The new round of examination enrollment system reform has taken another solid step towards the established goal.
On April 23rd, Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Chongqing, as the third batch of eight provinces in China to start the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination, issued their own implementation plans, and made it clear that the first-year high school students who entered school in autumn of 2018 would start to implement them. Previously, eight provinces have deployed relevant work and are progressing in an orderly manner.
This means that the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination has entered a new stage from the pilot reform in the east to the promotion in the central and western regions. Correspondingly, the reform direction of the implementation plan in the eight provinces is consistent. While wearing "uniform clothes", they are also equipped with "local accessories". In close connection with the local education development level and the teaching practice of middle schools, they have made various explorations and innovations in the selection of examination subjects and examination time, the way of assigning marks and the way of admission.
The "3+1+2" mode is adopted in the selected subjects, which connects the teaching practice in middle schools with the talent training in colleges and universities.
According to the published implementation plan, the plan of eight provinces is "3+1+2" mode, that is, "3" is the national unified examination subject Chinese, mathematics and foreign languages, which all students must take; "1" is the preferred subject, and candidates must choose one of the physics and history subjects in the high school level examination; "2" is a re-selected subject, and candidates can choose two of the four subjects of chemistry, biology, ideology and politics and geography.
The college entrance examination is both a national economy and a people’s livelihood. The comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination is a major reform in the education field led by the central government. General Secretary of the Supreme Leader stressed that the reform plan adopted by the central government has taken root and different places must be encouraged and allowed to conduct differentiated exploration. According to the requirements of the Supreme Leader General Secretary, the Ministry of Education instructed eight provinces to conscientiously implement the spirit of the the State Council Document, and formulate reform plans according to local conditions in combination with provincial and municipal conditions, so that the reform can more accurately meet local conditions and form a benign interaction between top-level design and grassroots exploration.
The reform of college entrance examination is extremely important, complex and sensitive, and the stakeholders are diverse. In order to find the "greatest common denominator" of the reform, the party committees and governments of eight provinces attach great importance to it, personally check, personally coordinate and personally supervise, and intensify overall coordination to ensure the smooth landing of this highly concerned high-risk reform. It is understood that party secretaries and governors of eight provinces have listened to reports many times, held relevant decision-making meetings of provincial party committees and provincial governments, and reviewed the comprehensive reform plan for the college entrance examination. Liaoning, Chongqing and other places have set up a leading group for comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination, headed by the "number one"; Hebei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Guangdong and other places will incorporate the college entrance examination reform into the work points or important agendas of the provincial party committees and governments; The leaders of Fujian, Hubei and other provinces personally went to the grassroots to investigate and listen to the opinions of front-line workers, and strive to make the reform plan close to local reality.
"When designing various measures for the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination in our province, we conducted an in-depth study on’ how to change’ and’ what to change’, which not only closely linked with the national spirit, but also linked with the reality of Fujian, and strived to implement the plan with strong feasibility and operability." The relevant person in charge of the Education Department of Fujian Province said that the "3+1+2" subject selection scheme is the result of eight provinces’ full consideration of the original local college entrance examination model, the development level of basic education, higher education and the layout of disciplines and specialties on the basis of learning from the experience of the pilot provinces that reformed first.
In the process of formulating the implementation plan, eight provinces conducted in-depth research, fully demonstrated, widely listened to and solicited opinions and suggestions from all sides. Taking Jiangsu Province as an example, since 2015, the province has held nearly 80 research and consultation meetings, listened to the opinions and suggestions from all walks of life in depth, and specially listened to the opinions and suggestions of many members of the National Education Examination Steering Committee for the key and difficult problems in the development of the scheme, and invited East China Normal University, Xiamen University, Provincial Institute of Education Modernization and experts in related fields of education and measurement to demonstrate the feasibility and scientificity of the "3+1+2" scheme.
