NAACP ACT-SO CRITERIA FOR SELECTING JUDGES
1. Each judge must have at least a baccalaureate degree in the category he or she is judging (an advanced degree is preferred – especially in science). If not degreed, the individual should be employed as a professional in the category field. Junior College or College Professors often make good judges. They are familiar with the level of work a high school student should produce. Professional Architects, Engineers, Journalists, Actors, Painters, Gallery Owners, Newspaper Publishers, etc. are good candidates for judges.
2. Each category must have a minimum of three (3) qualified judges.
3. Judges must not have any contact with or be any relation to students who may be competing in the category they are judging. (This eliminates participants’ high school teachers and local ACT-SO coaches/mentors from serving as judges. The integrity of the competition is compromised when high school, middle and elementary school teachers serve as judges for students they may have taught or mentored.)
4. Judges must be available for the entire judging period/process.
5. Judges who have judged a local competition may judge on the National level, but not in the same category as a student they may have already judged at a local competition.