How to qualify as an ASA Outstanding Instructor is not readily apparent or easily describable. There is no single explicit cutoff to survive or threshold to cross. A Bayesian Method uses a statistical model to determine a probability that each Instructor’s next survey score will be a perfect 4.00. This model is the foundation of many applications that include movie rankings for Netflix and product review rankings at Amazon. The Bayesian Ranking of each Instructor updates over time as more students submit surveys, and it can also be influenced by the scores received by other Instructors as the rating distribution of the entire community of ASA Instructors changes. There are no rigid pairings of Ratings and student survey submittals, there are no cutoffs or thresholds pre-set by ASA, nor are any set internally within the Bayesian Inference program itself. Eligible Instructors are ranked by the probabilities that their next score will be 4.00 based upon their Average Rating and how many student survey submissions support that Rating.

Bayesian Ranking is the preferred method to determine this Award as it opens up the process to Instructors at ASA Affiliates of all sizes, for both full-time and part-time Instructors, by focussing on the quality of an Instructor’s Average Rating and less on the quantity of student survey submissions. Competition for ASA Outstanding Instructor of the Year commendation is fierce. Very fine margins separate the top 1% of Instructors from all others. Now that you understand the details of how this Award is determined, the best way to proceed might just be to put them out of your mind. To become an ASA Outstanding Instructor of the Year, focus foremost on being an outstanding sailing Instructor for every student in every class on every day that you teach, week in and week out. After your class ends, encourage your students to visit their ASA Membership Portal page. This is where they will find links to their surveys to complete and submit. Make sure your students understand that these surveys do not arrive by e-mail. ASA will not know how outstanding an Instructor you are until your students let us know, and know how to let us know!

Lastly, remind your students that they have just 90 days after completing their Certifications to find and submit their surveys. After 90 days, the surveys expire and disappear from your students’ ASA Membership Portal pages and cannot be re-created and re-sent. Survey scores are attached to the date that a student completes Certification, not the date when a survey is submitted. This helps Affiliates and their Instructors assess more keenly their performance for a given period of time.