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关于中美大学的入学考试选拔制度的对比分析
发布日期:2020-09-11 10:48:44

  1.Introduction

  1.1 Background to the study

  I have been interested in English education since I studied English for the first time. Then I major in English Education when I attend university. During about four years, I have learned so much American culturesuch as its education systems. As we all know, education is really significant to a country’s social and economic development. American advanced economyis related to its famoushigher education. China'scollege entrance examination systemwas recovered in1977. Then it is gradually improved. Butit has a lot of shortages.The development of American higher educationwas influenced by many factors and reasons . In my opinion, the most fundamental factor is America’s college entrance examination selection system. Thus I would liketo explore and research America’s college entrance examination selection system. Then I can conclude the characters and advantages of America’s college entrance examination selection system, from which benefit reforming China’s college entrance examination system will benefit.

  1.2 Value of the study

  America’s college entrance examination selection system is flexible. One of most important examination is called “SAT”(Scholastic Assessment Test). So I will mostly introduce SAT.“Gaokao”is another Chinese name of China’scollege entrance examinationselectionsystem.“Gaokao” is also called NCEE(National College Entrance Examination). SAT and NCCE have their own strong pointsand shortages. So a contrastive analysis of China's and America’s college entrance examination system can offer advice to reform of China’s college entrance examination system.

  2. Contents about SAT and NCEE

  2.1 Brief introduction

  2.1.1 Brief introduction about SAT

  The SAT is a college admissionexaminationin America.The College Board, a private firm which does not operate for improving its chances of profit in America, organize SAT. The SAT is intended to assess a senior high school student’s readiness and ability for college(Talor, 1990).Thename and score ofSAT have changed so manytimes. At first, Its name isthe Scholastic Aptitude Test, later it is turned into the Scholastic Assessment Test. Now It’s simply called the SAT. SAT 1 refer to Reasoning Test,and SAT 2 refer to Subject Test. Taking the SATwill spend the student three hours. It costs US$52.50, but it costs US$101.50 outside of America(Li, 2008). Maximum scores ofthe SAT is 1600. And minimum score of the SAT is 400.There are three elemental subjects in the SAT which are mathematics, critical reading and writing. Senior high school students in the United Stateswho want to enter the college usually need to take the ACT. But not all universitiesrequire score of the SAT in the United States.

  2.1.2 Brief introduction about NCEE

  NCEE held every yearin Chinais a necessaryexamination for the senior high school studentsin their last year if theywant to enterthe colleges. In fact, there is not age restriction since 2001and it means the old also can take part in the NCEE.NCEE is also well-known as Gaokao, The National Higher Education Entrance Examination, National Matriculation Examination,National College Entrance Examination Higher Education Examor High test.Freshmen generally have to spendabout nine hours over a period of two dayson NCEE. But someprovinces have special requirements. There are three elemental subjectswhich are Chinese literature, Mathematics, and English language. Allfreshmen haveto take thesethree kinds of exams. On the other hand, students have to choose other three subjects from six subjects belong totwo streams, social-science-oriented areawhich is also called Artsand natural-science-oriented areawhich is also called Sciences.History, politics and geographybelongs to social-science-oriented area.Physics, chemistry and biologybelongs tonatural-science-oriented area. The enrollment mark of NCEE are various in different years, different provincesanddifferent colleges.

