What is iBecome?
iBecome is the IKRAM-Musleh International Assessment Programme namely International Quality Range Assessment. iBecome surveys 16 year-olds’ becomingness after they had undergone 10-12 years of educational process. Becomingness refers to the outcome (as opposed to output) of the educational processes as we prepare them to meet real-life challenges. (please refer in the collection of papers for more details). There will be no attempt to rank individuals or institutions. The main purpose is to describe the becomingness of participating individuals and their educational institutions in each countries.

What does iBecome assess and why?
iBecome focuses on the assessment of student becomingness in 11 constructs. These constructs give an indication the basic principles or characters of a good Muslim. There are
1. Physical Vigour
2. Pure Heart
3. Strong Spirituality
4. True Aqidah/Faith
5. Correct Ibadah/Worship
6. Exalted Character
7. Extensive Knowledge and Deep Understanding
8. ACompelling Wisdom
9. Competent Leadership and Management
10. Unflagging Call to Islam
11. Benevolence to All
are information, provided by iBecome can be considered as the specific area that schools or educational institutions can work together to achieve the aspirations of the Islamic Philosophy of Education. iBecome also collects valuable information on student attitudes and motivations. It is also investigating opportunities to assess other important skills related, for example, to creative thinking. iBecome draws (not based on) on content that can be found in curricula in the Islamic Education around the world. iBecome does not prescribe or promote any one curriculum nor is it constrained by the need to find common denominators.

What are key features of iBecome2018?
Content :  The iBecome 2018 survey focused on in the construct or the basic characteristics of Insan Rabbani (a good noble pious muslim)
Students : 532 students completed the assessment in 2019.
Tests : Test are conducted online. iBecome is designed as a survey that can be administered at any time to any target – individual or group of students – at a certain level. The survey instruments used is divided into two parts. Part 1 – Contains 20 demographic items so as to assemble a wide range of relevant demographic data to enable a variety of analysis that would become an additional finding in quality assurance and enhancement. Part 2 contains 100 AOTI items – Action Oriented Thinking Items. There will be 10 items for each construct.

The AOTI design takes in account earnestly aspects on Observable, Measurable and Manageable. Everyone will have their own reaction and response when dealing with a situation. Their spontaneous reaction and response symbolizes their stand on the situation. Their standpoints were formed through the internalisation process as a result of the education process.

Itemsnaires : The itemsnaire sought demographic information about the students themselves, their attitudes, dispositions and beliefs, their homes, the school and learning experiences. Of course, there is a link between the socio-economic status of a student’s household – including material living conditions and parents’ educational attainment – and the student’s performance in iBecome.

What is new in iBecome2.0?
From a set of 10 constructs with 10 items for each construct. iBecome 2.0 selected 62 items based on a modified constructs is developed and ready to be used in July 2020.

Whom does iBecome assess?
iBecome assesses 16 year old students. The assumption is that at this age, the students’ characteristics of becomingness have begun to develop and they are generally at the end of formal schooling. The lists from which schools and students are selected for the iBecome assessment cover all students who meet these criteria, regardless of the type of educational institution in which they are enrolled and whether they are enrolled as full-time or part-time students. The demographic composition of the iBecome sample may change over time.

What makes iBecome unique?
1. iBecome is not an achievement test. It is not a measure for a product but rather it is outcome base of education. It describes becomingness of students as they began to embark on real life after schooling.
2. iBecome is also unique in the way it looks at:
2.1. Public policy issues: Governments, principals, teachers and parents all want answers to items such as, “Are our schools adequately preparing young people for the challenges of adult life?”, “Are some kinds of teaching and schools more effective than others?” and, “Can schools contribute to improving the futures of students from immigrant or disadvantaged backgrounds?”
2.2. Literacy: Rather than examine mastery of specific school curricula, iBecome looks at students’ ability to apply knowledge and skills in key subject areas and to analyse, reason and communicate effectively as they examine, interpret and solve problems.
2.3. Lifelong learning: Students cannot learn everything they need to know in school. In order to be effective lifelong learners, young people need not only knowledge and skills, but also an awareness of why and how they learn. iBecome both measures student’s performance in reading, mathematics and science literacy, and asks students about their motivations, beliefs about themselves and learning strategies.

How do I find out more about the iBecomeassessment and who develops it?
 Through its website and publications, the iBecome makes available to the public and experts, all the key information on the methods and processes associated with iBecome.
For further information, please contact Ustaz Amin, Executive Director IKRAM-MUSLEH amin@musleh.edu.my or +60192687058

PENDIDIKAN IKRAM MUSLEH BERHAD (513402-W)
6-1, Jalan Dagang SB 4/1, Taman Sg. Besi Indah, 43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor.
No. Tel: +6016-241 0277 Email: iqra@musleh.edu.my

How is iBecome governed?
iBecome is the IKRAM-Musleh International Assessment Programme namely International Quality Range Assessment. IQRA surveys 16 year-olds’ becomingness after they had undergone 10-12 years of educational process. Becomingness refers to the outcome (as IQRA is developed and implemented under the responsibility of the iBecome Board of Governors IKRAM-MUSLEH.

The iBecome Board of Governors IKRAM-MUSLEH determines the policy priorities for IQRA and oversees adherence to these priorities during implementation. This includes setting priorities and standards for data development, analysis and reporting, and determining the scope of work that will then form the basis for the implementation of iBecome

To ensure the technical robustness of iBecome, a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is appointed by the iBecome, comprising independent, world-renowned experts in the fields that underpin the iBecome methodology, such as sampling, survey design, scaling and analysis. The TAG is regularly called upon to adjudicate the IQRA methods and the results of individual countries to ensure that what is published from iBecome is robust and internationally comparable.

Which institutions and teams are behind IQRA?
* Countries that participate in iBecome may not necessarily be represented.

The IKRAM-MUSLEH Secretariat: The iBecome  Secretariat is responsible for the day-to-day management of iBecome. This means that the iBecome team monitors the survey’s implementation, manages administrative matters for the iBecome.

iBecome National Project Managers: Working with the iBecome Secretariat, the iBecome Board of Governors IKRAM-MUSLEH and the international contractors, the iBecome National Project Managers oversee the implementation of iBecome in each participating country. The iBecome National Project Managers are appointed by IKRAM-MUSLEH.

iBecome Itemsnaire Expert Group: The Itemsnaire Expert Group provides leadership and guidance in the construction of the iBecome context itemsnaires. The members of the Itemsnaire Expert Group are selected by the iBecome Board of Governors IKRAM-MUSLEH.

Who pays for iBecome?
iBecome is financed exclusively through direct contributions from the participating countries.
NAMA’ has kindly gave substantive support towards this project

Participation
Participation in iBecome is open to all interested individual and institutions participating countries.

What types of test items are used in iBecome and why?
iBecome uses multiple-choice testing as the primary feature of its assessments because it is reliable, efficient, and supports robust and scientific analyses. Multiple-choice items in iBecome have a variety of formats, including highlighting of a word within a text, connecting pieces of information and making multiple selections from drop-down menus. In addition, typically up to one-third of items in iBecome assessment are open-ended set of items are divided into two parts- the demographic and the AOTI type of items. Students also answer a background itemsnaire, providing information about themselves, their attitudes to learning and their homes.

Who creates the test items?
The initial set of items base are initially developed by the in-service teachers. The items are then reviewed or rejected by the expert team from iBecome in participating countries. Anyone are invited to submit items that are then added to items base developed by the IKRAMMUSLEH experts. The items to be reviewed are only those items that pass the criteria used in iBecome. Further, before the main test is conducted, there is a trial test run in all participating countries. If any test items prove to be too easy or too difficult in certain countries, for reasons not related to the overall level of becomingness of students (as demonstrated on the remaining items), they are dropped from the main test in all countries.

iBecome uses the online features for the implementation of test items

What is the significance of this?
Computers and computer technology are part of our everyday lives and it is appropriate and inevitable that iBecome has progressed to a computer-based delivery mode. Over the past decades, digital technologies have fundamentally transformed the ways we read and manage information. Digital technologies are also transforming teaching and learning, and how schools assess students. To reflect how students and societies now commonly access, use and communicate information, starting with the 2019 assessment cycle, the iBecome test was delivered mainly online. Students can participate in the assessment via online. To ensure that each student gets a different item than his colleague sitting beside him, each item and its responses are further shuffled randomly

How does IQRA ensure the comparability of items across countries and languages?
The value of cross-country comparisons is at the heart of large-scale international surveys such as iBecome. iBecome follows several standards and procedures concerned with ensuring fair and valid comparisons of iBecome results across countries. These include the consistent implementation of IQRA and the use of representative samples in each participating country. Much effort also goes into ensuring that the items used in IQRA maintain their measurement properties in each of the many language versions. The steps to ensure that the resulting measures are equivalent include:
• Qualitative reviews of all items, at different stages of their development, by national and international experts in the respective domains. The ratings and comments submitted by national experts determine the revision of items and coding guides for the main study,
• Prescribed procedures for translation and adaptation. These include the preparation of two source versions (English and Arabic), of detailed translation and adaptation guidelines, the requirement of a double-translation design (two independent translations are reconciled by a third person), and a final quality control of the resulting translation (“verification”), performed by the international IQRA consortium. Countries sharing a test language are encouraged to develop a common version that is then adapted to national contexts
• For items scales relying on multiple items, systematic analysis of measurement equivalence through statistical indicators of scale consistency and model fit.

Can students cheat on IQRA?
IKRAM-MUSLEH applies strict conditions at all levels to ensure student data accurately reflect students’ ability and performance, and do not involve any form of cheating. This assurance starts with the Agreement for Participation between the IKRAM-MUSLEH and each country.

The agreement requires countries to comply with the comprehensive Technical Standards for iBecome, including the secure management of test materials and secure administration of the assessment. These requirements are then reinforced through the iBecome Operations Manual, the School Co-ordinators Manual and the Test Administrators Manual. These manuals have explicit instructions for the secure receipt, handling and storage of all test-related materials, and for the secure administration of the test itself. No one other than approved project staff has access to secure IQRA data, and embargoed material and formal confidentiality arrangements are in place for all approved project staff.

Adherence to the standards is monitored throughout all project-implementation phases, and all deviations (e.g. deviations from the agreed test-administration protocol), both minor and major, are recorded for further review. After students sit the assessment, each national dataset is reviewed and any inconsistencies flagged for further analysis. Such inconsistencies include, for example, differences between one country and others in how items functioned, and differences in a country between the field trial and the main study in how items functioned. Data adjudication is the quality-control process through which each national dataset and quality-monitoring report are reviewed, and through which a judgement about the appropriateness of the data for the main reporting goals is formed. Data for adjudicated regions are also reviewed, although not all sub-national jurisdictions choose to undergo the data-adjudication process.

Are the results and data from the IQRA surveys publicly available?
All results and data from the IQRA surveys are not publicly available. Request have to be made to IKRAM-MUSLEH.

What do the test scores mean?
IQRA scores can be located along specific scales developed for each construct, designed to show the general becomingness tested by IQRA.

Once a student’s responses to the test have been scored, his or her overall score can be located on the appropriate scale.

In each test subject, there is theoretically no minimum or maximum score in IQRA; rather, the results are scaled to fit approximately normal distributions.

How are participating countries ranked in IQRA?
IQRA do not rank individual, institution or participating countries according to their performance. The focus is based on the scores of becomingness represented by the spider web graph. The aim is to describe students becomingness by identifying its indicators and make comparisons with others, solely for the purpose of learning and improving one’s weak “construct” . These identifying of indicators or their level of becomingness will be used for each students intervention programs later.

How does IQRA measure change in performance over time?
IQRA scores are reported on the same scale over time. To determine whether performance improved, remained stable, or declined, IQRA uses both year-to-year comparisons (e.g. between 2017 and 2018, or between 2019 and 2020) and average trends over three or more assessment years (i.e. over a period of 6 years or longer).

Year-to-year comparisons are most robust when comparing assessments that share a large number of items and other design features. Average trends that combine data from three or more measurements can reduce the uncertainty involved in trend comparisons and limit the possible confounding effect of unique circumstances that may have affected the test administration in a single year. In IQRA reports, average trends are the preferred measure of change in mean performance over time spans of nine years or more. Average trends also allow for meaningful comparisons of trends between countries that cannot compare data across all assessment years, although differences in participation must be considered when interpreting these comparisons. 

Real change, in education, is cumulative and often slow; with good measurement, one should expect gradual improvement or decline. In this situation, year-to-year comparisons may not be significant, taken individually, but the accumulation of short-term changes that point in the same direction represents a significant trend. Fitting a regression line to multiple measurements allows for the extraction of a signal from data that are, at times, noisy, and to detect if there is an underlying pattern of improvement or deterioration.

What steps are taken to ensure the IQRA tests and the results from it are robust?
Confidence in the robustness of IQRA is based on the rigour that is applied to all technical aspects of the survey design, implementation and analysis, not just on the nature of the statistical model, which has developed over time and will continue to do so. Specifically regarding test development, the robustness of the assessment lies in the rigour of the procedures used in item development, field trials, analysis, review and selection.

The task for the experts developing the assessment is to ensure that all these aspects are taken into account, and to use their expert judgement to select a set of test items such that there is a sufficient balance across all these aspects. In IQRA this is done by assessment specialists who work with advisory groups made up of international experts. Participating countries also play a key role in this item-selection process.

How do IQRA results support education system improvement?
IKRAM-MUSLEH strives to identify what policies and practices appear to be “working” in countries that are recording high performance or show evidence of significant improvement over time on IQRA. It then reports those findings and supports countries that wish to investigate and explore the extent to which they would benefit from similar programmes. IKRAM-MUSLEH is aware of the different circumstances in different countries. There is no ‘one size fits all” education model for countries. It is not possible or appropriate to “cut and paste” one country’s education system into another country.