Academic Competition for Excellence
Encyclopedia
Academic Competition for Excellence (often shortened to ACE) is a format of high school
quizbowl
played in the mid-Atlantic
, especially in the Commonwealth of Virginia
. There are several leagues in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, although many of the Virginia leagues have become feeders for Virginia High School League
Scholastic Bowl competition, or play the VHSL format instead of the ACE format. (The Scholastic Bowl format allows districts to keep playing their old formats during the regular season.) ACE teams also exist throughout Arkansas, though the game follows a slightly different format.
Most quizbowl formats feature teams of three to five players from each school, competing on questions that span the realm on human knowledge. There are rarely pre-assigned reading lists, or limitations on subject matter. Informal limits, based on what students might reasonably be taught, or have learned in outside reading, do exist, and some competitions will restrict the amount of popular culture
in each match.
The ACE format requires each school to field five teams of four players each. The five teams compete in four subject areas -- Mathematics
, Science
, Social Studies
, and English
-- and a fifth team plays in an All-Around competition. No student can play on two subject-area teams, although he/she can play on a subject-area team and the All-Around team. The wide variety of students (a school needs at least 16 players to compete) that can play in the ACE format makes it popular with administrators. An ACE competition usually has two schools, and consists of the five teams from each school competing one at a time.
The subject-area competitions usually have questions from subject areas that are determined before the season begins. For Math, Science, and Social Studies this is usually fairly open-ended:
English questions are usually written from a pre-assigned reading list. The list usually consists of a number of novels, short stories, plays, and poems, and questions are about details from those works.
All-Around questions are from the four subject areas (again, using the reading list for English questions.) Usually, fine arts, philosophy
, religion
, and current events questions are included in the All-Around competition, but popular culture
and sports are specifically excluded. (This appeals to some administrators.)
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
quizbowl
Quizbowl
Quiz bowl is a family of games of questions and answers on all topics of human knowledge that is commonly played by students enrolled in high school or college, although some participants begin in middle or even elementary school...
played in the mid-Atlantic
Mid-Atlantic States
The Mid-Atlantic states, also called middle Atlantic states or simply the mid Atlantic, form a region of the United States generally located between New England and the South...
, especially in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. There are several leagues in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, although many of the Virginia leagues have become feeders for Virginia High School League
Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League is the arbiter of interscholastic competition among public high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Unlike similar organizations in many other states, private or religious schools are prohibited from joining. Non-public schools belong to other organizations,...
Scholastic Bowl competition, or play the VHSL format instead of the ACE format. (The Scholastic Bowl format allows districts to keep playing their old formats during the regular season.) ACE teams also exist throughout Arkansas, though the game follows a slightly different format.
Most quizbowl formats feature teams of three to five players from each school, competing on questions that span the realm on human knowledge. There are rarely pre-assigned reading lists, or limitations on subject matter. Informal limits, based on what students might reasonably be taught, or have learned in outside reading, do exist, and some competitions will restrict the amount of popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
in each match.
The ACE format requires each school to field five teams of four players each. The five teams compete in four subject areas -- Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, Social Studies
Social studies
Social studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the American National Council for the Social Studies...
, and English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
-- and a fifth team plays in an All-Around competition. No student can play on two subject-area teams, although he/she can play on a subject-area team and the All-Around team. The wide variety of students (a school needs at least 16 players to compete) that can play in the ACE format makes it popular with administrators. An ACE competition usually has two schools, and consists of the five teams from each school competing one at a time.
The subject-area competitions usually have questions from subject areas that are determined before the season begins. For Math, Science, and Social Studies this is usually fairly open-ended:
- Math questions are usually written in the areas of algebraAlgebraAlgebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
, geometryGeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, trigonometryTrigonometryTrigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
, and sometimes calculusCalculusCalculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
. - Science questions are usually written in the areas of biologyBiologyBiology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, chemistryChemistryChemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, physicsPhysicsPhysics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, earth scienceEarth scienceEarth science is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. It is arguably a special case in planetary science, the Earth being the only known life-bearing planet. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Earth sciences...
, and sometimes computer scienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
. - Social Studies questions are usually written in the areas of US history, World historyWorld HistoryWorld History, Global History or Transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective...
, GeographyGeographyGeography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
, and civicsCivicsCivics is the study of rights and duties of citizenship. In other words, it is the study of government with attention to the role of citizens ― as opposed to external factors ― in the operation and oversight of government....
.
English questions are usually written from a pre-assigned reading list. The list usually consists of a number of novels, short stories, plays, and poems, and questions are about details from those works.
All-Around questions are from the four subject areas (again, using the reading list for English questions.) Usually, fine arts, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, and current events questions are included in the All-Around competition, but popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
and sports are specifically excluded. (This appeals to some administrators.)
History of ACE
ACE leagues began appearing in Virginia during the early and mid-1980s. The format proved popular and was widely copied by administrators across Virginia. Some leagues mirrored VHSL districts, but some leagues were more geographic in scope. During the late 1990s, some of the Virginia leagues switched to the VHSL format, and others changed their competition dates to the fall and began sending their champions to VHSL regional competition. Most of Western Virginia still refers to their Scholastic Bowl team as their "ACE team."ACE leagues
- Academic Competition (WSFCS)Academic Competition (WSFCS)Academic Competition is a program sponsored by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District. Academic Competition features high school students from the 10 schools across the county in weekly competition...
-- Forsyth CountyForsyth County, North Carolina-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 306,067 people, 123,851 households, and 81,741 families residing in the county. The population density was 747 people per square mile . There were 133,093 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile...
, NC - Eastern Panhandle, WV
- James River ACE—area south of Charlottesville and west of Richmond, corresponds with the VHSL James River District
- Jefferson ACE—Charlottesville area, VA (disbanded, replaced by VHSL Jefferson District competition)
- Mountain Academic Competition Conference -- Roanoke-Galax area, VA
- Rockingham County (NC) Academic Competition Challenge -- Reidsville, NC area
- Scholastic Competition for Academic Excellence League -- Martinsville area, VA, and formerly Lynchburg area, VA
- Southwest Academic ConferenceSouthwest Academic ConferenceThe Southwest Academic Conference began with meetings between the Superintendents of schools in Smyth County, Washington County, and Bristol in December 1986 to propose the formation of a league to allow students to participate in academic competitions...
-- Bristol-Wytheville-Marion area, VA - Valley ACE—Harrisonburg area, VA (disbanded, and members joined the VHSL competition for their districts.)