aro 2010 brochure

8/14/2019 ARO 2010 Brochure

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Grades 3 - 10

English | Maths | Science | Social Studies | Hindi

Test dates: August 2-5 / December 6-11, 2010

Advance Registration Deadline (Early Bird): March 1, 2010

R e g i s t e r No w !

T he Du k e Uni ver si t y T a len t

Iden t i f ica t ion Pr o gr am, U SA,

ha s par t ner ed wi t h A S SE T to

iden t i f y and ser ve a cademica lly

- gi f t ed s t uden t s in India.



What is Duke TIP?

The Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP) is a non-profit educational organization that is recognized as a worldwide leader inidentifying and serving the educational needs of academically talentedyouth. Duke TIP provides resources, recognition, and research to talentedstudents, their parents, educators, and schools for the development of thestudents’ optimal educational potential. Since 1980, Duke TIP has servedover 2 million students.

Duke TIP is an affiliated program of Duke University, which is currentlyranked as one of the top 10 universities in the United States by U.S. News &World Report. Duke is one of the most competitive universities in thecountry and its various Schools (e.g. Medicine, Business, Public Policy, andthe Environment) are among the best in the world.

Duke TIP in India MissionThe Duke TIP India Talent Search offers academically talented students inIndia an opportunity to better understand their academic capabilities andhow to most effectively develop their optimal educational potential.

Talent Search OverviewThe Duke University TIP India Talent Search identifies academicallytalented students from across the country, primarily using the ASSET test.We understand that academically talented students need specialmotivation and support. We will help them grow by providing theopportunity for above-level testing, resources, and encouragement so thatthem may continue challenging themselves academically.

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Students who qualify for the Duke TIP India Talent Search will be eligiblefor benefits such as:

Recognition: receipt of a Certificate of Merit

Out-of-level testing : the opportunity to take an out-of-level ASSET testand receive a diagnostic assessment of intellectual ability

Interactive seminars : participation in Duke TIP Webinars conducted byuniversity faculty and graduate students

Duke TIP in India Family Newsletter : information and practical advicefor parents and guardians of academically talented students

Educational Programming : participation in distance learning options andthe opportunity to apply for Duke TIP Summer Studies Program in India

www.tip.duke.edu/india

Duke University Talent Identification

Program partners with to identify students

for their Talent Search

“Duke TIP in India has opened up a newworld for [my daughter], making hermore confident, more independent, andwidening her horizon tremendously. “

- Parent of TIP student in India

Students scoring at the 95th percentile or

higher on the in-level Mathematics, Science, or

English portion of the ASSET examination

taken in July-August will be invited to

participate in the Duke TIP India Talent Search.

Spring

July/August

October

November

December

January

February

Register for July/August

ASSET test

Take the in-level,

base ASSET test

If eligible, register for the

DUKE TIP India Talent Search

Receive Duke TIP India

Family Newsletter

Take the out-of-level,

second ASSET testNotification of out-of-level test

scores and diagnostic profile

If eligible, apply for Duke TIP

educational programming

Disclaimer: Duke University TIP is a well constructed program for students of Grades 7 and 8 and their having

chosen ASSET is a measure of ASSET’s credibility. Please note that Duke’s TIP selection process is very intensive

and the ASSET score is one of the steps of this process. The decision of the total number of schools to involve is a

decision by the Duke TIP team and s imply taking ASSET may not make you eligible for the Duke TIP program.

The Talent Search

Eligibility & Timeline



st1

To

The Principal

Subject: Invitation to participate in the ASSET Advance Registration Opportunity - Early Bird, 2010

Dear Sir/ Madam,

Greetings from the ASSET team for a very Happy New Year 2010!

In 2009, we took the radical step of offering ASSET only to schools who take it as a “full school” or “full class”. We did this to help schools

derive even more value from the ASSET diagnostic analysis as the data becomes truly 'representative' when the full class or school

takes the program. We are happy to share that more than 850 schools (with 315,000 students) took ASSET in 2009.

This gives us the confidence to work even more closely with schools that value our initiatives to improve student learning through year-

long improvement programs. It is heartening to note that almost all our partner schools have used the ASSET data and support

programs in innovative ways to achieve improved student learning. 180 schools have sent us a detailed account of the Impact of

ASSET’s diagnostic and benchmarking insights to improve student learning. 8 schools have been profiled in this brochure. What is most

impressive is the sheer amount of effort put in and the clear results demonstrated within a short period of one or two years. Someexamples of how schools have used ASSET and allied services this year include-

?Using the Year-on-Year analysis to track the impact of initiatives on an on-going basis.

?Integrating Teacher Sheets into teacher’s lesson plans.

?Displaying ASSET Question-a-Day(AQAD) on AQAD boards and discussing them with students on a daily basis, thus making

“critical thinking” a daily activity.

?Using the Test Generator software and its online question bank to quickly generate weekly, monthly and term tests.

?Building remedial plans for specific misconceptions through visits of senior team members from EI under the Relationship

Enhancement Program(REP).

EARLY BIRD OFFER

As a part of our 2010 Advance Registration – Early Bird benefits, we are offering students a “personalised booklet” that will help them

work on specific questions related to their weak skills identified through ASSET. The book is being offered free of cost to every child if the school registers before March 1st with 30% advance. Other initiatives like REP visits (2 visits), Test Generator, ASSET Question-a-

Day, Teacher Sheets and the Question Making Competition will continue in 2010.

DUKE UNIVERSITY TIP INDIA TALENT SEARCH AND ASSET

Recognising the benchmarking capability of ASSET, Duke University, USA is partnering with ASSET for its Duke Talent Identification

Program. ASSET scores will be used as the selection criteria for participation in the Duke University TIP Talent Search.

CONTINUOUS and COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION (CCE) COURSE FOR TEACHERS

EI is offering a 6 month distance learning program for teachers of grades 6 to 10 at a fee of Rs 5000 per teacher. The course will have an

exam at the end with a certification of successful completion. The course is being designed keeping in mind the practical – application

oriented approach that teachers are looking for to help them integrate CCE effectively into their regular teaching –learning processes.

