FYI: AMC8/10/12 competition will be administered online

[Arcadia]

@Not_a_Number@daijobu

https://amc-reg.maa.org

”

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Fall 2020:

Important Policies for 
ONLINE Administration*:

The AMC is providing two options this season: 

1.  Online administration
2.  Paper administration

We strongly recommend, whether your students are physically and/or virtually attending school, they take the competition(s) online for greater ease and convenience. 

Only one type of administration is allowed for each competition; however, Competition Managers may register for additional competitions in different administration formats (ex. AMC 8 online administration and AMC 10/12 print administration).

Complete details on policies and administration are found on maa.org/amc.”

[purpleowl]

You still have to participate through a school or other place that's hosting it, though. Homeschoolers can't sign up individually.

[SeaConquest]

On 10/21/2020 at 12:44 PM, purpleowl said:

You still have to participate through a school or other place that's hosting it, though. Homeschoolers can't sign up individually.

Our charter school is going to host it for Sacha, but I also emailed our local math circle and they were hosting it for people who were not able to do it through their local school. Also, if people are near an AoPS Academy, they might want to inquire with them.

[Nart]

It is interesting they are going ahead and offering online administration with parents as proctors. Math Kangaroo was administered online this year and this is what they had to say about the very large increase in perfect scores:

This year, quite unexpectedly, Math Kangaroo took place online for the first time. The testing ended only in June. Families accepted the change and most of them appreciated it. However, the number of the perfect scores indicates the possibility of some unfair play...

The switch to online testing encountered few challenges and obstacles. The number of winners at elementary grade levels has skyrocketed. Our mission is for every child to excel at the test and while the large number of winners may reflect that we want to stress that it is in our ethos to have each child be able to participate in the competition independently. The problem we faced was how we at Math Kangaroo reward all the first rank laureates. Invalidating the results would harm those students who did take the test independently and it was our decision to award all winners. This unfortunately left the question on what lies behind the grandness of the prize if something has been gained dishonestly unanswered. It is within our philosophy that the values we convey as parents are the values our children will carry into the world. 

I am not saying anyone on this forum is going to cheat, but without a doubt without robust test security, there will be families who cheat. I am sure the AMC leaders debated what to do and found this to be the best option. I just won't be fair for honest students who love math. 

[Not_a_Number]

49 minutes ago, Nart said:

It is interesting they are going ahead and offering online administration with parents as proctors. Math Kangaroo was administered online this year and this is what they had to say about the very large increase in perfect scores:

This year, quite unexpectedly, Math Kangaroo took place online for the first time. The testing ended only in June. Families accepted the change and most of them appreciated it. However, the number of the perfect scores indicates the possibility of some unfair play...

The switch to online testing encountered few challenges and obstacles. The number of winners at elementary grade levels has skyrocketed. Our mission is for every child to excel at the test and while the large number of winners may reflect that we want to stress that it is in our ethos to have each child be able to participate in the competition independently. The problem we faced was how we at Math Kangaroo reward all the first rank laureates. Invalidating the results would harm those students who did take the test independently and it was our decision to award all winners. This unfortunately left the question on what lies behind the grandness of the prize if something has been gained dishonestly unanswered. It is within our philosophy that the values we convey as parents are the values our children will carry into the world. 

I am not saying anyone on this forum is going to cheat, but without a doubt without robust test security, there will be families who cheat. I am sure the AMC leaders debated what to do and found this to be the best option. I just won't be fair for honest students who love math. 

Ugh. Thank you for saying this. DD8 took the Math Kangaroo and did really well... for a normal year. This year, she was something like 80th percentile, despite her score being much better than last year, when she was above 90th percentile. 

So yeah, if there are parents proctoring the AMC, expect the score to be meaningless 😕 . I was kind of shocked people bothered to cheat on the Grade 2 Math Kangaroo, but there we are. 

[Nart]

59 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

Ugh. Thank you for saying this. DD8 took the Math Kangaroo and did really well... for a normal year. This year, she was something like 80th percentile, despite her score being much better than last year, when she was above 90th percentile. 

So yeah, if there are parents proctoring the AMC, expect the score to be meaningless 😕 . I was kind of shocked people bothered to cheat on the Grade 2 Math Kangaroo, but there we are. 

I agree the scores won't be meaningful. 

As an example, for second grade for Math Kangaroo in 2019 when students took the exam proctored at centers there were 4362 students who took the exam and only 1 student had a perfect score and only 2 students missed only 1 question.  This year slightly more students took the exam, 4836, and there were 187 students with perfect scores. 

