What is ASSET?

ASSESSMENT OF SCHOLASTIC SKILLS THROUGH EDUCATIONAL TESTING (ASSET)

ASSET is a diagnostic test which actually helps students improve.

Unlike regular tests which try only to find out how much a child knows (or has memorized), ASSET measures how well a student has understood concepts and gives detailed feedback on the same, to help them improve.

Thus ASSET helps each student know whether she has actually understood a concept early on so that immediate action can be taken. Often students have conceptual gaps which increase as they progress and when they reach the higher classes, they develop a “phobia” for the subject.

But aren’t school exams already testing this?

The following is a real-life incident:

The class 5 going daughter of a scientist told him that she had learnt in her Geography class that: the “difference between the earth’s equatorial circumference and polar circumference is 72 kms”. Impressed, he asked her what she understood by equatorial circumference. She said she did not know. And by polar circumference? Again, she was not sure. Circumference? She had no idea. In desperation, he asked her “then what do you know?” “I know that the difference between the earth’s equatorial circumference and polar circumference is 72 kms, that is all that they are going to ask in the exam”, came the prompt reply.

School tests - including board exams - tend to be superficial, testing what children have memorized. But the important skills like the ability to think independently and reason logically - critical in today’s world - are often not emphasized in school tests.

Salient Features of ASSET

For students of classes 3-10

• Core Subjects: English, Maths and Science
• Optional Subjects: Social Studies and Hindi
• Based on the Indian curriculum (CBSE, ICSE and state boards)
• Detailed Skill-wise feedback with customized letter for every student
• Conducted in the school during school hours
• Schools choose to take the test in Summer (July-August) or Winter (December)

ASSET is unlike other tests in many different ways. It…

• has interesting questions that require thinking, not simply recall
• provides detailed skill-wise feedback highlighting strengths and weaknesses
• provides a benchmark of the student’s performance with peers all over the country

Further, ASSET does not have many of the disadvantages associated with other tests. It does not

• require preparation or create pressure on students before the test
• expect children to write long answers or essays
• leave students after the test without any guidelines on how to improve

Thus, ASSET focuses on IMPROVEMENT rather than comparison or grading. It also reduces the stress of exams by checking UNDERSTANDING rather than FACTS.

Many benefits for Schools, too

The power of ASSET does not end with detailed feedback and benchmarking provided to students. It offers many tangible benefits to teachers and schools:

• it allows SCHOOLS to benchmark themselves against the best and identify areas requiring improvement
• it provides TEACHERS insights into where exactly their students are weak compared to the national average or another section or school
• it allows SCHOOLS to focus on initiatives like teacher training in the areas where they are needed the most
• it provides concrete ideas to teachers of questions that can be used to improve assessment methods
• detailed skill-training and other workshops are also offered free to schools with ASSET (details are here)