Competition Day Instructions For Coaches:

March 7, 2013

1.  At the registration desk, just outside the Grand Ballroom of the union, you will receive a packet of registration forms to be handed out to your students. Have your students fill these out before the competition and return them to you. Please bring the completed forms back to the registration table.

2. At the registration desk, you will also receive a registration list indicating the names of the students on your team and when they will be taking each test.  If you absolutely must make a change, proceed to the computer end of the registration table and explain the change needed to the person there. (Note:  Changes are time consuming since new forms must be bubbled, new exam booklets must be added to your packet, and the registration database must be updated. Roster changes should be reported prior to the day of the competition.) Inside your registration packet, you will also find participation certificates for your students.  Please verify spelling and let the registration personnel know if you need replacements. These will be sent to you at a later date.

3. Testing will take place in the Grand Ballroom, the University Ballroom down the hallway, and the Charleston-Mattoon Room on the third floor.  Check the label on the front of your registration packet for your team’s assigned room and seats.  Note that each of your team members will be sitting at separate tables. Have students proceed to the room where they will be testing. If you have your students sit in the same order as the roster, it will facilitate distributing the Scantron forms and exams as they are packed in the same order as the roster. A video feed will allow the opening ceremony to be viewed from either ballroom.

4. After the opening ceremony (about 9:25 AM), the Exam Coordinator in your team's testing room will direct you to pick up your team's first-session packet as your school's name is called. The packet contains your students' Scantron forms, the appropriate exam booklet for each student, and scratch paper. Each Scantron form already has the name of the student who will be using that form, and the name of the test that he/she will be taking during that session. Make sure that the test booklet given to the student matches the test printed on the form, otherwise the student will be graded against the wrong answer key. Instruct students to make no marks on the Scntron form except for filling the circles corresponding to their responses. Make sure that your students do not open their test booklets until the Exam Coordinator directs them to begin. This year, as last, you will have unused exam booklets for the second session, so students may write in their exam booklets. But the used booklets must be returned at the end of the testing period.

5. We will provide proctors to roam around the room during the testing period.  During the testing period you may return to the lounge area where refreshments will be provided for coaches.

6. At about 10:15 AM you will be asked to return to the testing area. When directed by the Exam Coordinator to do so, you will collect your students’ exam forms, exam booklets, and all scratch paper. You will bring them to a designated area. There will be 7 subject boxes for forms. Make sure that each form is deposited in the correct form box; i.e. math forms in the math box, etc. Your team may NOT use the same exam booklets for the second session since students are allowed to write in the exam booklets. Put used exam booklets in the appropriate discard pile beside the corresponding subject box. You may not keep any exam booklet, since the Sectional testing period across the state will not yet be over.

7. When directed by the Exam Coordinator, you will obtain your team’s second-session packet, which contains the proper number of each exam booklet, corresponding exam forms, and scratch paper. (See column 2 of the roster table in the packet). When directed by the Exam Coordinator, pass the contents out to your students, making sure that each student has the correct form and booklet. Again make sure that your students do not open their exam booklets until instructed to do so.

8. At about 11:10 AM, return to the testing area, and follow the same procedure as in step 6.

At the end of the award ceremony for your division, a summary of team scores in your division will be handed out. Winners may proceed to the lounge area to have photos taken.

Since EIU's sectional competition occurs so early in the competition window, you may NOT take exam booklets home with you. However, WYSE WILL be posting exams and answers on the WYSE web site at the end of the competition window. Also at the end of the competition window, I will email to each of you a summary of your students' responses to each question of each exam. If you want the actual Scantron forms that your students bubbled (instead of the email summary), please leave a self-addressed, 9" x 12" envelope with sufficient postage to mail N sheets of paper. Where N = (number of students) times 2.

(OVER)

Academic Challenge Calculator/Testing Rules for 2013

Calculator usage at all levels of the Academic Challenge competition will follow the guidelines used in the ACT, SAT, and Prairie State Achievement Exam. As in past years, calculators are allowed on the math, physics, and chemistry tests only.

Examinees must bring their own calculators and may not share calculators.
Only one calculator per student is allowed.
Each competitor is responsible for his/her own calculator.
Testing site staff will not have extra batteries or calculators.
An acceptable calculator includes any four-function, scientific, or graphing calculator, as long as it doesn't have any of the prohibited features (see prohibited list below).

Competitors will be dismissed from the test and their answer sheets not scored if they are found:

Using unauthorized calculators
Using the calculator's memory to store any test materials
Using any device to share or exchange information at any time during the tests or during break (All electronic devices, including cellular phones and pagers, must be turned off from the time the competitor is admitted to test until dismissed after testing concludes.)
Removing any part of a test book or any notes relating to the test from the test room
Creating a disturbance or allowing an alarm, pager, or phone to sound in the testing room

The following calculators and types of calculators are prohibited:

* Calculators with built-in computer algebra systems. Calculators in this category include:

o Casio: Algebra fx 2.0, ClassPad 300 and ClassPod 330, and all model numbers that begin with CFX-9970G

o Texas Instruments: All model numbers that begin with TI-89 or TI-92, and the TI-Nspire CAS (the non-CAS TI-Nspire is permitted)

o Hewlett-Packard: HP 48GII and all model numbers that begin with HP 40G, HP 49G, and HP 50G

* Handheld, tablet, or laptop computers, including PDAs

* Electronic writing pads or pen-input devices (Sharp EL 9600 is permitted)

* Calculators built into cell phones or other wireless/electronic communication devices

* Calculators with a typewriter keypad (QWERTY format)

* Calculators with paper tape and/or that make noise

* Calculators that can communicate wirelessly with other calculators

* Calculators that have power cords

 

Competitive Cutoff Scores for Advancement of Individuals
from Sectional to State Finals Competition for 2013:

In addition to those students advancing with teams or by placing 1st or 2nd, those students achieving
scores above or equal to those shown in the following table are also eligible to advance to state:

 

Unlimited

1500

700

300

Math

31

28

24

20

Chemistry

30

25

22

22

English

75

75

74

66

Physics

29

24

23

20

Biology

39

39

35

35

Engineering Graphics

29

26

27

23

Computer Science

26

25

25

20

 

State Final Competition Dates

Monday, April 8, 2013 - Unlimited Division
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 1500 Division
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - 700 Division
Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 300 Division