36.Grading the Examination. The board is aware of the bar examination's importance to each applicant and has established procedures calculated to ensure a fair system of grading. The bar examination currently consists of two sections: the Nevada Essay section, consisting of eight essays, and beginning with the July 1997 examination, one or more performance test questions, and the 200-item Multistate Bar Examination. The essay portion of the examination is worth at least twice that of the MBE and an overall total scaled score of no less than 75.00 is needed to pass. A score which is less than the passing standard on one portion may be compensated for by a higher score on the other portion. Essay raw scores are scaled to the MBE and combined to achieve a total scaled score. The board, and its graders, score the answers to the essay exam and beginning in July 1997, score the performance test question(s) as well. The board has adopted commonly accepted procedures for the calibration of graders to assure uniformity of the grading standards. The grading process and grade distributions are periodically reviewed in order to assure uniformity in grading.
37.Anonymity of the Applicant. The anonymity of the applicant is preserved throughout the grading process. Each applicant is assigned a code number which is not known to any person responsible for grading the exams until after the applicant's final grade is determined. The reader who grades the exam has no knowledge of the identity of its author, the author's background, legal education nor prior experience, if any, with the bar examination. Consequently, no factor other than the applicant's exam has any bearing on the applicant's success or failure.38.Calculations. Pursuant to S.C.R 65(3), at least 30 days before each examination, or within such further time as the court may permit, the board files with the court for approval, a proposed formula upon which the MBE will be applied with the other portions of the total examination results and a proposed formula for grading the entire examination. A.MBE The MBE is equated to previous administrations of the exam through a comparison of the performance of all examinees on items used on the current and the prior examinations. Raw MBE scores are converted to scaled scores representing the same level of competence or performance as corresponding scaled scores on prior examinations.B.Essay Exam. The board assigns a raw score to each essay answer. Essay raw scores are then combined with MBE scaled scores and submitted to a psychometrician for calculation. Beginning with the July 1997 exam, performance test question(s) are allotted one and one-half the weight of an essay question prepared by the board. The psychometrician, employing recognized statistical methods, calculates the total scaled score utilizing a formula previously approved by the court. The psychometrician ensures that the raw essay scores are converted to a distribution that has the same mean and standard deviation as the Nevada MBE scaled scores, that the essay examination is given at least twice the weight of the MBE; and, except as is otherwise ordered by the court, that the standard of passing is held constant across administrations of the examination.39.Regrade Procedures. Applicant's examinations with total scaled scores immediately below the passing point are reconsidered before final certification to the court. The board believes that this grading system affords each applicant a fair and careful consideration of all answers on the bar examination and that subsequent to the certification of the grades to the court, no useful purpose would be served by further consideration by the board. Thus, after the filing of the first order admitting applicants by the court, the board shall not reconsider any essay answers. Regrade of the MBE Applicants may request that the NCBE hand grade the MBE examination for an additional administrative fee. Applicants requesting a manual regrade must submit a written request to the department of admissions accompanied by a check in the amount of $50.00 made payable to the NCBE and a check in the amount of $12.50 made payable to the State Bar of Nevada. The state bar will not accept the score of a manual regrade of the MBE unles s it is reported to the second decimal place.
[As amended effective August 24, 2015.]
40.Notification of Results. Applicants shall be notified at the bar examination of the anticipated release date of the results. This date is generally ten weeks after the bar exam An applicant may call the office of the State Bar of Nevada at the designated date and time to find out if the applicant was successful or unsuccessful on the exam This information is unofficial and applicants should not rely on telephone notification as official notification. The court will send the applicant official notification whether the applicant passed or failed the examination, and whether there are any other holds that would prevent the applicant from immediate admission and attending the swearing-in ceremony. Additionally, in accordance with S.C.R. 69(3). the Nevada Lawyer, a publication of the State Bar of Nevada, shall publish the names of all applicants successful on the Nevada Bar Examination.41.MBE Score Transfers. Successful applicants cannot review their MBE or essay examinations nor can they find out their total scaled scores on the examination. An applicant who wishes to transfer MBE scores to another jurisdiction must put the request in writing and send it, accompanied by a check for $25.00 made out to the State Bar of Nevada to cover administrative costs, to the Admissions Department of the State Bar of Nevada. [As amended effective August 24, 2015.]
42.Unsuccessful Applicants.A.Notification. Applicants who are unsuccessful on the bar examination shall be notified in writing by the State Bar of Nevada within 30 days of the date the order is filed admitting applicants to practice law in the State of Nevada. This notice shall be accompanied by a statistical analysis of the applicant's scores with an explanation of the grading procedures employed by the board's psychometrician. The $25.00 license fee shall not be refunded under any circumstances.B.Review of Answers. To obtain copies of essay exam answers and questions, applicants must send $35.00 to the Admissions Department of the State Bar of Nevada. Requests for copies of answers must include the applicant's ID number as well as a sample of his/her handwriting. Answers are available for three years from the date of the bar examination. Marks or comments from the graders do not appear on the essay answers. There shall be no right of appeal or review as to the examination or its results.43.Confidentiality. Contents of any application for admission to practice law in this state, the results of any investigation and documentation regarding the application or applicant, including transcripts of hearings and the grades of an individual applicant shall remain confidential and shall not be disseminated without the express written authorization of the applicant. Pursuant to S.C.R 52(3). however, any applicant who makes application for admission, shall consent to the disclosure of all information as set forth in S.C.R 52 pursuant to any request by any state bar, bar association, the National Conference of Bar Examiners or other admitting authority.As amended effective 8/24/2015.