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United States Academic Decathlon

August 23, 2023

The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, two subjective performance events, and an essay. Academic Decathlon was created by Robert Peterson in 1968 for local schools in Orange County, California, and was expanded nationally in 1981 by Robert Peterson, William Patton, first President of the new USAD Board; and Phillip Bardos, Chairman of the new USAD Board. That year, 17 states and the District of Columbia participated, a number that has grown to include most of the United States and some international schools. Patton and Bardos served on the board in these two executive positions for the first 10 years of the USAD and not only personally contributed significantly both financially and in personal effort to the organization in those early day when there were no corporate sponsors they, along with Robert Peterson, were the major three factors in bringing corporate sponsors to the program during these challenging growth years eventually resulting in a financially self sustaining organization. In 2015 Academic Decathlon held its first ever International competition in Shanghai, China. Once known as United States Academic Decathlon, on March 1, 2013, it began operating as the Academic Decathlon.

United States Academic Decathlon
Official logo
Founded1968 as Academic Decathlon; 1981 as USAD
FounderDr. Robert Peterson
Founded atOrange County, California
TypeNon-profit, public-benefit corporation[1]
HeadquartersMankato, Minnesota[1]
Websitewww.usad.org

Academic Decathlon is designed to include students from all achievement levels. Teams generally consist of nine members, who are divided into three divisions based on a custom calculated grade point average: Honors (3.75–4.00 GPA), Scholastic (3.00–3.74 GPA), and Varsity (0.00–2.99 GPA).[2] Each team member competes in all ten events against other students in his or her division, and team scores are calculated using the top two overall individual scores from each team in all three divisions. Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded for individual events and for overall scores. To earn a spot at the national competition in April, teams must advance through local, regional, and state competitions, though some levels of competition may be bypassed for smaller states. Online competitions, separated into small, medium, and large categories, are also offered. USAD has expanded to include an International Academic Decathlon and has created an Academic Pentathlon for middle schools.

The ten events require knowledge in art, economics, language and literature, math, music, science and social science. These topics, with the exception of math, are thematically linked each year. One of the multiple choice events, alternating between science and social science, is chosen for the Super Quiz. In addition to the seven objective events, there are three subjective events graded by judges: essay, interview and speech.

Over the years, there have been various small controversies, the most infamous being the scandal involving the Steinmetz High School team, which was caught cheating at the 1995 Illinois state finals. This event was later dramatized in the 2000 film Cheaters.[3] Academic Decathlon has been criticized by educators for the amount of time it requires students to spend on the material, as it constitutes an entire curriculum beyond the one provided by the school.[4] Around the turn of the millennium, several coaches protested the USAD's decision to publish error-ridden Resource Guides rather than provide topics for students to research.[5][6]

History

 
Dr. Robert Dea Peterson, left, receives an award from the Orange County Department of Education for the "originality" of the Academic Decathlon concept.

Academic Decathlon was founded in 1968 by Robert Peterson, the superintendent of schools in Orange County, California.[7] Marvin Cobb, the executive director of the California Academic Decathlon in 2003, said after Peterson's death that Peterson intended the competition to encourage not only the highest-level students who already competed in academic competitions ("[adding] a little glory," as President of the Orange County Academic Decathlon Association put it in 1970),[8] but also to "change C students' lives".[9] The inaugural competition, held in December 1968, hosted 103 students from 20 local high schools.[10][11] At first only regional contests were held, organized by the Orange County Academic Decathlon Corporation (OCAD)[12][13] with the assistance of the Orange County Department of Education.[14] In 1971, when the grand jury recommended that the Orange County Department of Education should no longer play a part in the competition, full control was handed over to the OCAD.[14]

 
A letter from President Ronald Reagan to the competitors at the 1981 United States Academic Decathlon. Reagan had been Governor of California when Academic Decathlon was originally formed and had met with the winners of the 1970 Orange County Academic Decathlon.[15]

In 1979, the first statewide competition was held,[16] and just over two years later, the newly formed United States Academic Decathlon Association held the first national competition in April 1982 at Loyola Marymount University in California—200 high schools from 16 states and the District of Columbia competed for the chance to attend.[17][18] Peterson, inspired by the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, hoped to make Academic Decathlon an international event.[19] At the 1984 Nationals, 32 states as well as Canada, Mexico, New Zealand and South Korea fielded teams.[20] The inclusion of foreign countries did not become a regular occurrence, however. There was no more international participation until 1989, when teams from Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro competed.[21] Since then, only a handful of international schools have competed.[22]

After a 1986 trial competition, Dr. Peterson founded a "International Decathlon for Academics" in 1990. Competitions were held in 1990, 1991 and 1992, but for a number of reasons the competition did not continue.[15] In April 2009, USAD announced that it would be regularly hosting an online international competition, the International Academic Decathlon, after a successful trial event in 2008; however, all 2009 participants but Southbank opted out, leading USAD to issue Southbank an invitation to attend the 2009 U.S. National Competition instead.[23][24]

Academic Decathlon was originally organized differently than the current competition. The original ten events were aesthetics (music and visual arts), conversation, essay writing, mathematics, practical arts, formal speech, physical science, social science, current events, extracurricular activities, and English literature, grammar, and reading.[12] Over time, those events evolved into: economics, essay, fine arts, interview, language and literature, math, science, social sciences, speech and Super Quiz. It was not until 1998 that fine arts was split into its two constituent tests: art and music.[25] Due to this division, the Super Quiz took the place of one of the other subjects each year. In 1998, Super Quiz replaced economics; from 1999 until 2012, it replaced either science or social science and alternated replacing the two from 2003 to 2012.[26] Beginning with the 2013 season, the Super Quiz consisted of a relay portion only, encompassing questions from the respective year's Science, Language and Literature, Music, Social Science, Art, and Economics curriculum.[27]

More than just the events were changed during the 1998–99 season—the style of study required of students changed. Prior to that season, students had performed their own research for each event, and test writers did not have to base their questions on material USAD published. However, after a policy change at the beginning of the 1999–2000 competition year, test writers were required to base the tests on official USAD materials. After the change in policy, scores vastly increased across the country.[28][29][30] That year at Nationals, James E. Taylor High School had the highest team score yet seen at the competition.[31] The following season, USAD once again altered their testing policies; 50% of test questions were to come from USAD published "Resource Guides" and 50% were to come from unspecified sources.[32] Economics focused on business organizations and profiles in individual enterprise rather than macroeconomics and microeconomics as it had for the previous 19 years.[33] A decrease in scores followed these changes; the national winner that year, El Camino Real High School, scored 5,923 fewer points than James E. Taylor High School had the previous year.[34] The following year, USAD settled on an organization of test materials that it would use for almost a full decade, with a mixture of questions from the provided material and independent research. A number of curriculum changes were reversed.

Though the events finally stabilized during the 2000–01 season, the USAD administration changed dramatically that year when the program's executive director, James Alvino, resigned.[35] Alvino had written a religious article that had been included in that year's Super Quiz Resource Guide. His critics and the USAD Board regarded the inclusion as a conflict of interest, as the material was a persuasive essay that heavily pushed Alvino's point of view.[36] The season was also significant in that it was the first year that states were allowed to send both their large and small school champions to the national competition.[37] (Small schools are currently classified as those schools with fewer than 650 students.)[38] However, this practice was short-lived and was discontinued after the 2002 season. Instead, a small school e-Nationals was introduced during the 2005–06 school year.[39] The medium school e-Nationals was established two years later for those schools with between 650 and 1,300 students.[40] In 2010, California Academic Decathlon announced that a large school e-Nationals would be held for the second-highest performing school in each state.[41]

In 2009, USAD announced the launch of an "Online Middle School Pentathlon Program", a competition similar to Academic Decathlon, with only essay, language and literature, mathematics, geography or social science, and science as events. Either science or social science would be designated as the Super Quiz topic.[42]

In 2010, it was announced that high school students who don't have access to a school team or whose team has been eliminated in an earlier round can participate in an online individual competition.[43]

Participation

Team makeup and eligibility

The USAD requires a diversity of achievement within each team; teams must have students who fall into three categories determined by GPA. The Honors category is composed of students with GPAs between 3.80 and 4.0. The Scholastic category consists of students with GPAs between 3.20 and 3.799. The final group, the Varsity category, contains students whose GPA ranges from 0.00 to 3.19 (effective for the 2020-2021 competition year).[citation needed] USAD uses a modified GPA scale in which performance-based classes such as music, art or physical education are omitted from the GPA calculation. A grade counts for face value regardless of whether it is from an advanced placement, honors, regular or remedial class. An A is counted as a 4.0, a B as a 3.0, a C as a 2.0, a D as a 1.0, and a F as a 0. Only final grades taken from the previous two complete school years are used to calculate GPA.[2]

A team typically consists of nine competitors: three honors, three scholastic and three varsity. However, since only the top two scores from each category count towards the team's total score, a team can compete with as few as six students without any point deduction. Students may compete in a higher category than the one they are assigned to, but generally it is to the students' advantage to compete in the lowest category they can. Scores in Varsity are typically lower than those in Scholastic, and those in Scholastic are typically lower than those in Honors.[44]

