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The United States Academic Decathlon (USAD) is one of the premier academic competitions in the United States. It was started by Dr. Robert Peterson in Orange County, California for local schools in 1968, but was expanded to a nation-wide competition in 1981.

Team makeup and eligibility

The USAD is unique in terms of the breadth of knowledge and diversity of teams that it requires, as it requires students that fall into three categories, which are determined by a modified GPA scale that ignores some electives and the extra weight given to honors classes. The Honors category is composed of students with GPAs between 3.75 and 4.0. The next category, the Scholastic category, is made of students with GPAs between 3.0 and 3.74. The final group, the Varsity category, is made of students whose GPA can be anything up to and including 2.99.

A team from a school can have a maximum of nine members on it, but it can be made by as little as six members without having any repercussions on the team's final score, as long as there are two members in each category. However, teams are forced to find students with below a "B" grade average to host a full team.

It is possible for students to compete in a higher category than the one they would be assigned to, but generally it is to the students' advantage to compete in the lowest category they can, as the scores in Varsity are typically lower than those in Scholastic, and those in Scholastic are typically lower than those in Honors. For instance, a student with a GPA of 2.8 would normally compete in the Varsity category, but could compete in Scholastic or Honors if his team placed him there.

Events

Since it is a decathlon, there are ten events. These events typically include the following: language & literature, art, music, social science, economics, mathematics, science, written essay, interview, and speech (prepared and impromptu).

The topics of the events are known a year in advance of the national competition, which gives students time to prepare for the competition season. Generally, Language and Literature focuses on one or more books or plays and multiple poems, while the Art and Music competitions have compiled selections of pieces that students must familiarize themselves with. Other subjects, such as Economics, have a curriculum that is fixed on the most part and encompasses macroeconomics and microeconomics, with only small annual variations that relate to the central theme. Other subjects, such as Science and Super Quiz, have their curriculum vary greatly from year to year.

There are three "performance events" in the Decathlon competition: Speech, Interview, and Essay. In the Speech event, Decatheletes are expected to write, memorize and deliver a speech with a duration of 3.5-4 minutes, and in some states, to perform an 1.5-2 minute impromptu speech about a subject assigned at competition time; about one minute of preparation time is given. In the Interview event, the students are asked questions about the curriculum and their opinions in a formal environment. In the Essay event, students are given 50 minutes to write a well-organized essay from three or more prompts derived from the year's curriculum. Usually, those topics are obtained from the Language and Literature and Super Quiz material, although topics can be obtained from other events as well.

As the competition has evolved, more of the events have been tied into a central theme. For example, in 2006, the theme is "The Renaissance" and some of the themed events are:

• Language & literature will be based on the Elizabethan dramas, such as William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as other shorter selections written during that time period
• Economics is focused on economies during the Renaissance
• Science is focused on Anatomy and Physiology
• Art emphasized Renaissance artwork
• The Super Quiz (see below) is focused on the "European Renaissance: Renewal and Reform"
• The essay is written from three possible prompts: either one of two language and literature based prompts or a Super Quiz based prompt, and is therefore based on the theme

Super Quiz

The Super Quiz is one highlighted event out of the subjects, but it is never mathematics, essay, speech, or interview. It is always a special topic in relations to the theme. The Super Quiz provides the overall focus for the competition, and other events may be influenced by the choice of Super Quiz topic. Additionally, the Super Quiz not only contains a written test, but also a quizbowl type competition, where students have seven seconds to answer each of five questions for 80 points each. In the competitions held at counties across the United States, the SuperQuiz competition is generally referred to as the 'SuperQuiz' relay. Varsity students go first, and after that scholastics then honors. Each group of students is given five questions. These questions are read aloud to the audience and are in printed form for the competitors. After the questions and answers are read, the students are allowed seven seconds in which they have to circle the correct answer on their answer sheet. Their answer is corrected on the spot, and their score is immediately known to everyone. This portion of Academic Decathlon has long been regarded as the most 'fun,' since parents and friends are welcome to watch, as school cheer for their competitors.

