Law-related Education: We The People, Competiton rules

Eligibility Requirements and Rules for the Wisconsin High School Competition

All high school classes (except Exhibition teams) competing in the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution simulated congressional hearings must comply with the following guidelines and rules:

Teachers must provide a copy of their official class roster (form provided), signed by their school principal or other appropriate school administrator, as a confirmation that the class meets the competition guidelines.

The Center is committed to encouraging the widest possible participation from a broad range of students with the continued emphasis on the involvement of all members of a class. For purposes of the competition a "class" must

be constituted according to the school's normal programming procedures and not by a selection of students specifically for the competition;

be designated on the school's master program (schedule of class offerings) as a required or elective class;

be in session during the regular hours of the school day*;

have all enrollees entered in the teacher's record book;

provide graduation credit(s) to students for satisfactory course completion.

*In an effort to help students prepare for simulated congressional hearings, classes are free to meet at times other than normal school hours in addition to meeting during the regular hours of the school day. This includes classes that end prior to congressional district and state competitions or the national finals.

Exhibition Teams
Exhibition teams must prepare and send in a team roster for entry into the competition. The school must identify their team as an exhibition team. Other prerequisites for team competition are waived for exhibition teams.

Regulation Teams
Students who have previously participated in the competitive option at the congressional district, regional, state, or national level will not be allowed to compete in the oral presentation or questioning at any subsequent competition at congressional district, regional, state, or national levels. However, students who are rostered in a competing class and who have previously competed can attend hearings as teaching assistants and/or spectators.

Teachers agree to teach the entire six units (40 lessons) of the curriculum and have their students take a multiple-choice test provided by the Center. Classes that obtain an average score at or above 70% are eligible to compete in the simulated congressional hearings in their congressional district, with winning classes going on to competition at the state and national levels. (Classes may repeat the test until they reach an average score of 70%.)

Each class must be divided into six groups and each group will be responsible for "testifying" on their assigned unit of the text. Each group must have at least three members and the number of students in each group should be as equal as possible. No student may be in more than one group unless there are not enough students in the class to have six three-member groups.

When a class has fewer than 18 students, teachers may allow some students to participate in two groups but not more than two. The number of students allowed to participate in more than one group is determined by the total number of students in the class. For example, if a class has 17 students, only one student may participate in two groups. If a class has 15 students, three students may participate in two groups.

The class roster shall identify the unit to which each student is assigned. A new class roster will be requested at each level of competition (district, regional, state, and national) and teachers may change student unit assignments for the next level of competition, if they so desire. No class with fewer than 9 students shall be eligible to compete.

Two high school classes may be combined in order to participate in the competition if the total number of students in the combined class does not exceed 35 students. The combining of two classes must have the approval of both the district and state coordinator and both classes must meet the definition of a "class." All students in both classes must be listed on the class roster and must participate in the hearing competition.

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