RAISING THE BAR is brought to you exclusively
by Imperial Beverage of Kalamazoo, MI.
All components were developed solely by Imperial Beverage, and all rights are reserved.
At Imperial Beverage, we support safe alcohol related practices.
Getting Started
Behind the Scenes Your Imperial Beverage Account Manager signs up your location to participate in Raising the Bar. Or, if you prefer, you may contact the office of Imperial at 269.382.4200, and the team behind Raising the Bar can help you.
One person from your location will be the main contact for Raising the Bar. This person can create login credentials for the your team, make testing assignments, and view reports for the results of your and other teams. Comparative data is also available, showing how your team scores among all those that have taken Raising the Bar exams.
Once assignments are made by the contact person, individual students may log on and begin reading and testing.
Visiting your Dashboard
Your dashboard is an important, central location for your Raising the Bar experience. From you "Dash" you can view your progress, navigate to coursework, view your practice test outcomes, and, once your final exam is taken, see how you compare to others on your own team and those in the Imperial Beverage network that have taken the same test.
Navigating to your dashboard is easy, as every page has a dashboard icon on the left hand side, near your Username and Account location. You can navigate to your Dash from any page you are visiting.
A number of icons exist on your dashboard. Over time, these may be intuitive. For now,view a handout that describes what each icon means.
View your Test Assignments
On your dashboard, inside the blue box, will be your assignments. Listed on the left hand side of the dash, in ascending order, you'll see what items your manager has marked for you. These courses, starting at the beginner level, are also links. You can click each to visit page one of the coursework for that level, or choose to print out materials to carry with you and read at your liesure. The due dates for each level will be shared in person by your manager.
You can view the course work for any level assigned, at any time, before, during or even after the final exam is taken for each level.
Read and Study
Now its time to study. We recommend a quiet place, where you do your best reading. While not every student's testing experience is identical, the syllabus for each course is. View the syllabus (the ABC icon), and consider studying with a friend!
Also, this course may be an online way to study and learn, but there is nothing like the real thing. In the wine courses, consider tasting items indicative of regions about which you are reading. Don't stop at a single example if you can help it, as varietals can show differently from different countries or regions, just as a piece of music can sound different if the tempo is adjusted. On the beer side, take a look at the glossary titled "Benchmarks for Style" and choose your selections from it. We consider these the truest examples of the topic, style, or method.
But most of all, remember that beer and wine is fun. Enjoy the learning experience.
Practice Makes Perfect Practice your studies! See where you are. The Practice tests are intended to help you get where you want to be: confident in the material and successful on the final exam.
Practice tests are learning tools, to prepare you for the final exam. Once you've taken the test, you will be able to see the graded version. It is available to you from your dashboard, and because it is an accurate reflection of what you do and do not know, you should print these two items and use them to study.
Real exam questions are pulled at random for each practice test, so you may see the same question on the final exam. Why wouldn't you want to prepare by seeing parts of the real thing? Another bonus: your employer will have no idea how you scored on your practice test. That's right! He or she can tell if you took the test, but not how you scored. You, however, can see all sorts of detail that will help you prepare to move on.
Now You're Ready
Now that you've taken both Practice Tests and reviewed what you missed, you're ready to take the final exam. It's formal. It's timed. And it isn't easy! But you are adequately prepared, and you can do it. Good luck!