Levels of competition

There are four official levels of competition: local/scrimmage, regional, state, and national (Rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively). With the exception of Round 1, only the top finishers in each round advance to the next level.[45][46] California, the state with the largest Academic Decathlon, holds local scrimmages using the Round 1 tests, which are largely for practice and do not determine whether a team can compete at the regional level, which uses Round 2 tests.[45] In the 2008–09 season, 43 states participated in statewide Academic Decathlons,[47] though only 35 and an international school participated in the national competition.[48][49]

Events

 
Section from the Book of the Dead of Nany from 2004 to 2005. Students were to learn facts such as the length of the scroll, whom Nany was a singer for, and whom her coffin was a sculpture of.[50]

Like an athletic decathlon, the Academic Decathlon has ten events: art, economics, essay, interview, language and literature, math, music, science, social science, and speech.[51] Prior to 2013, the Super Quiz replaced one of the seven objective events each year; from 2003–2012, it alternated between replacing science and social science.[26] USAD releases the topics and theme of the following year's competition in early March,[52] giving students time to prepare for a competition season that runs from November to April.[53] The curriculum is developed by a ten-member panel of former USAD coaches known as the USAD Curriculum Advisory Group. The group contracts with "curriculum developers", who must have at least a bachelor's degree in their respective subject, to create the subject area outlines, Resource Guides, and Notebook Dividers. The Super Quiz Resource Guide was formed mostly from articles from peer reviewed journals, but also includes non-peer reviewed articles, which are looked over by a panel of five reviewers and then checked for accuracy by another reviewer.[54] Use of this format was continued for the Science packet in the 2012–2013 season.[27]

The events are split up into two groups: the seven objective tests (art, economics, language and literature, math, music, science and social science) the three subjective events (essay, interview and speech). In addition, there is a SuperQuiz relay event. The former seven are given as half-hour multiple choice tests, whereas the latter three are graded by judges. The multiple choice exams consist of 50 questions each, with the exception of math, which has 35 questions.[27][55] Beginning in the 2012–2013 season, the SuperQuiz written test was dropped and the oral relay was changed to include questions from six of the objective subjects: art, economics, language and literature, music, science, and social science.[27]

Objective events

In general, the objective events follow a set organizational outline from year to year. Language and literature focuses on a single novel or a set of plays in addition to multiple short literary selections which tend to be poems or excerpts from short stories. The art and music sections include several selections with which students must familiarize themselves in addition to historical information.[56][57] Economics remains fairly static; 85% of the material focuses on a standard course of macroeconomics and microeconomics[58] and the remaining 15% focuses on the year's topic. For example, in 2005 the themed material covered the economics of ancient Egypt and Rome. Science and social science reflect the season's theme. Unlike the other events, there is no basic information that carries over.[59][60] The math curriculum has varied as well, occasionally dropping and adding new subjects or shifting the weight of particular subjects.

Year Theme
1994–1995 Health, Wellness, and Biotechnology[61][62]
1995–1996 Competition and Cooperation[61]
1996–1997 Communication and Culture[61]
1997–1998 Looking Outward: Forces Shaping Society[61][63]
1998–1999 Looking Inward: Developing a Sense of Meaning[61][64]
1999–2000 Looking Forward: Creating the Future[61][65]
2000–2001 Understanding the Self[61]
2001–2002 Understanding Others[61]
2002–2003 Understanding the Natural World[61]
2003–2004 America: The Growth of a Nation[61][66][67]
2004–2005 Exploring the Ancient World
2005–2006 The European Renaissance: Renewal and Reform
2006–2007 China & its Influence on the World
2007–2008 History of the Civil War
2008–2009 Latin America with a focus on Mexico
2009–2010 The French Revolution
2010–2011 The Great Depression
2011–2012 The Age of Empire
2012–2013 Russia
2013–2014 World War I
2014–2015 New Alternatives in Energy: Ingenuity & Innovation
2015–2016 India
2016–2017 World War II
2017–2018 Africa
2018–2019 America in the 1960s
2019–2020 In Sickness and in Health: An Exploration of Illness and Wellness
2020–2021 The Cold War
2021-2022 Water: A Most Essential Resource[68]
2022-2023 The American Revolution and the New Nation[69]
2023–2024 Technology and Humanity

Super Quiz

The format of the Super Quiz differs from that of the other subject areas. Added in 1969, it offers a culminating championship event.[70] The Super Quiz consisted of a forty-question multiple choice test as well as a relay around until 2013. In 2013, the multiple-choice portion was eliminated and the relay portion expanded to include six of the objective subjects.[27] Generally referred to as the Super Quiz Relay, it is the only event viewable by the general public. The relay starts with the Varsity students, followed by the Scholastic and the Honors students. Each group is given 10 or 15 questions, depending on the format decided by the state coordinator.[55] These questions are read aloud to the audience and are printed or projected for the competitors. After the questions and answers are read, the students are allowed seven seconds to select the correct answer. The answer is checked on the spot by a judge and scores are immediately displayed to the audience.[71]

Subjective events

The subjective events allow students more creativity than the objective events. The speech event is divided into prepared and impromptu sections. A three-and-a-half to four-minute long prepared speech is delivered. The student is then given one minute to read three prompts and deliver a one-and-a-half to two-minute impromptu speech.[72] Example prompts have included: "It has been said about our modern times that, 'Necessity is the mother of invention' Please discuss.", "Math has been described as the universal language. Discuss." and "Why is light, light and dark, dark?"[73] In the interview, the students are asked a wide variety of questions in a formal environment. Questions range from: "Who is your role model?" to "How would you alert someone that their zipper is down?"[74] In both the speech and interview, the competitor is not allowed to reveal his or her school or hometown to ensure neutrality by the judges.[75][76] In the essay event, students are given 50 minutes to write an essay responding to one of three prompts derived from the language and literature or the Super Quiz curriculum.[77][78]

Themes and topics

 
La Calavera Catrina, by José Guadalupe Posada, was one of the selections chosen for the art event during the 2008–2009 competition season.

As the competition has evolved, more of the events have been tied into a central theme. For example, the 2008–2009 theme was "Latin America with a focus on Mexico".[79][80] Language and literature was based on six short selections of literature as well as the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya.[81] Art focused on the art of Mexico and featured several pieces of work, ranging from Olmec earthenware to José Guadalupe Posada's La Calavera Catrina.[56][82] The music event included questions on Latin American music[57] and included works by musicians as varied as Manuel de Zumaya, Silvestre Revueltas, Ástor Piazzolla and Xavier Cugat.[83] Social science and economics focused on the history[60] and economy of Mexico[84] respectively. The Super Quiz covered an introduction to evolutionary biology, the historical development of the theory of evolution, natural selection, speciation, mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, and evolutionary developmental biology. Information was also included on Charles Darwin's voyage aboard HMS Beagle.[85]

Study materials

The United States Academic Decathlon publishes a variety of study materials for the objective events, the profits from which support the program.[86] The Resource Guides and the Basic Guides constitute the majority of the USAD corpus. An art reproduction booklet and music CD contain a particular year's relevant pieces and are issued separately from the Resource Guides. Study guides are also published and contain detailed topical outlines for each objective subject. These outlines specifically indicate which topics will require independent research beyond the material included in the Resource Guides.[55][87] USAD also offered Research Guides until 2010, which outlined the basics of what students ought to research.[87] However, in the 2010–2011 competition season, USAD announced that it would be eliminating independent research-based questions from the competitions.[88]

Resource Guides are offered for the art, economics, language and literature, music, science/social science, and Super Quiz events. The Super Quiz Resource Guide is a compendium of previously published articles, whereas the other Resource Guides are composed by individual writers under contract with USAD.[55] The aim of the Resource Guide is to assist students in their study of the topics listed in the subject area outlines. As an example, in 2003 the music topic was Romantic music. Subsequently, the Music Resource Guide focused on the development of Romantic music, its characteristics and the influence of the Classical era on the Romantic era. A large part of the guide focused on information about that year's composers: Beethoven, Berlioz, Rossini, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Mussorgsky, Wagner, Bizet, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Strauss.[89] Similarly, the art topic assigned was Romantic art in the European tradition. The Art Resource Guide included sections detailing the lives and works of relevant artists such as Joseph Mallord William Turner, Claude Monet, Albert Bierstadt, and Camille Pissarro.[90]

In the 1990s, various companies were established to research subjects and provide practice tests to teams. Two of the major ones were Acalon Cards and Exams and DemiDec, formed by former coach Dan Spetner[91] and former Decathlete[92] Daniel Berdichevsky,[93] respectively. The two offer exams and study guides that can augment or replace USAD's official materials.[91][94] USAD explicitly discouraged teams from ordering materials from third-party companies in the late 1998,[95] though it later removed their discouragement from the curriculum page.[96] USAD republished their discouragement just a few weeks after removing it,[97] but did not publish such a warning in 2002.[98]