"On the whole, the’ 3+1+2′ program is completely consistent with the’ 3+3′ program of the pilot provinces in the basic direction and basic concept of reform. At the same time, it further highlights the basic role of physics and history in the selection and training of talents in natural sciences and humanities and social sciences in colleges and universities, and puts forward the combination of students’ elective subjects in combination with local conditions, so that the reform can more accurately meet local conditions and better meet local students’ growth and talent training needs. " Qu Zhenyuan, deputy director of the National Education Examination Steering Committee, said.
Why should physics and history be the first choice subjects? According to the situation released by various provinces, the original intention of this setting is mainly to consider the needs of talent training in colleges and universities and to connect with the reality of middle school education and teaching in various places.
On the one hand, experts in universities, middle schools and disciplines generally believe that physics is the basic discipline of natural science majors and history is the basic discipline of humanities and social sciences majors in the training of talents in universities. Studying physics or history subjects in high school is an important foundation for studying natural science majors, humanities and social sciences majors and related interdisciplinary majors in university. Therefore, taking these two subjects as the first choice is conducive to the cultivation of students in related majors in colleges and universities.
On the other hand, there are some differences in the conditions of running schools in different places. Taking physics and history as one of candidates’ preferred subjects can effectively connect with the existing teachers and classrooms, guide students from different regions and middle schools to choose their study subjects reasonably, plan their academic careers scientifically, and lay a solid professional foundation for further study in universities.
Yu Han, an expert of the National Education Examination Steering Committee and deputy director of the Examination Center of the Ministry of Education, said that since the first batch of comprehensive reform pilots of the college entrance examination, the educational concept of "selectivity" has always been reflected in the implementation and improvement of various measures. In the selective dimension, we should not only ensure the independent space of individual choice, but also take into account the local rigid restrictions on talent selection and training in colleges and universities, and more importantly, reflect the overall and long-term interests of the country. Although the "3+1+2" program does not give candidates full and free choice in six subjects, they can make conditional choices in two subjects, physics and history, and the other four subjects, and the latter two out of four are completely open to arts and sciences, with 12 choice combinations, which greatly improves the selectivity of only two combinations before the reform and is more in line with the actual situation of eight provinces. At the same time, although physics and history can only be chosen from two subjects, they are both compulsory subjects in the passing examination of the high school level examination, and students must meet the basic teaching requirements of high school, and the basic knowledge structure is complete.
Zheng Qinghua, vice president of Xi ‘an Jiaotong University, thinks that this way not only increases students’ choice, but also promotes the integration of arts and sciences, pays more attention to students’ all-round development, improves students’ comprehensive quality, provides conditions and motivation for the mutual choice between students and universities, fully embodies the principle of people-oriented, learning what they are good at and testing their strengths, conforms to the laws of education development and talent growth, and provides more opportunities for students to grow into talents.
The selective examination is held at the same time as the college entrance examination, and the selected subjects are given scientific marks.
From 2021, the enrollment of colleges and universities in eight provinces will be based on the results of the unified college entrance examination and the high school level examination, with reference to the comprehensive quality evaluation.
As for the time and frequency of foreign language examinations, six provinces, including Hebei, Liaoning, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan and Chongqing, plan to organize only one foreign language listening and written examination in June, and then implement the foreign language examination twice a year when conditions are ripe. Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces plan to organize a written foreign language test in June, and put the foreign language listening and speaking test in peacetime and implement the computer test.
The relevant person in charge of Guangdong Education Examinations Institute said that these practices are basically consistent with the existing examination arrangements, without increasing the number of examinations and changing the examination time. It has been ensured that the examination arrangements will not affect the current teaching organization arrangements of middle schools, and will also ease the pressure on the current foreign language examinations in terms of propositions, organization and management, and ensure the steady progress of reform.
The relevant person in charge of the Examination Center of the Ministry of Education said that it is necessary to establish a standardized proposition mechanism and accumulate standardized question banks for the two-year foreign language examinations. At present, eight provinces have not fully met the conditions in this regard, so the existing examination arrangements will remain unchanged for the time being. When the conditions are ripe, they can actively explore the implementation of the two-year foreign language examinations and gradually implement them.