Some people might be thinking perhaps the second grade cohort from 2019 wasn't very strong and if you were to look at the third grade 2020 cohort (so same group of kids from group that had only 1 perfect score) you might find very few perfect scores from 3rd grade. Well, for the 2020 test that cohort had 131 perfect scores. 

 

[Not_a_Number]

6 hours ago, Nart said:

I agree the scores won't be meaningful. 

As an example, for second grade for Math Kangaroo in 2019 when students took the exam proctored at centers there were 4362 students who took the exam and only 1 student had a perfect score and only 2 students missed only 1 question.  This year slightly more students took the exam, 4836, and there were 187 students with perfect scores. 

Some people might be thinking perhaps the second grade cohort from 2019 wasn't very strong and if you were to look at the third grade 2020 cohort (so same group of kids from group that had only 1 perfect score) you might find very few perfect scores from 3rd grade. Well, for the 2020 test that cohort had 131 perfect scores. 

 

Oh, I know all these statistics, lol. I was really mad on DD8’s behalf!! It was ridiculous.

[SeaConquest]

Wow, I had no idea about MK. This is the first year that we didn't do it. That is so sad. 😞

I didn't know that parents could proctor the AMCs. I thought the school had to do it.  Sacha is usually pretty sucky at these timed exams, but he likes doing them. Thanks for the heads up about the potential cheating, so that I won't freak out if his percentile drops substantially from last year.

[Not_a_Number]

Just now, SeaConquest said:

Wow, I had no idea about MK. This is the first year that we didn't do it. That is so sad. 😞

I didn't know that parents could proctor the AMCs. I thought the school had to do it.  Sacha is usually pretty sucky at these timed exams, but he likes doing them. Thanks for the heads up about the potential cheating, so that I won't freak out if his percentile drops substantially from last year.

Yeah, you should prepare him. We were kind of crossing our fingers there wouldn't be major cheating on the MK (I obviously didn't help DD8 at all), but we were aware of potential issues... still, DD8 had worked pretty hard practicing, and she was a bit bummed. (I was more bummed, though, lol.) 

[Porridge]

I didn’t know about the MK cheating concern this year! That’s so sad.

[Xahm]

Do y'all think it will be worth doing Math Kangaroo this year? This past spring my daughter rushed through in 25 minutes and her score reflected that. I wasn't even in the room to keep from possibly leading her answers, bit of we do it again, I may need to be there to be a reminder that she should focus. My son will also be ready for the first time, and he's been looking forward to it. 

[Not_a_Number]

9 minutes ago, Xahm said:

Do y'all think it will be worth doing Math Kangaroo this year? This past spring my daughter rushed through in 25 minutes and her score reflected that. I wasn't even in the room to keep from possibly leading her answers, bit of we do it again, I may need to be there to be a reminder that she should focus. My son will also be ready for the first time, and he's been looking forward to it. 

Well, as long as you don't care how they do, percentile-wise 😉 . It was fun to do it at home for us, but the scores were really ridiculous. 

Edited November 2, 2020 by Not_a_Number

[daijobu]

1 hour ago, Xahm said:

Do y'all think it will be worth doing Math Kangaroo this year? 

...and miss adding to her collection of what are quite possibly the ugliest t shirts, that I wear ironically as pajamas:

Ugly

Ugly

Ugly

 

[Xahm]

9 hours ago, daijobu said:

...and miss adding to her collection of what are quite possibly the ugliest t shirts, that I wear ironically as pajamas:

Ugly

Ugly

Ugly

 

Haha, this is true. We never got any if the "stuff" from last year and I didn't really try.

[Not_a_Number]

20 hours ago, daijobu said:

...and miss adding to her collection of what are quite possibly the ugliest t shirts, that I wear ironically as pajamas:

Ugly

Ugly

Ugly

 

I can only click on one of those 😞 . (But that one is, indeed, ugly.) 

I, err, wore lots of math T-shirts in high school. Not my winningest look to be honest... 

[daijobu]

Here are some MK t shirts from my collection:

 

Retina-burning neon orange with blue/green symbols crammed into a kangaroo shape:

 

This one is harder to appreciate, but I think that broad white stripe is supposed to represent a sash a la Miss Amrerica.  Plus, you've got a handy chart of Roman numerals: 

 

This one I love for the random arrows, trig functions and other labels that don't make any sense: (opposite?  opposite of what?)

 

This one is just me bragging on grabbing one of these before Yang dropped out:

 

[Not_a_Number]

@daijobu: opposite of the Christmas tree angle, of course!! 

Those are something else. 

[daijobu]

IKR!  

[SeaConquest]

15 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

I can only click on one of those 😞 . (But that one is, indeed, ugly.) 

