Testing and Accountability:

1. China and U.S. Perspectives Testing and Accountability:

2. Thoughts on Testing • Daniel Goleman (1995). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ “One of psychology’s open secrets is the relative inability of grades, IQ, or SAT scores, despite their popular mystique, to predict unerringly who will succeed in life” (p.34). • Albert Einstein: “Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”

3. Thoughts on Testing • Yong Zhao (2009). Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization “Ideally, the two measures of education quality should be consistent. That is, the quality of education should consistently predict the performance of school graduates in society.” “What schools value and measure may not be what is important in real life. Worse yet, what is valued in schools may hurt what is valuable in real life” (p.73).

4. Educational Systems Two functions: to select and to educate A nation’s education system, on behalf of society, decides what talents, knowledge, and skills are useful and what kinds are not. Cultivation of valuable traits and suppression of less desirable ones “High stakes” testing conveys what a society values Tests pressure parents, teachers, and students to focus efforts on what is tested

5. U.S. History/Background • Traditionally, American education is a “states’ right” • 1957: Sputnik . . . the Russians are coming! • 1964: Civil Rights Act & “War on Poverty” • 1965: Authorization of the U.S. Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

6. U.S. History/Background, cont. 1983: National Commission on Excellence in Education published “A Nation at Risk” Outcome-based education Standards-based education

7. U.S. History/Background cont. • 2001: ESEA Reauthorization: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) High-Stakes Testing Accountability Student, School, District, State Data “Everyone --- from mayors, to business leaders, to governors, to former and current Presidents of the United States --- now has an opinion about how to improve public education . . . ”(U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, 2001).

8. NCLB = Accountability Required states to develop tests linked to academic standards Test data used to indicate if schools, and districts meet “AYP” In 2009, meeting AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) = 46% of students proficient in English and 47.5% proficient in mathematics (2014 must = 100%) Students classified as: Advanced Proficient Basic Below Basic Far Below Basic

9. More Federal Accountability Title III Limited English Proficient LEP Grant Schools and Districts must meet 3 AMAOs (Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives): 1. Specified % of English Learners making annual progress in learning English 2. Specified % of English Learners attaining proficiency on the CELDT (California English Language Development Test) 3. Meeting AYP requirements for English Learner subgroup in the school or district

10. State Accountability API (Academic Performance Indicator) calculated on growth: how many students a school or district moves toward proficiency (Moving students from far below basic and below basic counts more toward improving your API) Statewide and “similar schools” rank

11. Education Reform Outcomes – U.S. 20??: Reauthorization of ESEA: “A Blueprint for Reform” Accountability – may be less punitive High-Stakes Testing Student, School, District, State Data

12. China’s History/Tradition 2006 - Premier Wen Jiabao meets with high-level government officials in charge of education. Chinese president and Communist Party leader Hu Jintao : “Presently our nation’s overall science and technology development remains significantly behind advanced nations in the world and cannot support our nation’s social and economical development” (Zhao, p. 68).

13. Concern for China’s innovation 2,000 Chinese companies owned patents to the products they produced; that number represents less than 0.003 percent of all Chinese companies that year (2005). Products worth billions of dollars made in China, they are not made by China. For example, only the four wheels and one battery on the Hyundai automobile produced at the Hyundai plant in Beijing are made by China (Zhao, 2009).

14. Concern for China’s innovation Lu Yongxiang, president of China’s Academy of Sciences and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, reports 99 percent of Chinese companies did not apply for a single patent between 1998 and 2003. 21,519 patents originating from China granted (2005) -134,000 patents originating from US granted.

15. Education Reform Outcomes - China World’s largest formal education system – reform developments since 1950. In 2003 – China graduates three times as many engineers with bachelor’s degree than US. In 2007, student population was 300 million, an increase of 100 million since 1985. Illiteracy almost eliminated among 1.3 billion citizens.  79.2% high school gross enrollment rate , includes vocational high schools (MoE, 2010).

16. Discussion Question In China and the U.S.: • Does there seem to be urgency/priority towards educational system improvements? Among educators? Among parents? Among the public?

17. U.S. Curriculum • Core subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Science • Great variance in provision and delivery of other “non-core” subjects: music, art, physical education/health, foreign language

18. Curriculum Reform – U.S. Narrowing of curriculum; emphasis on high-stakes test subjects: English & Math Urgency to “win-at-all-costs” attitude not only narrowed curriculum but led to “beating the system” . . . and even cheating

19. Curriculum - China Imperial Exam or Civil Exam, keju, with 1,300 year history dating back to Sui dynasty (AD 581-618) to select government officials. Keju - high-stakes test determined education in China for centuries. Confucian classics were the core content of the keju - mostly tested rote memorization or interpretations of the classics.

