Math Madness is an online, team-based competition event that takes place each fall and spring at three levels, ES (3-5th), MS (6-8th) and HS (9-12th), enabling students to compete in leagues of weekly competition followed by a by a nation-wide, single elimination bracket tournament.
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MATH MADNESS DETAILS
100% Online, beginning as a joint initiative between American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) and AreteLabs and entering its 8th season, Math Madness is emerging as the premiere online math competition event in the United States. In 2020, nearly 800 schools and 15,000 students from across the country competed in the online league, tournament and championship.
Math Madness takes place in the fall with one event held for high school teams (9th-12th), one for middle school teams (6th-8th), and one for elementary school teams (3rd-5th). A team may consist of students from multiple grade levels within the defined grade span. This event has been designed to accommodate the various schedules of schools throughout the country. We also host a Mini-Madness event in the spring (Feb-Mar) which is Math Madness without the bracket tournament at the end, just 5 weeks of friendly scrimmaging. The structure and timeline of the Math Madness event is as follows:
Oct 3 - 9: Practice Round
Oct 10 - 16: Collaboration Round I (Fun round where kids work together in mini-teams)
Oct 17 - 23: Collaboration Round II
Oct 24 - 30: Qualifying Round I (Students play individually but as a team)
Oct 31 - Nov 6: Qualifying Round II (Last week to register)
Nov 7 - 13: Bracket Round I (Single Elimination - all teams are assigned to one of a series of brackets)
Nov 14 - 20: Bracket Round II
Nov 21 - 27: Thanksgiving week is OFF
Nov 28 - Dec 4: Bracket Round III (Teams that lost in Bracket Round I can resume playing in informal, "Opt-in" matches)
Dec 5 - 11: Bracket Round IV
Dec 12 - 18: Bracket Round V
Dec 19 - 25: Bracket Championship (Teams may play this match in the week prior if holiday scheduling requires)
* Teams are NOT required to play in all of the above rounds. Instead, they may opt in or out from week to week as they wish.
The system arranges all matches for all rounds. Each match involves 2 teams and each round lasts 1 week. All matches are 30 minutes in length. A team can compete at any time during a given round. It can change its time to play during the round and from round to round, as well as the players it fields. It may also opt of rounds in which it cannot play. Indeed, maximum scheduling flexibility and minimal teacher time/energy commitment are the hallmarks of this event. In fact, the only 2 responsibilities of a teacher throughout the entire season are to add students to the team and choose the time to play each round.
If a team chooses the same time to play as its opponent, the match is live with both team scores updating in real time on the student's scoreboard. If teams cannot find a common time to compete, then each team plays at a time convenient for it, with final results posting after both teams have played. The student's individual score also updates in real time as questions are answered correctly. This patented, live scoring framework thrills students and distinguishes this event from all other competition activities currently available.
Each match includes 7-8 multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions. Team score is calculated by summing the top 5 individual scores. Content at the high school level is primarily aligned with AMC 10/12, at the middle school level with AMC 8, and at the elementary level with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As the season progresses, rankings of the top 50% of individuals and teams are published to highlight achievement and to help members of the greater community measure their own effort and progress.
During the opening four rounds, teams are matched first by skill level so that the competition is even and then by common time availability so that teams can play live where possible. Data from the 2 qualifying rounds are used to determine bracket assignments. The top 64 teams are assigned to the Title bracket. Remaining teams are then evenly placed in additional brackets based on team size, with all teams competing in a bracket. Within each bracket, teams are sorted by skill and seeded accordingly, following NCAA March Madness protocol.
Those teams that are eliminated from a bracket can nonetheless extend their season by opting in to play against other similarly situated teams in weekly matches automatically arranged by the system. In addition, a teacher can separately challenge another team to a match or divide his/her team into multiple teams that play against each other. Content from the present season and past seasons is made available to fuel such additional competition activity. Thus, all teams can play a full 10-round season if they choose.
To participate, a teacher must (1) activate a free account (click here), (2) create a team once inside the account by clicking the "+Team" button, and then (3) register that team on the Events page, selecting "High", "Middle" or "Elementary" depending on the team's level. A teacher may register multiple teams for Math Madness from the same account. However, the same team cannot compete in two separate levels of Math Madness. Upon request, Math Madness content from years prior can be placed in a newly activated account so that a teacher can both review content appropriateness as well as create a match for students to better determine potential interest in the experience. Students or parents may NOT register a team for Math Madness. Occasionally an exception to this rule is merited but approval must be granted first.
Register by Octover 1st to be included in a practice round, by October 8th to be included in the opening round. Late registration will remain open until November 5th. Teams that register by this date, while missing the intervening rounds, are nonetheless guaranteed at least 5 rounds of competition. Once registered, teachers should review the Rules/Instructions for Math Madness in more detail by clicking "Math Madness" in the dropdown at the top/right of their account and then selecting the "About" tab on that page, or visit https://www.aretelabs.com/math_madness directly.
Payment by check is politely requested although a credit card purchase can be arranged if there is no alternative. Payment in advance is NOT required so teachers need not be concerned about lengthy school/district payment processes. In the pricing area below, a player is defined as an individual student who competes at least once during the event. Prices listed are for the entire team to play for the entire season (Mini-Madness is a flat fee of $145 regardless of team size). A team should consist only of students from the same school (exceptions to this may be made upon request, limitations apply), but it may include students from multiple grade levels corresponding to the grade levels of the event. Price accommodation is available upon request and as needed. Please do not hesitate to send an email to timothy@aretelabs.com with any questions or call 312-952-0436. Make sure to click the "Video Tutorial" button at the top/right of this page to review registration steps!
Thank you and welcome to Math Madness! . . .
The idea behind Math Madness is to create a structure that motivates students throughout the entirety of a school semester, one of enough time duration and frequency that students can observe actual progress, and in turn, amplify their efforts to continue on that path.
Modeling the event in part after the popular NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament, the hope is that it will be more easily understood and embraced by the public, and as a result, that students will eventually receive the same recognition and support that athletes do to fuel their efforts.