In 2000, several coaches who had led their teams to Nationals during the 1990s resigned in protest over Academic Decathlon's decision to sell nearly $1,000 of study materials rather than simply providing topics for students to independently research. Teams felt obligated to buy the guides because USAD based the official tests on them. Teams also denounced the hundreds of errors they found in the official guides; coaches were sometimes forced to instruct their students to deliberately give the wrong answer in the official competition.[5][6] Richard Golenko, coach of the 1996 J. Frank Dobie High School team that won the national competition, said that the decision to market guides shifted Academic Decathlon's emphasis to memorization over critical thinking. Coach Jim Hatem of Los Angeles and Coach Mark Johnson of El Camino's 1998 winning team fumed over esoteric "trick" questions that USAD had begun asking. James Alvino, USAD's executive director at that time, argued that the expensive study materials were necessary to continue funding nearly 75% of the program's $1,750,000 operating budget and to provide a fairer playing field for less wealthy schools, but did acknowledge that USAD would attempt to reduce prices, remove the more trivial questions, and base smaller portions of the tests on the official Resource Guide.[99][100]

Basic Guides were formerly issued for students which, unlike the Resource Guides, remained the same from year to year. The Art Basic Guide focuses on art fundamentals, such as the elements of art, principles of composition, and different 2-D and 3-D techniques. Additionally, a brief introduction to art history is included.[101] The Economics Basic Guide reviews fundamental economic concepts in addition to the basics of macroeconomics and microeconomics. The Language and Literature Basic Guide provides students with a basic grounding in the analysis of literature and introduces key terms such as synecdoche, metonymy, assonance, and aphorism. The Math Basic Guide offers a general overview of major topics in high school math, including algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, and statistics. The Music Basic Guide begins by introducing the student to topics in music theory such as harmonics, rhythm, tempo, and the circle of fifths. It also includes information on a wide variety of instruments and a brief history of Western music.[102] However, beginning in the 2010–2011 competition season, the Basic Guides were incorporated into the year's Resource Guides.[88]

The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) has criticized the intense amount of studying required by students as "excess fact-mongering". In the 1980s, the Association did not endorse Academic Decathlon, citing what it believes was an excessive amount of time involved with the studying necessary to win. It stated that while it is not opposed to the academic portion of the competition, it disliked the "national dimension" of it.[4] However, beginning in 2008, the Association placed USAD on their "National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities".[103] The list consists of programs that a NASSP committee believes meets their requisite quality standards.[104]

Scoring and winning

 
Bronze, silver, and gold medals from the e-Nationals competition, which are the same as those of the National competition

Each of the ten events is worth 1,000 points, for a possible 10,000-point individual total. Only the top two scores from the Honors, Scholastic and Varsity divisions are counted for the team score. Until 2013, 60,000 was the maximum possible team score. In 2013, Super Quiz became a 10,000 point event that only counts for the team score, making the maximum possible team score 70,000.[27] With the exception of math and Super Quiz, the objective tests each have 50 questions worth 20 points a piece. The math test is weighted more heavily, with 35 questions worth approximately 28.6 points per question. Until 2013, the Super Quiz written test contained 40 questions, each worth 15 points. Depending on the state director, the relay component of Super Quiz contained either 5 or 10 questions, each worth 80 or 40 points respectively. Starting in 2013, the Super Quiz contained only the relay component with 5 or 10 questions, each worth approximately 333.3 or 166.7 points respectively.[27][55] The written test was sometimes omitted at the state level even before 2013 if a state director wished to weigh the Super Quiz Relay more heavily.[105] Perfect scores of 1,000 in events are recorded regularly, and there have been cases of dozens of medal winners for a single event because of perfect and near-perfect scores.[106] Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded in each event and for each division (Honors, Scholastic, and Varsity). All tying participants are awarded medals.[107]

The medals' design is the "AD" portion of the official USAD logo, encircled by "United States" at the top, "Academic Decathlon" at the bottom, and four stars of increasing size on either side. Though the medals are given out only to winners of the competitions, teams can order them along with other study materials.[108] The medals given at state and local competitions are of a different design than those given at Nationals.

The interview and speech events are graded by two to three judges. The scores from the judges are averaged to give a maximum of 1,000 points per event. The essay is graded with a rubric and is read by two different judges whose scores are then averaged. If the difference between the judges' scores differs by 200 points or more, then a third reader is asked to grade the student's essay. The two scores that are closest in value are averaged to give the final score.[109][110]

A benchmark for the Decathlon elite is obtaining an individual score of over 9,000 points.[111][112][113] It was not until 1992, 24 years after the program's inception, that Tyson Rogers achieved this feat at the national competition.[114] Since then, numerous students have broken the 9,000 point barrier. The current highest individual score is 9,707.9, achieved by Hannah Lee from Wakeland High School at the 2019 Texas state regionals competition. State champion scores vary greatly from year to year. As an example, for the 2002–03 season, scores ranged from 24,785 to 49,910 points.[115] National champion scores have been as low as 45,857.0 points and as high as 54,531.2 points. The 54,531.2 score produced by the 2018 El Camino Real Charter High School team at the National Championship stands as the record for the highest team score.[116]

Controversies

Three days before the 1995 Illinois state competition, Steinmetz High School obtained copies of the tests[117] from the DeVry Institute of Technology, where the state finals were being held.[118] The team was therefore able to look up and memorize the answers. The cheating allowed Steinmetz to beat perennial powerhouse Whitney Young Magnet High School, who had won the Illinois state finals in 22 of the previous 23 years. Six of the twelve students in the nation who scored over 900 points on the math test came from Steinmetz High School, prompting the Illinois state Academic Decathlon to suspect cheating.[119] The Steinmetz team was disqualified after team members refused to take an alternate version of the test,[120] and its coach eventually resigned.[121] The incident was dramatized in the movie Cheaters.[3]

Catholic Memorial High School coach John Burke was at the center of a dispute over the results of the 2003 Wisconsin state final. Confusion arose over a Catholic Memorial student's essay after the results of the competition were released. The essay had only received 390 points out of a possible 1000, and Burke contended that it had been scored improperly. He was well within his rights to contest the score; however, Gerhard Fischer, President of Wisconsin Academic Decathlon, said that the way Burke handled the appeal was "highly questionable" and inflammatory.[122] Though Burke was reprimanded, parents of Catholic Memorial students believed the punishment, a three-year suspension for Burke and a one-year suspension for Catholic Memorial,[123] was due to personality differences between Burke and Wisconsin Academic Decathlon officials.[124] The controversy eventually led to a more thorough investigation of previous issues involving Burke.[122] The Wisconsin Academic Decathlon Board discovered that Burke had previously been accused of "[m]ore than a year of repeated 'attacks' on another school's pupils, including allegations of cheating on tests and ineligibility."[125]

National championship

Main article: United States Academic Decathlon National Championship
 
President Barack Obama with the Academic Decathlon team from Moorpark High School, the 2009 National Champions. Winning teams have often been invited to meet the President of the United States.[126][127]

The National Championship pits the winning school from each state against all the others for an overall title. Occasionally, a number of international schools compete as well. Schools compete based on size and are divided into three divisions (I, II, III, and IV). However, this separation is limited to overall team score and overall individual score. Nine overall team medals are awarded: gold, silver and bronze for each division. Similarly, 27 overall individual medals are awarded: gold, silver and bronze for Honors, Scholastic and Varsity in each division.[128] The top prepared speeches are honored at the Speech Showcase, while the rest of the medals—for example, gold in art for Honors, or silver in math for Varsity—are awarded to the top scoring persons during the awards banquet regardless of division. Other awards given out include the Kristin Caperton Award for overcoming personal or physical challenges, among others.[15] Certain awards occasionally come with monetary prizes; these often vary from year to year. Since the first national event in 1982, all National Championship winners have come from three states: California, Texas and Wisconsin. As of 2019, Granada Hills Charter High School has won seven national titles in the past nine years.

Virtual competition

In 2006, the small school virtual competition was created for schools with 650 or fewer students.[38] Two years later, the medium school virtual competition was added to accommodate schools with a student population between 650 and 1,300.[40] These two separate contests are held via the Internet and, as such, the interview and speech events are excluded. The remaining eight tests are completed on the computer and results are submitted electronically to USAD for scoring. Because only the seven multiple choice tests and essay are used, team scores are out of 48,000 points instead of 60,000. Although it is only a virtual competition, winning schools are awarded trophies and medals for their efforts.[129] University High School, from Fresno, California, has won 6 of 7 Small School National Championships. Coached by Sean Canfield, the team has won both the California and National Small School titles for the past 6 years. UHS has a current enrollment of 465 students, yet placed eighth overall at the 2013 California State, competing against schools several times its size. According to USAD, the goal of the small and medium school competitions is to "enhance learning, growth and recognition".[38][40] In 2010, the United States Academic Decathlon announced the beginning of a large school e-Nationals for the second-highest performing large school in each state.[41]

In popular culture

Depictions of the Academic Decathlon have been featured in some films, including:

