As the COVID‐19 crisis of 2020 rapidly expanded in the United States and abroad, it quickly became apparent that the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) could not administer its flagship assessment of critical reading and reasoning, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), without creative solutions to challenges posed by the pandemic. In summer of 2019, LSAC had transitioned from a paper‐based test to the digital LSAT, a computer tablet‐based test administered primarily in LSAC‐managed test centers. The fact that LSAC's test centers were based primarily in colleges, universities, and law schools—all abruptly closed—suddenly halted testing. With the standard March administration planning already well underway, the COVID‐19 crisis unexpectedly removed testing options. LSAC member law schools still wanted their applicants to submit LSAT scores, but now LSAC had no way to test those candidates, leaving schools and candidates anxious for a solution.

For LSAC, the only plausible solution to ensure career and educational continuity for aspiring law students was to find a way to administer the LSAT remotely. Challenges we faced in moving to a new test administration modality included ensuring content coverage, balancing security and privacy, utilizing the digital LSAT testing interface, and providing appropriate proctoring. Sacrificing any one aspect was deemed unacceptable, but quick resolution was also crucial. Our member law schools had potential applicants seeking to matriculate in fall 2020, and complete applications required a valid test score. Ultimately, LSAC decided to create a new version of the standard LSAT deemed the LSAT‐Flex, a shorter test that would have to be remotely proctored. This kind of solution had worked before when the unscored writing portion of the test was transitioned from a test day writing sample to an on‐demand, remotely proctored modality newly christened LSAT Writing. For the LSAT‐Flex multiple choice test, instead of being composed of the LSAT's typical five test sections—four scored and one unscored (pretest) section—the LSAT‐Flex would have three scored sections and no unscored section. The content would be the same: analytical reasoning (AR), logical reasoning (LR), and reading comprehension (RC), but the LSAT‐Flex would have only one LR section instead of the usual two. The reason for this change was that the testing time had to be shortened, because remote proctors could not monitor test takers during breaks, and also because of the limitations on overall proctoring capacity. The content would therefore be covered as with the standard LSAT, though with fewer LR questions. The loss of the unscored pretesting section (content varies) was deemed an acceptable but temporary loss. As we continue to offer the LSAT‐Flex as an emergency measure, we are hopeful that we will find a viable pretesting solution soon.

Ultimately, the LSAT‐Flex would be administered via LSAC's new test preparation platform, LawHub, and proctored by a popular remote proctoring vendor, ProctorU. Using the proprietary LawHub system ensured that the test interface mirrored that of the digital LSAT, providing a very similar user experience to the digital LSAT. It was already designed to present test content and log test takers’ responses. Using a proprietary delivery system ensured control over data return and quality, necessary for rapid and accurate scoring. Using ProctorU as the remote proctoring vendor ensured that test takers were properly logged in, monitored, and recorded while testing. To ensure adequate content and control exposure, many internal LSAC systems had to be rapidly redesigned and new three‐section linear test forms assembled very quickly. Few of our existing systems for test assembly and scoring were built for creating and analyzing data from a three‐section test. Rapid modifications of many systems were needed to ensure timely and accurate assembly, delivery, storage, and scoring.

As several other testing organizations transitioned rapidly to online testing, concerns about privacy, security, and technology access continue to have an impact on stakeholders. Regarding privacy, it became apparent that balancing privacy and security was going to be a major challenge. As security increases, remotely proctored testing inevitably becomes more intrusive. To fulfill all our security requirements, we necessarily required proctors to examine all of the immediate testing environment, which was typically someone's office, dorm room, or bedroom. Obviously, that means scrutinizing candidates’ home environments in ways that would have been unfathomable only months before. To ensure optimal security and standardization, LSAC needed to adapt its existing test center policies to ones amenable to remote proctoring. For example, when the paper LSAT was transitioning to the digital LSAT, test takers were vocal about wanting sheets of paper to help them diagram or make notes. So, along with the required tablets, we shipped scratch paper booklets to each test center, each of which was logged, distributed, and returned to LSAC after each test. How would we maintain that same level of material security in thousands of disparate home environments, to say nothing of the shipping costs? Eventually, we simply required test takers to show the proctor totally blank sheets of paper at the start of the test, and to destroy those sheets in front of the proctor at the end of the test.

What about test takers who did not have access to suitable computers at home? The requirements for technology were designed to be as minimal as possible, but there were clear restrictions imposed either by LSAC's software or ProctorU's. For example, a newer Windows or Mac OS computer with a camera and microphone is required. As part of LSAC's mission, we strive to serve everyone and anyone who wants to go to law school, even those with limited funds. Therefore, we attempted to mitigate digital divide concerns by shipping Microsoft Windows tablets to students who requested a compatible computer. Even with suitable equipment, good quality internet access is needed for remote proctoring. From our findings, high quality, consistent internet access is not yet universal. It is unclear if internet service problems are a temporary capacity issue or a consistent structural weakness. For test takers with poor or no internet access, remotely proctored testing will continue to prove challenging. One method we used to further address the digital divide and inadequate home testing environments was giving test takers the option of going to a paid hotel room to test when such options were both necessary and available. This opportunity allowed a small group of students, who would otherwise be unable to test, a viable way of finding the right testing space and suitable internet access.

