Rules
- Details
- Parent Category: Math League Website
- Published: 06 September 2008
MATHEMATICS LEAGUE
4TH, 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, 8TH GRADE
and ALGEBRA COURSE 1 CONTEST ORGANIZATION
QUESTIONS (TIME LIMITS AND TOPICS) Each contest is a 30-minute multiple-choice test. Questions may involve any topic appropriate to the grade level of the contest. If, for any reason, a question must be dropped, no replacement will be made.
CONTEST COPIES Each school will receive 30 copies of each contest in which they are participating. Schools requiring additional copies of any contest are permitted, on the day of the contest, to make as many additional copies as are required. A separate registration form should be submitted from each participating school.
CONTEST MATERIALS PACKAGE You should receive materials for Algebra Course 1 and Grades 4 & 5 by April 1; for Grade 6 by the last Tuesday in February; for Grades 7 & 8 by the next to the last Tuesday in January. If any contest materials have not been received by these dates, the League should be phoned immediately at 1-201-568-6328. Each contest materials package includes 30 copies of the contest and a solution key for the contest. A school needing additional copies of any contest is permitted, on the day of the contest, to make as many additional copies of the contest as are required. Special arrangements for blind or other handicapped students, or for non-English-speaking students, may be made by any school.
CONTEST AWARDS
GRADES 4 AND 5 and ALGEBRA COURSE 1 In each school, the highest scoring student on each contest receives a book award. Other high scoring students in each school receive certificates of merit.
GRADES 6, 7, AND 8 In each school, a certificate of merit is awarded to the highest scoring student on each contest. For each contest, awards are given to the two schools with the highest total scores in the League and also to the two students with the highest total scores in the League. For each contest, additional regional awards are given to the highest scoring school in each region (which may be a county, province, state or other grouping as determined by the League). Counties/Provinces/States with fewer than fifteen participating schools are grouped together into regions for the purposes of awards. No school may win both a regional award and an overall League award on any one grade level in the same school year. The League reserves the right to break ties based upon performance on selected questions, or, at its option, to issue duplicate awards.
CONTEST LOCATION Each school may administer the contests on its own premises or any other suitable site.
6TH, 7TH, AND 8TH GRADE CONTEST PROCEDURES
(The 4th and 5th Grade and Algebra Course 1 Contests are non-competitive; these procedures do not apply.)
CONTEST DATE Except in unusual circumstances, the contests must be held on the scheduled date. In the event of school closings, special testing days, school trips or other administrative functions, severely inclement weather, or similar disruptions of the normal school day, permission is granted to conduct the contest on a proximate school day.
STARTING TIME Each contest may be held, on the scheduled date, at any time convenient for the school. All students officially participating in a contest within the same school should take that contest at the same time. Scores of students taking the contest at any later time should not be included on the score report filed with the League.
PROCTORING Each contest must be actively proctored at all times by a teacher. Neither the proctor nor anyone else may interpret any question to any student during the contest.
ELIGIBILITY Only students officially registered in the same accredited school of record may participate on that school's team. A student may take only a contest designed for a grade the student has not completed or a higher grade (regardless of the math course in which the student is enrolled.) Students taking the 4th or 5th grade contest may also take the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade contest. Students taking the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade contest may take only one such contest (but they may take the Algebra Course 1 Contest). On each contest, all official participants must take the contest in school at the exact same time. A student taking the contest at a later time or period or on a later day must not be included on the score report. Students absent on the contest day may take the contest but must not be listed on the score report.
MATERIALS ALLOWED Only plain paper, pencil or pen, and any calculator without a QWERTY keyboard, may be used by the participants. No graph paper, compasses, straight edges, rulers, printed mathematical tables, or other devices shall be allowed, except where special arrangements have been made for handicapped students or when dictionaries are made accessible to non-English-speaking students.
START OF THE CONTEST Each contestant should be given a copy of the contest and should complete the information requested on the cover page of the contest. Answers submitted for each question must appear in the appropriate space in the answer column. Answers written elsewhere will receive no credit. After the signal to begin is given by the proctor, the timing of the contest will begin.
TIME WARNINGS Warnings that "fifteen minutes remain," that "five minutes remain," and that "one minute remains" should be given at the appropriate times. No other warnings or announcements (relative to the contest) should be made to any contestant during the contest.
MARKING THE ANSWERS At the end of the contest, the question papers should be collected by the advisor. The advisor should then open the sealed envelope containing the solution key and should mark each paper, awarding 1 point for each correct answer. All papers should be marked exactly according to the solution key. If you wish to appeal an answer, please follow the appeals procedure, but score your students' papers according to the official answer key. The League has the option to disqualify any school that submits a mismarked paper.
SUBMITTING CONTEST RESULTS ONLINE The advisor should score the contests. For each contest, the advisor should submit the scores of the school's participants to the League's Internet Score Report Center. The school score for each contest will be the sum of the scores of the five highest scoring participants from the same school of record. The score report must be submitted to our Internet Score Report Center by Friday of the contest week.Student papers may be returned to the students, except that papers with scores above 30 must be held until June 1.
APPEALS PROCEDURE Appeals will be awarded only on the basis of an incorrect official answer or a correct alternative interpretation of a question. Detailed explanations of alternative interpretations should be made in the comments section when filing the score reports. Appeals filed with the League must include the names of all students listed on the score report for whom an appeal is being filed. If you disagree with an official answer, file an appeal. You must use only the official solution key in grading student papers.
AUTHENTICATION OF RESULTS League policy is to authenticate scores and eligibility of participants from schools winning major awards. The League reserves the right to authenticate scores and/or to reexamine students or validate student solutions before granting official status to any score. Schools must keep all papers with scores above 30 until June 1. The League has the option to disqualify any school that submits a mismarked paper. A school disqualified for cause on any contest is ineligible for awards in any League contest.
Directors:
Dan Flegler / Phone: 1-201-568-6328, Fax: 1-201-816-0125
Steve Conrad / Phone: 1-516-365-5656, Fax: 1-516-365-5657