, and statistical theory. Part III justifies abandoning the system by …