Microsoft word - lsqt 4pdf _050409.doc

Center for Educational Measurement, Inc.
Score Interpretation Guide
The behavioral and content specifications for the Law School Qualifying Test, or LSQT, was conceptualized as composed of reasoning skills necessary in the study and practice of law. The rationale behind the concept is that those who should be admitted to the law course must be conversant with more than one aspect of reasoning ability, e.g. verbal, abstract. The LSQT consists of four subtests and these are described as follows: measures the ability to recognize relationships A. VERBAL REASONING
between words and the ability to comprehend materials. It consists of two item types, namely: This test measures the ability to recognize relationships among English words. Each item in the test consists of a pair of words that expresses a certain relationship. The task of the examinee is to choose the pair that expresses the same relationship. This test measures the ability to comprehend written materials and his ability to draw conclusions based on the content of the selection. The selections deal with various content or subject areas and are chosen from works written for the layman; that is, they are not technical, easily appeal to and understood by the average college graduate. measures two important skil s – comprehension and reasoning ability. It consists of three types B. CRITICAL THINKING
of questions which differ in the format of their item stems and in difficulty. Its subtests are: Items have the simplest format. The item stem consists of one or two straightforward statement(s) provided with four suggested conclusions from which the correct answer is to be chosen. Items have more complex stems. An item consists of a brief conversation or a short passage, followed by a question that asks for the analysis and evaluation of the reasoning in the conversation or passage. Each item is provided with four alternative answers. 3. Analytical Reasoning Items have the most complex format. A set of information is introduced, usually in two or more sentences or paragraphs numbered in Roman numerals. This information set defines conditions, relationships, and specifics in a certain situation on which questions that require the abilities to understand, analyze, and infer are posed. measures the ability to carry out algorithms and solve problems accurately. Items in this C. QUANTITATIVE ABILITY
1. Arithmetic and Algebra Items measure skills in carrying out algorithms, transforming problem elements from one mode to another, solving routine problems, making comparisons and analyzing data. Items measure knowledge and understanding of geometrical concepts and relationships, skills in making comparisons, and ability in solving routine problems. Center for Educational Measurement, Inc.
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measures the ability to recognize relationships D. FIGURAL REASONING
among figures and discover the principle behind a given series of figures. It consists of items involving the following: This test measures the ability to perceive similarities of figures in a series or row and differences between the two series or rows. The task of the examinee is to select from the given choices the figure which is similar to the other two figures in the second row. This test measures the ability to discover the principle involved which makes four of the five figures similar to each other. The task of the examinee is to select the figure that is different from the other four. All four subtests measure reasoning factors representing in essence what the whole test was conceptualized to measure – a complex or multifaceted reasoning ability. This means that the results on the test can be sufficiently represented by a single score. The LSQT yields five scores, one for each subtest, Verbal Reasoning (VR), Critical Thinking (CT), Quantitative Ability (QA), and Figural Reasoning (FR), and a total score – the Law Aptitude Score (LAS). VR, CT, QA, and FR have a common standard score scale which makes possible the comparison of an examinee’s performance across the four subtests, as well as comparison with the performance of other examinees. LAS, the composite score, is based on the summation of the four subtest scores and is taken as a general measure of performance on the whole test. It has its own standard score scale with a range of 200 to 800, a mean of 500, and a standard deviation of 100. The scale has a percentile rank complement with a scale range of 1– to 99+ and a midpercentile rank of 50 coincident with the mean of 500. These scores make possible the comparison of an examinee’s performance to that of the norm group or with other examinees. For example, a LAS standard score of 584 with an equivalent percentile rank of 80 indicates a performance that is comparable to that of the upper 20 percent of the norm group or a performance that is higher than that of the lower 80 percent of the norm group. Center for Educational Measurement, Inc.
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The following standard score intervals with three complementary indices, namely, percentile rank (PR), stanine (SN), and quality index (QI), follow the stanine scale segmentation of the normal distribution curve. It can be useful as a guide in considering the admission of applicants to the law course. Very Poor (VP)
Inferior (I)
Below Average (BA)
Low Average (LA)
Average (A)
High Average (HA)
Above Average (AA)
Superior (S)
Excellent (E)
An applicant should have a LAS of at least 525 to be considered for admission into
the law course. The higher the LAS, the better. Acceptance of an applicant with a lower LAS will be at the discretion of the school official concerned upon consideration of other factors. Center for Educational Measurement, Inc.
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Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Measurement, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this score interpretation guide may be reproduced by any means, nor translated into a machine language without the written permission of the Center for Educational Measurement, Inc.

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