Despite the challenges, as of this writing, nearly 18,000 test takers have taken the LSAT‐Flex with a 99% successful completion rate for those who started a test. At least two additional LSAT‐Flex tests are planned for the immediate future. Given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, it is unclear how many more remotely proctored tests LSAC will need to administer. With local COVID‐19 surges appearing with alarming frequency throughout the United States and other areas, it is unclear when in‐person testing can resume as it was before the pandemic. Local laws, restrictions, and public health advice vary significantly and change quickly. The current pandemic chaos certainly speaks to the need for continuing remotely proctored online testing. Testing modality preferences were mixed, however. While some test takers told us they preferred testing in centers, others told us that they prefer a remotely proctored administration; those in the latter group may be creating long‐term demand for this new testing mode. Challenges remain, however, for reliable, consistent internet and equipment access. Without pretesting items, test assembly and scoring issues abound. For example, item pools can be drained quickly leading to future test assembly difficulties. While these challenges and more persist, the determination to persevere in a crisis has created opportunity for new solutions for education that could continue to impact testing far into the future.

随着2020年COVID-19危机在美国和国外迅速蔓延，法学院录取委员会（LSAC）无法对其批判性阅读和推理的旗舰评估法学院录取测试（LSAT）进行管理，这很快变得显而易见。 ，没有针对流行病带来的挑战的创造性解决方案。在2019年夏季，LSAC已从纸质测试过渡到数字LSAT，这是一种主要在LSAC管理的测试中心进行的基于计算机平板电脑的测试。LSAC的考试中心主要设在学院，大学和法学院（都突然关闭），这一事实突然停止了考试。随着3月标准管理计划的顺利进行，COVID-19危机出乎意料地删除了测试选项。LSAC成员法学院仍希望其申请人提交LSAT分数，

对于LSAC，确保有抱负的法学学生的职业和教育连续性的唯一可行的解​​决方案是找到一种远程管理LSAT的方法。在过渡到新的测试管理方式时，我们面临的挑战包括确保内容覆盖，平衡安全性和隐私，利用数字LSAT测试界面以及提供适当的指导。牺牲任何一个方面都被认为是不可接受的，但是快速解决方案也至关重要。我们的会员法学院有可能在2020年秋季入学的潜在申请者，而完整的申请都需要有效的考试成绩。最终，LSAC决定创建被视为LSAT-Flex的标准LSAT的新版本，这是一种较短的测试，必须通过远程执行。这种解决方案在将考试的未计分写作部分从考试日写作样本过渡到按需远程控制的新近改名为LSAT写作形式的方法之前就行了。对于LSAT-Flex多选题测试，LSAT-Flex不会由LSAT的典型五个测试部分（四个得分和一个未评分（预测试）部分）组成，而是具有三个得分部分，而没有未得分部分。内容是相同的：分析推理（AR），逻辑推理（LR）和阅读理解（RC），但是LSAT-Flex将只有一个LR部分，而不是通常的两个部分。进行此更改的原因是必须缩短测试时间，这是因为远程督导员无法在休息期间监视应试者，并且还因为总体督导能力受到限制。因此，内容将与标准LSAT一样被覆盖，尽管LR问题更少。未计分的预测试部分的损失（内容有所不同）被认为是可以接受但暂时的损失。

最终，LSAT-Flex将通过LSAC的新测试准备平台LawHub进行管理，并由受欢迎的远程代理供应商ProctorU进行代理。使用专有的LawHub系统可确保测试界面与数字LSAT的镜像相同，从而提供与数字LSAT非常相似的用户体验。它已经被设计用来呈现考试内容并记录考生的回答。使用专有的交付系统可确保对数据返回和质量进行控制，这对于快速准确的评分是必不可少的。将ProctorU用作远程代理供应商，可以确保在测试过程中正确登录，监控和记录应试者。为了确保足够的内容和控制暴露，必须快速重新设计许多内部LSAC系统，并非常迅速地组装新的三部分线性测试表格。我们现有的用于测试组装和评分的系统很少是用于创建和分析来自三部分测试的数据的。需要对许多系统进行快速修改，以确保及时，准确地进行组装，交付，存储和评分。

