the Quill

​NCASA – the Quill Rules

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A. Registration

All teams must register before the competition according to Rule IX of NCASA Competition Rules. 

1. Withdrawal. Teams that choose to not participate in a competition after registering to participate in that competition must notify NCASA. 1) Registered Teams that withdraw from a competition during the competition registration period will not pay a penalty. 2) Registered Teams that withdraw from a competition after the conclusion of the Pre-competition Registration period must pay a penalty. 

   • Registered Teams that withdraw from a competition eight (8) or more days prior to the day of the competition must pay a $30 penalty. 

   • Registered Teams that withdraw from a competition between eight (8) and one (1) day prior to the day of the competition must pay a $50 penalty. 

   • Registered Teams that withdraw from a competition less than twentyfour (24) hours prior to the start of the On-Site Registration period shall incur a $100 penalty. 

   3) Penalties for withdrawal from a competition may be waived at the discretion of NCASA.

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B. Volunteer

1. Each team must provide two Volunteers to help administer the competition. 

   • One Volunteer must be a current grade-appropriate teacher. This Volunteer will adjudicate the compositions. 

   • The second Volunteer does not require special credentials or training. 

2. The Volunteers must arrive on site for the Volunteer training prior to the scheduled kick-off meeting. 

3. Teams failing to furnish the necessary Volunteers will have the Coach serve in that role. 

4. If the coach is unwilling or unable to serve as Volunteer, the team will forfeit. 

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C. Check-in

NCASA will publish a “check-in” period for the tournament at least a week prior to the day of the Tournament. 

1. A representative from each Team must check-in during this time period and confirm the roster of Players that will compete. 

2. Late registrations will only be accepted until the beginning of the kick-off meeting. 

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D. Team Composition

1. Coach 

   • One individual who is not a student (e.g.: a teacher, assistant principal, etc.) may serve as a Coach to train and supervise the Players. 

2. Players 

   • Up to four students from a Member School will be considered the Players that comprise a middle or high school team. 

   • Up to three students from a member school will be considered the players that comprise an elementary school team.

   • Schools may participate with fewer than three Players, but those Players will be ineligible for advancement in the team competition.

   • At least three students must participate for the school to earn Cup points. 

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E. Prompts 

1. High School players will write compositions using prompts from the following text types. 

   • Literary Analysis 

   • Argumentation 

   • Problem / Solution 

   • Creative Writing 

2. Middle School players will write compositions using prompts from the following text types. 

   • Informational 

   • Argumentation 

   • Narrative 

   • Problem / Solution 

3. Elementary school players will write compositions using prompts from the following text types.

   • Informational

   • Narrative

   • Opinion

4. Each Player on a Team will write a composition using different text types. 

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F. Kick-off meeting

The Tournament Director will conduct a kick-off meeting for all Teams and Volunteers to review essential procedures, room assignments, schedule, and other necessary information. 

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G. Room Assignments 

Immediately following the kick-off meeting, Players will be directed to their classroom according to their chosen text type. 

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H. Classroom check-in 

1. As Players arrive in the classroom, the proctor will assign each player a student code. This code will be used to identify the Players’ compositions. 

2. Players will be instructed to identify themselves using their student code. 

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I. Contestant Rules 

1. Once all Players are seated with their student code, the prompt sheets will be distributed face down. 

2. The signal will be given to turn the prompts sheets over. 

3. Players will have 90 minutes to create their compositions. A warning will be given when there are 15 minutes remaining. Players may not leave the classroom until the 90 minute composition time has elapsed. 

4. Players are prohibited from identifying themselves or their school in their composition. 

   • A “fake” name and school will be presented with the prompt in case the Player needs to identify themselves or their school in their composition. 

   • A Player who uses their real name or school in their composition will be disqualified from the individual competition. Their composition will be removed, and the remaining compositions from the Team will be used to determine the team score. 

5. High School and middle school students must type their composition using a PC or similar device. Elementary School students may type or write their competitions. Written compositions must be hand-written on standard 8” by 10 ½” ruled white notebook paper. Students shall write or print the composition in ink or pencil and on only one side of the paper. 

6. Thesaurus and Dictionary. 

   • Students may use a printed thesaurus and dictionary during the contest. Students may have the printed blank rubric as a resource as well.

   • No other resource materials may be used during the contest, including internet based materials. 

 

J. Judging 

1. Compositions will be scored according to the NCASA The Quill Rubric. 

2. Two Judges will review and score each composition independently.

3. Scores will be normalized to reduce the number of required rescores. 

4. The normalized scores of each Judge will be compared by a Volunteer. 

   • If the scores differ by ten points or less, the scores are combined to create the final score. 

   • If the scores differ by more than ten points, the composition is presented to the Escalation Judge to be scored. Once scored by the Escalation Judge, the average of all three scores is added to the average of the two closest scores to create the final score. 

5. Tiebreaker. 

   1. Individual tiebreaker will only be used to resolve a first-place tie in the state finals.. 

   2. The Escalation Judge will score all compositions in a first place tie. 

   3. If the tie remains after the Escalation Judge has scored all tied compositions, then the individual competition will end in a first place tie. 

   4. When team scores are tied, individual scores for the tied teams will be reviewed. 

      • The lowest score for each tied team will be reviewed.

      • The team with the highest of the low scores will be ranked highest. 

      • If these lowest scores are tied, the next highest scores will be reviewed, with the highest of those scores being ranked highest.

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K. Individual Awards 

1. Compositions within each topic will be ranked according to the final score. 

2. The top two Players for each text type in each Region will advance to the State Finals. 

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L. Team Awards 

1. All four scores will be averaged to determine the team scores. Any non-submissions will be scored as zero for the purpose of calculating the team score. 

2. Teams will be ranked according to the overall team score. 

3. Advancement requirements to the State Finals will be determined by The Quill committee after registration is closed but prior to the Regional competitions. 

4. All Players who advance to the State Finals will be eligible for the State Individual awards. 

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M. Returning Materials 

1. Once the awards are announced, the compositions and rubrics are returned to the Coaches to be distributed to the Players. 

2. Compositions of Players in the State Finals become property of NCASA and may be printed and circulated or otherwise used by the Association in promotion of the Competition. 

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N. Scoring Challenges 

1. Subjective reviews and scoring may not be challenged or appealed. 

2. Scoring Calculation errors may be appealed to the Tournament Director.