The best practices of schools that have been using CCE will also be shared with teachers who sign up for the course. For details pleasewrite to [email protected]

2010 ARO details

Schools will have to continue to register as Full Class or Full Schools in 2010. The cost of ASSET in 2010 is Rs 350 per student for the core

subjects of English, Math and Science (Classes 3 to 10) and Rs 135 per subject for Social Studies (Classes 5 to 10) and Hindi (Classes 4 to

8). The registration deadline is March 1st, 2010 with 30% advance to avail the Early Bird benefits indicated above.

We look forward to your continued active participation in ASSET, and rededicate ourselves to helping every student in your school learn

with understanding!

With regards,

Sridhar Rajagopalan Sudhir Ghodke Vishnuteerth Agnihotri

Managing Director Director VP - Test Development

January , 2010

1

InvitationLetter



EARLY BIRD BENEFITS

STUDENT RANGE

TEST ADMIN FEE

ADDITIONAL FREE

BENEFITS FOR REGISTERING

UNDER EARLY BIRD

WITH 30%

ADVANCE BEFORE

MARCH 1st, 2010

Student Booklet

(ASSET MyBook)

+

Test Generator for the

full school or

classes participating in

EMS for the year

+

AQAD via email+

REP (2 visits)

+

Teacher Sheets (soft copy)

AND

A Laptop worth Rs 25,000

PersonalisedStudent Personalised Booklet

(ASSET MyBook)

+

Test Generator for the full

school or classes participating

in EMS for the year

+

AQAD via email

+

REP (2 visits)

+


200-799

10%

Student Booklet

(ASSET MyBook)

+

[Test Generator for the

full school or classes

participating in EMS

for the year

+

AQAD via email+

REP (2 visits)

+

Teacher Sheets (soft copy)]

OR


Personalised

800 - 1599

10%

1600 and above

15%

STUDENTS REGISTERING FOR ASSET

Please Note: Schools that register under FC-FS (full class or full school) who cannot get their full class or full school to participate in

ASSET will be refunded their advance payment after deducting a processing fee of Rs 5,000 and their registration will be cancelled.

The Balance amount (70%) should be paid latest by July 7th, 2010 for Summer Round schools and September 30th, 2010 for Winter

Round Schools. Schools that delay payments might not get the test papers in time to conduct the test

ADVANCE

REGISTRATION

BENEFITS

-EARLY BIRD

EARLY BIRD ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

1. Registration of Full Classes or Full

School for the ASSET program. School

Summary Form to be filled with

tentative numbers for the chosen

classes for the academic year 2010-11.

2. Deciding to take 3 (core) or 4 (Core +

SS/Hindi) or 5 (Core+SS+Hindi) subjects.

3. 30% advance to be paid along with

the filled up School Summary Form

by March 1st, 2010.

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ASSET offers a year-round engagement approach with schools and effective planning can be done if we can get an

exact picture of the number and location of schools registering for the ASSET and allied services program.

Therefore we offer schools the opportunity to confirm their registration for ASSET by paying 30% of the total

amount as advance before 1st March, 2010.

BENEFITS FOR REGISTERING UNDER EARLY BIRD 2010

!

Students and Parents:Personalised booklet for students to help them work on their weak skills

identified under the ASSET diagnostic program. The booklet is offered FREE to all

students of schools registering for ASSET, subject to their school registering

under EB.

! Students and Teachers:

ASSET Question-a-Day: One Question sent daily via email to every class that

registers for EB.

! Teachers:

- Access to Test Generator Software and online Question Bank

- Relationship Enhancement Program: 2 visits to the school by senior EI team

members who will help schools use all the services offered and provide

support to build remedial plans for identified misconceptions

- Teacher Sheets and Misconception CDs

! Teachers and Management:

Class-wise, section-wise, student-wise analysis with year-on-year comparison if ASSET is being taken for more than one

year. Benchmarking with over 1000 schools and approx 15,000 students per class makes the analysis very comprehensive

and accurate.

! Price Benefit:

ASSET is offered at Rs 350 per student for three core subjects with a 10- 15% Test Admin Fee benefit depending on the

number of students registering. Schools registering after the ARO deadline will be charged Rs 400 per student with Rs 30

offered as test admin fee.



ASSET is India's leading skill based diagnostic test taken by over 300,000 + students annuallyfrom 800 + schools. Sign up for ASSET and accelerate improvement in your school.

Questions that test real understanding

Applicable for CBSE, ICSE, IB, IGCSE and State Boards

Analysis is an “eye-opener”

Full School participation deepens analysis

Focus on specific misconceptions

Specific suggestions given for improvement

Question making support to teachers

3

FOLLOW-UPFEEDBACK ON

ASSET 2010

POST-ASSET

SESSIONS

FOR

TEACHERS

STUDENT

REGISTRATION

+ 30% ADVANCE

PAYMENT

FINALIZING

OF STUDENT

DETAILS + BALANCE

PAYMENT

ASSET TEST

ASSET

RESULTS

+ ASSET

MYBOOK

ASSET WEEK

CELEBRATIONS

TEACHERSWORKING ON

REMEDIAL PLANS

ASSET SCHOOL

IMPROVEMENT

CYCLE

R O T A T RE

EA

N C E H

G E R T S S

E H T E E T S

D A Q A



test

Scientific Approach! Rigorous pre-testing

! Misconceptions targeted

! Questions aimed

at all children

! Feedback allows Year-on-

Year comparison

Diagnostic Tool

Skill v/s Content

! Feedback skill-wise

! Aimed at application not rote

SCHOOL BENEFIT

FOCUS

ACCELERATED IMPROVEMENT

ASSET clearly pin-points the specific skills where the school needs to focus its precious

time and energy to accelerate improvement.

