Opinion ID: 1948306
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Multistate Bar Examination Task Force on Disabled Applicants

Text: The MBE portion of the Delaware Bar Examination is administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. B.R. 52.4(b). In October 1990, the Board of Managers of the National Conference adopted the following revision to Standard 22 of the Code of Recommended Standards for Bar Examiners: Without impairing the integrity of the examination process, the bar examining authority should adopt and publish procedures allowing applicants with documented disabilities to have assistance, equipment or additional time as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances to assure their fair and equal opportunity to perform on the examination. Smith, NCBE Guidelines For Testing Disabled Applicants, The Bar Examiner, Feb. 1991, at 28, 28. The revision to Standard 22 was proposed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners Task Force on Disabled Applicants. Id. That Task Force also developed guidelines for jurisdictions reviewing requests for special accommodations for disabled applicants, i.e. Considerations in Testing Applicants with Disabilities. Id. The work of the Task Force was reported upon by Jane Peterson Smith, the Director of Testing of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Id. According to Smith: The most difficult issue the task force considered was the amount of extra time to allow for disabled applicants, particularly for those with learning disabilities. The task force concluded that time and one-half was an appropriate accommodation for most disabled applicants because there is evidence that the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is not a speeded examination. The Task Force on Disabled Applicants also designed a standardized application form for bar examiners to use for those persons requesting testing accommodations. Id. at 30-31 (Appendix I and II). That form is particularly instructive in Rubenstein's case. The choices in Section V, Accommodations granted for the Multistate Bar Examination, regarding [e]xtra testing time are: time and one-half; double time; more than double time; and other. (Appendix II). The form also includes a separate Section VI, which relates to [a]ccommodations granted for the rest of the bar examination, e.g., the essays. Id.