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TEST DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH

A summary of the key issues considered by the Committee is provided below.

Updates to the Validity Studies: The Committee discussed and made recommendations to staff regarding the implementation of corrections to the correlation coefficients that would address the effects of range restriction. The typical range of LSAT scores among members of an entering law school class has been shrinking. With regard to the LSAT Correlation Studies, this trend has led to a phenomenon known as the restriction of range effect, wherein the correlation calculated between two variables (e.g., LSAT and first-year average) is suppressed because of a lack of variability for one or both of the variables. The proper education of admission professionals to accompany such a change was also a component of these discussions. Funding for Psychometric Research Consultants and Summer Interns: The Committee recommended that the LSAC Board of Trustees approve the replenishment of funds to support external researchers to consult onsite with LSAC researchers on a regular basis. They also recommended the replenishment of funding for psychometric research summer interns for the summers of 2010 and 2011. Ongoing Projects: The Committee received regular reports and provided its input on ongoing work being carried out by LSAC staff. Areas included global issues, test security, the Skills Readiness Inventory, the Evaluation Service, development of the LSAT Handbook , revisions to registrant and test-taker racial/ethnic category choices, and collaborative research efforts with the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). Grants Subcommittee Matters: The Committee considered requests from the Grants Subcommittee and, where appropriate, made recommendations to the LSAC Board of Trustees for action. Issues included a request to appoint a selection committee to determine the Shelton Prize recipient rather than relying on Grants Subcommittee members, as well as several requested revisions to the Subcommittee’s funding guidelines that would bring the Subcommittee in line with National Science Foundation (NSF) guidelines. Research Proposals: Through the work of the Grants Subcommittee, the Committee considered 19 proposals for research funding. Three proposals were funded and two were returned to the researchers with advice to revise and resubmit their proposals. The Committee was responsible for the final funding decision for two of these proposals since the requested amounts were in excess of the Grants Subcommittee’s funding limit. Of these two, the Committee declined to fund one and will gather additional information from the principal investigators of the second before making a final funding recommendation to the LSAC Board of Trustees. Update to the Committee Description: The Committee recommended revisions to the committee description in order to provide a better reflection of its current role and activities.

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