Return to Law of Electronic Media Fall 2005 main Web site www.uiowa.edu/~cyberlaw/lem05
 
 

The first document below was prepared for the Law of Electronic Media Spring 2004 class. To the extent its contents are of more general applicability it is made available here for any who may be interested. While the odds are high the format of subsequent final exams will be somewhat comparable to the one used in the spring of 2004, this document should not be read as a representation or commitment to that effect.

On November 18, 2004, there was a "practice test"; students were provided about 20 minutes to address, "How might New York Times v. Sullivan have come out at common law, before the rule in Sullivan was available?" Here is a link to one of the better student responses.

You may also find some insights from this student's answer to a Constitutional Law final exam question used by Professor Johnson during the Spring semester 2003.

For the Fall 2004 class there is also an appended "Preparing for and Excelling on Law School Examinations" from Find Law for Students, at http://stu.findlaw.com/outlines/commercialout/gilbert/welcome.html (reproduced here as non-commercial fair use for educational purposes only). This linked material is not represented to be the best available; it's just what I could quickly find. It is a representative illustration of this kind of advice.

The linked material is primarily intended to provide at least some minimal guidance for the non-law students who are enrolled in "Law of Electronic Media" or "Cyberspace Law."

Students at the University of Iowa College of Law have presumably already encountered comparable (and better) advice from Dr. Martha M. Peters' "Academic Achievement Program" at the College, reading on their own, or the hard knocks of actual law school experience. However, law students may also find it profitable to at least scan it as a check list to see if it contains any new suggestions or some they may have forgotten.

-- N.J., November 23, 2004, 20041127, 20050720

Two of our number [i.e., in the spring 2004 class] have expressed concern about the forthcoming exam:

• One wrote: “I have been re-reading notes and chapters and I am terrified of the upcoming test.  I am not sure what to expect . . .. Could you give me some guidance on how to prepare? What I should be doing?”

• Another said, “I've been studying for the exam for the past few days and am finding myself lost in a sea of acts, regulations, and amendments to acts and regulations -- most of which were not mentioned in class. In order to make the most efficient use of my time, I wanted to clarify whether the exam will contain questions over material assigned, but not specifically covered in class.”

Sadly, there are no simple, easy answers.

I Don't Like Exams Either, but We Have to Have One Anyway. Let me say at the outset that I don't look forward to exams any more than you do. Well, maybe a little bit more than you do. For sure, since I have my choice, I'd far rather write exams and then read and grade the blue books than take the exams. But if I had my way we wouldn’t even have grades in law school, let alone examinations. I’d rather use the “coaching” model, and what educators call “demonstration of mastery,” working to bring every student’s knowledge, analytical and communication abilities up to levels of excellence before moving on.

(A recent Des Moines Register story, reprinted below if you're interested, describes such a system in an Iowa charter school. The article says the school "won't have grade levels or a traditional grading system. Students will move up only after accomplishing goals. 'A lot of students say, "I got a D, that means done and move on,"' Sioux Central Superintendent Bonnie Meier told the state board. 'They don't get D's here. They don't move on unless they reach certain benchmarks.'")

I once asked my track coach how to improve my time in the mile and was advised simply, “Run faster.” That suggestion didn't help me any more than “study harder" would help you. (Besides, it's not so much study harder as it is study smarter.)

As the general information for the class spelled out before our first meeting, "The final will be a two hour (total) (a) closed book short answer or multiple-choice exam followed by (b) an open book essay exam." That's still true. In fact, the closed book will be short answer.

Why short answer and essay? Because I want everyone to be able to do well on something. Some students do better on short answer than essay; some the reverse. Some do well on both. Why not multiple choice? While some law professors believe such exams do a good job of testing students, I believe imposing upon you the task of recall, and expression in your own words, is a better way of examining lawyers than your selecting (or skillfully guessing) from among offered options.

The Short Answer Exam Questions. "Minimal law school participation," which I'm aware not everyone does, involves a number of activities. If you've done them -- read the assigned material before class, taken some reading notes, prepared to participate in class discussion, attended class, participated in class discussion, taken class notes, synthesized all the notes into something like an outline along the way, reviewed that outline regularly throughout the semester and again before the exam -- you should do very well on the closed book short answers. There are, as I recall, 13 questions. It is unlikely anyone could get a perfect score on all of them. But they're so relatively simple -- if you've been engaged in that "minimal law school participation" -- that it will be difficult for you to get less than 10 of the 13 correct. On the other hand, if you have not done the "minimal," there will be few (if any) you can guess at successfully.