References

  1. ^ a b . United States Academic Decathlon. Archived from the original on March 27, 2009. Retrieved August 29, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "GPA Calculation – United States Academic Decathlon – Academic Decathlon". www.usad.org. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  3. ^ a b . The Washington Post. May 14, 2000. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
  4. ^ a b Singer, Amy (April 14, 1985). "The Schools; Academia's Bruising Super Bowls". New York Times. p. A19.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Larry (April 23, 2000). . Los Angeles Times. p. B17. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2009. Coaches and students found literally hundreds of errors. If USAD was notified, it often issued corrections on its Web site. This forced students to re-memorize facts. Then there were errors in the corrections. Students didn't know which information competition tests would utilize. Coaches were put in the position of telling students to intentionally give a wrong answer if the question appeared to come from USAD's wrong information.
  6. ^ a b Gorman, Anna (April 12, 2000). . Los Angeles Times. p. B–1. Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2009.
  7. ^ Caldwell, Tanya (March 13, 2006). "L.A. High Wins State Decathlon Super Quiz". Los Angeles Times. p. B3.
  8. ^ "Huntington Tops Decathlon Test". Independent Press-Telegram. Long Beach, California. November 22, 1970. p. 32.
  9. ^ Luna, Claire (June 7, 2003). "Robert Peterson, 82; Educator Founded Academic Decathlon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 16, 2009. Peterson, who retired as county superintendent in 1990, profoundly affected students when he created the Academic Decathlon in 1968, educators said. He envisioned a new kind of competition that would give students of different achievement levels a chance to shine. Other academic contests, he said, rewarded only top-level students who didn't need the motivation. Peterson's remedy was to require decathlon teams to include B and C students along with A students for the 10-event contest, which includes math, art and speech. The program gives A students the chance to show their strengths and B students the chance to improve, but most important, it has the power to change C students' lives, said Marvin Cobb, executive director of the California Academic Decathlon.
  10. ^ Geivet, Bob (November 28, 1968). "Students Compete for Orange County Academic Honors". Independent. p. 38.
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    Speech Penalties
    Location Revealed
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    Interview Penalties
    Location Revealed
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    1. Students will respond to one of three essay prompts. Either two prompts will focus on the Super Quiz and one will focus on the selected literature, or two prompts will focus on the selected literature and one will focus on the Super Quiz.
    2. Students have 50 minutes to pre-write, plan, organize, draft, and write a final version of their essay.
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    P4061 Gold Medal—Each...$5.50
    P4062 Silver Medal—Each...$5.50
    P4063 Bronze Medal—Each...$5.50
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External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Academic Decathlon.
  • – The official website of United States Academic Decathlon
    • , as published by the organization.
  • ADSIC – Academic Decathlon Scores and Information Center – A compilation of Academic Decathlon and Scholar's Cup scores

