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\nCertainly we can all agree that the best way to prepare for the MBE is to do lots of MBE practice questions. To that end, one would initially think that using released NCBE questions would be ideal. That is until you read the warning label on those released questions themselves.<\/span>
\n\u201c<\/span>Retired questions drawn from<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>MBEs administered many years ago are made available on this page, but examinees are advised not to use these questions as substantive preparation for the MBE. Due to changes in the law since the time the questions appeared on an exam, the questions and their keys may no longer be current. The question format may also be outdated.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Because these questions are outdated, NCBE does not recommend their use but nevertheless makes them available because the questions may still be in use by commercial bar review courses under a licensing agreement with NCBE.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>
\nAlso challenging would be knowing why that question was released. What makes it not test-like? Why is the NCBE<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s advice specifically NOT to use it? Figuring out exactly what was wrong is more difficult than constructing a new question.<\/span>
\nWhile a bar preparation company could spring up overnight with a wholesale purchase of these questions, it would leave students with a noticeable disadvantage as the NCBE points out; these questions may have issues. Additionally, who can be certain that the NCBE will continue to release questions? Being beholden to a test-maker in such fashion creates the possibility of a severe content drought.
\nThe main reason that Kaplan creates its own questions is simple. For three decades Kaplan has followed the exam<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s changes. Soliciting student feedback, reviewing released exams and questions, and having question writers actually sit for the exam, has provided Kaplan with its backbone of MBE preparation and content creation.<\/span>
\nMoreover, Kaplan<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s process of question writing mirrors that of the NCBE. A question is written, then a legal team evaluates that question checking it for legal accuracy, ensuring it\u2019s grammatically correct, and reviewing whether the wrong answers are sufficiently viable as distractor choices. It\u2019s then incubated in one of Kaplan<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s giant Quizbank containers where real time analysis is measured by having thousands of users attempt the question. With this real-time feedback, Kaplan can rate a question<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s performance, and alter it where necessary to produce an intended result. Once the testing is complete, the question can then be used in a simulated exam or an in-class exercise assuring continued accuracy that even the most strict of psychometricians would delight in. This process has allowed Kaplan to take pride in being labeled “most test-like” again and again.<\/span>
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