The judge factor: The effect of an adjudicator's teaching level on assigned UIL ratings
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Previous research established the reliability of adjudicators and their rankings and ratings when judging in their field of expertise. This study examined the extent to which the grade level of judges’ prior teaching experience affects the ratings they assign during band adjudication (N = 11, 7 high school judges, 4 middle school judges). Adjudication data were collected from a 14 year period, 2001 – 2014 and included varsity band ratings from the UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest in the state of Texas. At each contest studied, judging panels consisted of three Texas Music Adjudicator Association approved judges. Each of the three judges individually assigned a rating, and the three ratings were combined for a composite rating. Results were determined by evaluating the statistical significance between the rating assigned by each of the judges in this study as compared to the composite rating of the panel for that contest. These results were then compared based upon the adjudicator’s previous grade level of teaching experience in relation to the grade level of ensembles adjudicated. The emphasis of this study was on the relationship between the ratings assigned to ensembles in which the adjudicator had the most experience teaching in that grade level compared to the ensembles the adjudicator had little or no experience teaching in that grade level. Results indicated that there was no statistical significance found in any of the judge’s ratings when compared to the adjudicators’ previous grade level of teaching and the ensembles in which they adjudicate.