MPT FAQs

 

Which jurisdictions administer the MPT?

 

Alabama Guam Mississippi N. Mariana Islands Vermont
Alaska Hawaii Missouri Ohio
 Washington
Arizona Idaho Montana Oregon
 West Virginia
Arkansas Illinois Nebraska Palau
 Wisconsin       
Colorado Indiana Nevada Rhode Island Wyoming
Connecticut (2014) Iowa New Hampshire South Dakota
Delaware Maine New Mexico
 Tennessee
District of Columbia Maryland New York
 Texas
Georgia Minnesota        
North Dakota       
Utah  

 

What skills are tested on the MPT?

MPT Skills Tested, an excerpt from the 2013 MPT Information Booklet

 

How is the MPT developed?

The decision by the National Conference of Bar Examiners to offer the MPT followed a review of the results of the July 1993 Performance Test Research Project, which included these findings:

  • The content of performance tests (PTs) is appropriate for assessing fundamental lawyering skills, and PTs could provide valuable supplemental information for making decisions regarding admission to the bar (see Marcia A. Kuechenmeister, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, at 29).
  • PTs can be graded as reliably as essay questions, and the PT measures an important ability that is related to but not fully measured by essay examinations or the MBE (see Jane Peterson Smith, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, at 41).
  • Applicants believe PTs are a better measure of their ability to perform as attorneys than either the MBE or essay examinations and favor including PTs on the bar exam (see Charles S. Kunce and Scott E. Arbet, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, at 44–47).

The MPT is not a test of substantive knowledge. Rather, it is designed to examine six fundamental skills lawyers are expected to demonstrate regardless of the area of law in which the skills arise.

The test is developed by individuals who have extensive experience in writing and editing performance test items. All MPTs are pretested and critiqued by independent experts.

 

How is the MPT graded?

Each MPT is accompanied by a grading guideline designed to assist jurisdictions in scoring the test. The National Conference of Bar Examiners sponsors a grading workshop on the weekend following test administration, in conjunction with the MEE Grading Workshop. Jurisdictions score the test themselves and determine what weight to give it in relationship to the other parts of their bar examinations. (The MPT is a component of the Uniform Bar Examination [UBE]. Jurisdictions administering the UBE weight the MPT 20%.)