  2.2 History

  2.2.1 History of SAT

  The SAT was originally famousas the Scholastic Aptitude Test. In 1990, SAT be changed to "Scholastic Assessment Test",because a "test that integrates measures of achievement as well as developed ability can no longer be accurately described as a test of aptitude"(Liu, 1997).About 60% of those students applied to Columbia University. Theexam includesEnglish, French, German, Latin, Greek, history, mathematics, chemistry, and physics(Smith, 1982). In 1928, the SAT was made ofsevenparts, and itstime limit was under two hours. In 1929, the SATwas made ofsixparts. For thetwo years, SATfocused on students’verbal ability. Students don’t need to take the math examinationinthe SAT.From 1930to 2004,the SAT had two parts,the verbal part and math part. From 1936 to1946, students had between 80minutesto finishmore than 200 verbal questions.From 1936 to 1941, like the 1928 and 1929 tests, the mathematics section was eliminated entirely(Li, 2005). When the mathematics portion of the test was re-added in 1942, it consisted of multiple choice questions(Wen, 2005).Similarly, in June 1942 the SAT math section was equated to the April 1942 math section, which itself was linked to the 1942 SAT verbal section, and all SAT math sections after 1942 would be equated to previous tests. The 1941 and 1942 score scales would remain in use until 1995.Paragraph reading was eliminated from the verbal portion of the SAT in 1946, and replaced with reading comprehension, and "double definition" questions were replaced with sentence completions(Talor, 1990). Between 1946 and 1957 students were given 90 to 100 minutes to complete 107 to 170 verbal questions.In1975, students had 75 minutes to answer 90 questions(Smith, 1982).In 2005, the test was changed in response to criticism by the University of California system(Zhang, 1987). The test was made marginally harder, as a corrective to the rising number of perfect scores.In 2008, an initiative to make Score Choice universal had begun.Beginning in 2012, test takers are required to submit a current, recognizable photo during registration. Students are required to present their photo admission ticket – or another acceptable form of photo ID. The new exam was administered for the first time in spring 2016. Some of the major changes are: an emphasis on the use of evidence to support answers, a shift away from obscure vocabulary to words that students are more likely to encounter in college and career, a math section that is focused on fewer areas, a return to the 1600-point score scale, an optional essay, and the removal of penalty for wrong answers (rights-only scoring)(Columbia university, 1987, p.20).

  2.2.2History of NCEE

  The China’s Higher Education Entrance Examinationis namedgaokao (高考) in Chinese. It was created in 1952.After repeated discussions and experiments, the NCEE was establishedas a fundamental policy system in 1959(Brown, 2001). On July 1966, the NCEEwas officially canceled and substituted by a new admission policy of recommending workers, farmers and soldiers to college(Burman, 1994). In the early 1970s, Mao Zedong realized that the Down to the Countryside Movement was a disaster to China’s development. Sohe decided to resume the operation of universities. At first, the students were selectedto collegesaccording topolitical and family backgrounds rather than academic achievements(Fulton, 1993). This policy has been carried out until the death of Mao in September 1976. In late 1977, Deng Xiaoping, the second generations of China’s leaders, reformedthe traditional national higher education entrance examination. Then NCEE isbased on academicachievements rather than political and family backgrounds. The first newexamination after the Cultural Revolution was carried outin late 1977, whichwas a meaningful history event.In 1977,5.7 millionstudents took part in the national college entrance exam.The NCEE in 1977 was designed by the provinces. Starting from 1978, the examination was designed by the Ministry of Education and all the students across the country tookhe same examination(Weinert, 1993).

  2.3 Structure

  2.3.1Structure of SAT

  SAT consists of three major sections: Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing(Talor, 1990). Each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800. All scores are 10. Scores of the three sectionsmake up the final examination result. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are experimental or "equating" section in the three sections.The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT. The administrations run for about four and a half hours.

  The Critical Reading section of the SAT is made up of52 questions during65 minutes. Thetypes of questionsinclude 5 to 8 sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages(Liu, 1994).

  The mathematics of the SAT hastwo sections: Math Test – Calculator and Math Test – No Calculator(Li, 1997). In total, the SAT math test is 80 minutes long and includes 58 questions: 45 multiple choice questions and 13 grid-in questions(Li, 1998).The Math Test – No Calculator section has 20 questions and lasts 25 minutes.The Math Test – Calculator section has 38 questions and lasts 55 minutes.

  The writingportion of the SATincludes multiple choice questions and a brief essay.The multiple choice questions include error-identification questions, sentence-improvementquestionsand paragraph-improvement questions(Li, 2005).The essay section is 25 minutes long.

  Most of the questions on the SAT, except for the essay and the grid-in math responses, are multiple choice.

