The noise level around my child's project was unacceptable; I was unable to hear the judges' questions to my child.
We recognize that the background noise while judging can be a challenge.  We encourage our judges to "clear the area" before judging and to ask parents & others to step back to provide a quieter environment. We also give our judges bright t-shirts to wear in hopes that this will serve as another signal to Fair-goers to quiet down.  We also encourage parents to give their children every opportunity to conduct the judging process by themselves.  Parents are welcome to observe from a distance but should not be close enough to hear questions and answers, the exception being our youngest participants in kindergarten and 1st grade.

Can you have a category of projects that are "display only"?  Some kids do not like the pressure of being judged and fear not "winning."
The planning committee feels that the oral presentation to judges is an integral part of participating in the Fair.  Our judges are easygoing and dedicated to providing encouragement and support to the students; they also want to provide feedback for improvement in hopes their advice will help the student the following year.  We have tried to provide many "winning" opportunities for students, from increasing the overall percentage of blue ribbons/medals awarded in grades 3 & 4 to over 11 different Special Awards that recognize projects separately from the Science Fair judges.  In addition, we host many exhibits and demonstrations on Fair Day so that the 10-15 minutes of judging is just a part of the day.

My score was unfair!  My judge team was too hard compared to other judge teams whose projects won an award.
Training our judges to be consistent across judge teams is one of our top priorities year to year.  Each year after the Fair is over we evaluate each judge team to determine how their scoring looked in relation to other judge teams evaluating the same grade level.  The judges receive this evaluation and are encouraged to make adjustments to their scoring for the next year.  During judge orientation we go over the key components to a good science project with emphasis on the scientific method; we do our best to align all the judges expectations.

I think there should be consideration given to projects that are done by the children and those that obviously had a lot of parental help.  Some of the display boards were amazing and overshadowed the less 'flashy" ones done wholly by the child.
The judges are intent on determining whether the child understands the science behind their project.  The scoring criteria give more weight to the scientific method components; less points are given for the appearance of the board.  The display board should be neat and easy to read, but judges are instructed to look beyond the professional appearance of some display boards and gauge the knowledge of the project by the child. 

The level of difficulty of the project should be taken into account as well as how well the students know their material.  Some "simple science" projects won ribbons and medals, while projects with more difficult subjects received nothing.
Our scoresheet is constructed so that students with a clear understanding of their project receive higher scores; we also look at the level of difficulty of the project relevant to the grade of the student.  That being said, a simple project well done is a winner.   A "simple project" that applies all of the elements of the scientific method is preferable to a more complex experiment that does not test something, resulting in mathematical data that can be presented on a table and then expressed on a graph. Also it can be hard for a student to present a very complex project clearly and that can cost them some points.  

The day was too long and since we were scheduled for 1:15pm, we feel that general fatigue for both the students and judges may not have allowed for an even scoring ground. Waiting around from 9am to 1:15 pm is a bit too much.
The length of the day is a matrix of how many students per grade participate in the Fair and how many volunteer judges we are able to recruit. Some grades have a high level of participation so their judging range may be about 30 minutes longer than other grades.  We do give our judges breaks throughout their judging schedules and a 30 minute break for lunch.

Would it be feasible to have one pair of judges re-visit the top-scoring projects to ensure equitable judging for the medal/ribbon distinction?
This second round of judging would require an extra time commitment from both the students and judges.  We used to have this 2nd round several years ago, but the size of the Fair has grown so that this may extend the length of the day to unacceptable lengths. Be assured that the planning committee spends many hours each year evaluating the results of the judging and devising methods to improve the process.

My judge didn’t let me give my whole presentation; he interrupted me several times to ask questions that I would have answered later in my talk.  Can the judges be told to let the students give the whole presentation before they ask questions?
Each judge team has their own style of evaluating projects and this is part of the learning process about presenting your project at the Fair…it won’t always be the same from year to year!  Some judges may feel the presentation will go over the allotted judge time and want to help focus the presentation so that they can accurately score the project. 

There is too much variation in the backgrounds, biases/approaches and competencies of the judges to allow for even and fair judging.
Our judges come with a wide variety of scientific experience. Some have been judges for over 15 years; a few may be highly qualified high school students who were successful Chester Science Fair participants themselves. Many currently work in the field of science as chemists, engineers, teachers or researchers.  However, regardless of their individual background they all are expected to score projects according to a very specific set of criteria.