The Essay Question. The essay question will require that you draw upon a number of the subjects we covered. If you're prepared for the short answer questions most of the issues in the essay question will be obvious to you -- if you're generally good at picking issues out of law school essay exam questions. But it is, after all, open book. So at least you don't have to fear "drawing a blank" on some issue that you think of and then slips your mind. You can always refer to the text. But, of course, as you've long since learned from open book essay exams, you won't really have time to do a lot of "research."

Remember that something like half of a law school essay exam grade is made up of what we call "spotting the issue." So, even if you don't know "the answer" make sure you at least let me know what the question (the issue) is.

For example, you might say, "The Red Lion case might apply to this fact situation. Even though I can't remember how that case came out, I know that the broadcasters argued that the First Amendment protected their right to refuse to comply with the Fairness Doctrine, and the FCC argued that because they were licensees of a scarce resource they had obligations to put on a range of views, unlike the newspaper in that case from Florida -- I forget it's name."

You would have "spotted the issue" (the applicability of the law from the Red Lion case), and demonstrated an understanding of the issue/arguments involved in that case -- even though you don't remember what it held. (Obviously, you'd get a somewhat better grade if you did remember.) The grade is a reflection of what you can pull from a fact pattern that makes no reference to law. (This is, not incidentally, like dealing with what a client tells you when she walks into your office. That's the relationship of this kind of exam to what you will, in fact, have to do as a professional.) What areas, and principles, of law might be relevant to these facts, and why, and how you might argue them?

Hopefully, this has been responsive to the first question. Now for the second.

Details and Material Not Discussed. Do I expect you to have memorized the section and sub-section numbers, and contents, of every statute and regulation mentioned in the casebook? Of course not. But neither can I say, precisely, here are the ones you can safely ignore and here are the ones you best know. The mere fact that assigned material was not discussed in class does not mean it is unimportant. It may simply have been material that can as easily (or better) be read than discussed. Unfortunately, this one has to be an informed judgment call on your part. But hopefully the assignments, the questions put to you in class, the discussions we held, and what you have by now figured out about me should give you some reasonable basis for that judgment.

The Exam Instructions. One thing I can be both precise and helpful about is to provide you the instructions for the exam ahead of time. That way you can read them now, be thinking about them ahead of time, and spend less time looking them over the morning you get the exam. [Since this was prepared, students have indicated a preference for a "two-hour exam" for which they have three hours to complete it. Any class that unanimously requests that can have it. So the reference, below, to the two hours, was for prior exams.] The instructions follow:

Instructions: This exam consists of two parts.

1. The first part is a closed book short answer exam of 13 questions for which you will have one hour fifteen minutes (1:15).

2. The second part is an open book single essay question for which you will have 45 minutes.

The total exam grade will be similarly proportioned: 62.5% short answer, 37.5% essay.

Suggestions to improve your grade:

1. Plan your time. Look over the questions, make notes, and consider the estimated time before writing. Think. Consider a sketchy outline of your essay answer before writing. It will save you time.

2. Mention everything – even if briefly, between commas or dashes in one sentence (or parenthetically) – that may be relevant, or might be under slightly changed circumstances. Because you need to . . .

3. Show me what you know. However intelligent and knowledgeable your answers suggest you probably are, I can’t give you credit for what you don’t put on paper. Mention such specific cases or other materials as are relevant (if not by name then by identifying details).

However, remember that: (a) except for some of the short answer questions, you are being tested on your ability to apply – not just memorize and repeat – what you’ve learned, (b) padding will hurt rather than help your grade, as will (c) wild guessing, errors of law, sloppy reading of questions, and illegible writing.

Instructions: This part of the exam is closed book and consists of 13 short answer questions.

1. You have 1:15 (one hour fifteen minutes) to answer. For your guidance in planning time, each question indicates possible points of the 145 total. Saving 10 minutes to review your answers, you’ll have about 4 minutes for a 10 point question (4:29) and almost 7 minutes (6:43) for a 15 point question.

2. Precisely because you don’t have unlimited time, take advantage of the fact that almost all questions can (and should) be answered in a phrase or sentence – at most a half-page. If you think you require more, please limit your answer to two double-spaced exam booklet pages (which is probably all you’ll have time for anyway).

3. If you leave a question for later, put the question number at the top of a blank page, and put your answer there later. Since I’ll grade everyone’s answer to a given question at the same time, turning the pages in each individual exam booklet in order, I could miss any answers that are out of order.