! Diagnostic, skill based test not competitive (applicable for whole school)

! Questions designed to test concepts underlying the curriculum

! Rigorous question making system ensures very high quality of questions

! Multiple choice format drills down to specific misconceptions

! National benchmarking clearly shows patterns allowing prioritization

! Assessment FOR Learning instead of Assessment OF Learning

! Clarity on specific misconceptions saves teacher’s time

! School management gets a yearly picture of academic progress

! Successful efforts can get highlighted enhancing teacher morale

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ASSET analysis benefits for Principals and Top Management

ASSET analysis benefits for Teachers

ASSET analysis benefits for Students

! Bird's eye view report gives overall picture

! Year-on-year comparison can show actionable patterns

! Allows Principals to track teacher effectiveness

! Group schools can compare inter-group performance

! Best practices within groups can be identified and shared

! Visibility of the results of school efforts helps all stakeholders

! Complementary insights of patterns from their own classrooms! Misconception analysis saves time for teachers

! Feedback from ASSET Schools can build a strong best practices compilation

! Customised analysis folders provide personalised feedback to teachers

! “ASSET MyBook” - a personalised question based booklet that helps students to

improve their weak skills

! Personalised feedback helps students work on their strengths and weaknesses

! Parents and teachers can help students focus on specific areas

! Students encouraged to self-learn and improve every year

Analysis of the MOST DIFFICULT Questions

QNo. Paper Code%age of your students

who answered correctly

schools

who

%age of ALL

answered correctly

38 379 38.6 % 50.2 %

3 379 7.3 % 15.0 %

26 379 20.5 % 27.9 %

What is the chemical formula for steam?

A. CO

B. H O2

C. O2

D. (Pure steam does not

have a chemical formula)

Class 7, Science Question

Performance Table showing

MOST COMMON WRONG ANSWER

ASSET Speak

The analysis clearly shows that the

children of this class are not clear

about the properties of steam.

They believe that steam does

not have a chemical formula and

the teacher can now address this.

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Components of the transformational process - 2010

Students and Parents: Personalised Booklet for Skill Enhancement - “ASSET MyBook”

Students and Parents: Interaction with PTA/ Parents

Students and Teachers: ASSET Question-a-Day

Teachers: Relationship Enhancement Program

Teachers: Test Generator

! Every child who participates in ASSET will get an analysis (regular feature)

&In addition to this, for students of EB schools (schools that register with 30% advance before March 1st)

we are offering a personalised booklet for skill enhancement. The booklet will take up the 2 weak skills

identified by ASSET and offer

, Skill explanations

, 6 questions per skill that will offer more practice to the student

, Answers and explanations for each of the questions

! Presentation of school performance on ASSET

! Explanation of ASSET results and how to read the analysis

! What should parent do at home to support the child's learning

! Answering queries about how ASSET fits into the school's process

! Informing parents on what the ASSET team is doing with teachers to address misconceptions identified

! Making parents answer a few ASSET questions to give them a deeper perspective of the quality and

design of the questions.

! 1 Question per day by email to the school for every registered Class

! Specially designed boards to put up the questions in the school corridors will be provided to schools

! Recommendations on how to use will be offered during orientation programs (June-July)

! 2 visits to each school by senior EI team members. Visit details: 2 – 3 hours per visit

,1st Visit – Orientation visit for new schools/ “Sharing of learnings” visit for past participants

,2nd Visit – Post ASSET analysis session with focus on building remedial plans for questions that

have likely misconceptions

! Appointment of Core Team that would ensure services are being used

! Regular interaction over email and phone to check for any additional support that schools might require

! Online question bank that helps teachers make customised question papers

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We need to start looking at our children 10 years from now and help them develop skills

that they can use then. So with ASSET we are trying to change certain things. This is the first

time we have set the test papers with the multiple choice questions. I have got very good

feedback from the parents. They are saying that this is wonderful. The teachers are very

happy, they know where they are lagging behind.

ASSET has empowered both the teachers and learners with a new set of skills to read

critically, think and reason logically and solve complex problems.

Sanghamitra School, Hyderabad

Shilpa Solanki, Principal

The Orchid School, Pune The main objective of taking ASSET was to know how the school is

doing. We wanted to get a validation from a third party that has done

extensive research in the field of education and to know if the school

is on the right track and promoting thinking. So if someone is able to

tell us that we are developing skills, encouraging thinking,

questioning, analysis and higher order thinking, it means a lot to us if

it comes from an objective point of view. ASSET test is much awaited by the students as they

do not have to prepare for the same. They are happy to appear for the test. This is one testthey fearlessly and readily face, guess because it is so non - judgmental. While we do take

other tests, ASSET has been made compulsory in our school.

For parents, to have such a brilliant report for every child with a clear understanding of what

are your child’s skill areas, where is she outstanding and what areas does she needs help is

something I think if we got as parents then we would be in a much better place today.

"I teach English and the questions

from ASSET and the ASSET Test

Generator have helped me a lot to

get ideas for making my own test

papers."

- Monika Desai,

Teacher

“The students are very comfortable

with the ASSET type of questions

because there are four options and

they have understood that although

they have four options, we really need

to know what is the correct answer

instead of randomly marking the

answers. Even if there are questions

that they have not learnt in class this

really helps them get to the answer”

- Seema Shadbdar,

Coordinator

ASSET IMPACT

7

Mrs. Arundhati, Principal



It is now about seven years since we decided to make a journey

together with ASSET in the field of testing and evaluation. I was

prompted to do so for a number of reasons:

Fr. Joseph Thalekkat, Principal

Don Bosco School, Guwahati

I have noticed an increasing enthusiasm of our students in ASSET’s All-India tests. We

have received positive responses and appreciation for ASSET from students as well

as teachers which have been published in our monthly journal Bosco Times.

ASSET’s Everyday questions (AQAD) have been compiled up and are forming a kind of

question bank on different subjects. Some of our teachers are using them usefully.

The test generator has begun to attract the attention of our teachers. I am glad to see

our teachers using the teacher sheets in the classrooms. These diagnostic tests are

like our remedial classes and have been helping both the teachers and students to

assess their strengths and weaknesses.

ASSET has also been a kind of

foundation for our students in their

preparation for external proficiency examinations. It guides and dictates

them in specifications of the

performance abilities desired in

candidates to be selected for

technical, medical and other courses

of studies.

Educational Initiatives approached us last year to take the ASSET test for the children of

classes 3 to 8. We agreed to go ahead with all the children of classes 3 to 8 taking the test

because then we would have an analysis regarding the whole class and a better comparative

study could be done.

The children appeared for English,

Mathematics and Science tests which

proved to be of great help as they tested a

variety of skills in those subjects and how the

children would apply them in solving thequestions.

Mrs. Farida Abraham, Principal

La Martiniere Girls’ College, Lucknow

The questions were both interesting and challenging for the children as they had

multiple choice questions - something that the children were doing for the first time.

