Ethical Dilemma - Educators Rising 2025
Ethical Dilemma - Educators Rising 2025
2024
NOTE: General rules and regulations apply to all competitive events and are in addition to each event’s specific guidelines.
Guidelines are subject to change. Please refer to the EdRising Membership Portal for the latest version.
Failure to follow the stated guidelines will result in disqualification of student competing.
All students wishing to compete at the Educators Rising National Conference must complete 3 required steps:
1. Be an Active level paid national member of Educators Rising for the current school year. State-level membership must
be paid, if applicable. Click here to join.
2. Complete the online application and upload all required materials in their final form by the stated
deadline on the National Competition page located in the Student Resources section in the EdRising
Membership Portal. This is NOT done automatically if you competed at a state or regional conference.
3. Register to attend the Educators Rising National Conference.
Review the full national competition guidelines and rubric. Check the Resources Section in the
EdRising Membership Portal. Some processes may be different from your state/regional conference.
Update your contact information in the EdRising Membership Portal for the summer. It is recommended
that students use a personal mail address where they can receive Educators Rising email communication.
Confirmations and reminder emails will be sent to the email listed on the competition application. Often
school emails do not allow for Educators Rising emails to be received.
Step one: Go to the National Competition page in the EdRising Membership Portal. Step two: Click on the
title of the competition for which you are signing up to compete. Step three: Read the guidelines and
rubrics. Step four: Click Apply, which will take you to the national competition online application
platform. All competitors must submit the online competition application even if no additional
documents need to be submitted. This only registers you for the competitions, you will still need to
register for the conference separately.
Complete the online application, upload any required documents/video links, and submit by the stated
deadline. Depending on your competition, some of these items are judged before the conference so make
sure they are in their final form. Recommendation: Have someone proofread your documents before
submitting them. Only competitors who register by the deadline will scheduled to compete.
For competitions that have multiple students participating only one application should be submitted and
all students need to be listed as team members in all places indicated on the application form.
Print and save your confirmation email and application number. You will need the application number when
you register for the conference.
Register as a competitor for the Educators Rising National Conference. All national conference
information, including how to register, can be found on the Educators Rising National website.
Find out when you are scheduled to compete onsite. Competition schedules will be posted in the EdRising Membership
Portal one month prior to the conference. Go to the Resources section to find the posted schedules. Be sure to check
these schedules prior to planning your travel. Competitors should plan to be available for competitions from 1 PM
(conference time zone) on opening day through the awards celebration on the afternoon of the last day.
Practice, practice, practice! The best way to prepare for your on-site competition is to practice in front of
your peers. Recommendation: Reread the National Competition Guidelines and Rubric for your
competition.
Head to Nationals! National placers will be announced at the National Conference Awards Celebration on the final day of
the conference. Don’t miss your chance to be recognized! Be sure that when you plan your transportation for the
conference you can attend this final celebration.
EXPLORING EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION CAREERS
COMPETITION
COMPETITION TYPE: Individual — Closed to spectators
ELIGIBILITY LEVELS: Middle School, High School Junior Varsity, High School Varsity
EDUCATORS RISING STANDARDS:
• Standard II: Learning About Students
• Standard VII: Engaging in Reflective Practice
Contest Purpose
Successful operation of an educational institution requires competent administration. Administrators provide
direction, leadership, and day-to-day management of educational activities in schools and other educational
institutions. The purpose of this competition is to learn more about education administration careers through job
shadowing and interviewing a current education administrator. Some common education administration jobs include
the following:
Competitors will select one education administrator who works within their school district or local college or
university and will receive permission from the administrator to job shadow him/her for a total of eight hours. The
eight hours are not expected to be consecutive; rather they are accumulated over a period of several days or weeks
and occur when the administrator is actively engaged in his/her work.
Competitors will complete and submit when registering for the competition, the following two career-exploration
documents:
Competitors will also create a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation no shorter than five minutes and no longer than
seven minutes that will be presented on-site to a panel of judges, followed by a discussion featuring questions from
judges. Presentations should reflect on the experiences and insights gained into the career.
Competition Guidelines
A. The administrator’s verification form must be bring their presentation on a USB drive. Note:
completed and submitted online when Competitors should not bring portfolios or
registering for the competition. other materials to onsite judging. These items
will not be reviewed by judges.
B. The competitor must conduct a 15-minute
interview with the administrator. Competitors E. One judge will also serve as timekeeper.
will also submit the interview form online when Speakers will receive a visual, non-verbal
registering for the competition. The interview indication that there is one-minute remaining
form must be typed. Handwritten forms will not when they reach the six-minute mark of their
be accepted. speeches. Speakers will be stopped at seven
minutes.
C. All documents must be typed in English.
F. Competitors will respond to judges’ follow-up
D. Competitors will deliver a PowerPoint or Prezi
questions. The entire presentation and question
presentation no shorter than five minutes and
session will last a total of no more than 15
no longer than seven minutes reflecting on their
minutes.
experience and insights gained into a career in
education administration. Competitors should
EXPLORING EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION CAREERS
COMPETITION
ADMINISTRATOR’S VERIFICATION FORM
• This form should be completed by the administrator who participated in the Exploring Education Administration Careers
Competition.
• The competitor will submit the completed form with the other competition entry documents. This form must be typed for
submission.
• The competitor is to conduct a 15-minute interview with the administrator participating in the Exploring Education
Administration Careers Competition. The interview can take place before, during, or after the job shadowing experience.