4. Remember: (a) If you don’t put it on paper I can’t give you credit for what I can only guess, based on what you have written, you probably know. (b) Read questions carefully and plan your time before writing. (c) Write legibly. If I can’t read an answer I will assume it probably is wrong.

5. When time has expired for this part of the exam, turn in (a) this exam, (b) any scratch paper, and (c) the exam booklet/s containing your answers.

Relax. You know more than you think you do.

Instructions: This part of the exam is open book and consists of one essay question.

You have 45 minutes to answer.

As with the short answer questions, remember that: (a) If you don’t put it on paper I can’t give you credit for what I can only guess, based on what you have written, you probably know. (b) Read the question carefully. (c) Plan your time. (d) Jot down some points you’ll want to make; maybe even a little outline before starting to write (it can save you time). (e) Write legibly. If I can’t read it I assume it probably would have been wrong if I could have read it.

When time’s expired, turn in this exam and any scratch paper along with your exam booklet.

Try to have some fun with this one.

# # #

(a) Not only are we required by the law school to grade anonymously, I actually welcome the practice. While I like to believe myself of sufficiently judicial mind that I could avoid being influenced by knowing whose paper I'm grading, it's nice not to have to worry about that.

(b) I usually grade the short answer questions first, one question at a time (for all exam books) rather than one book at a time. The answers are pretty straight forward. They're either right or not (or, often, right but incomplete); guessing is usually obvious (and wrong). But there are some variations. And question at a time enables me to come up with grades for each question that are internally consistent, blending a kind of raw score (measured by the maximum possible) with a curve of sorts. I then put those aside, so as not to be influenced by them while grading the essay question.

(c) Essay questions are more complicated. For starters, I grade them at least twice. Once is a read-through evaluation, an overall impression. Once those grades are written down I put those grades away and don't look at them again until the process is complete.

The second time through is painstaking and time consuming, starting with my own list of issues and sub-issues with rough sense of assigned points, which list then gets modified as I read your papers and become increasingly impressed as I discover how much brighter and more insightful you are than I was in spotting issues. Once the list gets expanded in that way, I go back and read each of the essay questions against that list of issues. This usually involves the entry of over 1000 numbers. Once finished, these are then added up for each numbered blue book, and a ranking is established among the books.

At that time I go get the first list of grades, the one from the read-through evaluations. My usual experience is that the two systems produce virtually identical grades. But I like the double system anyway. It gives me more confidence that the task has been done responsibly and about as accurately as any subjective evaluation makes possible. And it has resulted in virtually no instance of ever having to change a grade in now over 40 years of law teaching.

(d) From then on it's just numbers on a spreadsheet. The percentages to be assigned to each paper's short answer and essay grades are mentioned above. We have some law school standards regarding curves, as you know, that limit us somewhat in how high we can push your grades, but within those limits I do for you what I can.

What often confuses students making the transition from college to law school is the nature of the learning that occurs in law school. Unlike college, law school involves much more than memorization or even proficiency in understanding concepts. Law school instead focuses on applying knowledge of general rules and principles to solve particular problems. It also asks students to compare and evaluate problems to understand an entire body of rules and principles, often called legal doctrines.

The learning pyramid of law school might look something like this:

Synthesis of the rules

Problem Solving

Issue spotting

Understanding

Memorization

1. Memorization: This most basic level requires the mimicry of the definitions of legal rules and principles. An understanding of the meaning of the rules and principles is not necessary.

2. Understanding: This level requires not only an awareness of the relevant words, but an ability to articulate what they mean. This ability to interpret the definitions demands organization and the capability of providing illustrations.

3. Issue Spotting - This skill involves the ability to recognize that certain facts have particular legal implications. Issue spotting requires the individual to associate particular legal rules and principles with various fact patterns.

4. Problem Solving - This often creates great difficulty for students, since it involves prognosticating about how a future court or jury would resolve a particular issue. "Solving" a problem really means offering the most reasonable outcome under the circumstances. There is much ambiguity present in solving problems, much like the ambiguity existing in most discussions about interpreting the law.

5. Synthesis - If several problems, hypotheticals or cases are considered together, they can be synthesized into general rules and principles, even broader than the basic ones derived from a single case, problem or hypothetical. These general rules and their exceptions are often labeled legal doctrines, such as the doctrine of adverse possession, of due process, or of promissory estoppel.

