GAOKAO 高考Presented by : Gang Chen, Allie Schexnayder, Emily Dimmitt

Introduction

You unlock this door with years of education and test preparation. You're moving into a land of both nerves and excitement, of hopes and disappointments. You've just crossed over into... the land of the GaoKao. In China, the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, colloquially known as the GaoKao (Gao meaning high, Kao meaning test), is the ultimate yardstick of academic accomplishment. If one’s score is good enough, they will receive entrance into a prestigious university. Too low, and it’s years of hard work in a blue-collar job. By presenting a history of the exam, example questions taken from GaoKao, examining the universities the highest scores gained admittance to, and examining the praise and criticism the test has received, we hope to present you, the viewer, with a deeper knowledge about the GaoKao and enable you to create your own opinion.

HISTORY

How Important is the GaoKao ？ Reason for a major turn around in the

Chinese education system. Only given once a year, and during

that period, the nation almost universally holds its breath as its youth take the largest test of their life.

Scandals have arisen from it. Ex: Two widely publicized scandals - students were told to pay exorbitant amounts to keep their university spots.

Parents waiting outside of a test center

Police emerges to ensure security and help those in need

GaoKao Schedule

X: Stands for either “Humanities Comprehensive” OR “Science Comprehensive”

High School students in China have to choose an “Orientation” , which is either “Humanity” or “Science”

Other three subjects are required for almost every student taking the Gaokao

What’s inside? (Sample or Practice Questions)

Essay (To be done usually in one hour. 800 characters or more.)

Topic one: Using “The drizzle dampens clothes but cannot be seen; flowers fall to the ground without a sound” (细雨湿衣看不见，闲花落地听无声 ) Write an essay of your choice.

Topic Two: “Walking as things wear away” (行走在消逝中 )

What’s inside? (Sample or Practice Questions)

What’s inside? (Sample or Practice Questions)

Multiple Choice Sample Questions:

1)____is  he  whom  you  talked  about  just  now.A. That      B. It  C. There  D. Where

2) We  don't  think  that  another  five  days_____ necessary  for  us. A. are                   B. is          C. has  been         D. have  been

3) . His heart was filled with joy __ of arriving home in a couple of days. A. when he thought B. when thinking C having thought D to think

Get it Done! Where are the Kings and Queens of GaoKao now?

Data Analysis for “Zhuangyuan”

Obviously, more than 90% of the highest scorers choose Peking University or Tsinghua University in Beijing. The admission process is depends solely on the applicant’s score in GaoKao. In 2008, 10,500,000 students participated in GaoKao and only the top 0.03 percent of students gained admission into these two universities.

“Zhuangyuan” is a Chinese term referring to the person who got the highest score in GaoKao.

状元

Data Analysis for “Zhuangyuan” You may be confused as to how the

highest scorers would fail to get into any university based on china’s score-oriented admission policy. However, it is because a mistake in the application process. In China, colleges are officially categorized into several types and each applicant can only select a limited amount of institutions to apply (usually 3 or 4). So, if the student didn’t get into the selected institution, they would have no chance for any other schools.

WHAT?! WHY?!

Data Analysis for “Zhuangyuan” 状元 Grinnell College, a liberal arts college

in Iowa, got a Zhuangyuan student. This shows that China’s high school students are now focusing not only on Chinese colleges but also overseas institutions.

Criticism

Students don’t learn how to think using analytical reasoning

Can bring about many social and psychological problems for students

GaoKao is in the process of being reformed, but very difficult.

“Regional discrimination” Most universities will set a quota of “Migrating examinees”

Praise

Brought “social equality and justice” back into Chinese

College is a necessity in today’s global economy

About 36 million students have been admitted to a school of higher education of some sort.

Enrollment rates have skyrocketed from a slight 4.7 percent in 1977 to 56.85 percent in 2006

Regional quotas have also allowed many poorer students to find a place where their intelligence could be utilized

Conclusion

The ultimate purpose of the GaoKao is to help equalize education opportunities in China. It enables students to have a national measuring stick on which to compare themselves. However, it is not an equitable test for everyone. This is completely obvious in the claims of regional discrimination. The pressure placed upon the students taking exam is also extreme to the point of stressing a student too much so they have a harder chance of doing well. It also discriminates against different learning styles, as not everyone learns the same way, but they are forced to. People can still be very intelligent, but they might not test well. China could restructure their GaoKao by catering more to different learning styles. They could also add another component to the university admission process, such as a review of cumulative grades throughout a person’s school career. Currently, the system isn’t fair to all, and isn’t that what education gives everyone- a better chance? The GaoKao is a good plan in theory, but the way it is practiced now is not beneficial to Chinese students.

Works Cited

"Gaokao: Three Decades On." CRIEnglish. 22 May 2007. 13 Nov 2008 <http://english.cri.cn/webcast/>.

Martinsen, Joel. "Gaokao Questions 2007." Danwei. 8 June 2007. 09 Nov 2008 <http://www.danwei.org/scholarship_and_education/gaokao_questions_2007_the_woes.php>.

hipeng, Guo. "College entrance exams make or break in China." Boston Globe. 6 June 2007. 11 Nov 2008 <http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/06/college_entrance_exams_make_or_break_in_china/>.

Robinson, Susan. "Higher Education in China: The Next Super Power is Coming of Age." Boston Globe. American Council on Education. 10 Nov 2008 http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&CONTENTID=11822&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm

Yang, Cunzhen & Gale, Trevor . "Policy Analysis: On Chinese Higher Education Entry Policy." Association for Active Educational Researchers. 5 Dec 2004. American Council on Education. 09 Nov 2008 <http://www.aare.edu.au/04pap/yan04771.pdf>.

QUESTIONS?Comments?

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THANKS VERY MUCH FOR YOUR PRECIOUS TIME

Honors Colloquium – Fall 2008