How the NCBE will move the NextGen bar exam to personal computers

For decades, the Uniform Bar Examination has been old school, with bar candidates using paper-and-pencil exam books. But starting with the first administration of the NextGen UBE next year, the test will be entirely conducted on the examinees’ personal computers.

History has shown that technology used for the bar exam can be filled with snafus. Pandemic-era experiments for remote bar exam administrations had hiccups—and of course, California’s attempt in February to launch a new, tech-dependent exam was nothing short of a disaster.

So the National Conference of Bar Examiners has been carefully treading through a maze of tech challenges, knowing that nothing can go wrong with the high-stakes exam.

In this episode of the Legal Rebels Podcast, the ABA Journal’s Julianne Hill talks with Kara Smith, the NCBE’s chief product officer. It’s her job to get the tech involved exactly right for the new exam. They discuss how the NCBE will keep the exam secure, what backup plans are in place, and how to keep test days free of tech-induced drama.

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In This Podcast:

Kara Smith. (Photo courtesy of the National Conference of Bar Examiners)

Kara Smith is the chief product officer at the National Conference of Bar Examiners. She has more than 15 years of experience in the assessment industry. Smith previously was the vice president of product innovation and development at Educational Testing Service, where she led teams in the creation of AI-enabled assessments and learning solutions. She has a PhD in educational research, measurement and evaluation, as well as a master of arts degree in teaching from Boston College.