August 23, 2023
united, states, academic, decathlon, academic, decathlon, also, called, acdec, acadeca, acadec, annual, high, school, academic, competition, organized, profit, usad, competition, consists, seven, objective, multiple, choice, tests, subjective, performance, eve. The Academic Decathlon also called AcDec AcaDeca or AcaDec is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non profit United States Academic Decathlon USAD The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests two subjective performance events and an essay Academic Decathlon was created by Robert Peterson in 1968 for local schools in Orange County California and was expanded nationally in 1981 by Robert Peterson William Patton first President of the new USAD Board and Phillip Bardos Chairman of the new USAD Board That year 17 states and the District of Columbia participated a number that has grown to include most of the United States and some international schools Patton and Bardos served on the board in these two executive positions for the first 10 years of the USAD and not only personally contributed significantly both financially and in personal effort to the organization in those early day when there were no corporate sponsors they along with Robert Peterson were the major three factors in bringing corporate sponsors to the program during these challenging growth years eventually resulting in a financially self sustaining organization In 2015 Academic Decathlon held its first ever International competition in Shanghai China Once known as United States Academic Decathlon on March 1 2013 it began operating as the Academic Decathlon United States Academic DecathlonOfficial logoFounded1968 as Academic Decathlon 1981 as USADFounderDr Robert PetersonFounded atOrange County CaliforniaTypeNon profit public benefit corporation 1 HeadquartersMankato Minnesota 1 Websitewww wbr usad wbr orgAcademic Decathlon is designed to include students from all achievement levels Teams generally consist of nine members who are divided into three divisions based on a custom calculated grade point average Honors 3 75 4 00 GPA Scholastic 3 00 3 74 GPA and Varsity 0 00 2 99 GPA 2 Each team member competes in all ten events against other students in his or her division and team scores are calculated using the top two overall individual scores from each team in all three divisions Gold silver and bronze medals are awarded for individual events and for overall scores To earn a spot at the national competition in April teams must advance through local regional and state competitions though some levels of competition may be bypassed for smaller states Online competitions separated into small medium and large categories are also offered USAD has expanded to include an International Academic Decathlon and has created an Academic Pentathlon for middle schools The ten events require knowledge in art economics language and literature math music science and social science These topics with the exception of math are thematically linked each year One of the multiple choice events alternating between science and social science is chosen for the Super Quiz In addition to the seven objective events there are three subjective events graded by judges essay interview and speech Over the years there have been various small controversies the most infamous being the scandal involving the Steinmetz High School team which was caught cheating at the 1995 Illinois state finals This event was later dramatized in the 2000 film Cheaters 3 Academic Decathlon has been criticized by educators for the amount of time it requires students to spend on the material as it constitutes an entire curriculum beyond the one provided by the school 4 Around the turn of the millennium several coaches protested the USAD s decision to publish error ridden Resource Guides rather than provide topics for students to research 5 6 Contents 1 History 2 Participation 2 1 Team makeup and eligibility 2 2 Levels of competition 3 Events 3 1 Objective events 3 1 1 Super Quiz 3 2 Subjective events 3 3 Themes and topics 4 Study materials 5 Scoring and winning 5 1 Controversies 6 National championship 6 1 Virtual competition 7 In popular culture 8 References 9 External linksHistory Edit Dr Robert Dea Peterson left receives an award from the Orange County Department of Education for the originality of the Academic Decathlon concept Academic Decathlon was founded in 1968 by Robert Peterson the superintendent of schools in Orange County California 7 Marvin Cobb the executive director of the California Academic Decathlon in 2003 said after Peterson s death that Peterson intended the competition to encourage not only the highest level students who already competed in academic competitions adding a little glory as President of the Orange County Academic Decathlon Association put it in 1970 8 but also to change C students lives 9 The inaugural competition held in December 1968 hosted 103 students from 20 local high schools 10 11 At first only regional contests were held organized by the Orange County Academic Decathlon Corporation OCAD 12 13 with the assistance of the Orange County Department of Education 14 In 1971 when the grand jury recommended that the Orange County Department of Education should no longer play a part in the competition full control was handed over to the OCAD 14 A letter from President Ronald Reagan to the competitors at the 1981 United States Academic Decathlon Reagan had been Governor of California when Academic Decathlon was originally formed and had met with the winners of the 1970 Orange County Academic Decathlon 15 In 1979 the first statewide competition was held 16 and just over two years later the newly formed United States Academic Decathlon Association held the first national competition in April 1982 at Loyola Marymount University in California 200 high schools from 16 states and the District of Columbia competed for the chance to attend 17 18 Peterson inspired by the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles hoped to make Academic Decathlon an international event 19 At the 1984 Nationals 32 states as well as Canada Mexico New Zealand and South Korea fielded teams 20 The inclusion of foreign countries did not become a regular occurrence however There was no more international participation until 1989 when teams from Northern Ireland and Rio de Janeiro competed 21 Since then only a handful of international schools have competed 22 After a 1986 trial competition Dr Peterson founded a International Decathlon for Academics in 1990 Competitions were held in 1990 1991 and 1992 but for a number of reasons the competition did not continue 15 In April 2009 USAD announced that it would be regularly hosting an online international competition the International Academic Decathlon after a successful trial event in 2008 however all 2009 participants but Southbank opted out leading USAD to issue Southbank an invitation to attend the 2009 U S National Competition instead 23 24 Academic Decathlon was originally organized differently than the current competition The original ten events were aesthetics music and visual arts conversation essay writing mathematics practical arts formal speech physical science social science current events extracurricular activities and English literature grammar and reading 12 Over time those events evolved into economics essay fine arts interview language and literature math science social sciences speech and Super Quiz It was not until 1998 that fine arts was split into its two constituent tests art and music 25 Due to this division the Super Quiz took the place of one of the other subjects each year In 1998 Super Quiz replaced economics from 1999 until 2012 it replaced either science or social science and alternated replacing the two from 2003 to 2012 26 Beginning with the 2013 season the Super Quiz consisted of a relay portion only encompassing questions from the respective year s Science Language and Literature Music Social Science Art and Economics curriculum 27 More than just the events were changed during the 1998 99 season the style of study required of students changed Prior to that season students had performed their own research for each event and test writers did not have to base their questions on material USAD published However after a policy change at the beginning of the 1999 2000 competition year test writers were required to base the tests on official USAD materials After the change in policy scores vastly increased across the country 28 29 30 That year at Nationals James E Taylor High School had the highest team score yet seen at the competition 31 The following season USAD once again altered their testing policies 50 of test questions were to come from USAD published Resource Guides and 50 were to come from unspecified sources 32 Economics focused on business organizations and profiles in individual enterprise rather than macroeconomics and microeconomics as it had for the previous 19 years 33 A decrease in scores followed these changes the national winner that year El Camino Real High School scored 5 923 fewer points than James E Taylor High School had the previous year 34 The following year USAD settled on an organization of test materials that it would use for almost a full decade with a mixture of questions from the provided material and independent research A number of curriculum changes were reversed Though the events finally stabilized during the 2000 01 season the USAD administration changed dramatically that year when the program s executive director James Alvino resigned 35 Alvino had written a religious article that had been included in that year s Super Quiz Resource Guide His critics and the USAD Board regarded the inclusion as a conflict of interest as the material was a persuasive essay that heavily pushed Alvino s point of view 36 The season was also significant in that it was the first year that states were allowed to send both their large and small school champions to the national competition 37 Small schools are currently classified as those schools with fewer than 650 students 38 However this practice was short lived and was discontinued after the 2002 season Instead a small school e Nationals was introduced during the 2005 06 school year 39 The medium school e Nationals was established two years later for those schools with between 650 and 1 300 students 40 In 2010 California Academic Decathlon announced that a large school e Nationals would be held for the second highest performing school in each state 41 In 2009 USAD announced the launch of an Online Middle School Pentathlon Program a competition similar to Academic Decathlon with only essay language and literature mathematics geography or social science and science as events Either science or social science would be designated as the Super Quiz topic 42 In 2010 it was announced that high school students who don t have access to a school team or whose team has been eliminated in an earlier round can participate in an online individual competition 43 Participation EditTeam makeup and eligibility Edit The USAD requires a diversity of achievement within each team teams must have students who fall into three categories determined by GPA The Honors category is composed of students with GPAs between 3 80 and 4 0 The Scholastic category consists of students with GPAs between 3 20 and 3 799 The final group the Varsity category contains students whose GPA ranges from 0 00 to 3 19 effective for the 2020 2021 competition year citation needed USAD uses a modified GPA scale in which performance based classes such as music art or physical education are omitted from the GPA calculation A grade counts for face value regardless of whether it is from an advanced placement honors regular or remedial class An A is counted as a 4 0 a B as a 3 0 a C as a 2 0 a D as a 1 0 and a F as a 0 Only final grades taken from the previous two complete school years are used to calculate GPA 2 A team typically consists of nine competitors three honors three scholastic and three varsity However since only the top two scores from each category count towards the team s total score a team can compete with as few as six students without any point deduction Students may compete in a higher category than the one they are assigned to but generally it is to the students advantage to compete in the lowest category they can Scores in Varsity are typically lower than those in Scholastic and those in Scholastic are typically lower than those in Honors 44 Levels of competition Edit There are four official levels of competition local scrimmage regional state and national Rounds 1 2 3 and 4 respectively With the exception of Round 1 only the top finishers in each round advance to the next level 45 46 California the state with the largest Academic Decathlon holds local scrimmages using the Round 1 tests which are largely for practice and do not determine whether a team can compete at the regional level which uses Round 2 tests 45 In the 2008 09 season 43 states participated in statewide Academic Decathlons 47 though only 35 and an international school participated in the national competition 48 49 Events Edit Section from the Book of the Dead of Nany from 2004 to 2005 Students were to learn facts such as the length of the scroll whom Nany was a singer for and whom her coffin was a sculpture of 50 Like an athletic decathlon the Academic Decathlon has ten events art economics essay interview language and literature math music science social science and speech 51 Prior to 2013 the Super Quiz replaced one of the seven objective events each year from 2003 2012 it alternated between replacing science and social science 26 USAD releases the topics and theme of the following year s competition in early March 52 giving students time to prepare for a competition season that runs from November to April 53 The curriculum is developed