Could ABA Overhaul Admissions Testing?

Arizona Summit On Probation After 26% Bar Passage Rate

If you live in Arizona, you may want to be careful about hiring a new law school grad. Arizona has posted an overall state bar exam pass rate of just 57% for July 2017.
According to Above The Law, the state saw its worst overall pass rate last July at 53%. In July 2015, the overall pass rate was 56.6%, down from July 2014’s rate of 68.3%.
Arizona Summit Law School saw one of the lowest pass rates at 26%. Last July, the law school hit a low of 25%, according to results released by the Arizona Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, Arizona Summit Law School was placed on probation by the American Bar Association for being out of compliance on “State Bar exam passage rates, admission practices, and academic standards and support,”azcentral.com reports.
The ABA is scheduled to review the school in November. The school may face sanctions “up to and including withdrawal of (ABA) approval,” officials warned in a letter to the school in March.
Arizona Summit has previously seen State Bar exam passage rates as high as 97%. Since then, its rates have declined dramatically.

Arizona Summit interim Dean Penny Willrich says this July’s test results were not a surprise and that the school has been implementing changes to improve test results.
“My goal is to take us back to a time when we were very successful on the bar and had 75 and 80 percent (pass) range,” Willrich says. “I think we can get there with all the changes that have taken place. But of course, it’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Sources: Supreme Court of Arizona, Above The Law, azcentral.com