Unlike undergraduate study, most law schools only grade a student's performance in given class on the final examination. Generally, there is no written assignment which counts toward your grade and no credit for class participation or attendance. You are judged (graded) by what you write on your final exam - not by how well you spoke in class or verbalized your understanding of the material to your study group. For purposes of your exam (i.e. your grade?, you only know what you write.

Law school examinations typically require students to consider a fact pattern raising one or more legal issues, organize their thoughts and draft a cohesive response in a limited period of time.

Typically, in grading first year exams, the professors first will determine whether the student has answered the specific question asked. The professor will then be concerned with whether and how well a student identified and analyzed the legal issues which a given problem presents.

Credit is often given when students address legal issues that are reasonably raised by the fact pattern, even if it ultimately appears that no legal obligations are created or breached. On the other hand, students who raise irrelevant or spurious issues often will not receive credit for their arguments no matter how articulately presented.

While most law school exams are oriented around essay questions, a small minority of law school examinations include multiple-choice or true-false questions. These are likely to be complex and difficult to answer. Since the multi-state bar examination consists of 200 multiple choice questions, however, it is useful to see such questions during law school.

Finishing a first year law school exam is draining, both mentally and physically. However, in most schools, the process is likely to go on for one or two weeks, with each first year exam spaced several days apart from the others.

As in the practice of law, preparation is the key to top performance on law school exams.

The "IRAC" Method

Having a game-plan for organizing and writing an examination is very useful, much like cooking from a recipe instead of "winging it." Many students utilize the "IRAC" method (IRAC is an acronym for "Issue-Rule-Analysis-Conclusion). This approach, if followed, requires you to address the different parts of the answer for which the student will receive credit, and permits the student to go step-by-step, paying attention to the important details. It helps you avoid a disorganized, non-succinct, non-lawyerlike answer. Remember, most students will know the "law". How well you organize your answer and present your answer in lawyerlike manner will separate you from the others.

Issue
Rule
Analysis/Application
Conclusion

Exam Tips

1. Organization is everything
* Time allocation
* Outline of Answer
* IRAC

2. Writing the Exam
* Skip Lines
* 1 side of page only
* New paragraph for each issue/sub-issue

3. You take the professor, not the course
*Old Exams
*Areas of emphasis, etc.

4. Master the rules (so you can spot issues)
*Outline
*6-Week Plan

5. Have a lawyerlike mentality/attitude
*Solve problems
*Organized and Logical

6. Application (interweaving) in a lawyerlike manner. Separates A/B from the C exam answer.
* "In this case, because . . .." "Here, . . .."

7. Answer the question asked

8. Beginning and Ending
*"Out of Time"
*Outline Answer
*Halo Effect
*Don's wind up

9. Case Names. Not necessary, but impressive as analogy

10. Anonymous grading - no name on exam.

11. Get Rest

12. Before and After:
*Arrival Time
*Know the room
*Reserve a seat
*Don't talk to classmates

1. Question #1 - Criminal Law (30 minutes)

Jake and Sarah were working in their barn in the twilight when a neighbor, Barry Bones, stopped by to visit. Barry, a large man who was known in the area as a bully, appeared to be drunk. Barry claimed Jake owed him money. A heated argument ensued. Barry said he'd be right back to "make Jake pay." When Barry returned, he had in his hand what appeared to be a .38 caliber handgun. He said, "You'd better give me the money, Jake; I don't want to humiliate you in front of Sarah." When Barry appeared to raise the gun toward the roof of the barn, Jake backed up toward the rear door of the barn. Suddenly, Sarah yelled, "Watch out, Jake! Kill him now!" Jake took out his own handgun and fired. The bullet killed Barry instantly. When Jake looked carefully at Barry's gun, it turned out to be a toy.

What crimes, if any, have Jake and Sarah committed?

Write out your answer:

SAMPLE ANSWER

Jake and Sarah may have committed several crimes.

JAKE

Jake can be charged with the crime of murder. Murder is the unlawful killing of another human being with malice aforethought. Malice is the mental state that is required. It equals either a purposeful, knowing, or reckless mental state. The act of murder is the killing that leads to the death of a human being. Also required for murder is causation. The act by the defendant must be the proximate and actual cause of death.

In this case, Jake committed the act of killing that directly led to Barry's death. That is, Jake shot Barry and Barry died. Jake also appeared to have the necessary mental state. When he shot Barry the circumstances indicated that he was being threatened by him. Thus, when Jake pointed at Barry it was likely with the intention of killing or seriously injuring him. This kind of purposeful behavior meets the mental state requirement for murder.

