New York City Urban Debate League wants to improve its Saturday Debate Tournament program. New York City students from underserved areas receive daily in-school debate practices and weekly workshops, which culminate with them competing in monthly Saturday debate tournaments. Tournament judges are volunteers who have limited debate or judging experience and receive little training by the Urban Debate League. The lack of volunteer skills and training leads to inconsistent judging, which impacts the quality of the tournament and participants’ experiences. Urban Debate League proposes to develop and implement a standardized judge training program, which will include weeknight volunteer orientation and training sessions, along with guides and online certification training workshops.
This grant will support the standardization of training to New York City Urban Debate League’s volunteer judges.
