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CRITERIA USED TO DETERMINE THE 2009 NATIONAL FINALISTS 

For the benefit of parents and contestants alike, here’s a clarification on the National Finalists selection process: 

Principles:

1) Our selection process should be fair and non-discriminatory.

2) Higher grade children should not be penalized by favoring lower grade kids. 

3) Lower grade children should have reasonable representation so that they are not discouraged and drop out.  Since the syllabus always spans all the way to the highest grade, the lower grade children have very little chance of competing at the high end of the syllabus.

4) Chapters should have a reasonable representation.  

Guidelines:

1) Percentage of invitees should be highest at the highest grade. At lower grades, if the representation (percentage) is too much lower, the cut-off score should be lowered so that representation becomes more reasonable.  

2) If one child is invited in a tie at the uniform cut-off point, all should be invited regardless of grade.  The uniform cut-off is the cut-off for the highest grade.  

3) In case of no lowered cut-offs for lower grades, rank 1 (defined only where #of contestants in that contest at that center >5) should be invited if the rank1 score meets a minimum threshold.  The minimum threshold should be lower than the uniform cut-off.  

4) For newer chapters and host centers, rank 1 (defined only where #of contestants in that contest at that center >5) should be invited if the rank1 score meets a new chapter minimum threshold, which should be lower than the uniform cut-off or the lowest cut-off in the sliding scale (whichever is the minimum).   

Results

1. Since ranks are not comparable across chapters, we use scores for determining the invitees as shown in the table below. 
2. However, where necessary we have lowered the cutoffs to invite contestants from lower grades as well.  While we would like to encourage younger contestants to participate, we will not be giving grade-based trophies for each contest. At the Finals, we will be giving out “top 10” rank trophies for contests in spelling, vocabulary and math. In the case of Geography, only top 5 ranks will be recognized with trophies.  In the case of Essay, Public Speaking and Brain Bee, only top 3 ranks will be recognized with trophies.  Monetary awards apply only to the top 3 ranks in all contests except in Brain Bee.  Rank certificates will be distributed along with trophies. 
3. This year, as in other years, we set a uniform cutoff score for each contest (irrespective of grade) based on a survey of scores from all centers. In addition, we have lowered the cutoff for lower grades in some situations to encourage younger contestants. See the table below.
4. To avoid situations where a lower grade kid gets invited (by virtue of a lower cutoff), but a rank 1 (of higher grade) of that center may not be invited, we looked at the scores of all rank 1s. Any rank 1 (in a center where # of contestants for that contest is >5) who got equal or higher score than the minimum threshold for that contest was also invited.
5. For Senior Essay writing (EW3) and Senior Public Speaking (PS3), all participants will be invited to Finals – in addition, others who fall in the grade range (Grade 9-12) can also apply. However, registration is limited to a total of 30 contestants in each contest.
6. As in previous years, we will have Brain Bee (Grade 8-12) again this year with a limit of 30 contestants.

2009 NATIONAL FINALIST INVITEE COUNT AND CUTOFFS