Feedback can be given to teams in the form of comments and notes, and that's what it should be. We only use the scores as a means of helping us with the difficult task of choosing one of the many deserving teams to get an award. We look at more than just the interview and the numbers. Teams are observed in the pit and on the playing field as well.

You must keep in mind that the scores are more of a sliding scale in several different categories, and that they are subjective. Having the numbers means nothing. Also, you have no idea what you are being compared to. It's not like the Miss USA pageant where everything is done in front of the audience. In other words, you may get upset if you have a 2 out of 4, when in fact that 2 may be very good and as high as any team scored in that category for that event. Your team could very well have done an excellent job, but another team has done an equally excellent job. Not winning does not necessarily mean that your team needs to improve.

Have the kids focus on doing their best, rather than worrying about being judged. Then they'll know whether they did a great job without anyone needing to tell them.

Darlene Pantaleo
Judge Advisor



On Oct 15, 2008, at 6:56 AM, Robert Haskins wrote:

If the FLL *truly* believes that scores don't matter, then they should
eliminate scores altogether. If scores don't matter, then why can't we
get rid of them? If you need scores, then by definition, scores
matter! Without feedback (why the team scored the way it did) and
transparency from the judging process, it makes it much harder to
improve the team.

I think we're going to have to just agree to disagree on this point,
but it doesn't make the issue (lack of feedback from the judging
process) any less aggravating for me as a coach.

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 10:39 PM, Darlene Pantaleo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

This came from the judges' blog on the FLL website. I hope that everyone
will take the time to read this.
Why scores and rankings don't mean much.
Some of the most common questions I hear about FLL judging concern scores or
rankings of teams. Among the questions are "What was my team's score?" and
"Where did my team rank among all the teams?" I always respond to these
questions with "The policy of FLL is to not release scores or rankings."
This in itself is not a very explanatory answer, and usually leads to
follow-up questions and confusion about the process in general.

 <snip>

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