Idaho Academic Decathlon

In 1968, Dr. Robert Peterson - then superintendent of Orange County Schools in California, developed an academic competition different from others that existed at that time. Dr. Peterson had three main goals for his program: 1. Diversity of subject matter; 2. Opportunity for lower-achieving students to participate; and 3. Communication skills events. The program was known as the Academic Decathlon of Orange County. In 1978 the program was adopted statewide in California and in 1981-82 the United States Academic Decathlon was born, taking the program nationwide. Idaho became involved with the program during the 1984-85 school year.

The Idaho Academic Decathlon became a nonprofit corporation during the 1989-90 academic year. This prepared the way for continued growth and gave Idaho the opportunity to host the National Academic Decathlon in April 1992. It was one of the largest national decathlon meets held, with 49 teams competing in Boise.

The move into nonprofit status also allowed the program to expand its funding base through annual fund-raising campaigns. Sponsorship from Idaho corporations and businesses allowed IAD to award scholarships to individual winners at the state competition. The need for fund-raising continues as the program continues to grow. More than 7,000 students have participated in IAD competitions in the past 16 years and over 300 individuals have earned state scholarships for their Academic Decathlon achievements. Some individual competitors have also been awarded scholarships by colleges and universities based, in part, on their participation and success in this program.

The decathlon consists of six subject area exams: Music/Art, Economics, Mathematics, Social Science, Language & Literature, and Science. During the competition, the students also write an essay, deliver a prepared speech followed by an impromptu speech, and are interviewed by a panel of judges. The tenth event is the Super Quiz, a relay type test before an audience. The topic of the Super Quiz is the theme for each year’s competition. The wide range of subjects studied each year enhances the students’ classroom experience with a wealth of material beyond what is taught in high school courses.

The decathlon program has three categories for student participation based on high school grade point averages. Students with 3.75 to 4.0 GPA compete in the Honors category, those with 3.0 to 3.7499 compete in the Scholastic category and students with lower than 3.0 GPA participate in the Varsity category. This allows, and encourages, students of all achievement levels to participate and gives some students, who are often eliminated from activities on the basis of GPA, a chance to compete for their school against students with similar achievement records. Sponsors, educators and participants favor this format.

The Idaho Academic Decathlon Board of Directors continues to encourage all Idaho schools to participate and looks forward to serving a growing number of students each year.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

The Idaho Academic Decathlon was founded as a means for fostering scholastic excellence among Idaho high school students while accommodating a wide diversity of academic backgrounds. Competition is a prominent thread in the fabric of American life. Just as athletic competition builds pride and physical development in the individual athlete, pride in the school, and in the community- so does academic competition promote scholastic pride and intellectual development in the individual student, pride in the school, and in the community.

THE PURPOSES of the Idaho Academic Decathlon are to:

Encourage students to develop greater respect for knowledge
Promote wholesome inter-school academic competition in all areas of study
Stimulate intellectual growth and achievement
Encourage public interest in and awareness of academic achievement in public education
Foster in the students a desire to learn, understand, value and apply academic skills through a competitive experience.

     BENEFITS of PARTICIPATION:
     Students participating in Academic Decathlon regularly improve classroom performance in other areas of their high school experience. Evidence indicates that many students with decathlon experience score higher on ACT and SAT tests than their peers. The team environment offers an opportunity for belonging, for participation and leadership to students who might otherwise not be involved with student activities. Students are accountable for themselves but also responsible to the group and have to perform at a higher level to be competitive. Internal motivation is increased, as is self-esteem. Students learn they can gain the knowledge, ability and skill to be competitive regardless of the size of school they attend or their Grade Point Average. They also meet new people, learn interpersonal and sportsmanship skills and gain an understanding of a larger world outside the walls of their high school or community.
     There is considerable discussion about Education Reform nationally and locally. Idaho has taken major steps towards standards-based education with greater accountability for teachers and students. The decathlon program addresses many of these concerns:
     ASSESSMENT: Student performance is measured at each meet. Students compete three times a year and progress is clearly plotted throughout the year. Students are continually asked to demonstrate their knowledge and to increase the depth of that knowledge.
     SCIENCE and MATH: The Decathlon includes strong science and math components for students of both genders and all ability levels.
     STUDY and RESOURCE GUIDES: These yearly guides establish a standards-based curriculum with students knowing exactly what needs to be studied in order to meet the requirements of the program. The guides provide resources to facilitate the students' research and learning activities.
    COOPERATIVE LEARNING: Group activities and cooperative learning methods are key to preparing both the team and individual students for the competition. Students learn early that they must work together and cooperate in order to achieve their goals.
     TEAM WORK: While the students are encouraged to improve their own skills and expand their individual knowledge base, decathlon is a team effort. Students come to bond as a group and understand that their individual effort helps the team score.
     CROSS-CURRICULAR: Each year there is an annual theme that governs the curriculum. Study in each discipline is related to that theme, allowing students to see how each field of study is related to the others.
     TEACHING STRATEGY: The teacher of a decathlon team becomes a learning coach, a learning facilitator rather than a presenter of all the "right answers." These coaches teach students how to think, not what to think and become motivators, modelers, and supporters. Students study and learn at their own pace and understand their efforts are appreciated and contribute to the goal. Decathlon coaches receive in-service training and many become master motivators, master facilitators, and master teachers with broad content background.
     RELEVANCY: The annual curriculum relates to current world issues and includes such workplace skills as written and spoken communication. There is an expectation of excellence and students know from the beginning of the season what is to be learned. The program follows a model of mastery learning, with the written, taught, and tested curriculum all the same.
     RIGOR: Academic Decathlon students are challenged. It is not the intent for the rigor to be overwhelming, but students are required to learn the extensive materials and then demonstrate their knowledge in meaningful ways.
     CHARACTER EDUCATION: Students learn responsibility, initiative, integrity, conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships, manners, sportsmanship for winning and losing, and leadership skills.
     STUDY SKILLS: Students learn how to study, how to research, narrow topics, apply information. They learn to manage time, to study in groups and alone. Because their progress is regularly measured in a variety of ways, they learn to gauge their own progress towards their goals.
     LIFE SKILLS: Such important workplace and life skills as problem-solving, time management, written and spoken communication, public speaking and teamwork are integral to the decathlon program. When students learn how to apply their individual effort and success to the well being of the group, they are prepared for the modern workplace.
     SUCCESS IN A COMPETITIVE WORLD: Academic Decathlon is competition-based and helps students understand the competitive nature of the world around them. They understand that their own success as well as the success of the team is dependent on their willingness to continue to improve. They also understand that their improvement is measured against other competitors at each meet.

A Competition of Academic Strength