MCTM Math Contest

Introduction

All students attending a Montana public or private school can participate and must register through their school. All schools must register online. A Montana student not enrolled in a public or private school may participate; notify your local site director. Please ask your local site director for more information if you have any other questions. A school may participate at any regional site (if a school wishes to switch to a different site, notify the current site director. Schools are not allowed to have students register in two different regional sites. 

Students are registered by grade level and grade band (7-8, 9-10, or 11-12). All students must register in their current grade band or higher (e.g., a 9th-grade student cannot register in the 7-8-grade band). If a student is an 8th-grade student and wants to take the 9-10 grade band tests, they must be registered as an 8th-grade student but the 9-10 grade band tests. All 11th and 12th-grade students must register at their current grade level and the 11-12 grade band! 

The registration fee is $4.00 per participant. 

Test Guidelines

• Calculators are allowed on all tests. Symbolic manipulator calculators are permitted on all tests.

• There will be three grade bands (7-8, 9-10, and 11-12). Students may test up a grade band but not down.

• Because we value content knowledge, application, and collaboration in mathematics, each site will hold three tests for each grade band.

• Questions will be written using Montana Common Core State Standards with plus sign standards for each grade band.

• Each participant will take three tests - Numerical Response, Multiple Choice, and a Team Test.

• The Team Test must be taken within a student's actual grade band and can be taken by 1, 2, 3, or 4 students.

• The Team Test will be administered at all locations, and all participants are assumed to take it.

Individual Student Scores

• Each participant will have a Composite Score, the sum of their Numerical Response and Multiple-Choice scores. That Composite Score will be used to determine awards at the regional and state levels and for the senior scholarships. 

• The Numerical Response and Multiple-Choice tests will have weighted questions, and each test will be worth 48 points. The individual Composite Score will have a maximum possible 96 points. See previous tests

Regional Awards

• Individual participants will be ranked by their Composite Score within the grade band.

  • Gold: Top 10% at Region within a grade band

  • Silver: Next 10% (11 - 20%) at Region within a grade band

  • Bronze: Next 10% (21 - 30%) at Region within a grade band

• Team/School Awards will be awarded at each Region

• The Regional Director will release the regional awards to the school contacts after they are finalized.

State Awards

• Individual participants will be ranked by their Composite Score and grade band.

  • Platinum: Top 2% of all state participants at each grade band

  • Gold: Top 8-10% of all state participants at each grade band

  • The State Director will release state awards to the school contacts after they are finalized.

Scholarships

MCTM Math Excellence Student Scholarships: For each region, MCTM will award $500 and $300 to the top two senior scorers by their Composite Score. If a contest has over 50 senior participants, $200 will be awarded to the third-highest Composite Score. In addition, MCTM will award $1000 and $750 to the top two seniors at the state level by their Composite Score. If there is a set of tie scores, the first tiebreaker will be whoever has a higher Numerical Choice score. If those scores are identical, the tie will be broken by comparing the correctness of the Multiple-choice questions, beginning with the last question and working in reverse order until a winner is determined.

All coaches must realize that students are only eligible for a scholarship if they participate in the official school contest region (where their school is registered). If a school has students participating at more than one site, all of their students from that school may be disqualified for the senior scholarships.

Click here for released tests.