  2.3.2 Structure of NCEE

  The subjects tested in the National Higher Education Entrance Examination have changed over time(Miller, 1999). Traditionally, there are "arts" subjects and "science" subjects. In recent years, different provinces have included different subjects in the Examinationandresultedin a number of different systems."3+X" examination system has been implemented in most parts of the country. “3" refers to Chinese, Mathematics and a foreign language (mostly English). X" means that students can chooseone subject from either Social Sciences (including Political Sciences, History and Geography), or Natural Sciences (including Physics, Chemistry and Biology)(Miller, 1999). In the"3+2" system, "2" refers to selecting two subjects either from Politics, History or Geography for arts students, or from Biology, Chemistry or Physics for science students. In the "4+X" system, "X" means that candidates can choose one or two subjects either from arts subjectsandscience subjects. Chinese and a foreign language are compulsory. Two separate Mathematics tests are designed respectively for arts students and science students(Li, 2005). In the "3+1+X" system, "3" refers to three compulsory subjects "Chinese, Mathematics and a foreign language", with 150 scores for each subject(Talor, 1990)."1" refers to one subject that candidates choose from "Politics, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry and Biology"."X" means thatArts students can either choose one subject from Politics, History and Geography(Li, 2005). Science students can either choose one subject from Physics, Chemistry and Biology(Talor, 1990). In the "3+2+X" system, "3" refers to three compulsory subjects "Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language", and "2" refers to choosing two subjects from the following six areas "politics, history, geography, physics, chemistry, biology"(Wen, 2005)."X" refers to a comprehensive science or liberal arts exam. In the "3+X+1" system, "3" refers to Chinese, Mathematics and a foreign language, "X" means choosing onesubjectin either sciences or liberal arts."1" refers to a basic proficiency test on skills that high school graduates needs and should have in order to adapt to social life(Smith, 1996).

  2.4 Function

  2.4.1 Function of SAT

  Senior and junior high school students take part in the SAT. The SAT examines literacy and writing abilityneeded in the college education.However, the test has time limit.The College Board states that use of the SAT in combination with high school grade point provides a better selection reference in college than high school grades alone. SAT (and ACT) scores are intended to supplement the secondary school record and help admission officers put local data—such as course work, grades, and class rank—in a national perspective(Zhang, 2006).

  2.4.2 Function of NCEE

  At first, NCEE is a fairer college entrance selection system, because China has vast population. The same examination can avoid many uncontrollable factors making many students miss colleges. NCEE breaks the situation that college entrance was based on political and family backgrounds. NCEE makes many poor children from the countryside have opportunities to enter the colleges.

  Next, NCEE system has been efficient and mature. The governments continue to reform and improve NCEE system. NCEE has won people’s trust and stabilized society. NCEE has selected many outstanding studentsto developChina’s economy and technology.

  Third, the results of NCEE essentially reflect students’ learning ability. So NCEE encourages the younger to learn and to form learning habits.

  2.5 Logistics

  2.5.1 Logistics of SAT

  Freshmen can take the SAT in January, March, June, October, Novemberand Decemberof every year in the United States. It is held on the first Saturday in a month.The SAT costs $54.50.The College Board makes fee waivers available for poorstudents(Li Ning, 2008).SAT examination institution provides accommodations for those students with physical and learning disabilities. The test time increase for those disable students.Physical and learning disabilities have more thanhalf an hour to finish the examination paper, sometimes100%of the timeis also provided. Students can receive their online score reports after aboutthree weeks or paperscore reportsafter six weeks.

  2.5.2Logistics of NCEE

  Characteristics and advantages of American’s college admission

  The admission policy of American universities is various.Admission tests mainly include SAT, AP(Advanced Placement),ACT (American College Test) and TOFEL(The Test of English as a Foreign Language). So SAT is the most major American colleges admission policy. On the one hand, Many state universities carry out “selection policy after admission”. These schools admit new students in a lax manner. After admission, those new students will face great challenge ,and they have to study hard to pass all kinds of tests, or they will notgo to thecollege. On the other hand, the admission policy of famous private universities and state universities is emulative. These schools admit new students in a strict manner. At first, examinees have excellent exam results. Next, the school evaluates in conjunction with exam results, practiceactivities, genius and personality. In a word, the exam result of SAT is not an only standard to admit new students in American universities. American universities focus more on a student’s comprehensive strength.

