Green Evaluation: China’s Latest Reform to Deemphasize Testing
Last week the Chinese Ministry of Education launched another major reform effort to reduce the importance of testing in education. In a document sent to all provincial education authorities on June 19th, the Ministry of Education unveiled guidelines and a new framework for evaluating schools.
China has engaged in numerous systemic reforms over the last few decades, with the goal to minimize the impact of testing on teaching and learning. “However, due to internal and external factors, the tendency to evaluate education quality based simply on student test scores and school admissions rate has not been fundamentally changed,” says the document. “These problems [of evaluation] severely hamper student development as a whole person, stunt their healthy growth, and limit opportunities to cultivate social responsibilities, creative spirit, and practical abilities in students.” To solve these problems, the Ministry of Education realizes that more serious reforms are needed to change how schools are evaluated.
Dubbed “green evaluation,” the new evaluation framework attempt to end the use of test scores and success rates of sending students to higher-level schools as the only measure of education quality. Instead, it drastically broadens the scope of indicators. The framework includes five areas:
- Moral Development indicated by Behaviors and Habits, Citizenship, Personality and Character, and Ambition and Beliefs.
- Academic Development indicated by Knowledge and Skills, Discipline Thinking, Application Abilities, and Creativity.
- Psychological and Physical Health indicated by Physical Fitness, Healthy Living Habits, Artistic and Aesthetic Taste, Emotional Health and Self-regulation, and Interpersonal Communication (social skills).
- Development of Interest and Unique Talents indicated by Curiosity, Unique Talent and Skills, and Discovery and Development of Potentials.
- Academic Burdens indicated by Amount of Study Time (e.g. class time, homework time, and time for sleep etc.), Quality of Instruction, Difficult Level of Classes, and Academic Pressure.
The overall idea is to reduce the importance of test scores and academic burden. It is quite interesting to see that schools are to be evaluated based on how much academic burden they put on students. By the way, it is just the opposite of what the U.S. and some other Western countries are trying to do—the more burden (long school days, too much homework time, etc.) the school puts on students, the worse the school will be judged. Student engagement, boredom, anxiety, and happiness will also be used as measures of education quality.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
A fascinating development. I’d like to see this make some impact on educations systems elsewhere!
Perhaps the educational pendulum is swinging back towards the middle? Educators have recently tended to rely on indicators that are readily measurable, including the development of numeracy and literacy skills. Creative thinking, problem solving, good social skills and recognition of unique talents are less measurable but equally important contributors to a well balanced society and workplace.
[…] Yong Zhao is the presidential chair and associate dean for global education at the University of Oregon’s College of Education, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education, and is a fellow of the International Academy for Education. This appeared on his blog. […]
[…] prominent scholar in China has reported that the Chinese Ministry of Education is set to introduce a “major […]
Great article. Shanghai province effectively reinvented its system of education several years ago and as a result went straight to the top of the PISA/OECD world rankings. This reinvention is now being introduced to the rest of China. The inspiration for the changes came from Finland, which has been the best-performing country for many years, and from the work of Gordon Dryden & Jeanette Vos – The New Learning Revolution – whose book was translated into Mandarin and has sold more than ten million copies in Shanghai alone. We wrote a post about these developments last year – https://3diassociates.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/international-comparisons-enlightened-education/
[…] here to read the entire post and the comments via Education in the Age of Globalization » Blog Archive » Green Evaluation: China’s Latest Reform t…. Share this NPE News BriefFacebookTwitterGoogle +1LinkedInEmailMorePrintPinterestTumblrReddit […]
This is so interesting. It’s funny how our nation thinks we need to be more like other countries to be competitive in this global economy. Yet you take a country like China who is FINALLY realizing they need to improve their system to benefit the learner. I actually went to China a few years ago to teach a large group of their teachers how to teach like our Western style. When will our leaders figure this out?
[…] Onderwijsvernieuwing met minder testen… in China. […]
A green evaluation analysis no matter how well conceived is a peripheral representation on its reality. Very Nice! Well put YongZhao.
[…] developed a 5-part program for evaluating students and schools that does NOT include test scores: http://zhaolearning.com/2013/06/24/green-evaluation-china%E2%80%99s-latest-reform-to-deemphasize-tes… Yesterday UTLA, the LAUSD teachers union, released the results of a “performance […]
[…] http://zhaolearning.com/2013/06/24/green-evaluation-china%E2%80%99s-latest-reform-to-deemphasize-tes… […]
When I read articles such as this one regarding the “overhaul” or “re-development” or “reform” of China’s educational system, I am disheartened and (many not understand) but disappointed. Being a NYC high school teacher who has also had the wonderful opportunity to teach in China on two separate occasions, I am forever puzzled as to why we need to change what works so well in China. China holds education to a premium. The students who come here from China excel in our system (so often because the work is so easy.) Yes, there is a disparity between educated and non-educated (rich and poor), but with nearly two billion people, what choice is there for exacting the best and the brightest from its communities. I have not researched Yong Zhao’s background but I am sure if he has passed through the Chinese system of education he came out well prepared to face any challenges that might come before him. I am sure he can think clearly, make informed decisions and act appropriately given the resources at hand. I know personally many Chinese educated individuals (including my wife) and most of them can run circles around most Americans regarding math, English grammar and even US history. Sara Dewey points out that she went to China to teach educators how to teach with a more “western” approach. I teach chemistry and have students beg for calculators when we are doing nothing more than adding decimals. I sat in on a HS class last year where students were computing 1×2 and 2×2 on calculators. Is this what we are going to teach China? My Chinese middle school students’ favorite subjects were chemistry, physics and international trade.
