Legal Education Commons^™

Embracing And Making Change In Legal Education: Serving The Law Students Of Today And Tomorrow, Danielle M. Conway

Faculty Scholarly Works

"Danielle M. Conway is Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law. The following are her keynote remarks delivered Jan. 6, 2021, for the 2021 AALS Joint Section Program of the Sections on Student Services and Part-Time Division, Academic Support, Balance in Legal Education, Minority Groups, and PreLegal Education and Admission to Law School."

Discovering A Predictor Of Reading Comprehension Difficulties, Ann L. Nowak

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Death Of Academic Support: Creating A Truly Integrated, Experiential, And Assessment Driven Academic Success And Bar Preparation Program, Adam Lamparello, Laura Dannebohm

Adam Lamparello

For too long, academic support programs have been viewed as the unwanted stepchild of legal education. These programs have existed in the dark shadows of legal education, reserved for students deemed “at risk” for satisfactorily completing law school or successfully passing the bar examination, and focused on keeping students above the dreaded academic dismissal threshold. The time has arrived for the remedial – and stereotypical – character of academic support to meet its demise, and to be reborn as a program that helps all students to become better lawyers, not just better law students.

In this article, we propose a …

Overcoming Writer's Block And Procrastination For Attorneys, Law Students, And Law Professors, Meehan Rasch

Meehan Rasch

Law is a particularly writing-heavy profession. However, lawyers, law students, and law professors often struggle with initiating, sustaining, and completing legal writing projects. Even the most competent legal professionals experience periods in which the written word just does not flow freely. This article provides a guide for legal writers who are seeking to understand and resolve writing blocks, procrastination, and other common writing productivity problems.

Understanding The Cycle Of Procrastination, Meehan Rasch

Meehan Rasch

Procrastination is one of the enduring challenges of human existence, as well as one of the chief problems with which law students struggle. Understanding the cycle of procrastination can help law professors and advisors more constructively address students’ issues in this area—not to mention our own.

Dean's Column: Academic Success At Boyd, Jennifer Carr

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Benefits Of Integrated Programs Over Non-Integrated Programs, Rebecca Flanagan

Faculty Publications

I do see hybrid teaching as the ASP model of the future. It is not a method that will be adopted by all schools, and it will certainly take time, and analysis, to refine the model to fit the student and school culture. Success is always a work in progress, but can only be achieved once you step from your comfort zone and try a new method.

Balancing Law Student Privacy Interests And Progressive Pedagogy: Dispelling The Myth That Ferpa Prohibits Cutting-Edge Academic Support Methodologies, Louis N. Schulze Jr.

Faculty Publications

Controversy exists over whether the Family Education Records Privacy Act prohibits certain progressive law school academic support methodologies. This Article analyzes these claims, using the text of the statute, the related regulations, case law from the Supreme Court of the United States and other federal courts, and statements from the Department of Education. The thesis of this Article is that most academic support methods are perfectly lawful and that FERPA and progressive pedagogy can peaceably coexist.

It Takes A Village To Solve The Problems In Legal Education: Every Faculty Member's Role In Academic Support, Melissa J. Marlow

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This article suggests a fundamental shift in the way traditional faculty view their role in academic support, from merely assisting with academic support duties to becoming equally responsible with academic support faculty for student achievement. The article explores how legal education arrived at the current division of labor in teaching weaker students. Additionally, it examines why the current situation is not the best plan of action for maximizing student learning. Finally, it touches upon possible solutions that would work toward uniting law school faculty in their common purpose of preparing all students for the rigors of legal practice.

Some factors …

Theory Saved My Life, Kris Franklin

Articles & Chapters

In part a tribute to the groundbreaking work of legal theorist Ruthann Robson, this article argues that theory and theorizing are under-examined yet basic skills which must be taught to all beginning law students. Positing that in order to be effective in law school and legal culture law students must learn to see, construct, deconstruct and use legal theories, the article articulates several common approaches to basic legal pedagogy and asks how they might be enhanced if pedagogy is embedded in a theoretical comprehension of thestudents' roles as interpreters of law. The article offers as examples artwork far removed from …

Legal Writing And Academic Support: Timing Is Everything, Dionne L. Koller

All Faculty Scholarship

The conventional wisdom is that legal writing and academic support go hand-in-hand. Most law schools assume that struggling students can be reliably identified for academic support through their first-year legal writing course, and that first-year legal writing instructors can fairly easily and effectively provide this support. Indeed, this is the prevailing view in current academic support and legal writing scholarship. Professor Koller's article challenges the conventional wisdom and instead points out several issues that should be considered if a law school relies on the first-year legal writing course as a component of, or in lieu of, an academic support program. …

Legal Writing And Academic Support: Timing Is Everything, Dionne L. Koller

Faculty Scholarship

The conventional wisdom is that legal writing and academic support go hand-in-hand. Most law schools assume that struggling students can be reliably identified for academic support through their first-year legal writing course, and that first-year legal writing instructors can fairly easily and effectively provide this support. Indeed, this is the prevailing view in current academic support and legal writing scholarship. Professor Koller's article challenges the conventional wisdom and instead points out several issues that should be considered if a law school relies on the first-year legal writing course as a component of, or in lieu of, an academic support program. …

Finding Success In The "Cauldron Of Competition:" The Effectiveness Of Academic Support Programs, Leslie Yalof Garfield

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article provides an in-depth analysis of our comprehensive study of the Pace Academic Support Program. Section II of the article discusses the purpose and design of ASPs generally, and Pace Law School's program specifically. Section III describes the research design, methodology, and procedures used for this study. Section IV evaluates and analyzes the findings, with an in-depth analysis of the impact each service yields to ASP students, as well as the statistical significance of such benefits. Section V evaluates the importance of background criteria and the impact that such variables have on ASP participants and non-participants. Section V also …

The Academic Support Student In The Year 2010, Leslie Yalof Garfield

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Academic support professionals have long recognized the benefits of imparting a greater knowledge of learning skills to law students as a way to enhance their ability to learn the law. Consequently, the science and pedagogy of academic support have become a staple of legal education. However, while the need for academic support remains a constant, the identification of those in need of academic support programs continues to be in flux. Growing social awareness of an expanded definition of diversity, recent decisions such as Hopwood v. Texas and the proliferation of academic support programs have expanded the definition of the academic …

Empowerment And Achievement In Minority Law Student Support Programs: Constructing Affirmative Action, Leslie G. Espinoza

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Article reviews the findings of the LSAC Report. The LSAC Report is a good beginning for an understanding of the structure of current minority academic support programs. The data provided by the Report, particularly regarding student selection criteria, demonstrates the link between support programs and affirmative action. Part II explores the stigma exacerbated by many academic support programs and the prejudice that stigma perpetuates. Part III examines law school myopia in approach and design of academic support programs. Academic support should do more than reiterate, albeit at a slow and studied pace, earlier classroom material. Students …