  The admission standards of American universities are flexible. When admitting new students, American universities usually ask SAT results. Different schools demanddifferent exam marks. Better schools ask higher exam results. Comprehensive evaluation materials include test exams in senior high school, rank in senior high school, SAT results or ACT results and references from new students’ high school. Apart from four standards, every university’s recruit standards are different according its level and feature. Only you have special talent in some field, Some universities may admit you without test results.

  School feeof American universities is distinguishing. More famous college charges higher tuition. Famous private universities’ tuition is four to five times higher than public colleges. Tuition of communiversities is lowest. Tuition of Different majors is different. More popular majors’ tuition is higher, such as doctor, legal profession, economyand engineering.

  3. Criticisms of NCEE

  At first, NCEE is lack of investigating innovation ability. NCEE is one of examination-oriented selection systems. The topic of NCEE lays particular stress on scope of knowledge. Chinese students have to do lots ofhomework. So they don’t have time to achieve comprehensivedevelopment. In fact, educational departments are trying to change and improveChina’scollege admission examination system. NCEE gradually is achieved integrated development. But NCEE follows a proposition principle that following the unified syllabus and current high school textbook version, so scope of test is restricted to a certain extent. Although NCEE investigates both knowledge and ability that is closely related to knowledge, such as understandingability, memoryability and command talent. The professor named John from California university said that Chinese students easily get grade B, but hardly get A, because they have got the habit of studying for grades and their creative ability is low. It reflects that Chinese education is lack of creativity and NCEE is lack of investigating creativity. This is a disadvantage of NCEE. American education emphasizeson fostering students’creative ability. So I think NCEE reform can learn from American college admission examination system.

  Second, NCEE doesn’t achieve integration of disciplines. On the one hand, NCEE causes the extended division of Arts and Sciences. It causes single discipline thinking pattern. Changing this thinking pattern is a lengthy process. On the other hand, humanistic education combined with science education is a typical worldwidetopic. Becausescience and social developmentis backward, Chinese education doesn’t pay attention to integration of humanistic and science education. Of course, Chinese education doesn’t have too much successful experience about curriculum revolution in integration of disciplines. Thus NCEE reform should pay attention to innovation curriculum. Reformers should consider how to design courses in high school and develop students’ integrated ability.

  Third, the recruitment methods and evaluation ways of China’s university are so simple. In China, exam result is a determining factor for college entrance. The student who can get highest exam grade will be admitted to the most famous college. But exam grade and all-round ability don’t have a direct linear relation. Exam result will be affected by many subjective and objective factors. But in China, the exam grade is the only standard. It has caused that many outstanding students lack of education opportunity. So NCEE system isn’t fair for some students. NCEE determines the orientation of high school education. High school teachers teach knowledge that NCEE examines. This exam system causes exam-oriented education which is opposite to quality education and goes against students’ all-round development.

  Fourth, because economic development is not balanced, education levels of all kinds of provinces are different,which is named provincial proposition. However, the governments of every province should increase budget on education. Andit is necessary toinvest in human resourcesandmaterial.

  Fifth, Chinese students are required tochoose one of political, geographyand history. Then they have to select one of physics, chemistryand biology. This testing policy limits the students academic interests and potential, and forces students to make decisions of their life at a particularly young age.

  Sixth, everyuniversity oftensetsa fixed admission amount ofstudents from its home province.It causes the number and quality of universitiesare distributed unevenly inChina. Many people arecomplaining about the recruitment rule onlybased on college’sgeographic region.

  Seventh, There are special concessions for members of ethnic minorities, foreign nationals, persons with family origin in Taiwan, and children of military casualties. This is not fair to other students(Fu juanming, 1986, P. 3).

  Eighth, NCEEis one of the most importantexaminations in China and students have only one chance to take the NCEE , so teachers and students have to undertake huge pressure.They will spend much time and devote much energy on the NCEE examination. For teachers, because the society focuses on the rate of admission into universities, teachers have to focus more on developing students’ability to take the exam. Because of this, teachers would like to give students more and more practice for exams. Many examinees suffer from severe nervousness during the test. In some cases, students who take part in the exammay feel tired and weak.