Before we jump on the bandwagon for the “dumbing down” (oh, how I hate that expression, but nothing else will do) of the Chinese system, perhaps we should first understand what is good about it and why it produces (along with India) so many more talented math-based experts (chemistry, technology, physics, engineering, etc) than the US.
I am sure I could have worded this much more eloquently, but most articles such as this that I read come from those who feel we are damaging our children through standardized testing, rigorous curriculum, etc… and I am just ranting a bit myself.
[…] penilaian baru yang memperluas ruang lingkup penilaian. Kerangka penilaian baru ini diberi istilah “Evaluasi Hijau” Ada lima area yang menjadi perhatian pada kerangka penilaian kualitas pendidikan yang baru ini, […]
[…] penilaian baru yang memperluas ruang lingkup penilaian. Kerangka penilaian baru ini diberi istilah“Evaluasi Hijau” Ada lima area yang menjadi perhatian pada kerangka penilaian kualitas pendidikan yang baru ini, […]
[…] Yong Zhao is the presidential chair and associate dean for global education at the University of Oregon’s Collegeof Education, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education, and is a fellow of the International Academy for Education. This appeared on his blog. […]
[…] Earlier this year China began a major education reform initiative designed to increase student engagement and end student boredom and anxiety. Curbing standardized testing was one aim. Scholar Yong Zhao wrote about it first in this post, and, now, below, gives us the latest developments. Yong Zhao is the presidential chair and associate dean for global education at the University of Oregon’s College of Education, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education, and is a fellow of the International Academy for Education. This is an updated version of a piece that appeared on his blog. […]
Keep in mind these are the recommendations for elementary school. Kids still have 6-years to prepare for Gaokao and the rest.
[…] In another post, Zhao shares how the Chinese Ministry of Education is considering major reforms to REDUCE the importance of testing in education. According to this document, “These problems [of evaluation] severely hamper student development as a whole person, stunt their healthy growth, and limit opportunities to cultivate social responsibilities, creative spirit, and practical abilities in students.” Wow! […]
[…] I know. I know. We should listen to a dude whose nation's educational success really has undergone a radical transformation. Whose test scores are miles above ours! Whose 15 year olds function nearly at the level of teens from South Korea, where they go to school twice a day (but kids, remember, school's illegal after 10 p.m.!), or China, where kids spend so much of their education taking tests that the government itself has initiated a national anti-testing agenda. […]
[…] is working its way towards what it believes is a much better system of evaluation, known as Green Evaluation, a framework that demotes test scores from being the only criterion to just one amongst ten. It […]
I am intrigued by this new framework. Has there been any new information that has come out in regards to the “Green Evaluation”? I would much prefer to see any new government mandated testing place less emphasis on a standardized test score, and more emphasis on whole student learning, growth and citizenry.
[…] evaluation system Professor Zhang alluded to is the so-called “green evaluation” I blogged about previously. The new evaluation system deemphasizes the significance of test scores. Instead of being the sole […]
Feel free to comment:
The views expressed on this site are entirely my own. They do not represent my employer or any other organization/institution. All comments are subject to approval.Archive
07.29.24 AI Has Little to Contribute to Traditional Education: Problems and Possibilities
03.17.24 Focused: Understanding, Negotiating, and Maximizing Your Influence as a School Leader
02.25.24 What Happened to Global Competence?
08.05.23 Rethinking the time spent at school: Could flexibility improve engagement and performance for students and teachers?
01.17.23 Introduction to Improbable Probabilities: The Unlikely Journey of Yong Zhao
01.05.23 How Not to Kill Creativity?
08.19.22 Preface to Improbable Probabilities: The Unlikely Journey of Yong Zhao
02.05.22 Introduction to New Book: Learning for Uncertainty: Teaching Students How to Thrive in a Rapidly Evolving World
09.25.21 Side effects in education: Taxonomy of educational outcomes
07.13.21 Introduction to My New Book: Learners without Borders
03.09.21 New article: Build back better: Avoid the learning loss trap
02.18.21 New article: The changes we need: Education post COVID-19
09.15.20 Watch Ep4 Creativity in Crisis: How well is creativity understood? A Conversation with Barb Kerr, Haiying Long, Ron Beghetto, & Yong Zhao
08.15.20 Can Creativity be Taught? Ep 3 of Creativity in Crisis on August 28th 3:00-4:00pm Pacific Time
07.13.20 Speak a Different Language: Reimagine the Grammar of Schooling
Tag Cloud
Accountability achievement gap CCSSO China/Chinese Commissioner Common Core Standards education Educational Policy Education Reforms national standards New York NGA Singapore standardized testing Standards student performance
WP Cumulus Flash tag cloud by Roy Tanck and Luke Morton requires Flash Player 9 or better.
Silverliningforlearning
Most Commented
Most Viewed
Views expressed on this site are entirely personal. They do not necessarily represent the official positions or views of my employer
Powered by WordPress | Log in | Entries (RSS) | Comments (RSS) | Arthemia theme by Michael Hutagalung