Judging Orientation

Thank you for supporting National History Day. Judging represents the capstone of the History Day program. Many young people have engaged in months of research and preparation, and they are anxiously awaiting your evaluations. We deeply appreciate your time and energy.

If you have any questions or issues with the virtual judging procedures this year, please feel free to contact Kate Pope at 308-432-7079 or kdpope@csc.edu

Judging will open at 10:00 am and close at 2:00 pm.

This year's theme is “Breaking Barriers.” You must decide if the students have adequately explained their topic's relationship to the theme and significance in history. In addition to providing basic information about their topics, the entries must draw conclusions about that significance. Be open-minded and allow the entry to convince you if you are somewhat skeptical. This should be 20% of their evaluation.

Please note: we are not looking for biographies of individuals. Rather, students should have focused on an action, event, etc. in which the individual was involved that had an impact in history.

You will be working on a team of judges. One of the judges has been designated as the Team Captain and is responsible for guiding the team in accomplishing the necessary tasks. In the Virtual Judging Procedures page you will find the criteria for your category, infractions guidelines and a theme narrative. Each team has a team captain who is in charge of contacting the team to determine rank and final evaluation for their category. Please decide on your most constructive comments to put on your forms. The students will see the comments you've written on the google forms. Once the forms are submitted you will not be able to change your comments.

Please remember that your evaluations should be based on the quality of the work, but most importantly on the historical quality. Be careful not to give "cute points."

Historical Perspective is Key. Historical quality should be 60% of their evaluation.

When considering your evaluation of "clarity of presentation," be careful to avoid being swayed by glitz. Your evaluation should be based on the clarity and appropriateness of the style of the entry for its particular category. Remember that the message is most important; the medium is not the message. Conversely, do expect a visually appealing presentation. But remember: this section is worth only 20% of the total evaluation; historical quality and relationship to the theme are most important.

• Do NOT get hung up on clarity of presentation errors that can be fixed. Typos, glue smears, improper formatting, etc. can all be corrected before the next level.

Please remember that you will be evaluating the work of young students. They are not graduate students; do not hold them to the same kind of standards to which you might hold your colleagues. But at the same time, expect quality. Understand that History Day motivates students to conduct extensive research and develop superior critical thinking skills. Do not underestimate their work. And remember to reward them for their efforts--no matter what you determine to be the ultimate success of the entry

• Demonstrate the same degree of interest regardless of the topic

A key thing that most students will take home is whatever kind words you have for their efforts and suggestions for improvement. Please write comments on the evaluation sheets. Please be sure to explain your estimation of their work. Your comments on the evaluation forms should include constructive criticism and positive remarks. Do not make negative comments. Be careful how you phrase your comments. Please do not lecture the students regarding their work. This is their day to be the experts. Your comments are what make this program unique and educational in every way at every level. This is especially important for those students who will not win a prize. You must inform them—in a constructive and positive manner—how they can improve; what they need to do next time to be more successful. This is absolutely crucial.

When discussing evaluations all judges on a team must consider any rule infractions and factor such infractions into the final ranking. It is also important to remember that, while the rules are important and should be considered in the final ranking, you should not allow a minor rule infraction to determine the final ranking of the entry.

• Exhibits will be measured – you don’t need to worry about that. If you have questions about infractions and rules, let us know.

Selecting Winners and State Qualifiers:

Your judging team’s final determination of the winning entries and your completed evaluation sheets must be communicated to the judging coordinator (Kate Pope kdpope@csc.edu) by email after your finished judging so they can be compiled for the Awards. ALL of your evaluation forms must be submitted.

• The top 3 entries from each category and division go to State. Keep in mind, you can choose to rank someone who wasn’t quite 1st place as 2nd, if you think that’s appropriate. In some cases, there is only one entry in some of the divisions.