1980 NCTE Annual Business Meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio

Background

The number of contests involving student competition in the use of one or more language arts skills is increasing. For many of these contests, the directions to contestants are vague, often including only length, deadline, and a general theme to be addressed. Frequently, contest judges appear to have no special qualifications for evaluating the entries and are given inadequate guidance for evaluation and ranking. Be it therefore

Resolution

Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English develop a position statement to provide guidance for contest sponsors;

that the position statement include, but not be limited to, recommendations that contest sponsors develop specific criteria on which entries will be judged, provide clear instructions for both contestants and judges, and appoint qualified judges;

that NCTE and its members disseminate this position statement; and

that the members of NCTE support only those contests that reflect the intentions of the position statement.

This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE.