Introduction

International Mathematics Assessment for Schools (IMAS) is a world class mathematics assessment test for middle primary, upper primary and lower junior secondary students. The test is organized by the IMAS Executive Council.

The organizer strongly feels a need to conduct a mathematics assessment test among schools, countries and regions to test the students’ achievements in mathematics problem solving and to serve as a guide paper for students who wish to improve their ability in this field. This test serves as one of the motivating factors attracting students not only to test their abilities in mathematics but also to challenge their abilities in broadening their mathematical scope.

Aims and Objectives

The aims of the IMAS are to

1. Provide an achievement test in mathematics for all students and a mathematics competition for students with good performance;
2. Develop a world class mathematics assessment with international perspective measuring students’ performances in three cognitive dimensions: Knowing, Applying and Reasoning at Middle Primary (Grade 3 and 4), Upper Primary (Grade 5 and 6) and Junior Secondary (Grade 7 and 8) level; and
3. Promote effective learning of mathematics in both primary and secondary schools through a publicly recognized performance measuring platform.

The objectives of the IMAS are to

1. Inform stakeholders, i.e. students, teachers and parents, of the performances of
2. the students in mathematics at different levels of attainment in well defined reports;
3. Better serve the needs of students through a more user friendly format of perennial assessment that offers options for participants in terms of topics as well as difficulties of materials being assessed through a public mathematics assessment which will be held once a year; and
4. Usher in an innovative assessment culture, i.e. participants can choose when they would like to sit for the assessment of content as well as the level of difficulty of the items being assessed. Participants take the initiative in assessing their competencies and capabilities.