20. Curricular Reforms - China • Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council (1999). Decision to Further Educational Systemic Reform and Promote Quality-Oriented Education • Encourage secondary and elementary schools to implement their own graduation examinations • Local governments not allowed to impose admission rates on schools, or use admission rate as a measure of school success. Public, parents, and students encouraged to contribute to evaluation of schools. • Reform school curriculum and diversify textbooks

21. Curricular Reforms - China • Ministry of Education policy (2001) focused on curriculum reform • New curriculum standards to replace national syllabus • Flexibility at the school level and more choices for students • Publishers may publish textbooks aligned to curriculum standards, ending 50-year monopoly of People’s Education Press (formerly branch of ministry) • Grant local government freedom to choose textbooks

22. Curricular Reforms - China • Ministry of Education (2010) – Medium and long-term National Educational Reform and Development Plan • Education is the national priority of country’s developmental programs. • In 2008, 3.48% of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on education compared to world average level of 4.5%. Plan to steadily increase of GDP spending to 4.0% by 2012.

23. Curricular Reforms - China • Ministry of Education (2010) – Medium and long-term National Educational Reform and Development Plan • Enhance the quality of nine-year free, compulsory education • Promote equity and fairness: urban v. rural, border areas, ethnic minority areas, poverty-stricken areas, vocational studies, promotion of higher education • Improve quality of teachers • Strengthen management, evaluation, and assessment of teachers

24. Discussion Questions In China and the U.S.: 1. How do test scores get reported? How do schools use data to improve? 2. How is progress communicated to citizens? Do they care? Are they aware? 3. What is public reaction to world rank? School ranks within regions? What data are used to determine school rank in regions?

25. The Role of Testing - U.S. • Made U.S. education more accountable for ALL students • Has increased exclusionary practices: 1. Assumed all students must meet the same standards (i.e. special education) 2. Fails to recognize individual differences, talents, and achievements (i.e. good test-taker vs. great artist)

26. Role of Testing – U.S. 3. Promotes a culture that blames, stigmatizes, and excludes students and teachers 4. Establishes mechanisms that all but guarantee segregation, retention, and dropping out of school

27. Role of Testing - China The keju effect on scientific and technological innovation after the 15th century 1905 – emperor issues order to stop all forms of the keju exams National College Entrance Exam (gaokao) as powerful as keju. College degree for social and geographic mobility. “One exam determines your whole life.”

28. Testing Reforms - China First college entrance exam after Cultural Revolution (1977-1978) – 400,000 out of 11 million admitted to college (29:1 admission ratio). In 2007, 9.5 million took college entry exam; about 6 million admitted (1.9:1 or nearly 60% of test-takers admitted to higher education). Chinese Ministry of Education (1997) - then the Chinese National Education Commission – issues policy against a test-oriented education.

29. Testing Reforms - China • Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council (1999). Decision to Further Educational Systemic Reform and Promote Quality-Oriented Education. • Abolish entrance exam for middle school • New approaches for evaluating and assessing schools, teachers, and students consistent with quality education • Reform college entrance exam and admissions – assessing overall abilities and qualities • Allow local governments’ experiments with college admissions and exam systems. Colleges with autonomy in admission decisions.

30. Testing Reforms - China • Allowed 68 out of 2,000 universities (2008) – to admit 5% of the freshman class using criteria other than, or in addition to, the college entrance exam on an experimental basis. • Three core subjects: Chinese language and literature, English, and mathematics (plus subjects decided by the provinces).

31. Testing Reforms - China • Ministry of Education (2010) – Medium and Long-Term National Educational Reform and Development Plan • Change old teaching philosophy, reform teaching materials and methodologies • Reform National College Entrance Exam – relieve heavy burden on students • Reduce homework burdens • Abandon idea of one nation-one syllabus

32. Discussion Question In China and the U.S.: What is the role of testing? • Is there a high stakes exam? • Is testing used to sort citizens? • Does test contribute to social mobility? • Is test connected to a centralized curriculum?

33. Challenges – U.S. Can U.S. promote talent and creativity while improving student achievement? What the Blueprint for Reform (Reauthorization of ESEA) proposes: • Improving teacher and principal effectiveness • Providing information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children’s schools

34. Blueprint for Reform, cont. Implementing college- and career-ready standards Improving student learning and achievement in America’s lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions

35. Measuring U.S. Success/Fixing Failure The lowest-performing schools will: • Replace the principal and re-hire no more than 50% of staff (Turnaround Model) • Convert/close a school and re-open under a charter school operator or education management organization (Restart Model)

36. Measuring U.S. Success/Fixing Failure 3. Close a school and enroll those students in a higher achieving school in the district (School Closure Model) 4. Replace the principal, institute instructional reform, increase learning time and create community-oriented schools, provide operational flexibility and sustained support (Transformation Model)

37. Accountability Challenges - China Closing the creativity gap Closing the achievement gap Teacher professional development Intense pressures on children: unhealthy competition, physical/mental health Measuring ability and success

38. Discussion Questions How are the public, parent, and student involved in assessing/evaluating schools? What are the measures of success? What are the measures of a quality education? Are there other measures that should be considered? To what extent is there a relationship, or a belief, that a high or low test score will determine one’s place in life?