by a ten member panel of former USAD coaches known as the USAD Curriculum Advisory Group The group contracts with curriculum developers who must have at least a bachelor s degree in their respective subject to create the subject area outlines Resource Guides and Notebook Dividers The Super Quiz Resource Guide was formed mostly from articles from peer reviewed journals but also includes non peer reviewed articles which are looked over by a panel of five reviewers and then checked for accuracy by another reviewer 54 Use of this format was continued for the Science packet in the 2012 2013 season 27 The events are split up into two groups the seven objective tests art economics language and literature math music science and social science the three subjective events essay interview and speech In addition there is a SuperQuiz relay event The former seven are given as half hour multiple choice tests whereas the latter three are graded by judges The multiple choice exams consist of 50 questions each with the exception of math which has 35 questions 27 55 Beginning in the 2012 2013 season the SuperQuiz written test was dropped and the oral relay was changed to include questions from six of the objective subjects art economics language and literature music science and social science 27 Objective events Edit In general the objective events follow a set organizational outline from year to year Language and literature focuses on a single novel or a set of plays in addition to multiple short literary selections which tend to be poems or excerpts from short stories The art and music sections include several selections with which students must familiarize themselves in addition to historical information 56 57 Economics remains fairly static 85 of the material focuses on a standard course of macroeconomics and microeconomics 58 and the remaining 15 focuses on the year s topic For example in 2005 the themed material covered the economics of ancient Egypt and Rome Science and social science reflect the season s theme Unlike the other events there is no basic information that carries over 59 60 The math curriculum has varied as well occasionally dropping and adding new subjects or shifting the weight of particular subjects Year Theme1994 1995 Health Wellness and Biotechnology 61 62 1995 1996 Competition and Cooperation 61 1996 1997 Communication and Culture 61 1997 1998 Looking Outward Forces Shaping Society 61 63 1998 1999 Looking Inward Developing a Sense of Meaning 61 64 1999 2000 Looking Forward Creating the Future 61 65 2000 2001 Understanding the Self 61 2001 2002 Understanding Others 61 2002 2003 Understanding the Natural World 61 2003 2004 America The Growth of a Nation 61 66 67 2004 2005 Exploring the Ancient World2005 2006 The European Renaissance Renewal and Reform2006 2007 China amp its Influence on the World2007 2008 History of the Civil War2008 2009 Latin America with a focus on Mexico2009 2010 The French Revolution2010 2011 The Great Depression2011 2012 The Age of Empire2012 2013 Russia2013 2014 World War I2014 2015 New Alternatives in Energy Ingenuity amp Innovation2015 2016 India2016 2017 World War II2017 2018 Africa2018 2019 America in the 1960s2019 2020 In Sickness and in Health An Exploration of Illness and Wellness2020 2021 The Cold War2021 2022 Water A Most Essential Resource 68 2022 2023 The American Revolution and the New Nation 69 2023 2024 Technology and Humanity Super Quiz Edit The format of the Super Quiz differs from that of the other subject areas Added in 1969 it offers a culminating championship event 70 The Super Quiz consisted of a forty question multiple choice test as well as a relay around until 2013 In 2013 the multiple choice portion was eliminated and the relay portion expanded to include six of the objective subjects 27 Generally referred to as the Super Quiz Relay it is the only event viewable by the general public The relay starts with the Varsity students followed by the Scholastic and the Honors students Each group is given 10 or 15 questions depending on the format decided by the state coordinator 55 These questions are read aloud to the audience and are printed or projected for the competitors After the questions and answers are read the students are allowed seven seconds to select the correct answer The answer is checked on the spot by a judge and scores are immediately displayed to the audience 71 Subjective events Edit The subjective events allow students more creativity than the objective events The speech event is divided into prepared and impromptu sections A three and a half to four minute long prepared speech is delivered The student is then given one minute to read three prompts and deliver a one and a half to two minute impromptu speech 72 Example prompts have included It has been said about our modern times that Necessity is the mother of invention Please discuss Math has been described as the universal language Discuss and Why is light light and dark dark 73 In the interview the students are asked a wide variety of questions in a formal environment Questions range from Who is your role model to How would you alert someone that their zipper is down 74 In both the speech and interview the competitor is not allowed to reveal his or her school or hometown to ensure neutrality by the judges 75 76 In the essay event students are given 50 minutes to write an essay responding to one of three prompts derived from the language and literature or the Super Quiz curriculum 77 78 Themes and topics Edit La Calavera Catrina by Jose Guadalupe Posada was one of the selections chosen for the art event during the 2008 2009 competition season As the competition has evolved more of the events have been tied into a central theme For example the 2008 2009 theme was Latin America with a focus on Mexico 79 80 Language and literature was based on six short selections of literature as well as the novel Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya 81 Art focused on the art of Mexico and featured several pieces of work ranging from Olmec earthenware to Jose Guadalupe Posada s La Calavera Catrina 56 82 The music event included questions on Latin American music 57 and included works by musicians as varied as Manuel de Zumaya Silvestre Revueltas Astor Piazzolla and Xavier Cugat 83 Social science and economics focused on the history 60 and economy of Mexico 84 respectively The Super Quiz covered an introduction to evolutionary biology the historical development of the theory of evolution natural selection speciation mutation gene flow genetic drift and evolutionary developmental biology Information was also included on Charles Darwin s voyage aboard HMS Beagle 85 Study materials EditThe United States Academic Decathlon publishes a variety of study materials for the objective events the profits from which support the program 86 The Resource Guides and the Basic Guides constitute the majority of the USAD corpus An art reproduction booklet and music CD contain a particular year s relevant pieces and are issued separately from the Resource Guides Study guides are also published and contain detailed topical outlines for each objective subject These outlines specifically indicate which topics will require independent research beyond the material included in the Resource Guides 55 87 USAD also offered Research Guides until 2010 which outlined the basics of what students ought to research 87 However in the 2010 2011 competition season USAD announced that it would be eliminating independent research based questions from the competitions 88 Resource Guides are offered for the art economics language and literature music science social science and Super Quiz events The Super Quiz Resource Guide is a compendium of previously published articles whereas the other Resource Guides are composed by individual writers under contract with USAD 55 The aim of the Resource Guide is to assist students in their study of the topics listed in the subject area outlines As an example in 2003 the music topic was Romantic music Subsequently the Music Resource Guide focused on the development of Romantic music its characteristics and the influence of the Classical era on the Romantic era A large part of the guide focused on information about that year s composers Beethoven Berlioz Rossini Chopin Mendelssohn Verdi Mussorgsky Wagner Bizet Brahms Tchaikovsky Mahler and Strauss 89 Similarly the art topic assigned was Romantic art in the European tradition The Art Resource Guide included sections detailing the lives and works of relevant artists such as Joseph Mallord William Turner Claude Monet Albert Bierstadt and Camille Pissarro 90 In the 1990s various companies were established to research subjects and provide practice tests to teams Two of the major ones were Acalon Cards and Exams and DemiDec formed by former coach Dan Spetner 91 and former Decathlete 92 Daniel Berdichevsky 93 respectively The two offer exams and study guides that can augment or replace USAD s official materials 91 94 USAD explicitly discouraged teams from ordering materials from third party companies in the late 1998 95 though it later removed their discouragement from the curriculum page 96 USAD republished their discouragement just a few weeks after removing it 97 but did not publish such a warning in 2002 98 In 2000 several coaches who had led their teams to Nationals during the 1990s resigned in protest over Academic Decathlon s decision to sell nearly 1 000 of study materials rather than simply providing topics for students to independently research Teams felt obligated to buy the guides because USAD based the official tests on them Teams also denounced the hundreds of errors they found in the official guides coaches were sometimes forced to instruct their students to deliberately give the wrong answer in the official competition 5 6 Richard Golenko coach of the 1996 J Frank Dobie High School team that won the national competition said that the decision to market guides shifted Academic Decathlon s emphasis to memorization over critical thinking Coach Jim Hatem of Los Angeles and Coach Mark Johnson of El Camino s 1998 winning team fumed over esoteric trick questions that USAD had begun asking James Alvino USAD s executive director at that time argued that the expensive study materials were necessary to continue funding nearly 75 of the program s 1 750 000 operating budget and to provide a fairer playing field for less wealthy schools but did acknowledge that USAD would attempt to reduce prices remove the more trivial questions and base smaller portions of the tests on the official Resource Guide 99 100 Basic Guides were formerly issued for students which unlike the Resource Guides remained the same from year to year The Art Basic Guide focuses on art fundamentals such as the elements of art principles of composition and different 2 D and 3 D techniques Additionally a brief introduction to art history is included 101 The Economics Basic Guide reviews fundamental economic concepts in addition to the basics of macroeconomics and microeconomics The Language and Literature Basic Guide provides students with a basic grounding in the analysis of literature and introduces key terms such as synecdoche metonymy assonance and aphorism The Math Basic Guide offers a general overview of major topics in high school math including algebra geometry trigonometry calculus and statistics The Music Basic Guide begins by introducing the student to topics in music theory such as harmonics rhythm tempo and the circle of fifths It also includes information on a wide variety of instruments and a brief history of Western music 102 However beginning in the 2010 2011 competition season the Basic Guides were incorporated into the year s Resource Guides 88 The National Association of Secondary School Principals NASSP has criticized the intense amount of studying required by students as excess fact mongering In the 1980s the Association did not endorse Academic Decathlon citing what it believes was an excessive amount of time involved with the studying necessary to win It stated that while it is not opposed to the academic portion of the competition it disliked the national dimension of it 4 However beginning in 2008 the Association placed USAD on their National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities 103 The list consists of programs that a NASSP committee believes meets their requisite quality standards 104 Scoring and winning Edit Bronze silver and gold medals from the e Nationals competition which are the same as those of the National competitionEach of the ten events is worth 1 000 points for a possible 10 000 point individual total Only the top two scores from the Honors Scholastic and Varsity divisions are counted for the team score Until 2013 60 000 was the maximum possible team score In 2013 Super Quiz became a 10 000 point event that only counts for the team score making the maximum possible team score 70 000 27 With the exception of math and Super Quiz the objective tests each have 50 questions worth 20 points a piece The math test is weighted more heavily with 35 questions worth approximately 28 6 points per question Until 2013 the Super Quiz written test contained 40 questions each worth 15 points Depending on the state director the relay component of Super Quiz contained either 5 or 10 questions each worth 80 or 40 points respectively Starting in 2013 the Super Quiz contained only the relay component with 5 or 10 questions each worth approximately 333 3 or 166 7 points respectively 27 55 The written test was sometimes omitted at the state level even before 2013 if a state director wished to weigh the Super Quiz Relay more heavily 105 Perfect scores of 1 000 in events are recorded regularly and there have been cases of dozens of medal winners for a single event because of perfect and near perfect scores 106 Gold silver and bronze medals are awarded in