An influential California legislator is pressuring the State Bar of California to ditch its new multiple-choice questions after a February bar exam debacle and revert to the traditional test format in July. "Given the catastrophe of the February bar, I think that going back to the methods that have been used for the last 50 years -- until we can adequately test what new methods may be employed -- is the appropriate way to go," Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Orange), chair of the state Senate Judiciary Committee, told The Times. Thousands of test takers seeking to practice law in California typically take the two-day bar exam in July. Reverting to the national system by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which California has used since 1972, would be a major retreat for the embattled State Bar. Its new exam was rolled out this year as a cost-cutting measure and "historic agreement" that would offer test takers the choice of remote testing.

Earlier this year, Dartmouth College's medical school charged 17 students with cheating on remote online exams. Three of the students were expelled. The accused protested their innocence, claiming the medical school's remote test administration, or RTA, system had falsely flagged their conduct. With their reputations and careers hanging in the balance, their fate came down to a dispute about the software. Eventually, a technical explanation emerged, showing how students' logged-in cellphones and tablets might have been accessing course notes while the exam was being administered.

It was a windfall for online proctoring companies, but thrust the pitfalls of the practice into the spotlight. Being watched by a faceless stranger or artificial intelligence provokes anxiety or worse, according to some students and teachers. Educators and privacy advocates raised concerns about the software's efficacy, invasiveness and potential to discriminate against some disabled candidates. Online proctoring companies are now updating their user experiences, partly to address some of the critiques. "In 2020 we were like a train going 100 miles an hour, and we couldn't stop it," said Proctorio Inc. founder and chief executive Mike Olsen, noting that the number of exams proctored by the company in April 2020 rose 900% from a year earlier.