+ A graduate recently told me that Columbia switched from an Excellent/Very Good/Good grading system to a letter system sometime in the 90's, in response to concerns that students weren't as competitive with out of town firms.

+ Professor Rapaczynski has also talked in Torts class last fall about his struggles in trying to avoid having to use the curve.

- Without grades, there would probably be a lot less chatter on the wiki. -mz

I thought I would also post/update a list of resources on grade reform. (cites to Westlaw)

97 CLMLR 178 - An article by Judge Kozinski on what he sees as the problems with law school moot courts

30 W. St. U. L. Rev. 177 - Another article on a proposed non-curved feedback system

-- JonathanWaisnor - 04 Feb 2010

I'm not sure if this issue has been addressed anywhere, but since this topic is titled "CLS Education Reform," I thought it would be the most appropriate place to discuss something that I really struggled with last semester. I'm talking about the amount of reading we have and the "Socratic" method of teaching. There seems to me to be something very strange about a system of teaching where students are required to read 60+ dense pages each night, and then be able to answer extremely specific questions about that reading if a professor decides to call on them.

I think this method really inhibited my learning last semester. Perhaps it was adjusting to law talk and it will not be a problem this semester, but I think it is a deeper problem with the way the Socratic system is set up. Instead of thinking about the big picture/blackletter law from each case we read, I spent my nights focusing on highlighting my casebooks in a way that would give me the best chance of answering questions in class. But does anyone really care what the procedural posture was in some case that was decided a century ago?

Hopefully this semester I'll be smarter about the way I read/study, but I'm wondering what everyone thinks about the Socratic method. Does it force you to read more closely? Are you more prepared for class when you could be called on at any time? Does it inhibit you're ability to concentrate on the reason for reading the case? Is it just a system that exists so professors can embarrass students?