AN ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT POLICY IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES GUOFANG YUAN Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature Shanghai Teachers’ University July, 1991 Master of Arts in Chinese Language and Literature Yunnan Nationalities University July, 1994 Master of Arts in English Language and Literature Beijing Normal University July, 1998 Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN URBAN EDUCATION at the CLEVELAND STATE UNVERSITY August, 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This researcher would like to acknowledge the following important people that have helped to make this dissertation possible: To all those who graciously helped me through the completion of this research and my doctoral program course of study, including my encouraging professors, my dedicated committee members, my generous cohort peers, and my supportive family, and to all students, parents, teachers, and educational professionals who have worked hard, and continue to work hard to improve the educational system in both China and the United States. AN ANALYSIS OF NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT POLICY IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES GUOFANG YUAN ABSTRACT Ongoing changes in educational assessment policies within China and the United States have created numerous challenges in interpreting and comparing these policies because of the two very distinct contexts. On the one hand, educational assessment policies seem to be diverging, with the United States moving towards more standardized testing and China moving away from it. On the other hand, the policies and the reforms seem to converge, with both nations utilizing standardized testing as an important vehicle for educational improvement. In China, the college/university entrance examination was reinstated in 1977 after it was discontinued by the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). Under unique political and economic circumstances, a series of testing policy reforms and measures were initiated and implemented in the 1980s, in order to correct the tendency to pursue the one-sided promotion ratio to a higher level of schooling and to counter the negative consequences of test-oriented education. Since the 1990s, as Chinese education reform deepened, educational assessment reform was implemented along with other reforms with regard to curricula, teaching materials, and instructional pedagogy. The goal was to achieve a quality education with an improved standard in national education, so that education could best serve China’s economic development and improve its competitiveness in globalization. iv Since 1983, American education reform, with an aggressive involvement of both the federal and state governments, focused on creating and implementing more competitive educational standard for students, teachers, and school administration in a global context. From Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush, U.S. presidents, for both political and economic purposes, attempted to push American education toward a more competitive and international standard of better quality. Through a brief description of the national educational assessment policy documents in China and the United States, and an analysis of these policies and critiques, this dissertation will attempt to uncover the economic and political forces that have driven the national educational assessment reform in the two societies, as seen from both national and global perspectives. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS --------------------1 Overview ------------------------------------------------------------------1 Goals of Analysis --------------------------------------------------------12 Process and Problem Statement ----------------------------------------13 Limitations of the Research ---------------------------------------------19 Definition of Key Terms -------------------------------------------------21 CHAPTER II. POLICY DOCUMENT REVIEW AND ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY ---------------------------------------------------------------------------30 Overview -------------------------------------------------------------------30 Documentation of Chinese Educational Reform Policies -----------31 A Testing Tradition in China -----------------------------------31 Documented Reform of Testing Policy -----------------------34 Documentation for Quality Education ------------------------35 Policies Aligned with Economic Development --------------36 Educational Reform Policy Documents – Specific Issues Addressed ---------------------------------------------------------- ---38 Chinese Policy Reform – Proposals Revisited ---------------48 Documentation of American Educational Reform Policies ---------53 Standard-based Reform -----------------------------------------53 A Nation at Risk -------------------------------------------------55 Standards of Performance --------------------------------------56 Goals 2000: Educate America Act ----------------------------58 vi The No Child Left Behind Act ---------------------------------60 Documented Controversy over Change in the U.S. ---------62 Research Questions -------------------------------------------------------67 Methodological Context, Theory, and Support -----------------------68 Globalization as a Context for Understanding ---------------68 Discourse Theory – Understanding Language ---------------70 Research Methods --------------------------------------------------------73 Primary and Secondary Document Review ------------------74 Critical Examination of Documents --------------------------75 Analyzing Primary Documents: Similarities and Differences -------------------------------------------------------------76 Analyzing Secondary Documents: Validating Government Documents ------------------------------------------------------------77 Method Choice -----------------------------------------------------------78 Cultural Comparative Study -----------------------------------78 Document Analysis ---------------------------------------------79 CHAPTER III. CHINESE EDUCATION POLICY REFORM: FROM TEST- ORIENTED EDUCATION TO QUALITY EDUCATION -----------------------------------------------------------------81 Educational and Testing in the Old China Before 1949 ------------81 Red China and the Four Modernizations (1950s - 1960s) ---------84 Educational Reform and Policy Implementation in the New China (1949-1966) ---------------------------------------------------------------------88 vii Educational Utilitarianism (the 1970s) -------------------------------93 Educational Reform in the 1980s ------------------------------------109 Reform in the 1990s: Test-Oriented or Quality-Oriented Education? --------------------------------------------------------------------130 Documentation for Change --------------------------------------------142 Concluding Reform in the 1990s -------------------------------------144 Quality Education Reform in 1999 -----------------------------------145 Reform Trends in the New Millennium – 2000 and Beyond -----150 Conclusion – Decades of Reform ------------------------------------152 Summary of China’s Education Reform ----------------------------155 2007 - Political, Social, and Cultural Challenges to Reform Efforts ----------------------------------------------------------------158 CHAPTER IV. EDUCATION REFORM IN THE POSTWAR U.S. SINCE 1980S: FROM EQUITY TO EXCELLENCE --------------------160 Overview ----------------------------------------------------------------160 The 1950s - 1970s: An Education for All ---------------------------161 Educational Quality and Equity --------------------------------------162 Educational Quality in the 1980s and 1990s ------------------------164 State Standards in 2000 and Beyond ---------------------------------166 Implications of Standards-based Reform ----------------------------167 Conclusion of American Reform Efforts ----------------------------221 CHAPTER V. A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF REFORM IN CHINA AND THE U.S.: CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT EFFORTS ---------229 Social Context as an Impetus for Change ----------------------------229 viii Same Goals, Different Approaches ---------------------------------231 Culturally Different Interpretations Within Each Nation---------251 Centralized vs. Decentralized Policy-making ---------------------255 Centralized vs. Decentralized Policy Implementation -----------259 Conclusion of Reform Efforts ---------------------------------------264 REFERENCES -----------------------------------------------------------------268 ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITIONS Overview China and the U.S. - Two Systems of Education As part of a system that rewarded effort and achievement for any citizen to become one of the ruling elite, sophisticated written civil service examinations have been in existence in China as early as 2200 B.C. (Ebel, 1972; Solomon 1985; Suen & Vu, 2006). After the Civil Service Examination was officially instated in the sixth century, for most people social mobility was achieved through accessible educational opportunity and the ability to succeed in a number of competitive state examinations. German sociologist Max Weber, who conducted a thorough study on China, made an incisive observation on the social significance of a successful education to the Chinese people: “For twelve centuries, social rank in China has been determined more by qualification for office than by wealth. This qualification, in turn, has been determined by education, and especially by examinations” (Gerth & Mills,