Information for History Day Judges

Judging Responsibilites

Colorado History Day provides a unique educational opportunity for young people to engage in independent historical research and showcase their individual talents. Students choose from a variety of formats in presenting their work, including exhibits, multimedia/documentary, papers, and performance. Through the processes of study, research, and creation, these projects help make history come alive for students from every background.By volunteering to serve as a judge, you demonstrate your commitment to Colorado students and educational programs like CHD. As a judge, you play a critical role in the History Day process by providing face-to-face feedback to every student, and by helping to select those who will represent Colorado at the national contest. We take your participation in Colorado History Day very seriously, and we hope you do as well.Judges should:

• Be familiar with History Day contest rules and the annual theme (See Information for Students, and Theme Overview)


• Be sensitive and aware of the participants as school students, and evaluate them accordingly;


• Take care not to expect too much from students; these are middle school and secondary school students--not graduate students. Conversely, however, do not underestimate students' abilities; many are capable of a great deal;


• Introduce yourselves and make the students feel comfortable;


• If a volunteer is not available to serve as "doorkeeper," assign someone in the judging team to make sure the door is closed when the presentation is ready to begin. At that time, please post the "Do Not Enter" sign on the door. (Refers to State Contest. Each District has its own procedures.)


• Pay attention to the presentation;


• Be fair and objective;


• Remember that each student deserves equal attention;


• Be careful to keep your own biases out of the judging process and evaluate each entry on its own merit;


• Remember, at History Day, the students are the experts on their topics. This is an opportunity for them to tell you what they know about a topic's significance in history.


• Do not lecture the students about their topics; do not offer a verbal assessment directly to the students; and do not debate interpretive or factual material with students. Make notations on the Comment sheets.


• Assume every entry to be the work of the student(s). However, if you have doubts regarding the development of the entry, use the interview to determine the extent of adult assistance;


• The judges' questions should help determine whether the student understands his/her/their methods and materials. The interview is designed to help the judges clarify certain points and to provide contact between adults and students. The entry itself must be able to stand alone. Answers to questions should not overshadow the entry. To provide equal treatment for all students, each judging team should limit questions to two or three per entry. If you have doubts regarding the development of the entry, use the interview to determine the extent of adult assistance. The following is a list of sample questions:

  
  1. What was your most importance source and why?
  
  2. What is the most important point you are trying to convey about your topic?
  
  3. What is the most important thing you learned from completing this entry?

  
  

• Honor the rule governing anonymity. Do not ask students about their schools, regions, or economic resources.


• Adhere to established time limits. Paper and exhibit judges should spend no more than 5-8 minutes interviewing students. Performance and media presentations may not exceed 10 minutes. An additional 5 minutes to set up and 5 minutes to remove props and equipment is allowed for performances and media (total of 20 minutes).


• Be positive and be complimentary! Provide positive comments and constructive criticism to students (verbal and written). Be careful with your wording.


• Entries in all categories should include:



1. A Title Page which must include only the title of the entry, the name(s) and contest category.

2. A Process Paper of no more than 500 worlds (except historical papers). The description should describe how students conducted the research and developed the entry. The description must conclude with an explanation of the relationship of the topic to the theme.

3. An Annotated Bibliography is required for all categories. The bibliography should contain all sources that provided useable information in preparing the entry. The annotations for each source must explain how the source was used and how it helped the student understand the topic. Note: Students are required to separate the bibliography into primary and secondary sources. Some sources may be considered as either primary or secondary. Students should use their annotations to explain why they classified sources that are not clearly primary or secondary in one category or the other.