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Welcome to International

Assessments for Schools The International Assessments for Schoolsmore popularly known as IAS

is a leading educational measurement and assessment service that helps students realise their optimum potential

to grow and reach global competitive standards

IAS is brought to you by

Macmillan Publishers India Ltd.Macmillan Publishers India Ltd.in partnership with

Educational Assessment Australia (EAA)Educational Assessment Australia (EAA)University of New South Wales

Sydney, Australia

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Partners Macmillan Publishers, synonymous with quality education in India since 1893, has partnered with Educational Assessment Australia (EAA) to bring to India, a well-researched, structured, accurate and reliable module for educational measurement and assessment.

EAA an educational assessment organisation with ISO accreditation and a division of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, a leading teaching and research university in Australia.

EAA is a prime provider of quality educational measurement and assessment services in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, other Asian countries, South Africa and the USA.

EAA has been involved in educational measurement since 1967 and is the largest independent provider of school assessments in the region.

EAA is known for its objective, well-researched, international test construction as well as analysis and reporting of test results.

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Programme MissionIAS aims to assess the academic skills of the students in key learning areas that are essential for success at school, as well as in the wider community.

Critical Thinking

Comprehension

Creativity

Reasoning

Problem Solving

IAS programme does a complete SWOT Analysis across the learning spectrum of students in order to bring them at par with international standards.

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Programme Coverage

IAS is conducted every year in over 5,950 schools in India and

other Asian countries including

Bangladesh Nepal Bhutan Sri Lanka Maldives

Mauritius UAE Kuwait Qatar Oman Bahrain Saudi

Arabia Iran Iraq

Participation by over 24,00,000 students from Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, Brunei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and the USA make it one of the largest school assessments in the world.

IAS is an excellent opportunity for all students to achieve international success and recognition

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Tests a wide range of skills and outcomes

Increasing level of challenge as the paper progresses

Graded questions to cater to a wide range of student’s abilities

Students at all levels of competency stand to benefit

Standardised, accurate and reliable

Global assessment set against global paradigms of excellence

Diagnostic in outcome

Unique Features

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No Special Preparation Needed

The testing pattern assesses the ability of the students to

employ the academic, lateral thinking, and creative skills

acquired by the student through the regular curricular and

co-curricular sources including textbooks, lab notes,

projects, library reading etc. Hence, no special preparation

through any specific study material is required.

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BenefitsComprehensive analysis of student performance benefits students, parents, schools and teachers.

Benefits to Students

The diagnostic report enables students to

Identify their academic strengths and weaknesses

Compare their achievement with other students

Monitor their own progress year on year

Gain valuable experience in taking external tests

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BenefitsBenefits to Parents

Student diagnostic report enables parents to

Understand and analyse their child's academic strengths & weaknesses

Design and plan meaningful educational activities for their child

Benefits to Schools and Teachers

The detailed statistical report enables schools and teachers to

Monitor and compare students’ performance within the school and with others in the region

Discover students’ latent potential and inherent talents

Identify growth areas and follow up with revision

Modify classroom activities and develop appropriate teaching/learning programmes

The larger the number of student entries there are from a school,

the more comprehensive the analysis

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RewardsCertificates

Every student who enters IAS receives a Certificate. The certificate is

awarded on the following basis for each Assessment:

High Distinction – The top 1% of entrants in each class across the region

Distinction – The next 10% of entrants in each class across the region

Credit – The next 25% of entrants in each class across the region

Participation – All other participating students

Medals UNSW Gold medals are awarded to the toppers among all

participants, in each subject, at each class level across the region

EAA-Macmillan medals are awarded to the toppers of each country, in each subject, at each class level

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Testing Pattern

Multiple-choice and free-response questions

Each question is worth one mark

Total score is the number of correct answers

No negative marking

Increasing level of challenge as the paper progresses

To view sample questions, diagnostic reports, e-brochure and for more information please visit our

website www.iais.emacmillan.com

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Subjects for IAS

English

Mathematics

Science

Computer Skills

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Skills Assessed & FormatEnglish Assessment

Skills Assessed Reading for Meaning in Literary texts Reading for Meaning in Factual Texts Textual Devices Syntax Vocabulary

Format and Duration of the Papers

Classes 3 & 4 45 multiple-choice questions

45 minutes

Classes 5 & 6 50 multiple-choice questions

50 minutes

Classes 7 & 8 55 multiple-choice questions

55 minutes

Classes 9 to 12

60 multiple-choice questions

1 hour

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Skills Assessed & FormatMathematics Assessment

Skills Assessed

Number & Arithmetic

Algebra & Patterns

Measures & Units

Space & Geometry

Chance & Data

Format and Duration of the Papers

Classes 3 to 5 40 multiple-choice questions

1 hour

Classes 6 to 12

35 multiple-choice questions5 free-response questions

1 hour 20 minutes

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Skills Assessed & FormatScience Assessment

Skills Assessed

Observing/Measuring

Interpreting Data

Predicting/Concluding from Data

Investigating

Reasoning/Problem-solving

Knowledge

Format and Duration of the Papers

Classes 3 & 4 30 multiple-choice questions

45 minutes

Classes 5 & 6 40 multiple-choice questions

55 minutes

Classes 7 to 12

45 multiple-choice questions

1 hour

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Skills Assessed & FormatComputer Skills Assessment

Skills Assessed

General Skills

Word Processing

Graphics/Multimedia

Internet/Email

Databases/Spreadsheets

Format and Duration of the Papers

Classes 3 & 4 30 multiple-choice questions

30 minutes

Classes 5 & 6 35 multiple-choice questions

35 minutes

Classes 7 & 8 40 multiple-choice questions

40 minutes

Classes 9 & 10

45 multiple-choice questions

45 minutes

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Eligibility All students from classes 3 to 12 are eligible to appear for

English, Science and Mathematics

Computer Skills is available to students of classes 3 to 10 only

IAS is highly recommended for all students regardless of the IAS is highly recommended for all students regardless of the

board of examination that their school is a part of.board of examination that their school is a part of.