each event and for each division Honors Scholastic and Varsity All tying participants are awarded medals 107 The medals design is the AD portion of the official USAD logo encircled by United States at the top Academic Decathlon at the bottom and four stars of increasing size on either side Though the medals are given out only to winners of the competitions teams can order them along with other study materials 108 The medals given at state and local competitions are of a different design than those given at Nationals The interview and speech events are graded by two to three judges The scores from the judges are averaged to give a maximum of 1 000 points per event The essay is graded with a rubric and is read by two different judges whose scores are then averaged If the difference between the judges scores differs by 200 points or more then a third reader is asked to grade the student s essay The two scores that are closest in value are averaged to give the final score 109 110 A benchmark for the Decathlon elite is obtaining an individual score of over 9 000 points 111 112 113 It was not until 1992 24 years after the program s inception that Tyson Rogers achieved this feat at the national competition 114 Since then numerous students have broken the 9 000 point barrier The current highest individual score is 9 707 9 achieved by Hannah Lee from Wakeland High School at the 2019 Texas state regionals competition State champion scores vary greatly from year to year As an example for the 2002 03 season scores ranged from 24 785 to 49 910 points 115 National champion scores have been as low as 45 857 0 points and as high as 54 531 2 points The 54 531 2 score produced by the 2018 El Camino Real Charter High School team at the National Championship stands as the record for the highest team score 116 Controversies Edit Three days before the 1995 Illinois state competition Steinmetz High School obtained copies of the tests 117 from the DeVry Institute of Technology where the state finals were being held 118 The team was therefore able to look up and memorize the answers The cheating allowed Steinmetz to beat perennial powerhouse Whitney Young Magnet High School who had won the Illinois state finals in 22 of the previous 23 years Six of the twelve students in the nation who scored over 900 points on the math test came from Steinmetz High School prompting the Illinois state Academic Decathlon to suspect cheating 119 The Steinmetz team was disqualified after team members refused to take an alternate version of the test 120 and its coach eventually resigned 121 The incident was dramatized in the movie Cheaters 3 Catholic Memorial High School coach John Burke was at the center of a dispute over the results of the 2003 Wisconsin state final Confusion arose over a Catholic Memorial student s essay after the results of the competition were released The essay had only received 390 points out of a possible 1000 and Burke contended that it had been scored improperly He was well within his rights to contest the score however Gerhard Fischer President of Wisconsin Academic Decathlon said that the way Burke handled the appeal was highly questionable and inflammatory 122 Though Burke was reprimanded parents of Catholic Memorial students believed the punishment a three year suspension for Burke and a one year suspension for Catholic Memorial 123 was due to personality differences between Burke and Wisconsin Academic Decathlon officials 124 The controversy eventually led to a more thorough investigation of previous issues involving Burke 122 The Wisconsin Academic Decathlon Board discovered that Burke had previously been accused of m ore than a year of repeated attacks on another school s pupils including allegations of cheating on tests and ineligibility 125 National championship EditMain article United States Academic Decathlon National Championship President Barack Obama with the Academic Decathlon team from Moorpark High School the 2009 National Champions Winning teams have often been invited to meet the President of the United States 126 127 The National Championship pits the winning school from each state against all the others for an overall title Occasionally a number of international schools compete as well Schools compete based on size and are divided into three divisions I II III and IV However this separation is limited to overall team score and overall individual score Nine overall team medals are awarded gold silver and bronze for each division Similarly 27 overall individual medals are awarded gold silver and bronze for Honors Scholastic and Varsity in each division 128 The top prepared speeches are honored at the Speech Showcase while the rest of the medals for example gold in art for Honors or silver in math for Varsity are awarded to the top scoring persons during the awards banquet regardless of division Other awards given out include the Kristin Caperton Award for overcoming personal or physical challenges among others 15 Certain awards occasionally come with monetary prizes these often vary from year to year Since the first national event in 1982 all National Championship winners have come from three states California Texas and Wisconsin As of 2019 Granada Hills Charter High School has won seven national titles in the past nine years Virtual competition Edit In 2006 the small school virtual competition was created for schools with 650 or fewer students 38 Two years later the medium school virtual competition was added to accommodate schools with a student population between 650 and 1 300 40 These two separate contests are held via the Internet and as such the interview and speech events are excluded The remaining eight tests are completed on the computer and results are submitted electronically to USAD for scoring Because only the seven multiple choice tests and essay are used team scores are out of 48 000 points instead of 60 000 Although it is only a virtual competition winning schools are awarded trophies and medals for their efforts 129 University High School from Fresno California has won 6 of 7 Small School National Championships Coached by Sean Canfield the team has won both the California and National Small School titles for the past 6 years UHS has a current enrollment of 465 students yet placed eighth overall at the 2013 California State competing against schools several times its size According to USAD the goal of the small and medium school competitions is to enhance learning growth and recognition 38 40 In 2010 the United States Academic Decathlon announced the beginning of a large school e Nationals for the second highest performing large school in each state 41 In popular culture EditDepictions of the Academic Decathlon have been featured in some films including The Day After Tomorrow 2004 High School Musical 2006 Spider Man Homecoming 2017References Edit a b United States Academic Decathlon Frequently Asked Questions United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on March 27 2009 Retrieved August 29 2008 a b GPA Calculation United States Academic Decathlon Academic Decathlon www usad org Retrieved 2019 03 31 a b HBO Takes a Look at Cheaters The Washington Post May 14 2000 Archived from the original on November 4 2012 Retrieved May 1 2009 a b Singer Amy April 14 1985 The Schools Academia s Bruising Super Bowls New York Times p A19 a b Jones Larry April 23 2000 Credibility Gap for Academic Decathlon Los Angeles Times p B17 Archived from the original on October 7 2012 Retrieved April 11 2009 Coaches and students found literally hundreds of errors If USAD was notified it often issued corrections on its Web site This forced students to re memorize facts Then there were errors in the corrections Students didn t know which information competition tests would utilize Coaches were put in the position of telling students to intentionally give a wrong answer if the question appeared to come from USAD s wrong information a b Gorman Anna April 12 2000 Top Coaches Lead Protest of Decathlon Los Angeles Times p B 1 Archived from the original on October 7 2012 Retrieved April 11 2009 Caldwell Tanya March 13 2006 L A High Wins State Decathlon Super Quiz Los Angeles Times p B3 Huntington Tops Decathlon Test Independent Press Telegram Long Beach California November 22 1970 p 32 Luna Claire June 7 2003 Robert Peterson 82 Educator Founded Academic Decathlon Los Angeles Times Retrieved May 16 2009 Peterson who retired as county superintendent in 1990 profoundly affected students when he created the Academic Decathlon in 1968 educators said He envisioned a new kind of competition that would give students of different achievement levels a chance to shine Other academic contests he said rewarded only top level students who didn t need the motivation Peterson s remedy was to require decathlon teams to include B and C students along with A students for the 10 event contest which includes math art and speech The program gives A students the chance to show their strengths and B students the chance to improve but most important it has the power to change C students lives said Marvin Cobb executive director of the California Academic Decathlon Geivet Bob November 28 1968 Students Compete for Orange County Academic Honors Independent p 38 103 Participate in pioneer project Los Angeles Times December 6 1968 p D2 a b Second Academic Decathlon Press Telegram Long Beach California November 5 1969 p 80 Seelye Howard December 11 1969 Statewide Academic Decathlon Urged Los Angeles Times p E7 a b Geivet Bob December 27 1971 Education department not needed says Orange Co jury Independent a b c A History of the United States Academic Decathlon PDF United States Academic Decathlon January 1 2011 Archived from the original PDF on October 3 2011 Retrieved May 1 2011 Texas Academic Decathlon Texas Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on March 6 2009 Retrieved September 2 2008 Mathews Jay April 23 1991 Area Students Make Showing in Academic Decathlon and Win Honors The Washington Post Los Angeles pp B1 Scholarship is smart business Industry Week April 19 1982 p 29 Move over Olympics the thinkers are here Industry Week 102 June 15 1981 Singer Amy April 14 1985 The Schools Academia s Bruising Super Bowls The New York Times pp 12 19 Foster Catherine April 26 1989 Decathlon for Mental Gymnasts The Christian Science Monitor p 13 Ideas For a list of schools not from states of the United States of America that have competed in the National Championship see the following link 1 Champion Team in International Academic Decathlon at Pacific American School in Hsinchu Taiwan 亞太美國學校 Pacific American School May 22 2008 Archived from the original on February 17 2009 Retrieved April 29 2009 On May 1st PAS put 9 students to the test to compete with other International Schools worldwide United States Academic Decathlon International Academic Decathlon United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on May 2 2009 Retrieved April 29 2009 1998 Curriculum United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 11 1998 Retrieved July 6 2008 a b Quinn Jessica Super Quiz Fresno County Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on September 10 2004 Retrieved August 14 2008 a b c d e f g United States Academic Decathlon Curriculum Topics and Theme United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on 2012 03 03 Retrieved 2012 03 01 Wolcott Holly J February 7 2000 Simi High Advances to State Contest in Academic Decathlon Education Defending national champion Moorpark High places second at county level but may compete further as a wild card selection Los Angeles Times p B9 Hetzner Amy March 11 2000 Waukesha s Catholic Memorial makes it a four peat in Academic Decathlon School sets state record for points looks forward to national competition Milwaukee Journal Sentinel State Records Wisconsin Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on September 23 2006 Retrieved July 7 2008 Bakalis Anna Moorpark wins state academic decathlon Ventura County Star Archived from the original on May 22 2008 Retrieved August 4 2008 Program Materials United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on November 19 2000 Retrieved July 7 2008 Outlines United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on June 21 2000 Retrieved March 17 2010 Ritsch Massie April 22 2001 Valley News Real Genius Competition Woodland Hills El Camino team captures the national Academic Decathlon title It is the school s second title in three years Los Angeles Times p B1 Metro Archived from the original on October 23 2012 Alvino to Leave Decathlon United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 10 2001 Retrieved August 14 2008 Raisin Amy September 20 2000 Academic Resignation Decathlon Head Leaves Amid Dispute Over Article Daily News Archived from the original on March 18 2010 USAD 2002 National Competition Results United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on October 14 2002 Retrieved August 17 2008 a b c United States Academic Decathlon Small Schools Competitions United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 2 2009 Retrieved October 8 2008 USAD 2006 National Finals Small School Virtual Competition United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on July 7 2006 Retrieved August 14 2008 a b c United States Academic Decathlon Medium Schools Competitions United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 2 2009 Retrieved June 20 2008 a b Scarberry K February 18 2010 USAD to Host Four National Competitions for 2010 California Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 9 2010 United States Academic Decathlon USAD Pentathlon Competition United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 13 2010 Retrieved October 4 2009 Academic Decathlon Individual Challenge United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on July 28 2011 Retrieved October 19 2010 USAD Study