DEFENSES

Jake may claim the defense of self-defense. Self-defense occurs when a person actually and reasonably believes that he or she may be in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death from an aggressor. The danger must not have been caused by or the fault of the defendant. And while the danger need not be danger in fact, the defendant belief's about the danger must be reasonable.

Here, the facts indicate that Jake believed that Barry had a gun. The question arises as to whether that belief was reasonable. Since the gun appeared to be real, and Barry had said earlier that day that he would be back to "Make Jake pay," it appears that Jake's belief was indeed a reasonable one. Thus, it appears as if all the elements of self-defense are met and that Jake can claim self defense, exonerating him completely.

SARAH

Sarah may also be charged with murder as an accomplice. Accomplice liability occurs when an individual knowingly aids and abet another in the commission of the crime.

Sarah arguably aided and abetted - by enticing and encouraging or assisting - Jake in committing the crime of murder.

Sarah also stated to Jake, "Kill him now!" This statement, if made with the intention of Jake shooting Barry, satisfies the intent, however, and would constitute accomplice liability. Thus, Sarah would be guilty of the same crime.

DEFENSES

Even if Sarah meets the elements of accomplice liability, however, she can still claim the defense of others. This defense is equivalent to self-defense, but simply pertains to the defendant protecting another individual not him or herself. That is what Sarah appeared to do here, and she too likely will not be convicted of any crime.

2. Question #2 - Torts (45 minutes)

Bird Construction was hired to supply a wrecking ball and operator for the destruction of the Flamingo Hotel. Bird assigned Scott, an experienced wrecking ball operator, to operate the wrecking ball. The steel cable of the wrecking ball is 400 feet in length. Bird Construction gave each construction worker and every visitor to the construction site a hard hat; posted warning signs throughout the construction site; placed warning notices in every worker's pay envelope; posted a notice in the local newspaper and equipped the wrecking ball platform with reflector lights and a siren that operated while the wrecking ball was in use. Scott swung the wrecking ball and hit James, the County Building inspector, while he was standing in the middle of the construction site. James was severely injured. In the lawsuit by James against Bird Construction alleging negligence on the part of Scott, will James be able to prove that Scott breached his duty of reasonable care?

Write out your answer:

SAMPLE ANSWER

(Please note that this model answer does not mean that this answer is the only answer to this exam question. Rather, this model answer is intended to provide you with one preferred answer to the exam question.)

Before deciding if Scott breached any duty of reasonable care, whether Scott had a duty of reasonable care towards James must be determined. Scott will owe James a duty of reasonable care if the likelihood of harm from Scott's operation of the wrecking ball plus the severity of harm from Scott's operation of the wrecking ball outweighs the cost to Scott of preventing injury to James while the wrecking ball is in use. The likelihood of harm to James while on the construction site during the operation of the wrecking ball is great because the swinging of a 400 foot steel cable in the midst of a construction site risks injury to anyone on the site. Further, the severity of harm from being hit by a swinging wrecking ball cable is great because such impact may cause death. The cost to Scott of avoiding injury to James is the delay in clearing the construction site so as to not endanger anyone. The likelihood of harm and the severity of harm from Scott's swinging a wrecking ball on the end of a 400 foot steel cable in the middle of a construction site outweighs the delay caused by clearing the construction site which means that Scott's operation of the wrecking ball creates an unreasonable risk. Because Scott's operation of the wrecking ball creates an unreasonable risk, Scott possesses a duty to exercise reasonable care towards all construction site people, including James.

Scott's duty of reasonable care requires Scott to act as a reasonably prudent person would act in the same situation, in this case operating a wrecking ball. Scott will not be judged by the professional standard of care because the operation of a wrecking ball, although requiring skill and training, is not beyond the comprehension of an ordinary person. In this case, Scott, through Bird Construction, did take reasonable precautions by providing hard hats, warning signs, pay check and newspaper notices, and warning lights and siren. However, such acts do not diminish Scott's duty to monitor the swinging of the wrecking ball and the 400 foot steel cable. There is no evidence that Scott looked over the construction site before he began swinging the wrecking ball. Scott's duty of reasonable care requires him to look carefully before swinging the wrecking ball to be sure that no one is in the way and to stop the wrecking ball, if he can, when someone enters the construction area. Scott's failure to look out for James while he was on the construction site and then swinging the wrecking ball is a failure to exercise reasonable care.

3. Question #3 - Contracts (45 minutes)

Stu, a third year law student, met with Arlene, an attorney from "The Firm". They discussed the possibility of Stu working for the firm when he graduated from law school. Arlene said the firm would pay him a salary of $50,000.00. Stu told Arlene that he had another offer from another firm for $60,000.00. Arlene said $50,000.00 was their salary, and Stu said that he would consider it.

The next day, Arlene sent Stu the following letter:

Dear Stu,

"The Firm" will pay you a salary of $70,000.00 to work for us as an Attorney upon your graduation from law school. This represents our total agreement.

Signed Arlene

Stu received this letter which Arlene had sent without proofing it and not noticing the typo of $70,000.00 rather than $50,000.00. Stu was very excited and immediately called the other firm and turned down their offer of $60,000.00. Stu then called Arlene and accepted the offer from "The Firm." Arlene explained the "The Firm" would pay him $50,000.00 and refused to honor the $70,000.00 in the letter.

Stu now has graduated from law school and cannot find a job since the other firm would not reinstate their offer of $60,000.00, and "The Firm" has found another lawyer for $50,000.00.

Stu sues "The Firm"

1. Can Stu recover any damages from "The Firm"?

2. What are Arlene's and "The Firm's" defenses?

Write your answer:

SAMPLE ANSWER

Issue: Did Stu and the Firm have a contract?

Rule: A contract consists of an offer (intent, definite terms and communicated to the offeree), acceptance (assent to the offer) and consideration (bargained for exchange) and no defenses to formation.

Analysis: Here the discussions between Arlene and Stu were preliminary negotiations (no intent to be bound - no meeting of the minds (Stu at $60,000.00/Firm at $50,000.00). Arlene's letter was an offer showing the firm's intent to be bound to a contract to employ Stu for $?, after he graduated. The offer was accepted by Stu by his call to Arlene. The consideration was either the pay for employment or the reliance by Stu in rejecting his other offer.

Conclusion: If there are no defenses then a valid contract is formed and Stu can recover.
 

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Issue: Does the Firm have a defense of mistake?

Rule: A mutual mistake is a defense to contract formation. A unilateral mistake is also a defense to contract formation if the non-mistaken party has reason to know of the mistake and takes advantage of the mistake.

Analysis: Here the mistake ($70,000.00 instead of $50,000.00) was not mutual. Arlene knew she was offering $50,000.00 and so did Stu. Stu may or may not have taken unfair advantage of the offer. He may have thought the firm was trying to top his $60,000.00 offer.

Conclusion: The unilateral mistake defense is not a valid defense.
 

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Issue: Can the Firm bring in parole evidence to show the preliminary negotiations were for $50,000.00?

Rule: The parole evidence rule prevents the introduction of prior or contemporaneous oral or written evidence to vary or contradict the terms of a fully integrated written contract.

Analysis: Here the contract was fully integrated (the full agreement) of the parties. There is no fraud only a unilateral mistake.

Conclusion: The Firm may not be able to bring in parole evidence to show the preliminary negotiations since the contract was fully integrated.
 

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Issue: Can Stu get his job or other damages?

Rule: In a Breach of Contract action, the non-breaching party can get the "expectancy" of the contract.

Analysis: Here Stu expected a job from the Firm. However, the Firm cannot be forced to employ him (specific performance), but they may have to pay him $70,000.00 in damages or $60,000.00 in reliance damages.

Conclusion:
 

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The Iowa State Board of Education, once skeptical of charter schools, voted unanimously Thursday to allow two school districts to open the innovative, flexible schools this fall.

State law passed in 2002 allowed up to 10 Iowa districts to open public charter schools, which are independent schools designed and run by educators, parents and others. The schools typically have more innovative approaches to learning and are able to take more risks because they are free from many of the state laws governing traditional schools.

One of the charters approved Thursday, an elementary school for up to 60 students in the Sioux Central school district, won't have grade levels or a traditional grading system. Students will move up only after accomplishing goals.

"A lot of students say, 'I got a D, that means done and move on,' " Sioux Central Superintendent Bonnie Meier told the state board. They don't get D's here. They don't move on unless they reach certain benchmarks."

Parents and educators in the rural northwest Iowa district used education research to develop the charter's curriculum in math, science and fine arts. Students will use inquiry-based methods of learning, an approach that encourages students to find answers on their own, rather than memorizing details.

Up to $400,000 in federal money is available to each Iowa charter school for three years.

The other charter approved is in Southeast Webster, a district of about 525 students in Burnside. Eleventh- and 12th-graders would be able to take up to 12 credit hours per semester at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge tuition-free.

"It's free college tuition for two years," Superintendent Mike Jorgensen said.