Assessment of China's International Environment and U.S. Strategic Trend

It is of great significance to have a clear understanding of the international environment that China faces. But this is an uneasy job. Since September 11, the world situation has become so complicated that it is hard to grasp its essence even with painstaking efforts. To judge such an already complicated international environment from China’s perspective adds more difficulties, for different people usually have different views due to the different angles from which they see the situation and different methods they adopt. This, understandably, leads to hot debates within the Chinese academic circles. To provide a stage for exchange of views, at the invitation of the CIR Expert Forum, some well-known scholars and experts on international relations from Beijing gathered to hold a symposium on November 5, 2002, with the theme of "How to assess the international environment that China faces". The speeches at the symposium will be published in two installments. Following are the first half.

Human Brucellosis Mimicking Axial Spondyloarthritis: a Challenge for Rheumatologists when Applying the 2009 ASAS Criteria

Although the development of the 2009 Sp A classification criteria by Assessment of Spondylo Arthritis international Society（ASAS） represents an important step towards a better definition of the early disease stage particularly in axial spondyloarthritis（ax Sp A）, the specificity of the criteria has been criticized these days. As the commonest zoonotic infection worldwide, human brucellosis can mimic a large number of diseases, including Sp A. This study was performed to determine the frequency of rheumatologic manifestations in patients with brucellosis and the chance of misdiagnosing them as having ax Sp A in central China. The results showed that clinical manifestations of ax Sp A could be observed in brucellosis. Over half of patients had back pain, and one fifth of the patients with back pain were less than 45 years old at onset and had the symptom for more than 3 months. Two young males were falsely classified as suffering from ax Sp A according to the ASAS criteria, and one with MRI proved sacroiliitis was once given Etanercept for treatment. Therefore, differential diagnosis including human brucellosis should always be kept in mind when applying the ASAS criteria, even in traditionally non-endemic areas.

An Exploration of Reasons for Shanghai’s Success in the OECD Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2009

The outstanding performance of Shanghai students in the 4th Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA 2009)gained widespread attention at home and abroad.In this paper,the authors attribute this outstanding performance to three traditional factors and six modern factors.The traditional factors are high parental expectations,belief in the power of effort,and the mechanisms of personnel selection.The modern factors are the openness of Chinese education,curriculum and teaching reform,teacher training,improvement of comparatively poor schools,the financial resources allocation mechanism in compulsory education,and the reform of high school enrollment.

From Paragon to Peer: China's Shifting Perspective on German Education

It is said that comparative education should start by addressing three questions:What is being compared,how is it being compared,and why?However,there is a fourth,more important question:What is it being compared with?The object of comparison is often a self-evident choice requiring little to no argument.

Assessing the Quality and Equality of Hong Kong Basic Education Results from PISA 2000+to PISA 2006

This paper seeks to examine the quality and equality of basic education of Hong Kong based on the first three cycles of the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA).Results from these three assessments suggested that the Hong Kong students have an outstanding performance in mathematics,science and reading.In particular,the performance of reading improves substantially in PISA 2006.As far as equality in education is concerned,the achievement gap of students from different socio-economic backgrounds in Hong Kong is relatively small compared with other countries.However,the academic performance variation between-schools suggest that,there is still academic segregation among secondary schools in Hong Kong although it has been reduced slightly in the PISA 2006.

Calculating the Future:The Historical Assemblage of Empirical Evidence,Benchmarks&PISA

Purpose-Prominent at the intersections of national educational agencies,higher education,and international educational performance assessments are two reform standards:“benchmarks”determining optimal student performance,and“empirical evidence”for determining the quality of reform practices.These two notions are often taken as connecting policy and research to effective changes in many countries.The article examines the historical and cultural principles about educational change and its sciences embedded in these standards through examining OECD’s PISA and the McKinsey&Company reports that draw on PISA’s data.Findings/Originality/Value-First,the reports express salvation themes associated with modernity;that is,the promise of a better future through governing the present.The promise is to provide nations with data and models to achieve social equality,economic prosperity,and a participatory democracy.Second,the promise of the future is not descriptive of some present reality but to fabricate the universal characteristics about society and individuals.The numbers embody social and psychological categories about a desired unity of all students.Third,the“empirical evidence”of the international assessment entails a particular notion of science and“evidence”;one that paradoxically uses the universals in comparing and creating divisions.