They were also the kind of questions that would help the children in the competitive

exams in their future life.

The results of the test guide the

children about their strong and weak skills in the three subjects. The

overall result helps the teacher in

strengthening the weak skills of the

children. There was an improvement

in the overall result when the

children appeared in the test for the

second time in 2009.

ASSET IMPACT

?The students of North-East need to be exposed to a larger environment and assess their

abilities in relation to their counterparts in other places of the country.

?The philosophy and methods of testing and evaluation have been changing rapidly and

we believe ASSET would help us to keep track with these changes.

?Our teachers, like most others, were trapped in the traditional patterns, some of which

were even obsolete. ASSET, in a way, offers an indirect training programme to the

teachers.

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We, at Sishu Griha, do not believe in formal examinations and ASSET as a

mode of assessment is in line with our requirement. ASSET, as a

diagnostic tool, brings out the true sense of assessment. We definitely

don't look at it as a short term goal but as a long term goal for continuous assessment.

ASSET has played a very important role in catering to skills such as logical thinking and

analytical reasoning. ASSET has accepted the school feedback regarding the need for

modifying their language MCQ papers to suit student needs all over the country, in a positive

sense, and this has helped the students a great deal.

Our teachers utilise the ASSET reports

effectively to help the students build upon their strengths and improve on their

weaknesses. Students respond very enthusiastically to the tests and have gained from

this experience. ASSET has prompted the teachers to introduce higher order thinking

questions for their own internal question papers. Teacher sheets was a very good idea

and has been used extensively by teachers on a regular basis to strengthen

comprehension and application skills. Parents and teachers of Sishu Griha appreciate

ASSET as a very useful diagnostic tool which will reflect on the academic achievementscores of the students in the long run.

Our school results are a clear indicator to this and have shown very good improvement

year after year. On the student experience about the tests , the ASSET coordinator, Mrs.

Madhulika Chandrakumar, says, “Students find Multiple choice type questions

interesting and this prepares them adequately to face competitive exams in future. It

also enables them to eliminate wrong choices and to choose the right option”.

Mrs. Sujatha Mohandas, Principal

Sishu Griha School, Bangalore

Children themselves have give a

feedback saying it was great fun to

tackle application based questions.

The ICSE board recommends

application based question and HOTStype questions. ASSET strengthens

and consolidates on that, in paving

the path towards answering such

type of questions by students.

9

This is the fourth year that the students of DLF Public School, Ghaziabad have taken ASSET.

Every year, after the test, the EI team helps the teachers to analyze the school performance and

diagnose the areas for improvement. Using this information as well as other resources

provided by EI, the teachers plan the curriculum/activities for the following year.

School improvements triggered by ASSET...

Mrs. Seema Jerath says, “We look at the ASSET

questions very closely and peg the questions

from the paper to the relevant lesson plan. These

questions are either used as thought provoking

shakers during the lessons or they are

incorporated in the assessments designed for the

lesson.

We use ASSET data to identify the misconceptions that our students have and track the

teacher sheets which will help to diagnose the specific concept that needs to be discussed

in the class. The teachers study the teacher sheets and gain an insight on how to facilitate

the discussion in the class. They sometimes check out the useful resources that are listed as

a footnote in the teacher sheet. This saves time as teachers get the treasure without having

to hunt for it. Our teachers and our students benefit from your research!”

DLF School, Ghaziabad

Mrs. Seema Jerath , Principal

The questions being sent everyday

have engendered curiosity in the

students and have led to active

discussions in the corridors of the

school. These questions have led to

a lot of peer interaction which is a

potent form of learning.

ASSET IMPACT



Mr. Santosh, Principal

The High Range School, Munnar

Some of the school children

who were class toppers did not

fare well in ASSET. We realized

that the application level of

these children was very poor. It

has led to extra reading, more

of hands on activities and HOTS

questions for children, even in

the primary school.

ASSET provides a definitive solution in identifying our academic deltas(gaps), which we leverage

by catering to the individual learning needs of the student. Their detailed results also help our

teachers understand their strengths and weaknesses and help them grow as professionals who

can empower the leaders of tomorrow, today-one child at a time.

Journey with ASSET so far

The basic philosophy of education at Atmiya Vidya Mandir is to develop the innate critical and

creative thinking capacities of children and ASSET has been our partner in helping us reach our

goals. Our students have been taking ASSET once every year since 2006.

The brains behind EI are genuinely interested in knowing, understanding and solving

problems for students, teachers, parents and anybody who takes education seriously.

Therefore, they design innovative end to end solutions to educational problems that provide

us with a unique and authentic perspective of what needs to be done.

Students find ASSET appealing

The unique concept-based approach of ASSET has inspired our students to come up with

original questions thereby leading to independent inquiry based learning. AQAD has

resulted in more collaborative efforts by students in finding solutions to a tough problem.

Mr. Yogesh Raval, Principal

Atmiya Vidya Mandir, Surat

After our school ASSET results are

declared, the individual subject

teacher are given a week’s time

to reflect upon the concepts they

had delivered in the class which

the student missed or did not

understand after which a

detailed root cause analysis

report and improvement plan is

prepared.

ASSET IMPACTASSET has been a diagnostic tool which truly tests the conceptual

understanding in the subjects assessed.

It has been comprehensive, in the sense that it covers all areas of assessment in the subject

concerned. It is age and curriculum relevant and at the same time it is an evaluation system

which is out of the books and very generalized.

Most of the parents thought the test was very well

organized. They found the questions thought

provoking and a barometer of the real understanding

of the subject. Most importantly they were very happy

with the ASSET score card which gave a detailed report

on the child's strengths and weaknesses and measures

to improve them.

It has led to incorporation of multiple choice questions in the school exams for all the classes.

The analysis report was not only helpful to the children but it also helped the teachers to plan

their lessons well. It has helped the teachers to know the absorption level of each child withreference to various concepts in Science, English and Maths.

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ASSET MyBook - Personalised Instructional Material

The ASSET MyBook process begins with data from the ASSET

diagnostic program that is done exclusively in schools. The data

from the diagnostic program is used to develop personalised

instructional material for each student based on her test results.

The instructional material is delivered in the form of a printed

“ASSET MyBook”.