I, err, wore lots of math T-shirts in high school. Not my winningest look to be honest... 

Sacha wears his MK shirts pretty regularly and I always hope he figures out how terrible they are before he becomes interested in girls. I would hate to be the bearer of bad news. Hopefully, he will just grow out of them.... soon! 😄

[Not_a_Number]

17 minutes ago, SeaConquest said:

Sacha wears his MK shirts pretty regularly and I always hope he figures out how terrible they are before he becomes interested in girls. I would hate to be the bearer of bad news. Hopefully, he will just grow out of them.... soon! 😄

Didn’t happen for me is all I can say 😉 . I dated in my math T-shirts!! 

[daijobu]

Now I'm going to drag out my favorite feminist topic that no one else cares about.

Why don't they make math and science themed t shirts to fit women?  Why must women/girls wear t shirts that are shaped for men's bodies?  Even at AoPS, they only sell men's t shirts.  I meant to ask Richard about this, but I lost my nerve because it seems so stupid.   And yet.  My daughters refused to wear mathy t shirts because they didn't look attractive on a girls body.  They wanted "cap sleeves" for example.  

The Exploratorium Museum is another example: they have lots of cute/funny t shirts, but none of them are for women/girls.  

It's laughable to make boys wear girls clothes, why do we do the reverse?  (XKCD does sell t shirts for women.  Good for him!)

Okay, my stupid rant is over.  

[bensonduck]

2 hours ago, daijobu said:

Now I'm going to drag out my favorite feminist topic that no one else cares about.

Why don't they make math and science themed t shirts to fit women?  Why must women/girls wear t shirts that are shaped for men's bodies?  Even at AoPS, they only sell men's t shirts.  I meant to ask Richard about this, but I lost my nerve because it seems so stupid.   And yet.  My daughters refused to wear mathy t shirts because they didn't look attractive on a girls body.  They wanted "cap sleeves" for example.  

The Exploratorium Museum is another example: they have lots of cute/funny t shirts, but none of them are for women/girls.  

It's laughable to make boys wear girls clothes, why do we do the reverse?  (XKCD does sell t shirts for women.  Good for him!)

Okay, my stupid rant is over.  

There are some at SnorgTees. DD has a few. You have to sift through a lot of random tshirts but there are some very funny science ones. 

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, daijobu said:

Now I'm going to drag out my favorite feminist topic that no one else cares about.

Why don't they make math and science themed t shirts to fit women?  Why must women/girls wear t shirts that are shaped for men's bodies?  Even at AoPS, they only sell men's t shirts.  I meant to ask Richard about this, but I lost my nerve because it seems so stupid.   And yet.  My daughters refused to wear mathy t shirts because they didn't look attractive on a girls body.  They wanted "cap sleeves" for example.  

The Exploratorium Museum is another example: they have lots of cute/funny t shirts, but none of them are for women/girls.  

It's laughable to make boys wear girls clothes, why do we do the reverse?  (XKCD does sell t shirts for women.  Good for him!)

Okay, my stupid rant is over.  

I have to admit that when I was wearing math T-shirts, I was kinda trying to hide my body, lol. So this was definitely not one of my pet issues... 

I see your point, though. I agree with you.

[MamaSprout]

On 11/3/2020 at 10:22 PM, daijobu said:

Now I'm going to drag out my favorite feminist topic that no one else cares about.

Why don't they make math and science themed t shirts to fit women?  Why must women/girls wear t shirts that are shaped for men's bodies?  Even at AoPS, they only sell men's t shirts.  I meant to ask Richard about this, but I lost my nerve because it seems so stupid.   And yet.  My daughters refused to wear mathy t shirts because they didn't look attractive on a girls body.  They wanted "cap sleeves" for example.  

The Exploratorium Museum is another example: they have lots of cute/funny t shirts, but none of them are for women/girls.  

It's laughable to make boys wear girls clothes, why do we do the reverse?  (XKCD does sell t shirts for women.  Good for him!)

Okay, my stupid rant is over.  

My dd just alters the sleeves. 90% of her wardrobe is NASA, 4H and college/camp/math/science tees and hoodies. They look cute.

Also, you can register for the AMC through colleges and universities: https://www.maa.org/math-competitions/amc-8/locations

We usually drive an hour, but our usual location isn't testing. I have an email out to a different university, but if I don't hear back soon, I'm going to shop around. With it online, I don't think it matters as much.

[daijobu]

Why did this never occur to me?  A quick google search yields a bunch of DIY videos.  I know what I'll be watching this weekend....

