Hello everyone,
The Cal Bar Board of Trustees is meeting on March 5, 2 pm. The meeting agenda and the Zoom link are located here:
https://calbar.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=1054
February Bar applicants will likely use the public comment period to ensure the Board knows just how horrible the conditions were for the February Exam. Justifiably so.
My focus here is the agenda item that Cal Bar staff will present to the Board. Cal Bar staff recommend not going forward with Meazure Learning for July 2025. Instead, staff recommend returning to in person administration for the July 2025 exam. As in, hardcopy exam, scratch paper, party like it’s 2023.
Complication – securing sites for typical July Bar exam dates have been challenging before, and trying to start that process now might be even more challenging. Students may have to travel further to get to the few sites they can find, with more costs. I suspect students won’t care as long as they can avoid the Meazure Learning experience again. We’ll see what happens.
Next steps: If Board of Trustees agrees, then staff will bring the matter to the Committee of Bar Examiners for action at its March 14 meeting.
I think Cal Bar staff’s proposal is a great idea (I don’t say that frequently). This provides a better remedy for students who have to take/retake the exam in July 2025 – the traditional in-person exam will guarantee that applicants won’t experience the Meazure Learning fiasco again in July 2025. And it buys the Cal Bar several more months to find a better vendor and extensively test it.
The hybrid scenario (some remote, some in person – see page 2 of the Agenda item) is interesting. Theoretically, it will help to reduce the bandwidth overload on tons of remote takers. But who is going to be excited about remote testing if Meazure Learning is providing again? Or even if it’s another vendor, who’s going to trust it?
We might see a different scenario entirely: raise fees 50% to mitigate fears about going insolvent. Applicants justifiably won’t like it, but I’m guessing that’s the only way the Cal Bar will generate more revenue that it’s so worried about in the short-term. Or raise annual fees on existing attorneys? Or both? Spend 1-1/2 to 2 years properly vetting a fully digital exam process. And then roll it out only once the Cal Bar is certain that it will work. That also involves some non-tech issues that need resolving. Two come to mind: 1) make sure to have a full set of properly-vetted backup questions in case they’re needed for a “retake” session, and 2) vastly better training of proctors, some of whom allegedly couldn’t answer basic questions, provided inaccurate or conflicting information, or were rude.
In case the link below doesn’t work, I provide the Agenda Item here:
Los Angeles Office
845 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90017
San Francisco Office www.calbar.ca.gov
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
OPEN SESSION
AGENDA ITEM
3.2 MARCH 2025
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
DATE: March 5, 2025
TO: Members, Board of Trustees
FROM: Donna Hershkowitz, Chief of Admissions/Legislative Director
SUBJECT: Discussion and, if Appropriate, Approval of Supplemental Contract Amount
for ProctorU, Inc. dba Meazure Learning for Live, Remote Proctoring and Test
Center Services (Bar Exam, First-Year Law Students’ Exam, and Legal
Specialization Exam Administrations) in 2025 and Discussion and, if
Appropriate, Approval of Alternative Vendor for Live, Remote Proctoring and
Test Center Services for Administration in 2025 (Bar Exam, First-Year Law
Students’ Exam, and Legal Specialization Exam Administrations)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
At its February 21 meeting, the Board of Trustees received an update describing several of the
challenges leading up to the administration of the February 2025 Bar Exam. The Board heard
significant public comment expressing concern about the functionality of the Meazure Learning
platform, as well as the problems with scheduling and miscommunications. The Board was
going to be asked to approve additional funding for the contract with Meazure Learning for the
July administration. Based on the administration of the February Bar Exam, staff cannot
recommend going forward with Meazure Learning and are instead recommending returning to
the in-person administration method used prior to February 2025.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
None at this time. Staff are seeking the Board’s input on the staff recommendation not to
continue with Meazure Learning and to return to in person administration for the July 2025
exam. Following discussion with the Committee of Bar Examiners on March 14, staff will return
to the Board for action.
DISCUSSION
2
At the February 3, joint meeting of the Executive Committee and the Contracts Committee
(“committees”), staff described three options for proceeding with the July 2025 administration
of the Bar Exam, and their related costs.
Option Cost Notes Update
State Bar / Meazure
Hybrid: Meazure
provides the remote
testing and the State
Bar secures in
person facilities
$3.9 million With Meazure only being able to
be commit to 3,700 remote
takers, in person facilities would
need to be secured for 5,500 or
more
2-Day Competitor $3.5 million Staff continued discussions and
with fuller information the
quote increased slightly
$3.7 million
Meazure +
Additional Sites or
Increased Remote
Capacity
TBD After staff negotiation, Meazure
agreed to increase remote
capacity to 7,000
$3.5 million, +
TBD increased
costs for 2 to 4
additional popup
centers
Staff shared with the committees that these costs were still less than the projected cost for an
in-person July administration conducted in the manner the State Bar had traditionally
administered exams. That estimate was $4.8–$5 million.
At its February 21 meeting, the Board of Trustees received an update describing several of the
challenges leading up to the administration of the February 2025 Bar Exam. The Board heard
significant public comment expressing concern about the functionality of the Meazure Learning
platform, as well as the problems with scheduling and miscommunications. The Board was
going to be asked to approve additional funding for the contract with Meazure Learning for the
July administration. However, as a result of the events that occurred in the administration of
the February Bar Exam, still underway as of the writing of this staff report, staff cannot
recommend going forward with Meazure Learning. Staff are instead recommending returning
to the in-person administration method used prior to February 2025. The Board should be
aware that the dates of the July exam have made securing sites challenging in the past, and the
late date at which we would be beginning that process now will create additional challenges.
There may be fewer locations for applicants to select from, resulting in higher costs for
applicants who may have to travel further from their local community to take the exam.
Staff is seeking the Board’s input on this recommendation. If the Board agrees, staff will bring
this matter to the Committee of Bar Examiners for action at its March 14, 2025, meeting. The
Contracts Committee or full Board will subsequently be asked to approve facilities and other
contracts related to a planned in-person July 2025 exam administration.
PREVIOUS ACTION
3
September 2024, Approval of up to $4.1 million for Meazure Learning for the administration of
the February and July 2025 Exams.
FISCAL/PERSONNEL IMPACT
The estimated cost of in-person administration of the July Bar Exam is $4.8–$5 million. Actual
costs may be higher as we are anticipating increased numbers of test takers due to the offer to
waive July exam costs for many applicants. The full year fiscal impact of the transition back to
in-person testing will be compounded by the expanded refund policies put into place with
respect to the February 2025 exam.
While staff believes that the 2025 Admissions Fund budget can absorb all related costs,
sustainability planning for 2026 and beyond must begin in the near term.
AMENDMENTS TO RULES
None
AMENDMENTS TO BOARD OF TRUSTEES POLICY MANUAL
None
STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS & IMPLEMENTATION STEPS
None – core business operations
RESOLUTIONS
None
ATTACHMENT LIST
None