Performance Analysis and Future Prospect of China’s Anti-bullying Policy and Practice:Evidence from PISA 2015 and PISA 2018

This paper analyzes the performance of China’s anti-bullying efforts with the data on school bullying in the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2015 and PISA 2018.It is found that China has fully demonstrated its high performance in anti-bullying actions with all three key performance indicators dropping dramatically,namely the prevalence of bullying,the index of exposure to bullying,and the percentage of frequently bullied students.Further,from the perspectives of personal characteristics and school features,two rounds of PISA data are adopted to make the longitudinal diachronic comparison and the cross-national horizontal comparison,followed by the analysis of the occurrence and development patterns of school bullying.Five suggestions are put forward for the deployment of China’s anti-bullying action plan.

Experience and Challenge of Basic Education Development in China:Reflections on PISA 2018 Results

The outstanding performance of students in four Chinese provinces and municipalities in the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 is inextricably linked to local resource support,excellent education traditions,and ongoing curriculum and teaching reform.However,deepening education reform requires attention to existing challenges,including large inter-school gaps,the shortage of teachers in urban and rural areas,as well as students’heavy schoolwork burden and low level of well-being.Therefore,several policy suggestions are proposed accordingly:gaining insight into and developing higher quality and fairer education,pursuing effective actions of education reform,and exploring innovative pathways to address educational problems.

“Screening”or“Meritocracy”:Does the Choice of a Private School Help Students Achieve Higher Academic Performance?-Based on the PISA 2018 Analysis of Four Provinces and Municipalities in China

The introduced policy of“synchronized enrollment of public and private schools”has once again triggered the debate on the effectiveness of public and private schools.Based on the data of the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 from four Chinese provinces and municipalities,this paper explores whether private schools gain a relative advantage in student academic performance through student“screening”or academic“meritocracy,”through a hierarchical linear model(HLM)and an empirical test of the propensity score matching(PSM).It has been found that the academic performance of students in private schools is significantly better than that in public schools.But with background,metacognitive ability,and learning hours of students in private schools controlled for,such academic performance is not significantly superior,suggesting that private schools rely heavily on student“screening”to achieve a relative advantage in student academic performance.This finding has also verified the scientific nature of the above policy.

Heterogeneity Analysis on the Influence of the Supply of Teachers on the Academic Performance of 15-Year-Old Students:Based on PISA 2018 Samples from Four Provinces and Municipalities in China

The quantitative and qualitative supply of teachers has a significant influence on student academic performance.Based on the samples collected from four provinces and municipalities in China for the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018,this study analyzes the effects of the supply of teachers on the academic performance of 15-year-old students through a hierarchical linear model(HLM)as well as a quantile regression model.The study has found that the shortage of teachers and the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree significantly affect student academic performance,and the supply of teachers with higher degrees has a decreasing marginal benefit on student academic performance;its best marginal benefit on student academic performance is achieved when the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree reaches about 75%.For students in different academic performance subgroups,the marginal benefit of an increase in the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree in schools is higher for“top students”than for“students with learning difficulties.”In terms of the difference between urban and rural areas,the shortage of teachers in rural schools is more prominent than that in urban schools,and teachers with higher degrees tend to cluster in core cities.The marginal benefit of an increase in the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree is higher for improving student academic performance in rural areas.Therefore,it is recommended to design a policy of differentiated compensatory earnings for rural teachers,and efforts should be enhanced to promote programs for supporting high-quality teachers.In addition,the allocation of teachers should follow the principle of“differentiated equity,”and more differentiated teaching strategies should be adopted for students with different academic abilities.

How the ICT Development Level Influences Students’Digital Reading Literacy:A Multi-level Model Comparison Based on PISA 2018 Data

The purpose of this study is to systematically showcase and evaluate how students’,schools’,and countries’Information and Communication Technology(ICT)development levels influence students’digital reading literacy by using the data of the Program for International Student Assessment(PISA)2018 and the multi-level model approach.It is found that the ICT development at each level has a significant positive effect on students’digital reading literacy,and there is a significant interactive moderating effect between different levels.The gap in ICT development levels between the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)and developed economies has a“Matthew effect”in widening the digital reading literacy gap in the short term,but in the long run,the faster growth of the countries participating in BRI in ICT development levels will narrow the gap and alleviate the effect.China should make use of its advantages in ICT development to engage in global education governance,facilitate the co-development in both the ICT development level and the digital reading literacy for the countries participating in BRI,and contribute to the development of global education by opening up a new way of development.