 

ETA:  There's a video called "From Boxy to Foxy!"  lol

Edited November 5, 2020 by daijobu

[SoCal_Bear]

On the topic of MK t-shirts, our test center finally located my son's prizes...this is after asking over the last several months. I just picked it all up today and they gave me the shirt as well. It is a fuschia pink color. I have no earthly idea who thought that was a good idea. Talk about a waste of money. There is no way my son will ever wear this. I'll save it for my daughter. And if anyone know what in the world you are supposed to do withh the wooden box puzzle thing beyond trying to arrange all the pieces to fit properly in there, let me know.

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by calbear

[SeaConquest]

Woowee. That is... pink. Score one for the girls, though. We are probably due since we don't get a girly cut.

Sacha takes the AMC 8 tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if he improves any from last year. Good luck to everyone who is testing! (I hope he doesn't notice that it's Friday the 13th!)

[kirstenhill]

My DS13 took the AMC8 on Wednesday.  Apparently local test managers can opt for video proctoring by a designated party while students test online at home.  Our test is administered locally as a partnership between a middle school and our local math club.  All the local students taking the test had to "call in" to a Google Meet and have their camera on, and a teacher from the middle school proctored/watched all the students taking the test. 

It's too bad they couldn't have done that way everywhere - I thought it was a good set-up.  This was DS13's third and final year taking the test, and he was happy that he felt like it went much better for him than the past two years.  I told him he's studied a lot of math in the past year and is about to age out of the test so I certainly hoped it was easier.  😄 

[purpleowl]

1 hour ago, kirstenhill said:

My DS13 took the AMC8 on Wednesday.  Apparently local test managers can opt for video proctoring by a designated party while students test online at home.  Our test is administered locally as a partnership between a middle school and our local math club.  All the local students taking the test had to "call in" to a Google Meet and have their camera on, and a teacher from the middle school proctored/watched all the students taking the test. 

It's too bad they couldn't have done that way everywhere - I thought it was a good set-up.  This was DS13's third and final year taking the test, and he was happy that he felt like it went much better for him than the past two years.  I told him he's studied a lot of math in the past year and is about to age out of the test so I certainly hoped it was easier.  😄 

Similar setup for my girls when they did it Tuesday - they had to call into a Zoom call, and the middle school teacher who was hosting it proctored the students while they did the test. She said partway through, "I know I said to keep microphones on, but if you're the one with the dog barking in the background, PLEASE turn yours off." 😂

 

[Not_a_Number]

If they are doing it at different times, that really makes cheating trivial 😞 

[SanDiegoMom]

I mentioned the topic of math team shirts for girls to my college kid, and she asked if I had heard of the esports gaming dress that got a LOT of laughs last year.  So much snark.  Here was an article that quotes the original tweet.  

https://esports-news.co.uk/2019/03/04/esports-dress-cranium-apparel/

 

[daijobu]

23 hours ago, calbear said:

And if anyone know what in the world you are supposed to do withh the wooden box puzzle thing beyond trying to arrange all the pieces to fit properly in there, let me know.

 

There was ONE YEAR a few years back when the prize was a cute little stuffed kangaroo.  I felt really lucky we participated that year because every year prior and after we got these crappy little toys.  At least with the stuffed kangaroo it's consistent with their brand, and it's appropriate for all ages, given MK goes from grades 1-12.  Wasn't there one year where the prize was a 3D tattoo or sticker or something that you used a phone app to visualize?  

[SoCal_Bear]

@daijobuYes, that tatoo thing was MK 2017 I believe.

 

[MamaSprout]

Has anyone located a test site that is giving the AMC 10/12 test online?

Our normal test site isn't offering it, and the university that supposedly is offering it in our state won't return my emails or phone calls, although they might report me for harassment, lol. 

I have an email out to a private school an hour away hoping they are giving it online (we have at least interacted with them before).

[Black-eyed Suzan]

On 12/7/2020 at 10:04 AM, MamaSprout said:

Has anyone located a test site that is giving the AMC 10/12 test online?

Our normal test site isn't offering it, and the university that supposedly is offering it in our state won't return my emails or phone calls, although they might report me for harassment, lol. 

I have an email out to a private school an hour away hoping they are giving it online (we have at least interacted with them before).

I just checked where my son is registered, but they are full, unfortunately. We normally drive an hour, but they are doing it on-line this year. Hope you find one!

[Porridge]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:04 AM, MamaSprout said:

Has anyone located a test site that is giving the AMC 10/12 test online?

Our normal test site isn't offering it, and the university that supposedly is offering it in our state won't return my emails or phone calls, although they might report me for harassment, lol. 

I have an email out to a private school an hour away hoping they are giving it online (we have at least interacted with them before).

@MamaSprout - which state do you live in? If you’re in TX, I have a lead for you.