My child’s scoresheet showed that the judges did not think her data charts were “as expected” but there was no written feedback given so that she could know how it could be improved.
We do ask our judges to provide as much feedback as possible to the students, but sometimes they are constrained by time and limit their feedback.  We provide examples of well-constructed projects through our links off the website.  In addition, we will offer Mentoring sessions again next year which is an opportunity to get direct feedback on the progress of a project. 

My child's judge team was overly critical and dismissive of their work and I am very disappointed in their conduct.
We do our best to stress to the judges that their role is to both evaluate projects and encourage students in their scientific growth. We believe a very high percentage of our judges take this directive seriously and therefore, we are concerned about these complaints.  Please contact us.

The only way to ensure fair judging is to have the same judge team evaluate all the projects in one grade.
This is definitely an ideal set-up, but it would lead to a marathon Science Fair, stretching far into the evening.  Some grades have over 100 projects and at 15 minutes a project, the length of the day would be overwhelming.

Regarding Awards

Can all the participants in the Fair at the grades 3-5 level be recognized at the Awards assemblies, not just the ribbon/medal winners?
During the Awards assemblies we do congratulate all the participants in the Fair by having them stand and receive applause for their participation.  We also recognize again all the winners of the Special Awards that received their actual recognition at the Fair.  However, the Fair committee is sensitive to the feelings of our youngest participants and we will consider ways to reward all participants during these assemblies.  However, we must take into account the length of these assemblies and the disruption to classroom instruction time. 

Can there be more qualitative feedback instead of numerical scores for the younger children?  The concept of “meets expectation” vs. “exceeds expectations” is difficult to comprehend.
We agree that the transition from K-2 "scoring" to numerical scoring in the 3rd grade can be difficult for both student and parent, and to this end we strongly encourage our judges for these grades to do their best to provide verbal and written feedback.  We want the students' first exposure to numerical scoring to be a learning experience.  The report cards at Dickerson and in third grade follow a similar format. Once the students are in 4th grade, they begin to receive letter grades. The scoring process is in place to offer feedback on the child’s project. Explanations of expected components of projects are available on the science fair website and during mentoring nights before the fair

If the judging cannot be truly consistent and balanced then the result is that the judging process demotivates rather than motivates the participants.  Can the scores be eliminated and replaced with simple feedback to the students?
The results to our survey show that the overwhelming majority of people think that awarding ribbons and medals to the top projects in each grade is fair and should be continued.  We do our best to train our judges to be consistent in their scoring and our internal evaluation shows that over 90% of the time this goal is met. 

I think the ribbons and medals give students a goal to make their project really amazing so they can win, so I don’t think the Fair should get rid of them.
We always appreciate feedback from students and we recognize that sometimes parents have different opinions about awards than students!

The truly important areas of a successful project should be weighted more heavily than others; for example, the listing of materials used seems to be trivial and should not be given more weight in the score than the overall difficulty of the project.
The listing of materials is part of the scientific method.  In the upper grades the correct use and application of the scientific method is more heavily weighted than other items on the scoresheet. Each year we carefully review the weightings of each question on the score sheets - per grade - with the science teachers to ensure that we are matching that which is expected at the individual grade levels. Projects are judged on the student’s total understanding of the scientific method. A student may choose to explore a more difficult topic out of curiosity. The common factor between projects and their presentations is an understanding of the scientific method.

Regarding Emails

Is it possible to give us our judging time in addition to our project’s table location in the email sent out the day before the Fair, especially for grades K-2?  Are the table location emails sent out to each partner or only one? 
Emails are sent to the parents of each individual student participating in the Fair.  We cannot send out the judge times prior to the Fair because we must reserve our ability to alter the judging schedule right up until early on Saturday morning to take into account unforeseen changes.

Regarding Exhibits/Activities
We loved the shows but found it difficult to see all of them within the time constraints of the day.  Could these shows be offered more frequently, with shorter duration?
Each year, we try to have a variety of exhibits during the Fair.  Given the nature of the Science Fair, participants need to be at their displays during a window around their specified judge time(s).  Consequently, we try to have "ongoing" exhibits that are open for most of the day, where fairgoers can drop in when it fits their judging window, as well as some exhibits that are more "show" oriented, with specific showtimes.  We work with each exhibitor to prepare them for students coming and going, even from the scheduled shows, and they are usually receptive to this model.  The exhibitors specify the show length, based upon their experience.  We try to schedule the shows to accommodate as many fairgoers as possible. It is hard to see everything at one Fair, so we often bring exhibitors back for subsequent Fairs. 