  4. Advice to reform of China’s college entrance examination system

  At first, China’s higher education should be not only more widespread, but also have strict selection system. The admission standard of America’s community colleges and state universities is lower than famous private colleges. The territory of China is so vast that socio-cultural background of various regions is different. So college entrance examination system of various regions should be different. NCCE reform should focus on quantity and quality.

  Second, NCCE can examine students’ basic knowledgeof the textbooks. At the same time, professional knowledgeshould be examined.Different colleges have different majors and different majors have different demands to students. So NCEE should set basic examination subjects and professional examination subjects.

  Third, NCEE should focus on comprehensive assessment and key assessment. The college entrance in China shouldn’t focus on only examination results and should assess students comprehensively. Teachers should encourage students to learn all subjects well in the senior high school. At the same time, teachers should examine definitesubjects regularly. When recruiting students, colleges can employ various forms, such as recommendation, application and interview, to assess students’ accomplishment, interest and special skill. So NCCE can regard examination results as chief standard, not only standard.

  Fourth, NCCE should examine both learning ability and creativity. Knowledge and ability are twoessential factorsto students’ development. Heavy emphasis on examining knowledge will make students lack of creative ability. Heavy emphasis on examining ability will make students lack of basic knowledge and skills. NCEE lays particular stress on knowledge, but SAT lays particular stress on ability. So examination papers of NCEE should not only examine textbook’s knowledge points, but also examine open topic, which is helpfulto select creativestudents.

  Fifth, NCEE should reform single examination type and carry out stratified selection. At present , there are three kinds of colleges in China. They are researchuniversity, teaching university and teaching-research university. Every kind of college has different features. So every kind of college should has different examination requirements. Maybe these colleges can assign the topic of NCEE independently.

  Sixth, establish an ultimate and fair assessmentsystem. At first, High schools can build up students’ growth portfolio as college entrance selection’s reference material. Next, assess students’ capacity for action which refers to subject competition and invention activity. Research and creative ability is one of undergraduates’ qualities. Then, assess students’ practice activity. Practice experience is helpful to further study and research. So it is so important to evaluate students’ practice ability. At last, it can evaluatestudents’ psychological quality. Colleges can examine it through mental quizzes or examination papers.

  Seventh, it is necessary to employ advanced theory and modern technology to make NCEE scientific, reasonable and purposeful.

  Eighth, NCEE should become social. The socialization of America’s college entrance examination system is acknowledged. China’sterritory is vast. NCEE is large-scale. Organizing a NCEE is time-consuming. So only one NCEE examination is organized every year in China. If NCEE can draw support from social and market power, freshmen will can take the NCEE examinationsmany timesin a year. It is more fair to studentsthan once examination a year and students can have more opportunities to enter the colleges. America’s college entrance examination is not published by official examination institutions such as examination authority or examination center. And America’s college entrance examination is organized by nongovernmental institutions. These institutions operate in a commercial manner and following the principle of market competition. SAT is published by examination firms. So there isn’t a unified college entrance examination in the United States. These firms can focus on the high quality,efficiencyand fairness of college entrance examinationand provide comprehensive services for freshmen. So China can learn from America and establish professional services to manage college entrance examination. At the same time, relevant governments should supervise the service and colleges to ensure the fairness of recruitment.

  Ninth, pay more attention to vulnerable group in the higher education and improve funding systems and award systems for students. America’s colleges encourage students from vulnerable group of higher education to accept higher education. The rate of recruiting students from vulnerable group of higher education has risen. In China, governments and colleges should have a perfect funding system to help poor students. Colleges should allocate special funds to aid poor students and vulnerable group in the higher education and to award outstanding students.

  Tenth, NCEEis regarded asexam-oriented selection system. So NCEE neglectsquality education,and reforming NCEE should pay more attention to students’ all-rounddevelopment of morality, intelligence, physique and aesthetic. When recruiting students, colleges should emphasize on various factors.

  5.Conclusion

  America’s college entrance examination system and China’s college entrance examination system have their own characteristics. NCEE system has strong pointsandshortages. So it is necessary to reform the NCEE. America’s higher education is outstandingaround the world. SAT has many advantages which we can learn from to improve China’s NCEE system. In a word, China’s college entrance examination system --- NCEE system is the most suitable selection system at present, but reforming the NCEE system is a obligatory educational campaign.

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