According to the implementation plan, the ordinary high school academic level examination is divided into qualified examination and selective examination. Qualified test scores are the main basis for students’ graduation and the determination of equivalent academic ability in ordinary high schools; The selected test scores are included in the total scores of candidates enrolled in the unified examination of ordinary colleges and universities. All the eight provinces arranged the selective examinations of the senior high school level examination together during the unified college entrance examination in June, and determined the number of examinations as one. Choose to test by the province unified proposition, unified examination, unified organization marking, unified published results.
Liu Haifeng, director of the Examination Research Center of Xiamen University, pointed out that in order to ensure the safe and orderly implementation of the college entrance examination, more than 20 government departments made concerted efforts. Because the selective examination of the high school level examination is included in the total score of the college entrance examination, its nature is equivalent to that of the college entrance examination. This arrangement in the implementation plan not only reduces the influence of multiple examinations on middle school teaching, but also relieves the pressure of organizing examinations at the grassroots level, and can avoid repeatedly using a lot of government resources and social resources.
From 2021, the total scores of candidates in the new college entrance examination in eight provinces are composed of unified college entrance examination subjects and academic level examination subjects, with a full score of 750 points. Among them, the original scores of unified college entrance examination subjects such as Chinese, mathematics and foreign language use are included in the total score of candidates, with a perfect score of 150 points for each subject. In the selected subjects, the original scores of physics or history are included in the total scores of candidates, with a perfect score of 100 points for each subject; The two subjects independently selected by candidates in ideological politics, geography, chemistry and biology will be included in the total score of candidates after being graded, with a perfect score of 100 points for each subject.
Why is the re-election subject graded? According to the relevant person in charge of the Education Department of Liaoning Province, candidates with the same preferred subjects can choose different selected subjects to be included in the college entrance examination results in ideological and political, geographical, chemical and biological subjects according to their personal interests and the requirements of college enrollment. Because of the difficulty difference of different subjects in the re-selected subjects and the different groups of candidates applying for the corresponding subjects, the original scores of the selected subjects are not comparable. The implementation of grading is mainly based on the different subjects selected by students, the different difficulty of each subject, and the incomparable original scores of each subject. It is made from the perspective of fairness and justice in educational examinations.
For example, he said, candidate A chose ideological politics and candidate B chose chemistry, and both of them got 80 points. Candidate A ranked 100th among all the ideological and political candidates, and candidate B ranked 1000th among all the chemistry candidates. It is neither scientific nor fair to simply add up their scores in all subjects and count them in the college entrance examination. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the original scores of different subjects into grade scores according to certain rules, and the queuing order of candidates’ selected subjects remains unchanged after conversion, so as to solve the problem that the original scores of selected subjects are not comparable.
According to the relevant person in charge of Chongqing Education Examinations Institute, the third batch of eight provinces that entered the reform formed a joint expert group under the unified guidance of the Ministry of Education, invited domestic experts and scholars in the field of mathematical statistics and analysis, learned from the experience of previous pilot provinces, and based on the analysis and calculation of the college entrance examination scores and admission data of eight provinces over the years, through mathematical modeling, within the framework of the evaluation standards of acceptance, discrimination, fit, promotion, stability and adaptability, the method of assigning common grades to eight provinces was determined, which has a better
"One point, one file", grade assignment not only ensures the comparability of scores between different subjects, but also increases the discrimination of exams. Han Ning, vice chairman of the Education Statistics and Measurement Branch of the China Education Association, said that eight provinces have carefully analyzed and simulated the various possibilities in the college entrance examination based on the big data of the past few years, and selected the parameter setting scheme that is most suitable for their own provinces, and followed the principles of "Don’t let candidates’ single-subject ranking change" and "Ensure the appropriate weight of selected subjects and ensure the good distinction of conversion scores"
Admission is based on "two bases and one reference" to promote students’ all-round and individual development.