WHAT “ASSET MyBook” CONTAINS

1. An explanation of the skills and concepts that the student is

weak in.

2. Four to six questions per skill/concept to deepen the

student's understanding on the concept and to give the

student practice for mastering the skill.

3. Explanations and answers to each question.

ROLL-OUT

1. After the scoring and analysis is done – the ASSET Analysis Program

(AAP) identifies two skills per subject that the child is weak in.

2. Based on this identification – the Program then identifies specific

questions that match the weak skills and compile the questions in the

form of a customised list

3. ASSET experts explain the answers for each question so that after the

student has worked with her ASSET MyBook – she can refer to the

Answers and Explanations and strengthen her own understanding.

4. The ASSET MyBook is then compiled for all the subjects and printed

(customised for each child).

5. The ASSET MyBook is then delivered to the students along with their

customised analysis.

6. Teachers can work with individual students and discuss the questions

or common weak skills and common misconception questions in the

classroom.

PERSONALISED

STUDENT

BOOKLET

Q ue stion-b a sed per son ali sed bo

o klet

to im prove the s kill s

BENEFITS

1. Delivers instructional content at an

unprecedented level of personalisation to

advance student learning

2. Sense of ownership for each child as the

content is personalised and designed

differently for each child

3. Offers a specific activity/ process for each

child to follow after the diagnostic test so

that the benefits of the diagnosis can be

offered both at the class level (through

work at school with teachers) and at the

individual level (through the personalised

instructional material).

11



Analysis Best PracticeThe use of ASSET data has also evolved over the years. Schools that take ASSET regularly are seeking patterns in the data that can give

them deeper insights. Some specific actions taken by schools are listed below. These can be termed as “BEST PRACTICES” related to

ASSET Analysis.

1. To identify specific concepts that children across grades are weak in and

to explore the possibility of one teacher teaching the same concept

across 3 – 4 grades. Hence a teacher would teach the concept of

Fractions, Decimals and Percentages for all sections in Grades 3 to 5

whereas another teacher would teach Basic Shapes, Angles and

Patterns in the same sections. S N Kansagra School Group in Rajkot hasbeen following this system for higher grade math teaching.

2. The teachers assess themselves on the skills that their children are

weak in attempt a specially constructed paper with questions from

ASSET that their class children are finding difficult

3. To “thread” a misconception/ weak skill across classes to check the

misconception source by analysing the data across 3 – 4 grades as a

group. To get to the source of the misconception, a lot of teachers are

engaging their students in open-ended discussions related to the

misconception. Teacher Sheets are being used as guides to keep the

discussions on track.

ASSET is a unique diagnostic test

that gives teachers and students

specific feedback that helps them

to improve the quality of learning.

The analysis forms a critical

component of the improvement

process as it provides a clear

picture which can be the basis for

planning specific interventions.

13

ANALYSIS



Analysis

for School and

Teachers

Each ASSET Question has a skill mapped to it. Responses

from students are collated and a class-wise skill

performance report is generated. With this report one

can easily identify the strong and weak skills of the entire

class and take corrective action.

This is a comparison of ASSET performance of the schoolfor two separate years, made on the request of the

participating school. This report shows whether theschool has improved in comparison with other schoolsand in its own performance.

Year-on-Year Analysis

Skill Performance Report

An overall look at the school’s performance gives us a

picture of the school’s best practices and concern areas.

Bird's Eye View Report

Class

English Maths Science

3

-

78.26% -

4

100.66% 100.33% 97.88%

5

90.34% 84.38% 91.75%

6 100.62% 93.30% 96.15%

7 104.87% 99.50% 96.88%

8 104.95% 105.05% 107.01%

9 112.57% 115.87% 107.96%

10 102.32% 101.78% 101.99%

82.66% 89.32%

test

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Analysis

for School and

Teachers

Questions that are likely to have misconceptions-

highlighted for use by the teachers.

Questions with Common Wrong Answers.

A quick indicator of 3 most difficult questions and 3 most

easy questions for every class in each subject - helps

teachers pick the questions for further analysis.

Questions Students found Difficult / Easy

A comprehensive map of all student responses in a class

for a particular subject - useful to identify misconceptions.

Class Performance Table

15



Analysis

for Students

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Student Circular Skill Profile Chart

Core skills remainconstant across

classes 3-10

It shows the student's strengths and weaknesses across

12 comprehensive skill nodes in the 3 subjects of

English, Maths and Science.

Students Scorecard

A question wise analysis that provides animmediate tool to check whether the child madea silly mistake or there was a mistake inunderstanding of concepts.



A detailed skill-wise break-up of each skill node sharing strong and weak skills.

17

Analysis

for Students

Permanent ASSET Number Card provides unique

ASSET ID to track student performance across years.

PAN Card

Permanent ASSET number

English | Maths | Science |Social Studies | Hindi

Jinaal Shah

906726155C55

DOB: 19/12/1996

Student Strength/Weakness Analysis



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ASSET WEEK

WINNERS

K P A T D h a r m a r a j N a d a r - Rojapputhayammal Sivakasi Jaycees Mat. Hr. Sec. School, Sivakasi

formed an ASSET committee in the

school, which takes care of all ASSET

related activities in their school. They

arranged ‘Talent Quest’ programmes,

in which students participated with

interest. Students of classes VIII and IX

came out with charts and models

relating to the various principles of

science and discussed it with others.

Good Shepherd English Medium

School, Nandyal conducted a

competition where studentsprepared ASSET type questions

and put it into the ASSET question

box. Winners were declared for

the best questions. ASSET

questions were used in the school

quiz to improve the ability to

handle analytical and application

oriented questions.

Vidya Vikas Academy, Margaomade a graffiti- chart on “Why Ilike to do ASSET” where studentsfreely expressed their ideas, withinteresting thoughts like –“it helpsus think and our brains won’t getrusted!”. Some students wrote animaginative poems about ASSET.The efforts of the students wereappreciated and some poemswere chosen to be published inthe annual school magazine.

Sri Jnanakshi Vidyaniketan, Bangalore, conducted meetingsfor the discussion of teachersheets. They also conducted aspecial session - a question fromlast year’s ASSET paper wasselected, which most of thestudents had misunderstood.Students expressed how theythought, teachers analyzed themisconceptions and made areport.

