Page 18 - CLT090720

18 ¦ SEPTEMBER 7, 2020 NEWS

¦ From IS ONLINE on PAGE 17 according to the association’s statement. Califor-
exam, did not respond to requests for comment on nia plans to have all test takers—a record 12,000
the Association for Software Testing’s statement. have registered—log in to the exam during eight
Jurisdictions initially had a choice among three separate 10-minute windows over the course of
outside vendors to administer exams. One of the two days.
firms, Extegrity, in early August pulled out saying “The California schedule was really good for illu-
that such a large-scale, simultaneous test presented minating this—at 8:50, or whenever, everyone needs
“undue risks.” to log in and get verified by this [system] to confirm
Likewise, every jurisdiction that had planned that they are who they say they are,” Proegler said.
to use the third vendor, ILG Technologies, has “Suddenly it’s 6,000 people, or whatever, all trying to
since switched to ExamSoft after planned ILG- get on at the same time.”
run exams in Nevada, Indiana and Florida ran The short time window to login to each exam sec-
into technical problems. (Each of those exams tion could exacerbate problems for examinees with
were either postponed or significantly modified.) unreliable internet service, Proegler added. If they
The fact that ExamSoft will now lose their connections during
be administering bar exams to the login period, they would be
upwards of 30,000 people na- locked out of the exam. Jurisdic-
tionwide on the same two days tions should have plans in place
may be further cause for con- to accommodate people whose
cern, for supporters of diploma computers crash during the exam
privilege. In addition to Con- It’s unclear whether the or who lose Internet access, the
necticut, California, New York, software vendor tasked association recommends.
Illinois and Pennsylvania are with delivering an online
among the 20 jurisdictions plan- bar exam to more than The association also raised
concerns that remote proctoring
ning to take part Oct. 5 and 6. 30,000 people in October systems the jurisdictions plan to
“That’s very risky,” Proegler can handle the load, the use will violate the privacy of ex-
said. “Because the cost of failure
is higher because multiple states Association for Software aminees and the security of their
will fail. And you are increasing computers. Moreover, the arti-
Testing said. ficial intelligence that ExamSoft

the risk of a failure.” plans to use to verify the identi-
The Association for Software ties of test takers and monitor
Testing based its analysis on for cheating has been proven to
California’s plans for an online be less accurate when applied to
bar exam, but Proegler said the people of color.
group’s findings are applicable to other jurisdictions “Our conclusion is that to properly serve their
as ExamSoft is presumably following a similar mod- technical and social purposes, online examinations
el elsewhere. must be administered in a fair and unbiased man-
“We will review the Association for Software ner,” reads the association’s statement. “They should
Testing’s statement carefully as part of our ongoing not be difficult to undergo for people of modest
efforts to ensure that we provide the best experience means, and their administration should not create
we can for the applicants in light of the challenges additional stress on already stressed examinees due
faced in the current environment,” said Donna to implementation or technology.”
Hershkowitz, the interim executive director of the ¦

State Bar of California. Karen Sloan is the Legal Education Editor and Se-
One of the most pressing issues is the ability of nior Writer at ALM. Contact her at ksloan@alm.
all examinees to get into the test at the same time, com. On Twitter: @KarenSloanNLJ

CONNECTICUT
Law Tribune