The enrollment of unified examination in colleges and universities is the focus of social attention, and it is also the focus and difficulty of the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination. The implementation plan announced by the eight provinces has carried out the reform direction of "forming the examination enrollment mode of classified examination, comprehensive evaluation and multiple admission" determined by the State Council, and the mode of "two bases and one reference" has been implemented in college admission, that is, not only the scores of three unified college entrance examination subjects and three academic level examinations are selected, but also the comprehensive quality evaluation is taken as an important reference for admission, from simply "judging points" to "judging people".
"The comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination is not only a reform of the examination enrollment method, but also a major reform involving basic education and higher education, which is related to the entire talent training system. It is an inevitable requirement for implementing quality education, improving the quality of talent training and promoting students’ all-round and individual development." Jiang Changzhong, Party Secretary and Director of Hunan Provincial Education Department and Secretary of Education Working Committee of Provincial Party Committee, said that this reform is to establish and improve the comprehensive examination content system of morality, intelligence, physique, beauty and labor, build an examination enrollment evaluation system with China characteristics in the new era, establish an examination enrollment system for ordinary colleges and universities that conforms to the laws of education and talent growth and conforms to the requirements of the times, and implement comprehensive examination, comprehensive assessment and fairer selection, so as to realize the organic unity of student growth, national talent selection and social equity.
According to the implementation plan, the comprehensive quality evaluation content is divided into ideological and moral character, academic level, physical and mental health, artistic accomplishment, social practice and so on. The contents of students’ comprehensive quality evaluation are objectively recorded by real recording. Through the comprehensive quality evaluation system of senior high school students, senior high schools establish personal growth electronic files for each student. Under the guidance of teachers, students independently record their daily activities; According to the unified requirements of the provincial education departments, students sort out and select representative recording materials at the end of each semester to form an evaluation record form; When graduating from high school, according to the representative typical materials in the original records of the evaluation system, a comprehensive quality evaluation report of students is generated; Academic level test scores, credits and physical health test scores are uniformly imported by schools, education administrative departments and other relevant units.
With regard to the application of comprehensive quality evaluation materials, the implementation plans of the eight provinces have also made it clear that in addition to being used by senior high schools for student education and education administrative departments for monitoring and management of education and teaching, colleges and universities should formulate specific methods for using comprehensive quality evaluation materials in accordance with the provisions of the Ministry of Education, and take the evaluation results as an important reference for enrollment. In order to ensure the authenticity and credibility of the comprehensive quality evaluation materials of senior high school students, the activity records and factual materials used for enrollment must be publicized, and the students themselves and the relevant school leaders will confirm them on the network management platform after publicity without objection, and the school will finally review and check them.
The reporter found out that the eight provinces made it clear in the implementation plan that colleges and universities will compile their enrollment plans in two categories: physics and history. At the time of admission, candidates who choose physics and candidates who choose history will be queued for admission respectively. Candidates in Hebei, Liaoning, Chongqing and other provinces and cities take the mode of "major (category)+college", that is, one college and one enrollment major (category) is a volunteer, and the admission mode of parallel volunteer is implemented.
In Zheng Qinghua’s view, the past training mode made most senior high school students accustomed to burying their heads in study and only pursuing achievements, lacking understanding of the connotation of disciplines and majors in colleges and universities, the requirements and rules for entering the exam, and the lack of excavation and training of their own interests, specialties and professional intentions. Under the new college entrance examination mode, schools will be forced to help students find their own interests and specialties from the middle school stage, carry out career guidance, and simultaneously promote the college entrance examination reform with the curriculum reform in junior and senior high schools, so that students can unify their career planning, major selection and learning motivation, guide students to connect their studies with the majors they choose to enter colleges and universities in the future, and connect their future majors with the careers they will settle down in the future. Only by linking the career of settling down with the career of making contributions all one’s life, and finally guiding students to link their career with the career that can finally care about the world, benefit mankind and settle their souls, can we cultivate the real pillars needed by society.