D e l h i P u b l i c S c h o o l ,

Bangalore East organized

‘ASSET CIRCLE TIME’ - where

students sat in circles on the

floor in the classroom and

discussed the previous years’

q u e s t i o n p a p e r s a m o n g

themselves. These interactions

helped them to have healthy

debates while solving a

problem posed to them.



We have got a positive response fromthe parents and got the suggestionthat these kind of activities (ASSET

Week) should be done so that it will behelpful to them in the futurecompetitive world. Also, it will maketheir position strong and make themconfident. Some of them had alsodemanded to make these kind of activities compulsory as they arehelpful to improve critical thinking and decision making.

-

Chitlapakkam, Chennai

N. S. N. Matriculation Higher Sec. School,

Till last year whatever services were

offered by EI required the Principal

to take it ahead and proved to be

difficult because there were other

responsibilities that the Principal had in the school.

Now with the model of a core team,

it will surely work and I am sure all

services will get used.

-

Amrita Vidyalayam, Chennai

Dr. Seethalakshmi

The students are absolutely

delighted with the AQAD Questions

and they have begun to eagerly wait

for the question next day. Some of them copy it down in their notebooks

as soon as it is pinned to the AQAD

board and are ready with the answer

before the teacher walks into the

classroom.

- St. Mary's J. N. P. School,

Navi Mumbai

Surprises, dime a dozen, were there to

make the young and the not so young

think from the morning till evening and

later at home making everyone around

too excited with a question or two.Students were thinking on their feet

and forgot the daily routine of even

wishing the teacher for the mind was

ticking away to ask a question or

answer many more.

-

Sivakasi

Sri Shenbaga Vinayagar Matriculation School,

ASSET dovetails very well with

what the school offers in terms of

methodology and content. This iswhat The Shri Ram Schools have

always done and now we have a

professional organisation that

offers similar standards.

- Ms Manika Sharma The Shri Ram School,

Vasant Vihar, New Delhi

We have received a positive

response from our children aswell as from their parents. We

are very thankful to ASSET for

providing wonderful mixing

of Joy & Knowledge.

- Rizvi Springfield School

Mumbai

The ASSET exam has worked very well for our school. Since it has been scientifically

designed, after a lot of research and is tailored for the Indian school system, it worksvery well. However, unlike regular exams, it gives students a feel of what

international exams are like, since it follows a similar pattern- testing skills and

concepts, not merely book knowledge or rote memory! It also evaluates each

student individually, providing a complete analysis of their strengths and

weaknesses thus helping them realize their potential, while improving and bettering

the problem areas. Not only students, even school administrators have a clear

picture of school standards, since subject- wise, class-wise analysis is provided. Thus

raising the general academic level in the institution is made that much easier. It has

worked successfully for Vidyashram and students from Std III – X have proved to be

rather good at this testing system.

- J Ajeeth Prasath Jain, Principal

Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, Chennai

The pre ASSET meeting though successful, left me with hundreds of questions

about the previous year's ASSET results and our standing in comparison with

our own school and schools across the nation. I rather found it difficult to

understand and compare our own results.

But the presentation that your team member made exploded all the myths

and misconceptions I had. I really can assess my school's standing now. The

teachers too are very clear about the ways to overcome their hurdles in the

forthcoming years. I really am very satisfied with the POST ASSET ANALYSIS.

- S. Chitra Jeyanthi,

Jaycees, Sivakasi

19

POST ASSET



Date: _________________

Dear Parents,

ASSET – A DIAGNOSTIC SKILL BASED ASSESSMENT

We are glad to inform you that Educational Initiatives (EI) – an Ahmedabad based research organisation, founded by a group of IIM-

Ahmedabad alumni, is conducting a skill-based diagnostic assessment – ASSET. Over 2500 leading schools in India, Gulf and Singapore

have partnered with ASSET over the past 8 years. Our school is planning to participate in ASSET for all our students as it will give our

teachers detailed feedback along with a year-round school improvement program with specific ideas on helping our children in their

learning and our teachers in improving their teaching methods.

We would like ALL the students to participate from each class, so that the ASSET analysis can empower our teachers to consolidate

strength areas and improve on specific areas of weakness and misconceptions (common to all students of a particular grade).

The test is objective-multiple-choice type and the duration is between 45 minutes to an hour for each subject. No preparation is

required as the tests are based on what the students have already learnt in the classroom. The fee for the test is Rs 350 for English,

Maths and Science (Classes 3 to 10) and Rs 135 each for Hindi (Class 4 to 8) and Social Studies (Classes 5 to 10). This amount has been

added to the fee structure itself to facilitate collection of the fees.

It is also worth noting that Duke University (USA) which is one of the top 10 universities in the US has chosen performance in ASSET as

one of its pre-selection parameters for its Duke Talent Identification Program (Grades 7 and 8). Duke TIP will reserve the right to

choose schools and students and participation in ASSET does not mandate a pre-selection. More information is available on the Duke

TIP website at www.tip.duke.edu/india

Please visit www.ei-india.com for more information on how ASSET is helping children and schools across the country. We do look

forward to your continued support towards the initiatives taken by the school in helping our children learn better.

Yours truly,

Principal

test

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SAMPLE

PARENT LETTER



6. ASSET COORDINATOR 7. PRINCIPAL(from School)

Name:

Mobile:

E-mail:

Name:

Mobile:

E-mail:

®

8. SCHOOL ADDRESS

TOWN/CITY : PIN :

STD Code

2. PHONE NO. 3. FAX

To,Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd.613-615, JB Tower, Opp. Doordarshan,

Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad 380 054.

Phone: 079-40269696

Fax : 079-26841400

School Code

(Leave blank if not known)

1. SCHOOL NAME*

For the items marked (*), please read the instructions overleaf carefully before filling.

10.TEST DATES (tick one) August 2-5, 2010 December 6-11, 2010

TOTAL AMOUNT *: Rs. (d=b+c)

TEST ADMINISTRATION FEE : Rs. (e)

NET AMOUNT PAYABLE TO EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES Rs. (d-e)

ADVANCE PAYABLE @30% OF THE ABOVE Rs.

