Developing and assembling the Law School Admission Test

Standardized tests are useful for assessing an individual's potential to succeed in various endeavors. In addition, institutions use them to measure student achievement and to measure the efficacy of pedagogical approaches. Operations research tools can help those developing rigorous standardized tests. Our mixed-integer program provides a model for assembling forms for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Since 2002, our LSAT assembler – software we developed using a Monte Carlo approach – has produced test forms meeting all specifications. This software has saved thousands of hours of personnel time.