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Grading Standards
Grades
Grades are based primarily on the final written examination and two mid-term exams. Instructors will require written papers in addition to examinations. Some instructors give additional examinations or other assignments, which may or may not be counted in the final grade.
California School of Law awards letter grades, plus and minus grades are given at the professor’s discretion.
Grading Standards
The Faculty handbook of the California School of Law provides as follows regarding grading standards:
“Faculty is instructed to grade on standards comparable to those at ABA accredited law schools.
“Grading should be such that students who pass the School’s courses are likely to be able to pass the First Year Law Students’ Exam (“FLYSE”) and the California Bar exam.
“The Dean of Faculty, the Dean and his/her appointee will review the professors’ grading to ensure that it indicates the students’ ability to pass the FYLSE and the California Bar.”
Student Work Authentication Procedures
The California School of Law verifies student participation and matriculation through audio identification. Students sign into a virtual classroom two nights a week and must speak with the professor in order to participate in the Socratic Method, which utilizes questioning of the students as a major educational device. The professors become aware of each student’s voice during the semester. During the course of each examination, the professors randomly check in on each of the students, several times, to determine that each student is at his or her computer working on the examination.
Exams, essays and other documents are submitted to the professor “on line” to the California School of Law software program called Moodle. Moodle maintains each student’s records separately and these records can be viewed only by the professor and the student who submitted the exam.
Other measures are being designed to verify the identity of students, especially during examinations. A recent conference of the DETC in San Diego addressed this “on line” identification issue and several solutions were discussed. These solutions are: using two-way video cameras, finger-print methods and testing centers.
California School of Law is studying these approaches and is planning to incorporate video conferencing as part of our classroom structure. The video function will be used for authentication during examinations.
Course Repetition
First year students must pass all courses. If a first year student does not pass a course, he or she will be dismissed from the law school. Students can petition the Dean of Faculty and the professor to determine if makeup work can be performed to pass a course. Such students will need to demonstrate exceptional hardship in order to be permitted to continue.
With the approval of the Chief Academic Officer and the Dean, first year students that fail a course will be permitted to start the program over from the beginning.
Graduation Requirements
In order to graduate from the California School of Law and receive a Juris Doctorate degree, students must have a minimum of 864 hours of study over 48 to 52 consecutive weeks a year for 4 years. Students must also pass the First Year Law Students’ Exam.
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