[MamaSprout]

6 hours ago, JHLWTM said:

@MamaSprout - which state do you live in? If you’re in TX, I have a lead for you.

I found someone will to host us online.

Thanks!

[HomeForNow]

On 12/7/2020 at 9:04 AM, MamaSprout said:

Has anyone located a test site that is giving the AMC 10/12 test online?

Links to find locations

http://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/SchoolSearchByZipCode.aspx

https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC8

https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC

 

[MamaSprout]

3 hours ago, HomeForNow said:

Links to find locations

http://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/SchoolSearchByZipCode.aspx

https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC8

https://amc-reg.maa.org/amc_external/amc_higher_education_sites.aspx?ContestType=AMC

 

Thanks! I actually linked that up thread.

[Dmmetler]

On 11/13/2020 at 10:28 PM, daijobu said:

There was ONE YEAR a few years back when the prize was a cute little stuffed kangaroo.  I felt really lucky we participated that year because every year prior and after we got these crappy little toys.  At least with the stuffed kangaroo it's consistent with their brand, and it's appropriate for all ages, given MK goes from grades 1-12.  Wasn't there one year where the prize was a 3D tattoo or sticker or something that you used a phone app to visualize?  

The stuffed Kangaroo was DD's first year. I think it's the one MK thing she still has. 

[HomeForNow]

The stuffed Kangaroo was 2013, I believe.

 

[HomeForNow]

AMC 8 results are on website http://amc-reg.maa.org/reports/generalreports.aspx

 

[daijobu]

On 11/5/2020 at 11:32 AM, MamaSprout said:

My dd just alters the sleeves. 90% of her wardrobe is NASA, 4H and college/camp/math/science tees and hoodies. They look cute.

 

Hey, thanks for this suggestion!  I spent the last couple of days working through some old men's t shirts!  I started with my neon orange Math Kangaroo shirt, which ended up too tight.  But I tried again with some other shirts and I'm getting the hang of it!  I had an XL t shirt that I slimmed down nicely too.  

[MamaSprout]

4 hours ago, daijobu said:

Hey, thanks for this suggestion!  I spent the last couple of days working through some old men's t shirts!  I started with my neon orange Math Kangaroo shirt, which ended up too tight.  But I tried again with some other shirts and I'm getting the hang of it!  I had an XL t shirt that I slimmed down nicely too.  

Fun! Dd started with some that she didn't care as much about and probably wouldn't wear in public, anyhow. Which is good, because the first ones she did were really bad, lol.

[Not_a_Number]

20 hours ago, HomeForNow said:

AMC 8 results are on website http://amc-reg.maa.org/reports/generalreports.aspx

 

It's interesting... those look totally reasonable, unlike the Math Kangaroo scores. I wonder what the difference is?? Why was there so much more cheating on the Math Kangaroo? 

[SoCal_Bear]

14 minutes ago, Not_a_Number said:

It's interesting... those look totally reasonable, unlike the Math Kangaroo scores. I wonder what the difference is?? Why was there so much more cheating on the Math Kangaroo? 

The AMC 8 was "proctored" where we tested. They had all the kids on zoom while working on the exam.

[Not_a_Number]

44 minutes ago, calbear said:

The AMC 8 was "proctored" where we tested. They had all the kids on zoom while working on the exam.

Oooooooh. That would explain it. Thank you!! 

[HomeForNow]

9 hours ago, Not_a_Number said:

It's interesting... those look totally reasonable, unlike the Math Kangaroo scores. I wonder what the difference is?? Why was there so much more cheating on the Math Kangaroo? 

That's a pity about cheating. It devalues the legitimate scores. MK should be for fun anyway, so people should do it properly.

DD took AMC 8 in person, so that was obviously proctored.

DS will take AMC 12 online with a math circle, and has been told he will be watched on webcam the whole time by the local proctor running the test. That makes sense as it is potentially high stakes.

I think MathCounts is also to be online proctored via webcam too.  (Maybe not. I thought I saw that, but can't find it.)

 

[Not_a_Number]

2 hours ago, HomeForNow said:

That's a pity about cheating. It devalues the legitimate scores. MK should be for fun anyway, so people should do it properly.

Yeah, it was a serious pity. DD8 did very well, but her percentile rank was actually lower than last time she took it, due to all the cheating.

[Porridge]

On 12/27/2020 at 10:04 PM, HomeForNow said:

AMC 8 results are on website http://amc-reg.maa.org/reports/generalreports.aspx

 

If I can't find DD on this site, I'm assuming that she didn't place in one of the higher scoring categories. Where do we go to find the actual score for our student?