Registration is now open for 2011 IAIS

Registration closes on 15th October, 2011

Macmillan will provide School and Student Registration forms to schools

Schools are requested to compile the student data in an excel format (to be

provided by Macmillan) for proper accounting

Macmillan will arrange to collect the consolidated payments from schools

Registration

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Registration Fee

Friday, 21st November 2011- Science & Mathematics

Saturday, 22nd November 2011-English & Computer Skills

Assessment Dates

PKR_____ for 1 subject

PKR_____ for 2 subjects

PKR______ for 3 subjects

PKR______ for 4 subjects

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Venue for the AssessmentsThe assessments shall be held in the premises of the participating schools only on the specified dates and under the direct supervision of the school authorities. Schools must ensure that standard invigilation procedures are followed during the examinations.

Timings for the Assessments

The participating schools are free to decide on the time of commencement of the assessments as well as the duration of the breaks to be given in between the assessments.

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Results and ReportsResults and Reports will be made available

by March 2012

Schools and students can access the results onlineby logging on to http://www.results.eaa.unsw.edu.au

Schools and students are given unique IDs and passwords to access their IAS reports online-anytime, anywhere.

Among the many benefits, schools and students can also use the facility to track their performance over a period of time-a unique feature of IAS

For report interpretation, schools may download the “Getting the Best Out of the Diagnostic Reports” document from the website www.iais.emacmillan.com This document interprets the results using simple language in highlighted boxes on each page.

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FAQs

Isn't it going to add to the child's stress levels?

It is a pity that all of us view any diagnostic test as stressful. Taking part in diagnostic tests is far from stressful. In fact, it provides a much needed impetus to get on with life.

It is not at all competing, but parental expectation about winning that creates stress. Educating adults not to pass on this stress to children is more in order.

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How can you test National, State and International Board students on the same parameters?The essential outcome of learning processes

in any system is the same. Since we are not

testing content, it does not matter which

syllabus the student is following.

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Will students have a specific book or study materials to learn from? Not really, because the skills being tested will be referenced against the child's usual learning. The questions are drawn from the child's regular curricular and co-curricular learning including textbooks, lab notes, projects, and other sources.

The skills are acquired by the standard school education that any child is put through regardless of the board of examination that the school is a part of. Specialised preparation through specific study materials is not necessary.

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Do students really need an external assessment? Let us look at the typical school paper:

They test 'content' as opposed to 'skills'

They can be time consuming

The numbers of questions that can be included are limited, thus narrowing the range of topics examined

They can be pitfalls for students with inadequate writing skills

They can result in cramming So, used in isolation, school papers cannot reveal the 'whole candidate'. They should ideally be complemented with an alternative, external test, comprising of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs).

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What are the advantages of Multiple Choice Questions?MCQs have many advantages:

They are quick to score

They are accurate and objective

They are specific yet versatile and can be used for testing a wide variety of outcomes

Expert agreement on the correct answer

Allows examination of why students went for incorrect responses

They can be machine scored

They call upon the child to become aware of the thinking processes or skills needed to solve problems

They generate critical statistical data which can be used for generating diagnostic analysis

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There are other testing services available today. What makes IAS different?Let us answer that by looking at the unique features of IAS

Testing. Engaging, interesting, stimulating All questions are supported by visual inputs Optimum mix of multiple-choice and free-response questions No negative marking Equal mark allotted to all the questions Increasing level of challenge Students at all levels of competence can participate

meaningfully Standardised, accurate and reliable Tests a wide range of skills and outcomes It is a global examination set against global paradigms of

excellence It is diagnostic in outcome

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Is it fair to test students on international parameters?

Why not? After all, research has revealed that

what is being taught across the world is

largely similar. It is only the method that is

different. Then, why not expose them to

global parameters and paradigms of

excellence?

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Are these tests suitable for students? The tests are definitely appropriate to the

relevant age and curriculum levels of students.

Macmillan has pre-tested the competitions with different ability schools to assess the feasibility and suitability under actual test conditions.

A panel of teaching professionals have reviewed and certified the tests.

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Isn't the pricing too steep? This is a value-added service involving huge

logistics across two continents and involving

large manpower and sophisticated

technology. Secondly, it is an annual cost.

Viewed against the other costs, which go

into enhancing a child's future and potential,

wouldn't you agree that the pricing is

reasonable?

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Is it necessary for the students to take all the tests?

Well, it is not a condition of entry and a student can opt for the subjects of his choice. But yes, we do definitely recommend that a student takes all the subjects so as to get a complete analysis on his or her areas of strengths and weaknesses.

Starting early and taking the tests annually will give a student comprehensive and progressive measure of his or her achievement.

Needless to say, the subject-wise reports and certificates will certainly enhance their academic portfolio.