2.12 The Debate Ballot
Ever since I debated half a century ago, and likely well before that, debates have been judged on a 30 point scale. This is the basis of the standard debate ballot, and since debate coaches and judges are accustomed to it, it persists. Some debate ballots break down the 30 points into categories; others (like the one currently used for LD debate by the National Forensics League (NFL) simply tell judges to award a total number of points. Evidently this has led to point inflation and most judges award somewhere between 25-30. Below 20 is a score given only for “Unethical/Inappropriate Behavior.” In my opinion, undifferentiated ballots like the current NFL ballot lead to randomized adjudication and frustrated students.
LD Debate Ballot without Cross-Examination
Since the current ballot does not assign points for various aspects of the debate, I have developed a new 40-point scale that informs debaters what they did well on. The most important aspects of the debate (constructive argument and refutation) are given double the number of points assigned to the other categories:
Introduction: 5
Organization: 5
Constructive arguments: 10
Refutation of opponent’s arguments: 10
Identification of voting issues: 5
Delivery: 5
Total: 40
LD Debate Ballot with Cross-Examination
If there is cross-examination, two additional 5-point categories are added, resulting in the following 50-point scale:
Introduction: 5
Organization: 5
Constructive arguments: 10
Cross-examination of opponent: 5
Responses to cross-examination: 5
Refutation of opponent’s arguments: 10
Identification of voting issues: 5
Delivery: 5
Total: 50
Translating total points into letter grades is not straightforward since a debater who receives one point less than the maximum for each category on the cross-examination ballot would receive a 42, which is 84% or B in standard grading schemes. My view is that earning one less than the top score in each category would be sufficient to earn A-, or 90, which effectively incorporates a 6% curve into the grade. Other instructor may have different views of what constitutes a fair grading scheme, but ultimately this is a subjective judgment that is beyond the scope of this book.
I use the following curve for debates that do not include cross-examination:
39-40: A+
36-38: A
34-35: A-
32-33: B+
29-31: B
27-28: B-
25-26: C+
22-24: C
20-21: C-
18-19: D+
15-17: D
13-14: D-
<13: F
When cross-examination is included, I assign grades for a 50-point ballot as follows:
49-50: A+
46-48: A
43-45: A-
40-42: B+
37-39: B
34-36: B-
31-33: C+
28-30: C
25-27: C-
23-24: D+
21-22: D
19-20: D-
<19: F
I also allow debaters to drop the lowest debate grade, since many students have difficulty in their first debate or just have a bad debate at some point during the semester. This is a popular policy that also permits a student to skip a debate without suffering a penalty for doing so.
