Why Forensics?

1. Why Forensics? California High School Speech Association

2. Alignment with Standards Competitive Speech and Debate Activities Meet 15 of the National Common Core Standards for ELA (including the newly adopted California Common Core Standards). Meet all ten of the National Common Core Standards for Social Studies. Meet 58 of 62 current California ELA State Standards.

3. College Board Standards for College Success (CBSCS) We meet all four zones (reading, writing, speaking and listening) of the College Board Standards for College Success.

4. National Association of Secondary School Principal’s Breaking Ranks Endorses speech and debate for Promotion of one-on-one direct instruction Instruction in evaluative criticism Support of community outreach Promotion of educational leadership

5. Alignment with School Learning Goals Critical and Creative Thinking Effective Communicators and Collaborators Information Processors Self Management Civic Literacy

6. Advantages and Benefits • Unique benefits for gifted, special needs and at-risk students. • A Georgia State study on speeech and debate showed that disciplinary referrals (including expulsions, in-school suspensions and mandatory parent-teacher conferences) dropped by 50% after one year of participating in a speech and debate program; in the following year, it continued to drop and additional 46%. • Improves attendance

7. Advantages and Benefits • Higher performance on standardized tests. • 50% more likely to reach the college ready benchmark on the ACT. • African-American males are 70% more likely to reach the college ready benchmark on the ACT. • Higher GPA • The average GPA is 20% higher than a non-debating peer. • In Atlanta’s computer assisted debate project, 7th graders saw their cumulative GPAs rise four points on average.

8. Advantages and Benefits • Participation in forensics results in a statistically significant improvement in reading and writing scores. • Debaters improved scores by 25% more than non-debaters. • The average debater improved by a year and a half compared to national norms. • Improved access to content material. • Improved graduation and retention rates. • Average graduation rate is 40% higher than non-debating peers. • African-American males had a 70% higher graduation rate than their non-debating peers.

9. Advantages and Benefits After High School • 90% of speech and debate participants go to college. • 90% of debaters go on to earn at least one graduate degree. • Being a captain of a high school debate team gives the student a 60% improved chance of being accepted to an ivy league university. • Most prominent litigators and appellate specialists participated in high school debate.

10. Advantages and Benefits After High School • Advantages in business world • The ability to Develop a cogent argument with evidence • The ability to effectiveluy advocate for a position • The ability to make an argument in a limited amount of time. • Workplace skills • Digital Age Literacy • Inventive Thinking • Effective Communication • High Productivity

11. FAQs Is it expensive? Speech and debate can be very reasonable with the State dues set at $100. Local league dues will vary. Costs will go up commensurate with the number of tournaments you attend. Does the advisor need to be a credentialed teacher? Teachers are preferred, but any District approved adult can act as a coach. Does this involve extensive travel? Not necessarily. There are many local tournaments available hosted by league schools.

12. Resources www.cahssa.org Speaking Across the Curriculum