• Past Super Quiz topics
  • 2006 - The European Renaissance: Renewal and Reform
  • 2005 - Exploring the Ancient World, From Empty Space to Incredible Universe: The Sky Is Not the Limit
  • 2004 - America, The Growth of a Nation: The Lewis and Clark Expedition
  • 2003 - Understanding the Natural World, The Blue Planet: Beneath the Surface
  • 2002 - Understanding Others, E-communications: The Internet & Society
  • 2001 - Understanding the Self, Concepts of the Self: Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion
  • 2000 - Looking Forward, Creating the Future: Sustainable Earth
  • 1999 - Looking Inward, The Brain
  • 1998 - Looking Outward, Globalization: The New Economy
  • 1997 - Information Revolution
  • 1996 - The United States: Cooperation and Competition
  • 1995 - Biotechnology: The Next Frontier
  • 1994 - Documents of Freedom
  • 1993 - A Diversity of Achievers
  • 1992 - Habitat Earth
  • 1991 - Space Exploration
  • 1990 - American Indians: Our American Heritage
  • 1989 - The Presidency
  • 1988 - The History of Flight
  • 1987 - We The People
  • 1986 - The Constitution

Study materials

USAD publishes study materials for all the events. The sale of these materials supports USAD economically. USAD has gone from publishing no materials, to publishing materials for all the subjects, to currently having a part of the questions drawn from independent research and the rest coming from the USAD materials.

Third-party study materials

In the early 1990's, various third-party companies, most notably DemiDec and Acalon, began preparing study materials. These study materials provided students with potential test questions and ways to think about the subjects in a different way. These materials, including flash cards, practice tests, and even board games were used by top state winning and national ranking teams leading to increased profit for these companies and a schism with USAD.

In a response to these companies providing extra materials, USAD began providing extra materials, at a cost, to schools. Third party companies still remain popular, however. Most teams order the USAD materials (because the tests mostly come from their contents, especially opinions on things such as the underlying meaning of plays, etc.) but some also rely on a third party source. As of 2004 the largest company providing third party materials is DemiDec. They are known for releasing their materials much earlier than their competition, though they are notorius for their frequent errors.

There has been some debate, however, regarding the production of these materials. At one point, these third-party companies did not exist, and therefore the students were the ones who needed to interpret the USAD resources. With other companies doing the work, students simply need to study the materials that they produce, creating a much more level playing field.

Cheating and biases

There have been some cases of cheating in the history of the decathlon, the most notable being the 1995 Illinois state finals, in which Steinmetz High School was able to secure copies of the test in advance and defeat perennial powerhouse Whitney Young Magnet High School. This was dramatized in the movie Cheaters. If caught cheating, the team will have to retake the test or face disqualification.

Since part of the Super Quiz event takes place on a stage in front of an audience and other teammates, there have been instances of cheating occurring at all levels. In order to prevent this, USAD officials have asked that competition venues either have students sit with their back to the crowd or position lighting in such a way that students cannot see the crowd.

In order to keep the contest secure and free from bias in events that are graded by judges (essay, interview, and speech), no identifying information about the student or their school can be given.

Scoring and winning

There are three official levels of competititon: regional, state, and national, with top finishers advancing to the next level. Regional competitions only exist in states with relatively large numbers of teams competing, and as such some states do not have regional competition. Additionally, many large competition states have school, multi-school, or citywide unofficial competitions for practice.

Each event is worth 1,000 points, with a theoretical maximum individual score of 10,000. The overall team score is composed of the overall scores of the top two performers in each grade category, so a theoretical maximum team score is 60,000, though it is highly unlikely that either of these scores will ever be achieved (A few students have actually managed to break 9,000 points in Decathlon history, and James E. Taylor High School was the first school in USAD history to break 50,000 at a national competition. It still holds the record for the two highest scores in Decathlon history.). In competitive states, an average individual gold-medal score typically ranges between 7,500 and 8,500, and state winning team scores are usually around 39,000 to 42,000 (6,500 to 7,000 for each member on average). National champion scores typically range between 45,000 and 50,000.

States with large numbers of schools competing may have district and regional competitions, with winners advancing to the state finals competition. State winners advance to the national finals, which are hosted in different states from year to year.

Perfect scores of 1,000 in events are recorded regularly, and in some cases there have been 30+ way ties at the national competition because of perfect and near perfect scores.

Participation

In the 2004/2005 season, 40 states sent teams to the national finals. There are academic decathlon competitions in Canada and Australia, and in some cases teams from these nations have participated in the US national finals.

Nationals Winners

External links

• USAD - The official website of United States Academic Decathlon
• DemiDec - A third party company providing supplemental materials for schools
• Message board - Academic Decathlon related message boards
• Scores - A compilation of Regional, State, and Nationals competition scores

• Competitions