(see table overleaf for percentage)

If Any

4. E-MAIL* 5. WEBPAGE

9. AFFILIATION BOARD TOTAL STUDENTS (Classes 3-10) LOWEST CLASS HIGHEST CLASS

School Summary Form 2010 - Early Bird

NOTE : Incomplete forms will not be accepted. Last date of submission of the form is March 1st, 2010

for the Advance Registration Opportunity, Early Bird.

Principal / Coordinator's sign with school stampDate:

PLEASE DO NOT PAY CASH. EI WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CASH PAYMENTS MADE BY SCHOOLS.

Please find enclosed (tickPone and fill)

a Multi-City Cheque no. _____________ dtd ___/___/_____ for Rs. __________ drawn on__________________ Bank, _________ branch.

a Demand Draft no. _____________ dtd ___/___/_____ for Rs. ___________ drawn on________________________ Bank, _________ branch.

signed and stamped ICICI Bank Pay-In Slip dtd ___/___/_____ for Rs. ________________ of Educational Initiatives Pvt Ltd's ICICI Bank accountno. 006405000246. (PAN no. AAACE9834B.)

WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH. PLEASE DO NOT

HAND OVER ANY CASH TO OUR REPRESENTATIVE

12. DETAILS

TOTAL

CLASS

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Students Rate

350

350

350

350

350

350

350

350

Amount Total Rate

135

135

135

135

135

135

135

Amount

CORE SUBJECT (E, M, Sc) OPTIONAL SUBJECTS (SS, Hindi)

Hindi

N.A.

N.A.

N.A.

SS

N.A.

N.A.

(a) (b) (c)

11. TYPE OF PARTICIPATION (tick one) Full School (All Classes 3 - 10) Full Class / Classes



We request you to carefully read and follow these instructions which will help us process your registration quickly and in an error-free manner.

General Instructions:

1. Retain a copy of this form while submitting the original to Educational Initiatives (EI).

2. The last date for submitting the form is as follows:

3. A test administration fee may be retained by the school to cover test administration expenses including invigilation charges, DD charges, courier/postage charges,

etc as prescribed below.

4. Please mention the school code (provided by EI if the school has taken ASSET earlier) in the space provided on the top right corner. Schools registering for the first

time may leave the school code blank.

5. Students should be charged Rs. 350 for the 3 core subjects and Rs. 135 each for the optional subjects (Social Studies and Hindi).

6. Rs. 5,000 from the advance payment will be deducted if the test is cancelled or if the number of participating students falls below the eligibility slab.7. Full payment should be credited to our bank account so that we can ship the papers on time.

Registration Last Date

Registration date with advance payment March 1st, 2010

Final Registration for Summer Round July 7th, 2010

Final Registration for Winter Round September 30th, 2010

Item-wise Specific Instructions:

Item No. Special Instructions

1. Please fill the school name legibly in the blocks provided writing one letter per block. Leave a blank box between each word. The school name willappear on all certificates as written here, followed by the town name in brackets.

4. You will receive communications, automatic updates and dispatch details if you give an e-mail address.

11. Participation in the Advance Registration Opportunity has to be full class or full school only. Optional participation is not allowed in the AdvanceRegistration Opportunity.

12. The test administration fee is calculated as a percentage of the total amount payable based on the number of students and date of registration. Usethe table below to calculate the amount to be retained by the school as the test administration fee.

TEST ADMINISTRATION FEE PERCENTAGES AND ARO BENEFITS

Please do not pay by cash or local cheque. You may pay by multi-city cheque, or demand draft or deposit the amount directly into the Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd.

ICICI Bank account No. 006405000246 in any ICICI Bank branch in your city. Multi-city cheques and demand drafts must be drawn in favour of "Educational Initiatives

Pvt. Ltd."(payable at Ahmedabad).

INSTRUCTIONS for filling up the School Summary Form

Thank you for registering for®

EARLY BIRD BENEFITS

STUDENT RANGE

TEST ADMIN FEE

ADDITIONAL FREE

BENEFITS FOR REGISTERING

UNDER EARLY BIRD WITH30% ADVANCE BEFORE

MARCH 1st, 2010

Student Personalised Booklet

(ASSET MyBook)

+Test Generator for the

full school or

Classes participating in

EMS for the year

+

AQAD via email

+

REP (2 visits)

+


ANDA Laptop worth Rs 25,000


(ASSET MyBook)

+Test Generator for the full

school or Classes participating

in EMS for the year

+

AQAD via email

+

REP (2 visits)

+


200-799

10%


(ASSET MyBook)

+[Test Generator for the

full school or Classes

participating in EMS

for the year

+

AQAD via email

+

REP (2 visits)

+

Teacher Sheets (soft copy)]

OR


800 - 1599

10%

1600 and above

15%

STUDENTS REGISTERING FOR ASSET



We believe that student learning can be significantly improved only through systematic research into learningwhich includes assessment, as well as areas like misconception research. The working paper series shares learningsfrom various past and present EI projects as well as path-breaking work in these areas elsewhere in the world.

Working Paper 1 - ANNUAL STATUS OF STUDENT LEARNING

Background:

The Royal Education Council (REC), Bhutan partnered with Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd (EI) to

carry out the 'Annual Status of Student Learning (ASSL)', a large scale assessment study for the

school children of Bhutan.

Key Findings:

1. The level of learning of Bhutanese students is lower than average international levels as

represented by reputed international studies.2. Children are learning certain basic concepts reasonably well, but there clearly are gaps in the

learning of intermediate concepts across subjects.

Working Paper 2 - STUDENT LEARNING IN THE METROS

Background:

How well are students in our 'top' schools learning? In order to try and understand this,

Educational Initiatives (EI) and Wipro Ltd. conducted a research study in the 5 metros – Mumbai,

Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore among the 30,000 students from 'top' 40 schools in 2006.

However the larger goal was to take a critical issue - the quality of student learning - and to try and

gain insights about it based, not on opinion or 'experience', but on hard data.

Key Findings

1. Students across classes answer rote-based or procedural questions relatively well. The flip

side of this, however, is that students seem to rely on memory or learnt procedures to answer

almost all questions, rather than trying to think through and solve the unfamiliar ones.2. Students are learning in 'compartments', i.e. they may be aware of two pieces of information,

but often don’t know how they are related or how that relation works in a real life situation.3. Apart from problems with learning strategies, a number of specific and clear 'common errors'

exist in the different subjects. Since they are widespread, it should not be difficult for

textbooks and teachers to specifically address these errors.