Similarly, the enrollment mode of "major (category)+college" is also beneficial to colleges and universities to enroll students with clear professional aspirations, but it puts forward higher requirements for the specialty construction and talent training of colleges and universities, which will promote colleges and universities to further strengthen the discipline construction and improve the quality of talent training. In terms of specific operation, colleges and universities will work out enrollment plans in strict accordance with the requirements of the elective subjects of their enrollment majors, and according to the requirements of personnel training, according to the two categories of "physics disciplines" and "history disciplines", and the requirements for elective subjects will be clearly defined in each enrollment major.
Accelerating the enrollment reform of classified examination in higher vocational education is an important measure of the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination. Yong Yang, Party Secretary and Director of the Education Department of Hebei Province, said that higher vocational education bears the important task of cultivating diversified talents, inheriting technical skills and promoting employment and entrepreneurship, so it pays more attention to the assessment of students’ vocational orientation and vocational skills in the examination enrollment. Implementing the classified examination enrollment of higher vocational education and separating the enrollment of higher vocational colleges from that of ordinary colleges will not only help higher vocational colleges to select and cultivate skilled talents according to the rules of vocational education, but also help some students to choose their own vocational education as soon as possible.
In the implementation plans of eight provinces, it is clear that the enrollment reform of classified examinations in higher vocational colleges should be promoted. Fujian makes it clear that the enrollment of classified examinations in higher vocational colleges is mainly based on higher vocational (junior college) enrollment, and it is the main channel for higher vocational colleges to enroll students. Since 2020, the classified enrollment of higher vocational colleges is relatively separated from the enrollment of ordinary colleges and universities, and the evaluation method of "cultural quality+vocational skills" is implemented, and the entrance examination for higher vocational education is no longer organized separately.
Hebei, as a province with a large number of students, has made great efforts to promote the enrollment reform of classified examinations in higher vocational education in order to solve the problem of "thousands of troops crossing the single-plank bridge", based on the fact that higher vocational colleges account for a large proportion and a large number. Yong Yang said that in combination with the actual situation of this province, efforts should be made to break through innovation, and in the enrollment plan, classified examination enrollment will become the main channel for enrollment in higher vocational colleges; In the assessment content, we should distinguish the different characteristics of ordinary high school students and secondary vocational school students and implement the evaluation method of "cultural quality+vocational skills"; In the enrollment, we should carry out the reform of parallel volunteer’s investment in one file and explore the way of multi-investment in one file.
Guide the reform of high school education mode and strengthen the construction of basic guarantee conditions.
The examination enrollment system is a national basic education system, and the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination is a major reform in the field of education, which will inevitably have a far-reaching impact on the current high school education and even the whole education.
"The basic idea of deepening the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination is to adhere to the direction of reform, maintain strategic strength, enhance the tenacity of reform, and ensure the implementation of the overall design of the" Implementation Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Reform of the Examination Enrollment System "in accordance with the principle of" promoting quality education, promoting education equity, and scientifically selecting talents "; Adhere to the problem orientation, adhere to local conditions, continue to intensify efforts to promote effective policies that are welcomed by the masses, and fully consider the differences in different regions for reform measures with high basic conditions, and introduce plans according to local conditions to ensure smooth and orderly reform; Adhere to coordinated promotion, further strengthen the reform coordination between provinces and relevant departments within the province, and form a good situation of coordination and overall promotion. " The person in charge of the relevant department of the Ministry of Education said.
It is an important measure for ordinary senior high school teaching to adapt to the new college entrance examination and an inevitable requirement for the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination. "It can be predicted that for basic education, the implementation of class selection will have a direct impact on the scale and structure of subject teachers because of the different proportion of candidates in each subject." The relevant person in charge of the Hunan Provincial Department of Education pointed out that how to implement this important measure aimed at respecting students’ personality differences, expanding students’ independent choice in learning and meeting the learning needs of students with different potentials, promoting students’ all-round and individual development and improving the quality of education and teaching requires in-depth research.