• The competitor will ask the following five questions and will summarize responses to the interview questions into one
paragraph for each question. All responses should be typed.
• The competitor will write three or more additional questions and will summarize the responses into one paragraph for
each question. All questions and responses should be typed.
• The completed form must be submitted with the other competition entry documents. The competitor can use the form
provided or may recreate this form in a separate document if more space is needed for responses.
DATE OF INTERVIEW:
2. What have you learned since becoming an administrator that you didn’t know before you took the job?
Competitor will write in at least three additional interview questions and will record summaries of the administrator’s
responses. Please type all questions and responses. Responses to interview questions should be summarized in one paragraph
format.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
1.
2.
3.
Note: Be prepared at the on-site competition to summarize, reflect on, and draw conclusions from the content of your
interview — do not merely repeat the interviewee’s words.
EXPLORING EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION CAREERS
COMPETITION
LEVEL (MIDDLE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR VARSITY, HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY)
DETAILED SCORING RUBRIC
Judges should use this rubric as a guide to assigning points on the Feedback & Tally Sheet.
PRE-SCORED COMPONENTS
Verification form
Points 5 0
Available
Verification Competitor submitted a verification form with all fields Competitor did not submit a verification form or all
form completed and signed by the administrator. fields were not completed and/or were not signed by
the administrator.
Presentation
Points 15-13 12-9 8-5 4-1
Available
Accomplished Commendable Developing Needs Improvement
Content of The content of the slides The content of the slides The content of the slides The content of the slides
Slides reflects consistent reflects a commendable reflects compliance but reflects inconsistent focus
thoughtfulness and commitment to sharing minimal insight. The and quality. The images or
thoroughness. The key facts and details of the images employed may be text may distract the
competitor expertly competitor’s experience basic or not entirely audience from the
leverages the visual and research through a effective at amplifying the competitor’s intended
medium to bring out key basic slide deck. competitor’s messages. message, or that message
insights with clarity. may lack focus. Content
may be missing, off-topic,
or superficial.
Presentation of The presentation of the The presentation of the The presentation of the The presentation of the
Slides slides reflects consistent slides reflects a slides reflects compliance slides reflects incomplete
thoughtfulness and commitment to sharing to the guidelines but does understanding or focus.
thoroughness. The key facts and details of the not explore the material The presentation may be
competitor expertly competitor’s experience with sufficient depth to basic or contain moments
leverages the medium of a and research. The achieve strong impact. that distract from the
slide deck presentation to competitor utilizes a basic competitor’s messages.
bring out key insights with slide deck to share Those messages may lack
clarity and information. The clarity or focus.
professionalism. The slides presentation could benefit
amplify — and never from a small number of
distract from — the clear tweaks to be consistently
and substantive messages professional-caliber.
being communicated.
Presence The competitor’s sustained The competitor’s mostly The competitor’s The competitor displays
eye contact, effective sustained eye contact, inconsistent eye contact, effort but his/her eye
posture, clarity of voice, positive posture, clear posture, clarity of voice, or contact, posture, clarity of
and professional voice, and pleasant demeanor may reflect a voice, or demeanor could
demeanor, expertly demeanor complement straightforward recital of benefit from significantly
complement the substance the content of the speech the material. more practice and
of the presentation to quite well. The competitor coaching so that the
The competitor could do
deliver the maximum may appear to slip in and speaker’s presence
more to fully capitalize on
possible impact to the out of professional consistently complements
the added impact possible
listener. character when beginning the content.
with a focused, sustained
and concluding the speech.
presence.
With further practice, the
speaker could develop into
an accomplished public
competitor.
Presentation Cont.
Points 15-13 12-9 8-5 4-1
Available
Accomplished Commendable Developing Needs Improvement
Depth of The competitor The competitor offers The competitor depends The presentation offers
Analysis synthesizes his/her good ideas and insight significantly on reciting the very little or no insight or
learning from the career about the career interviewee’s words or quality analysis into the
exploration experience exploration experience but providing a limited analysis competitor’s takeaways
with skill, clarity, and stays primarily at a surface of the career exploration from the career
depth. level for analysis. experience. exploration experience.
Length
Points 5 3 1
Available
Length Initial presentation (before Q&A) is Initial presentation (before Q&A) is Initial presentation (before Q&A) is
between 5 and 7 minutes. at least 3 minutes and less than 5 less than 3 minutes or had to be
minutes. stopped at 7 minutes.
EXPLORING EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION CAREERS
COMPETITION
LEVEL (MIDDLE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR VARSITY, HIGH SCHOOL VARSITY)
Student Name:________________________________________________________________________
• Judges will use the Detailed Scoring Rubric as their guide to score students’ competition entries.
• Points and feedback will be emailed to the student competitors no later than two weeks after the conference.
PRE-SCORED COMPONENTS
Verification form
Submitted Not submitted or missing items
Verification form 5 0
Interview Form 5 3 1
Mechanics
VERIFICATION AND INTERVIEW FORM PRE-SCORE______/30
COMPONENTS SCORED ON-SITE
Presentation
Accomplished Commendable Developing Needs Improvement Score
Length
5 - 7 Minutes. 3 – less than 5 Minutes Less than 3 Minutes or had to Score
be stopped at 7 Minutes
Length 5 3 1
TOTAL SCORE______/125