Why NCBE Developed the MPT

The decision by the National Conference to offer a Multistate Performance Test (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 Kuechenmeister, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, p. 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 Smith, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, p. 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 Kunce and Arbet, The Bar Examiner, May 1995, pp. 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 MPT requires applicants to (1) sort detailed factual materials and separate relevant from irrelevant facts; (2) analyze statutory, case, and administrative materials for principles of law; (3) apply the law to the relevant facts in a manner likely to resolve a client's problem; (4) identify and resolve ethical dilemmas, when present; (5) communicate effectively in writing; (6) complete a lawyering task within time constraints. Test specifications are based on the MacCrate Task Force's Statement of Fundamental Lawyering Skills.

These skills are tested by requiring applicants to perform one of a variety of lawyering tasks. Although it is not feasible to list all possibilities, examples of tasks applicants might be instructed to complete include writing the following: a memorandum to a supervising attorney; a letter to a client; a persuasive memorandum or brief; a statement of facts; a contract provision; a will; a counseling plan; a proposal for settlement or agreement; a discovery plan; a witness examination plan; a closing argument.

The test is developed by a drafting committee that has had extensive experience in writing, editing, and grading performance test items. All MPTs are pretested, critiqued by independent experts, and reviewed by the boards of states using the test prior to final revision by the drafting committee. Each MPT is accompanied by a grading guideline designed to assist states in scoring the test.

Two 90-minute MPT questions are available for each examination, and a jurisdiction may administer one or both. The MPT can be used in combination with the MEE and state-developed essay questions to create a 3-hour, 4-hour, or 6-hour written exam.

The MPT items are administered the same day as the MEE, on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July. A grading workshop is offered on the weekend following administration, in conjunction with the MEE Grading Workshop. States score the test themselves and determine what weight to give it in relationship to the other parts of their bar examinations.