IRO-FAQ

1. What is International Reading Olympiad (IRO)?

India’s first pure play, personalised and adaptive reading skill assessment for Grades 1 to 8
Designed to measure a child’s reading abilities, oral fluency and their expertise levels against international benchmarks
Created and incubated by Stones2Milestones in partnership with the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) and seasoned practitioners, experts, educators, and thought leaders from Harvard, IIM, IIT Bombay, Stanford University and Carnegie Speech
Backed by a decade of research on reading and its undisputed importance in the overall development of an individual

2. Why is IRO critical?

Gives a complete picture of each child’s decoding, comprehension, and reading and oral fluency levels
It ascertains a child’s reading level - at, above, or below grade/ age level
Provides support in improving every child’s reading, learning and expression abilities that build future academic success
Helps in building champions for life by continuous and comprehensive evaluation year on year to bridge learning gaps

3. How do I start the IRO process?

Register for one of the two packages, as a School or Parent, on or before registration close date (31^st July, 2023)
Details on test administration and login credentials would be sent subsequent to registration
Prepare for the Olympiad by completing the 2 mock tests on the Freadom app
If you have opted for the Achiever package then you will have access to special guided preparation material
Show up and participate in the IRO on the test date

4. What do I know after taking IRO? What does the IRO reveal/ make known?

a. National Benchmarks

Grade-wise national reading benchmarks for the country
Intra and inter school report on students’ reading levels with reference to national data

b. Children

'Real time' individual test scores for each child
Individual percentile score of each child mapped to the school’s overall performance

c. School

School's performance scores mapped locally and nationally
The ability to identify children who may be at risk of academic non-performance, and provide corrective guidance

d. Repurposing

Recommended interventions for supporting children who are either at risk or need a boost to improve
Recommended best practices for schools and parents on how to transform a good reader into a great one

5. What is IRO based on?

Based on internationally established reading outcomes and assessment principles as laid down by PIRLS (global)*, Common Core (USA)** and NCF 2005 (India)***
Contextualized to meet the culture and comfort of Indian children
Adaptive assessment to suit children’s personalised learning needs
Oral fluency component has been developed in house to suit Indian standards and dialect

6. Has IRO been vetted?

Yes, one of the most noteworthy partnerships that Stones2Milestones is really proud of is with the Australian Council of Education and Research ( www.acer.org)—one of the largest assessment organisations in the world and the team behind PISA
Stones2Milestones employed global best practices in data analysis for the first round of IRO, as vetted by ACER India. ACER India is also engaged in IRO for a meticulous review at all stages, including Assessment, Framework, Technical Standards, Test item creation, Test Administration, Data Analysis, and Reporting.

7. What does the school receive after participating in IRO?

Individual child-specific reports that can be shared with parents
A school-wide detailed analysis of the state of reading
Opportunity to be a part of and access the nation’s sole reading benchmark report
As part of Club1BR community they will have access to a range of services (such as Author meet-and-greets, teacher workshops, and premium feature unlocks for students)
A 'Reading First' school certificate for participation and a rolling trophy for winning schools

8. What do you get by signing up for IRO?

Each child will:

have the opportunity to participate in a world-class, tech-driven assessment
receive a detailed skill report
have the opportunity to win medals for being state or national toppers

Each school will:

Receive a detailed grade-wise skill-based report
Have access to all individual student reports
Receive a trophy and commendation for the principal for having the best (top 10) overall grades in a state or country.
Receive a participation certificate

FAQs