Critique Primer

• Please read carefully the entry form written by the adviser and students. This will help you understand the school’s individual situation. Please consider any special circumstances as you are scoring.

• Please write plenty of comments letting students know what they have done well and what needs improvement. (We don’t have specific length requirements for your comments, but you might notice that some areas of the paper booklet have lots of room for comments. That’s not an accident.) Some yearbooks will be quite strong in an area, but still appreciate any tips you can share to improve. For yearbooks that are clearly in transition or struggling, please provide focused, specific advice. Identify issues and page numbers clearly when you reference particular areas for improvement. Please write constructive comments as though you and your students were going to be the recipients of them! Please be gentle, thoughtful and helpful. Remember how much these students have invested in this product. We want you to be honest, but we also urge you to review your comments to make sure they are as kind as possible.

• If you are evaluating a book that requested annotation, please make lots of relevant comments right in the book AND in the critique booklet. Use a pen that can be seen easily.

• The numbers printed on the scale at the end of each category are meant only as markers on the scale. You may assign a score anywhere on the scale. For example, if the markers appear at 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500, you may score the category anywhere between 0 and 500, preferably in 5-point increments. Therefore, a book may receive scores such as 135, 375 or 480 in that category.

• We hope the scorebook helps to make your work easier; however, we do not want it to prevent schools from trying new ideas that may not conform to the categories we have established. Please review the yearbook, and if the material is covered, wherever/however it is placed, give the students credit. For example, some schools may place club group photos in the index section, mug shots throughout several sections, etc. They may also use different copy options rather than the standard feature story format. We want to allow for non-traditional treatments and growth, but we also want to ensure the basics are covered and journalistic standards are maintained.

• A growing number of our yearbooks have moved to a chronological coverage model. These books may not have sections specifically dedicated to clubs, academics, student life or sports — but they most certainly are covering these groups. Please look for that coverage throughout the book and award the students credit as appropriate.

• Please note the use of words such as “avoids,” “if used” and “may.” They do not mean that the item must occur.

• Michigan law does not allow schools/yearbook staffs to designate an official yearbook photographer for all senior pictures; thus some senior sections may show a variety of poses and backgrounds. While some staffs have established portrait guidelines, others cannot.

• We trust your judgment. We would appreciate suggestions or concerns you have as you work through the evaluation booklet.

• Also, please don’t allow a yearbook’s score to be too close (within 8 to 10 points) to the next higher award level. If it’s that close, perhaps the yearbook deserves the higher level. (That said, we trust you.)

• Please check over your comments and scores carefully before you consider the critique finished. It’s easy to miss something.

• Thank you!