随着其他几个测试组织迅速过渡到在线测试，对隐私，安全性和技术访问的担忧继续对涉众产生影响。关于隐私，很明显，平衡隐私和安全将是一项重大挑战。随着安全性的提高，远程管理的测试不可避免地变得更具侵入性。为了满足我们所有的安全要求，我们必须要求监理人员检查所有即时测试环境，通常是某人的办公室，宿舍或卧室。显然，这意味着要以几个月前无法企及的方式审查候选人的家庭环境。为了确保最佳的安全性和标准化，LSAC需要将其现有的测试中心策略调整为适合远程指导的策略。例如，当纸质LSAT过渡到数字LSAT时，应试者大声疾呼要纸来帮助他们画图或做笔记。因此，连同所需的平板电脑，我们将草稿册发送到每个测试中心，每个小册子都记录，分发并在每次测试后返回给LSAC。我们如何在数千个不同的家庭环境中维持相同水平的物质安全，更不用说运输成本了？最终，我们只是要求应试者在测试开始时向监查员展示完全空白的纸，并在测试结束时销毁监考员面前的那些纸。我们将草稿小册子发送到每个测试中心，每个测试中心都记录，分发并在每次测试后返回给LSAC。我们如何在数千个不同的家庭环境中维持相同水平的物质安全，更不用说运输成本了？最终，我们只是要求应试者在测试开始时向监查员展示完全空白的纸，并在测试结束时销毁监考员面前的那些纸。我们将草稿小册子发送到每个测试中心，每个测试中心都记录，分发并在每次测试后返回给LSAC。我们如何在数千个不同的家庭环境中维持相同水平的物质安全，更不用说运输成本了？最终，我们只是要求应试者在测试开始时向监查员展示完全空白的纸，并在测试结束时销毁监考员面前的那些纸。

那些没有在家中使用合适计算机的应试者怎么办？对技术的要求被设计为尽可能最小，但是LSAC的软件或ProctorU都施加了明显的限制。例如，需要带有照相机和麦克风的较新的Windows或Mac OS计算机。作为LSAC使命的一部分，我们努力为所有人和任何想上法学院的人提供服务，即使是资金有限的人也是如此。因此，我们试图通过将Microsoft Windows平板电脑运送给要求兼容计算机的学生来减轻数字鸿沟的担忧。即使配备了合适的设备，远程管理也需要高质量的Internet访问。根据我们的发现，高质量，持续的互联网访问尚未普及。尚不清楚互联网服务问题是暂时的容量问题还是持续的结构缺陷。对于互联网访问能力差或无法访问的应试者而言，远程控制的测试将继续具有挑战性。我们用来进一步解决数字鸿沟和家庭测试环境不足的一种方法是，在有必要且可用时，给应试者提供前往付费酒店房间进行测试的选项。这次机会使一小部分学生（否则他们将无法进行测试）是找到合适的测试空间和合适的互联网访问的可行方法。我们用来进一步解决数字鸿沟和家庭测试环境不足的一种方法是，在有必要且可用时，给应试者提供前往付费酒店房间进行测试的选项。这次机会使一小部分学生（否则他们将无法进行测试）是找到合适的测试空间和合适的互联网访问的可行方法。我们用来进一步解决数字鸿沟和家庭测试环境不足的一种方法是，在有必要且可用时，给应试者提供前往付费酒店房间进行测试的选项。这次机会使一小部分学生（否则他们将无法进行测试）是找到合适的测试空间和合适的互联网访问的可行方法。

尽管面临挑战，截至本文撰写时，仍有近18,000名应试者参加了LSAT-Flex，对于那些开始考试的人，其成功完成率达到99％。计划在不久的将来至少再进行两次LSAT-Flex测试。考虑到大流行的不可预测性，目前尚不清楚LSAC需要管理多少个远程控制的测试。在美国和其他地区，本地COVID-19浪潮的出现频率令人震惊，因此尚不清楚何时可以像大流行前那样重新进行面对面的检测。当地法律，限制和公共卫生建议相差很大，并且变化很快。当前的大流行混乱无疑表明需要继续进行远程代理的在线测试。但是，测试方式的喜好参差不齐。虽然有些应试者告诉我们他们更喜欢在中心进行测试，但其他人却告诉我们他们更喜欢远程管理。后一组可能会对这种新的测试模式产生长期需求。然而，可靠，一致的互联网和设备访问仍然面临挑战。没有预先测试的项目，测试组装和计分问题比比皆是。例如，项目库可能很快被耗尽，从而导致将来的测试组装困难。尽管这些挑战和更多挑战依然存在，但坚持不懈地解决危机的决心为新的教育解决方案创造了机会，这种解决方案可能会继续影响到未来的考试。用于可靠，一致的Internet和设备访问。没有预先测试的项目，测试组装和计分问题比比皆是。例如，项目库可能很快被耗尽，从而导致将来的测试组装困难。尽管这些挑战和更多挑战依然存在，但坚持不懈地解决危机的决心为新的教育解决方案创造了机会，这种解决方案可能会继续影响到未来的考试。用于可靠，一致的Internet和设备访问。没有预先测试的项目，测试组装和计分问题比比皆是。例如，项目库可能很快被耗尽，从而导致将来的测试组装困难。尽管这些挑战和更多挑战依然存在，但坚持不懈地解决危机的决心为新的教育解决方案创造了机会，这种解决方案可能会继续影响到未来的考试。