According to the relevant interpretation manuscripts published by 8 provinces, there is a clear arrangement on how to carry out the teaching of selecting courses and moving classes. For example, schools should not crowd out the classes of other non-selected subjects in order to increase the class hours of selected subjects, but should strictly implement the curriculum plan of ordinary high schools promulgated by the state and strive to develop excellent elective courses; Explore the school teaching management system that adapts to the teaching of selecting courses and leaving classes, and construct a class management system that organically combines administrative classes with teaching classes, class teachers and tutorial systems; Strengthen the construction of smart campus, make full use of information technology, and gradually realize the intellectualization of management activities such as course selection, course arrangement, management and evaluation.
In terms of strengthening team building, eight provinces have also made it clear that various measures should be taken to alleviate the structural shortage of teachers in some disciplines by purchasing services, rehiring outstanding retired teachers, and exploring "county management and school employment". Strengthen the training of teachers and increase the transfer training of teachers in surplus disciplines. At the same time, efforts should be made to improve the conditions for running schools, and measures such as newly rebuilding and expanding some high schools and strictly implementing enrollment plans should be taken to eliminate large classes in ordinary high schools.
As the most comprehensive and thorough reform of the examination enrollment system in history, the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination has brought about changes in talent selection and training mode, which has incomparable advantages in forcing universities and middle schools to educate people from the perspective of students’ long-term development and to select talents and guide them from the perspective of more yuan and more in line with actual development needs.
Senior high school is a critical period for students’ personality formation and independent development, and it is also a critical period for students to choose the future development direction of their lives. The reporter found out that this reform highlights the guidance for students’ development, including not only academic guidance, but also life guidance and career guidance. In order to provide guidance for students’ development, all provinces have made clear requirements for constructing characteristic curriculum system, establishing professional teachers, carrying out multi-theme activities, expanding and enriching professional experience, and applying scientific evaluation system, so as to effectively help students solve practical problems and ideological puzzles encountered in their studies, life and career planning.
The comprehensive reform of college entrance examination is a key breakthrough of comprehensive education reform, and at the same time, it is also a tough "hard bone", which belongs to the key hub of reform and is at the core of the "top priority" of education reform. Under the overall command of the Ministry of Education, the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination in eight provinces has been carried out steadily, scientifically and orderly, and all the preparatory work in the early stage has been successfully completed.
Zhong Binglin, president of China Education Association, said that the distribution of educational resources in China is uneven, and there is a gap between the eight provinces that have implemented the new plan and the developed education areas such as Zhejiang and Shanghai. Therefore, we should pay attention to the study and introduction of relevant supporting measures, and jointly promote the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination, and form a good situation of coordinated linkage and overall promotion between the government and schools, examination enrollment and personnel training, and high school education and higher education, and promote the steady implementation of the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination.
According to Yang Dongping, a member of the National Education Examination Steering Committee, the college entrance examination system consists of examination system, enrollment system and supporting service guarantee policies. According to the situation released by eight provinces, the guarantee of various conditions for the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination is also vigorously promoted. Taking Hubei Province as an example, the Committee for Deep Reform of the Provincial Party Committee listed the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination as a key reform item in the province, and the leading group for the reform of the provincial education system took it as an annual key reform task. Governments at all levels in the province invested a total of 11.2 billion yuan to build, rebuild and expand 49 high schools and 187 million yuan to build standardized examination centers. The Hubei Provincial Department of Education has set up a promotion mechanism of "1 (comprehensive work) +3 (teaching, examination and enrollment) +N (some specific work)". Cities and counties have also established corresponding working mechanisms, forming a good atmosphere of joint deployment and promotion and full participation in reform.
"To actively respond to the comprehensive reform of the college entrance examination, we must implement the main responsibility, establish a coordinated promotion mechanism, and truly implement it." The relevant person in charge of the Education Department of Liaoning Province said that the next step will be to highlight key points, strengthen the capacity building of examination institutions, improve the infrastructure conditions of ordinary high schools, strengthen the construction of teachers, deepen the curriculum reform of ordinary high schools, and do a good job in a series of supporting work such as comprehensive quality evaluation of high school students to ensure the smooth progress of the comprehensive reform of college entrance examination. (Reporter Wan Yufeng)
