National Predictions

[junexia]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

[sciolyandmathcounts]

Will we ever get any feedback on test performance?

[Phenylethylamine]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

There are national event supervisors who are nominated by some group of people in the NSO and, if they accept the position, act as supervisor for the next three or so years. They write the national events, and might also write state or regional events for their home state or region. They are, in fact, coaches and teachers, but not "just regular" coaches and teachers; they're usually being recognized for exceptional contributions to their event (or, depending on the event, it might be that they were available when NSO desperately needed someone to write an event).

Will we ever get any feedback on test performance?

Probably not. Usually the only time you'd get feedback on actual test performance is a) at an invitational tournament (and maybe at some regionals, depending on where you live and who runs it), b) in certain tech events, where exact scores may be posted, or c) if you know an event supervisor personally.

[packer-backer91]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

you have coaches make test for Regional’s? To me that’s crazy in Michigan I am in a very small region of 7 other teams and we have all non coaches making the test. To me that shouldn't be allowed, I'm not saying that anyone’s coaches cheat or anything but the only test a coach should make are for Invitational’s.

[haven chuck]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

you have coaches make test for Regional’s? To me that’s crazy in Michigan I am in a very small region of 7 other teams and we have all non coaches making the test. To me that shouldn't be allowed, I'm not saying that anyone’s coaches cheat or anything but the only test a coach should make are for Invitational’s.

Really though, it follows the same moral standards as the rest of Science Olympiad. If someone wanted to cheat, they could very well have a coach or engineer for that matter build a phenomenal bridge for instance. However, people don't do that because it's cheating in the exact same way as having a coach give away answers or unfairly prep students to the test they wrote. Also, it makes more sense for someone with much experience on the event to write a test, with the miniscule chance that they are unfairly helping their students, then having someone confused about the event write a bad test and screw up all the teams who had correctly prepared. I just don't think a coach would cheat like this, so it's not an issue.

[Dark Sabre]

who won...
Connecticut'
Utah
Alabama
Florida

the state dates have past, and the results are empty...
http://scioly.org/wiki/2010_Nationals_Teams
most of the 17th comps are empty too...

Yeah, if you guys can keep that updated, we won't have to wait for Nationals to release the team listing to start the Prediction Contest.

[peoneill]

In Indiana Thomas Jefferson certainly has the most competitive history at nationals - but they don't bring their A-game to state! Bachelor beat them at state the year they got 3rd or 4th at Nationals (and Bachelor got 30-something!). When TJ has a smaller margin of victory at state they usually totally blow the other team out of the water at nationals anyhow.

I think the C div is actually MUCH more historically competitive in Indiana in that the 2nd place team is much more viable at nationals than our 2nd place B div teams have usually been. Indiana has been putting 2 high schools in the top 20 most years since 1998 or so. There are 4 high schools in Indiana that have managed high-ish national ranks in the past 10 years: Bloomington North -10th, Bloomington South and Valpo (3 times for Valpo!) - 11th, and Carmel has been nearly as high at some point (14-15 perhaps???... my knowledge is better for the teams that peaked just recently or when I was still a competitor). And MANY schools consistently compete at nearly that level: most notably Riley, Munster, and North Central. So while there might not be any school of TJ's star quality, the C div has 7 or 8 schools that are much stronger than any B div program other than TJ.

Our B Division has suffered from a wicked atrophy. First the Carmel Clay program expired, then the Tri-North team died (Bloomington North), then the Bachelor team (Bloomington South)... both Bloomington programs revived but were pushed back a LOT by the loss of a team and lack of experienced volunteers/coaches. Recently the Ben Franklin program seems to have weakened significantly also. I think we have trouble retaining the strong B division programs because they're so much more ADULT driven. Without good staff and faculty it's difficult to create or sustain a strong B div team. The kids can make it happen without much support in the C Div if necessary. So as people retire/burn out/etc. we tend to lose B div teams. I guess if that theory is true the B Div should be less competitive everywhere because there would generally be less strong B div teams.

[srsvball95]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

For Disease Detectives, CDC themselves makes the test

[junexia]

just a random question, but who makes the tests for nationals? i know that coaches make it for regionals, but for nationals it seems too official for just regular teachers and coaches to make up the tests. anyone know?

For Disease Detectives, CDC themselves makes the test

wow thats cool. but im assuming not all events have someone that official to make up tests for them.

[E Edgar]

It appears like all state competitions are over...

Good luck everyone!