There should be more incentives to get the middle school kids interested in the other activities at the Fair.  Perhaps a cooking show with the science behind the methods used would be of interest to this age group.
This is a very tough crowd to impress and we are open to suggestions!  We do operate within a limited budget which has been even more constrained the last few years.  The cooking show suggestion is appreciated!

Dr. Hwang's nitrogen magic show is amazing, but supervision is needed at the door to prevent continuous in & out interruptions.
Every exhibitor is assigned a volunteer and we will be sure to tell Dr. Hwang's volunteer to guard the door next year.  Thanks for the feedback!

Regarding Special Awards

My child's project received a first place award from the Special Award judges, yet received neither a blue ribbon or a gold medal from the regular Fair judges.  How can this be?
The Special Award judges have their own independent criteria and scoresheets and are not usually looking for the same things as our regular Fair judges whose emphasis is on adherence to the scientific method.
Special Award judges are generally interested in:
1.  Relevant, current, timely research into the field of interest
2.  Great enthusiasm for the field
3.  Creativity
4.  Uniqueness of project

The Special Awards ceremony at the end of an already-long Fair day has become too lengthy. 
The number of Special Awards has grown over the last few years, which is a good thing!  We are happy that more participants are receiving recognition for their projects by outside experts.  We work with our SA judges each year and encourage them to compress their speeches at the ceremony without compromising necessary recognition of their winners.  About 40% of projects at the Fair were also judged by a Special Award judge, hence, the length of the awards ceremony has increased as well.

Why didn’t all Special Award projects receive some sort of recognition ribbon this year?   Were only the top winners in the Special Award categories honored this year?
Each Special Award judge team decides in advance how many awards they will give out, they buy them with their own money.  Some Special Award judge teams give out small tokens of recognition to everyone they judged, some do not and just recognize the "top" winners.  We do not really have any control over that.   Also,  the Special Award teams will sometimes change their system from year to year.

The judging and award criteria for each of the Special Awards did not seem to be consistent.  Can there be more uniformity in what the Special Award judges award to the eligible projects?
The number of and selection of winners is at the discretion of the Special Award judges.  They do not present awards to a certain percentage of projects or to certain grade levels.  They do however take into consideration the grade level of the participants when judging each project.

We are new in the community and weren’t very clear whether our son’s project qualified for a particular Award; however, at the Fair it became clear that we should have just “applied” for the Award and let the judges look at the project and determine its worthiness.  Could the Special Awards process be given more detailed instructions at the registration process?
The purpose is to give students a chance to discuss their project with someone who has expertise in that area.  In order to determine if a project qualifies for a Special Award students/parents should check the criteria for each Award posted on the web site. It is best to apply for a Special Award at the same time the project is registered on the web site.  Participation is voluntary and it requires an additional judging time.

Miscellaneous

Please eliminate special time requests for judging.  Children who take the "luck of the draw" on judging time are at a disadvantage to those who ask for early judging times.
We have always tried to accommodate specific time requests and have usually been successful in years past.  However, the amount of time needed to juggle these time requests (this year it was about 35%) has become overwhelming and next year we will be implementing a change; a request may be made for morning or afternoon judge time only.   We understand that families are busy and we appreciate the costs involved in making participation in the Fair a priority.

Where were the recycling containers at the school during the Fair?  This sends a poor message, especially at a Science Fair!
During the school day at Black River there are well-marked recycling containers all throughout the school.  We can only surmise that when rooms and areas were shifted around to accommodate our set-up, these recycling containers were also shifted around, perhaps to out-of-the-way spots.  Our custodians have been made aware that we should make the recycling containers visible and scattered around the Fair area. 

Our child requested that electricity be available near his project, but when we arrived none was provided.
Please alert us right away to these kind of omissions.  We double-check our electricity requirements and layouts the night before the Fair, but sometimes there are errors.  We have extension cords and other solutions available.

The Fair is too big. Can it be broken down into BRMS vs. Dickerson/Bragg?
The logistics and expense that would be involved to duplicate the Fair at separate locations is prohibitive.  We did make adjustments to the layout of the Fair this year by moving all projects out of the cafeteria/Food Booth area and spreading out to more classroom areas.