Working Paper 3 – A personalized adaptive learning system for students

Background:

Studies conducted by Educational Initiatives (EI) indicate that the problem of poor learning

standards affect almost all 'schools for the poor' – government-run as well as the so-called 'low-

cost private schools.'The problem exists at two levels – one, students are often not developing

even the basic literacy skills like reading, counting, etc. Two, the little learning that happens

tends to be procedural or 'mechanical' learning – students are able to follow taught proceduresbut have not understood the underlying concepts.

With the constant advancement in Technology, many e-learning solutions have been

introduced to achieve quality at scale, but in reality the e-learning solutions tend to be

technology-driven and educationally weak. We present here a solution – Mindspark - we

believe is educationally-rich and technology-supported.

It is a computer based, adaptive learning solution designed to allow the child to learn at her own pace and to serve, wherever

possible, to supplement, not replace classroom teaching. The system is currently being used for Maths learning and early results

have been very encouraging. A language Mindspark system is currently under development and trial.

Mindspark Impact

1. A comparison of the pre- and post-test scores in the Mumbai trials shows a statistically significant positive improvement in

student learning – an increase of over 34% on the existing learning base. The improvement in student scores in the Ratlamproject was to the tune of 90% on an extremely low learning base.

2. The system's adaptive logic allows each child to work at her own pace reinforcing the child's confidence and interest in the subject.

EI WORKING

PAPER SERIES



Greatly thrilled to

find the questions

they posed had even

the teachers thinking

for a while

Questions trigger

the children’sthinking process in

an interesting way



(EI)’S BASKET OF OFFERINGS

EducationalINITIATIVES

EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES PVT. LTD.

Head office: 613, J.B.Towers, Opp. Doordarshan,

Drive-In Road, Ahmedabad - 380054

Phone: +91 79 40269696

Fax: +91 79 26841400

No. 97, 2nd Floor, Robertson Road, Frazer Town,

Bangalore – 560 005

Tele: 080-64567049, 41237162

A-252A, 3rd Floor, Lakshyadeep Plaza,

Sant Nagar,East Of Kailash, New Delhi – 110 065

Tele: 011- 26462264, 40584952

Flat No 401/A, Shri S.K.Vihar, H.No:3-4-578/1,

B/S Sri Chaitanya College, Opp. Deepak Cinema,

Narayanaguda, Hyderabad – 500029

Tele: 040 – 32419534

RH – 1, Sea coast - 2, Kille Gaothan, CBD Belapur,Navi Mumbai - 400 614

Tele: 022 – 32686329, 27561430

Bangalore Office:

Delhi Office:

Hyderabad Office:

Mumbai Office:

ABOUT EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES (EI)

“A world where children everywhere are learning

with understanding”

EI is now recognized as the leading organization working in

the field of learning assessment in India and abroad. Its

vision is

. The founding team of EI started and

ran Eklavya School in Ahmedabad for several years. This

experience and interactions with thousands of teachers,

parents and principals told us that learning is often being

equated today with marks in school tests and Board

Exams. ASSET is our vehicle to change that, not by

prescription, but by sharing information on what children

are really understanding, how they tackle unfamiliar

questions and indeed how well they are understanding.

We believe that these are the skills that will be of crucial

importance in the years to come. Based on our work in

ASSET and large scale assessments over the last seven

years, we have launched “Mindspark” in July, 2008 thatactually helps students and schools improve learning.

EI's team has experienced and dedicated teachers and

professionals with strong backgrounds in school education.

This background helps the team understand and implement

solutions that are based on actual needs of schools,

students and teachers.

ASSETOnline: Internet-based version of ASSET that

can be taken at any time by students – available in 3

subjects for classes 3-10; provides detailed analysis

of students' strength/weakness and benchmarking

data with the peer group.

ASSET Question-a-Day (AQAD): Sample ASSET

questions sent to students by email on every working

day so that they can test their understanding daily

and learn from the right answers given the next day;

available to all students taking ASSET.

Teacher Sheet: Document made available 10 times ayear per class/subject to teachers in schools who takeASSET, to highlight common misconceptions in Mathsand Science and identify problems in readingcomprehension in English – include reasons for askingthe question, possible reasons for wrong answers, thegaps in student learning and some remedial measures.

ASSET Question Making Competition (QMC): An

annual competition for teachers at a national level to

encourage good question-making habits, sharing of

best practices and recognition of teachers and

schools with good question-making skills.

ASSETASSET®

Online

ASSETASSET®

QUESTION - A - DAY

TEACHER S H E E T

MindSpark: A unique computer-based self learning

program which uses questions of gradually increasing

level to help students gain mastery and confidence overkey concept - automatically adjusting itself to the need

and speed of each student; suitable for students of ICSE,

CBSE and state board and is currently available in Maths.

Student Misconception videos: Research documents

in video-recorded format based on interviews with

2,500 students nationally on some basic concepts in

Maths, Science and English – providing insights into

"how do our children think?", jointly produced by EI

and Wipro.

TEEPTeacher Evaluation Program

Teacher Effectiveness Enhancement Program

(TEEP): A teacher observation based assessment

program that involves a team of experts from EI

observing and analysing the teaching process in a

school. The objective is to offer actionable feedback to

teacher to enhance teacher effectiveness in planning

and execution.

B HU T ANP R O J E C T

Bhutan Project: The Royal Education Council has

engaged EI for three different projects - the Child

Tracking System, the Annual Status of Student

Learning and Teacher Needs Assessments. EI has also

been given a 5-year project to help Bhutan set up an

Assessment Institute.

TM

Google Project: A first-of-its-kind project embarked

upon by EI with Google Org., to measure learning levels

of government school children across 21 Indian states.

It is an ambitious and complex exercise involving

assessment of student achievement in classes 4, 6 and

8 in about 15 languages.

WORKING PAPER SERIES Working paper series: We believe that significantly

improved student learning can happen only throughsystematic research into learning which includesassessment, as well as areas like misconceptionresearch. The working paper series shares learnings

National Question-Making Competition

®

aro 2010 brochure

Documents