Coaches, on behalf of themselves and/or their students, may protest an adjudicator’s application of a rule or criterion. Contest officials will review the complaint, but will not interpret adjudicators’ written comments, nor reconsider point deductions, unless there is a clear error by the adjudicator.
- During/at a festival by bringing it to the attention of the festival host/manager
- Within five (5) calendar days following a festival, by completing the official WISDAA Speech Adjudicator Concern form.
Appeal/Score Adjustment #
For an appeal of adjudicator scoring, the coach has burden of proof to explain how the adjudicator misapplied a rule or evaluation criterion. This may include “double jeopardy,” where the adjudicator deducted points for the same issue under multiple areas, unless the adjudicator clearly linked how the deduction applied to each criterion.
Remediation of Poor Adjudication #
At any time, a coach can report poor adjudication to be remediated with the adjudicator, documenting how they could approach the task in a more constructive, supportive, and/or clearer manner. While this happens as part of appeals/score adjustment, sometimes, a change in score will not make a difference for the contestant, or the adjudicator was technically correct, but could approach how they handle something better. This is also handled through the form referenced/linked above.