Guide 2003 2004 United States Academic Decathlon 2003 pp 6 7 a b California Academic Decathlon Website California Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 23 2009 Retrieved August 4 2008 Kansas Academic Decathlon Challenges Outstanding Students From Two States Press release United Student Aid Funds February 26 2008 Archived from the original on May 11 2008 Retrieved April 20 2009 Academic Decathlon Study Guide 2008 2009 United States Academic Decathlon 2008 p 50 2009 Academic Decathlon Competition Handbook 2009 National Finals Memphis Tennessee United States Academic Decathlon 2009 2009 Academic Decathlon Awards Program 2009 National Finals Memphis Tennessee United States Academic Decathlon 2009 Art Resource 2004 2005 United States Academic Decathlon 2004 p 19 Erwin Erica April 30 2006 Erie Team Snares Silver Erie Times News p 1 United States Academic Decathlon Curriculum Topics and Theme United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on March 18 2009 Retrieved April 7 2009 The new curriculum information will be posted the first week of March every year Academic Decathlon Wisconsin Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on May 29 2009 Retrieved April 7 2009 United States Academic Decathlon Curriculum Development Process United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 2 2009 Retrieved April 4 2009 a b c d e United States Academic Decathlon Essential Information United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on June 3 2008 Retrieved June 7 2008 a b United States Academic Decathlon Art Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 1 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 a b United States Academic Decathlon Music Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 25 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 United States Academic Decathlon Economics Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 17 2009 Retrieved June 7 2008 Academic Decathlon The Premier Scholastic Competition for High School Students United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 30 2007 Retrieved August 14 2008 a b United States Academic Decathlon Science Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 31 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 a b c d e f g h i j Sacramento County Academic Decathlon Sacramento County Office of Education Archived from the original on August 20 2008 Retrieved April 5 2009 Pulaski Lee February 15 1995 Chino students win in academic competition Chino Valley Review Retrieved October 7 2008 The theme for this year was Health Wellness and Biotechnology El Camino Real High tops 57 other schools fee required San Jose Mercury News April 27 1998 p 3B Retrieved October 7 2008 Manning Elizabeth March 7 1999 Chavek students show grit fee required Anchorage Daily News p A1 Retrieved October 7 2008 Decathlon isn t just about winning fee required The Modesto Bee February 6 2000 Retrieved October 7 2008 Jeter Lynne March 1 2004 High school students match wits in prestigious competition Olympic styled U S Academic Decathlon fee required Mississippi Business Journal Venture Publications 13 Retrieved April 5 2009 America The Growth of a Nation honoring the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition is the theme for the 200304 sic academic decathlon season dead link Lisa M Sodders November 16 2003 Vying for National Glory Preliminary Round of Academic Decathlon Tests Begin Los Angeles Daily News Retrieved April 5 2009 United States Academic Decathlon Curricular Topics for 2021 2022 www usad org Retrieved 2021 11 10 United States Academic Decathlon Curricular Topics for 2022 2023 www usad org Retrieved 11 January 2023 Luo Michael March 11 1999 Academic Decathlon Returns to Its Orange County Roots Education High school competition started there in 1968 Now 35 000 students nationwide participate Los Angeles Times p Metro 3 SQ Proctor Orientation California Academic Decathlon January 12 2009 Archived from the original PDF on April 19 2009 Retrieved April 19 2009 Academic Decathlon Study Guide 2008 2009 United States Academic Decathlon 2008 p 9 Baranowski Greta Daniel Berdichevsky 2007 Interview Resource DemiDec Resources pp 16 24 27 Baranowski Greta Daniel Berdichevsky 2007 Interview Resource DemiDec Resources pp 26 28 speech scantron PDF Alaska Academic Decathlon Archived from the original PDF on August 7 2008 Retrieved April 19 2009 Speech PenaltiesLocation Revealed interview scantron PDF Alaska Academic Decathlon Archived from the original PDF on August 7 2008 Retrieved April 19 2009 Interview PenaltiesLocation Revealed Essay Reader Packet California Academic Decathlon p 6 Archived from the original PDF on April 19 2009 Retrieved April 19 2009 1 Students will respond to one of three essay prompts Either two prompts will focus on the Super Quiz and one will focus on the selected literature or two prompts will focus on the selected literature and one will focus on the Super Quiz 2 Students have 50 minutes to pre write plan organize draft and write a final version of their essay Academic Decathlon Study Guide 2008 2009 United States Academic Decathlon 2008 p 8 Academic Decathlon Study Guide 2008 2009 United States Academic Decathlon 2008 p 1 United States Academic Decathlon Curriculum Standards United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 2 2009 Retrieved April 10 2009 The theme for the 2008 2009 Academic Decathlon curriculum is Latin America with a focus on Mexico in some subject areas United States Academic Decathlon Language and Literature Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 31 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 Art Reproductions Booklet United States Academic Decathlon 2008 An Introduction to the Music of Latin America The Official Academic Decathlon Music CD CD back cover United States Academic Decathlon 2008 United States Academic Decathlon Economics Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on January 31 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 United States Academic Decathlon Super Quiz Curriculum Outline United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 25 2009 Retrieved March 2 2009 United States Academic Decathlon Copyright Information United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on May 17 2009 Retrieved August 24 2008 a b USAD brochure 2009 United States Academic Decathlon 2009 Archived from the original PDF on April 29 2009 Retrieved April 29 2009 a b Brezina Bob Fall 2010 USAD Coaches Fall Newsletter United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on July 19 2011 Retrieved March 19 2011 Music Resource 2002 2003 United States Academic Decathlon 2002 p 2 Art Resource 2002 2003 United States Academic Decathlon 2002 p 2 a b Landsberg Michael April 29 2007 El Camino quiz kids win again Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on February 13 2010 Retrieved April 10 2009 Dan Spetner a former decathlon coach whose Los Angeles company Acalon Cards and Exams specializes in preparing study materials for the competition Linthicum Kate April 24 2010 Smart easygoing and indispensable Decathlon s varsity students keep the others loose and sometimes score big Los Angeles Times Omaha p 2 Meet the DemiDec Team DemiDec Resources Archived from the original on April 29 2009 Retrieved April 10 2009 Daniel Berdichevsky a k a DemiDec Dan founded DemiDec in 1994 Berdichevsky Daniel The DemiDec Story DemiDec Resources Archived from the original on April 29 2009 Retrieved April 10 2009 O ur course of studies exams workbooks resources answer explanation guides flashcards and other aids 1999 Curriculum United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on December 2 1998 Retrieved May 15 2009 Purchasing study materials from commercial companies is a waste of money 1999 Curriculum United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 23 1999 Retrieved May 15 2009 Program Materials United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on May 8 1999 Retrieved May 15 2009 All the resources you and your students need the OFFICIAL MATERIALS OF THE ACADEMIC DECATHLON are contained in these pages Curriculum specialists and U S A D test writers develop our materials You won t find better quality or more focused materials anywhere else USAD 2002 2003 Curriculum Intro United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on February 10 2003 Retrieved August 21 2008 Cray Dan June 19 2000 Dumb Questions for Bright Kids Time Vol 155 no 25 Los Angeles p 38 Gorman Anna April 16 2000 Academic Decathlon to Revamp Curriculum Cut Price of Materials Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on October 6 2012 Retrieved April 9 2009 Art Basic Guide United States Academic Decathlon 2003 p 2 Music Basic Guide United States Academic Decathlon 2003 pp 7 11 16 23 28 36 Academic Decathlon The Premier Scholastic Competition for High School Students United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 12 2009 Retrieved May 15 2009 The National Association of Secondary School Principals has placed this program on the NASSP National Advisory List of Contests and Activities for 2008 2009 Program Guidelines National Association of Secondary School Principals 2010 Archived from the original on August 5 2010 Retrieved September 17 2010 PHS wins academic decathlon The Pittsfield Gazette Retrieved April 7 2009 Top 3 Individuals Mathematics PDF California Academic Decathlon Archived from the original PDF on August 22 2003 Retrieved July 24 2008 California Academic Decathlon 2003 results Modesto Centre Plaza Double Tree Hotel Johansen High School March 7 California Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on August 22 2003 Retrieved August 24 2008 may orderform PDF United States Academic Decathlon p 2 Archived from the original PDF on April 24 2009 Retrieved April 19 2009 P4061 Gold Medal Each 5 50P4062 Silver Medal Each 5 50P4063 Bronze Medal Each 5 50 Arizona Academic Decathlon Coach s Handbook Arizona Academic Decathlon p 21 Archived from the original doc on July 25 2011 Retrieved April 29 2009 Essay Reader Packet California Academic Decathlon p 6 Archived from the original PDF on April 19 2009 Retrieved April 19 2009 1 Each essay will be read independently by two scorers and the average of these two scores will be the student s final essay score 3 If the scores given by the two scorers differ by 200 or more points then the essay will be read by a third scorer The final score of the essay will be the average of the two closest scores Landsberg Mitchell March 29 2007 El Camino quiz kids win again The Woodland Hills high school takes its fifth National Academic Decathlon title Los Angeles Times Proctor Charles February 7 2007 Granada Hills wins its first area decathlon The charter high school will join seven other L A Unified campuses at the state academic contest next month Los Angeles Times Carmen Ramos Chandler December 2 1993 Taft Academic Decathletes Celebrate Win Daily News of Los Angeles Academic Decathlon Championship Teams Honored by President PR Newswire April 21 1992 USAD Competition Winning State Scores United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on April 12 2003 Retrieved August 24 2008 Nationals AcaDec Scores and Information Center acadecscores gilslotd com Retrieved 2023 05 08 Josephson Michael October 29 2002 Personal Story Interview with Michael Josephson Jolie Fitch The America s Intelligence Wire Retrieved August 16 2008 Walsh Edward April 11 1995 Students Stellar Showing Was a Sham Chicago Teacher Helped Academic Decathlon Team Study Stolen Test The Washington Post Johnson Dirk March 31 1995 Chicago s Cinderella Team Scholars Are Suspected of Cheating Chicago Sun Times Student High School Accused of Cheating This Year Did it Last Year The Associated Press March 25 1996 Thomas Monifa February 17 2008 Whitney Young tops battle of brains again fee required Chicago Sun Times p A18 Retrieved October 7 2008 a b Hetzner Amy March 21 2003 Academic Decathlon investigated Catholic Memorial coach at center of controversy Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Seibel Jacqueline May 28 2003 Coach vows to defy 3 year ban Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Sink Lisa March 24 2003 State Academic Decathlon disciplines school coach Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Hetzner Amy May 31 2003 Decathlon board speaks out on coach s discipline Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Collins Michael June 24 2009 Moorpark decathlon team meets President Obama Ventura County Star Washington Archived from the original on January 13 2012 Retrieved May 1 2011 Crosby Sherry Joe May 2 1998 El Camino s Decathlon Champs Get Half Hour With Clinton Los Angeles Daily News Retrieved May 1 2011 Up until 1993 national decathlon champs were rewarded with a trip to the White House Taft High School of Woodland Hills which placed second in the national finals in 1993 was the last local school to visit the White House United States Academic Decathlon 2008 Nationals Champs United States Academic Decathlon Archived from the original on March 27 2009 Retrieved October 8 2008 Vance Christina May 5 2007 University High wins U S contest Fresno students take Academic Decathlon in small schools category The Fresno Bee Fresno California Archived from the original on April 11 2009 Retrieved July 23 2008 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States Academic Decathlon USAD The official website of United States Academic Decathlon The Official History of Academic Decathlon as published by the organization ADSIC Academic Decathlon Scores and Information Center A compilation of Academic Decathlon and Scholar s Cup scores Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United States Academic Decathlon amp oldid 1155986547, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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