Evaluating and Credentialing Vocational Education in China

Evaluating and Credentialing

Vocational Education in China

中国中等职业教育评估与质量认定

February 3, 2015

Dr. Hongmei Yi

Introduction自我介绍

• Dr. Hongmei Yi 易红梅，博士

• Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) 中国科学院农业政策研究中心副研究员

• Rural Education Action Program (REAP), based out of CAS and Stanford University 斯坦福农

村教育行动计划项目主管

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Today’s Talk 报告提纲

1. What are vocational high

schools?

2. Why should we care about

vocational high schools?

3. What is the quality of

vocational schools?

4. How can vocational high

schools be held

accountable?

1. 什么是中等职业学校？

2. 为什么我们要关注中等职业（以下简称“中职”）学校？

3. 中职学校的质量如何？

4. 如何让中职学校承担起相应的责任？

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schools?




vocational schools?


schools be held

accountable?


2. 为什么我们要关注中等职业学校？



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Vocational schools are an alternative, parallel track (versus academic high school) in China

中职（vs普高）是中国高中阶段教育的重要组成部分

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Vocational high

school (non

competitive)

中职学校

Academic high

school

(competitive)

普高学校

Background on vocational education in China

中等职业教育的背景

• Overseen by multiple

ministries, mainly Ministry of

Education and Ministry of

Human Resources

• Purpose is to teach both

academic and technical skills

so student is ready for

workforce

• 3 years, full-time learning

• First two years of classroom

learning, by policy, the final

and third year should be

spent in a company internship

• 多部门监管，但主要是教育部和人社部

• 中职教育的目标是让学生掌握文化知识与一门基本的专业技能从而能适应劳动力市场的需要

• 学制一般是3年

• 根据政策要求，中职生第一学年和第二学年主要参加课堂学习，第三学年参加顶岗实习

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Policymakers are very committed to vocational high school

中国的政策决策者高度重视中等职业教育的发展

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Annual investments in vocational school of 140 billion yuan (22.6 billion dollars)

政府对中职的投入也显著增加，现在每年对于中职教育的投资高达1400亿元

0

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80

100

120

140

160

Bill

ion

s (i

n Y

uan

)

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From 2004-2011 vocational high school enrollments

expanded from 11.7 million to 22.1 million

2004-2011年期间，中职学校在校生规模从1170万人增长到了2205万人, 翻了一倍

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Mill

ion

s

VET enrollment



schools?




vocational schools?


schools be held

accountable?





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Vocational high school graduates and current students (interns) are the future workforce of

the electronics industry

目前，中职生已经成为许多行业的主力军和生力军，电子行业也不列外

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• Students can be paid less in some cases

• No social insurance required

• Students may be a relatively higher educated, more capable workforce

This is because factories are motivated to use student workers…

EICC供应商也受各种原因激励更爱雇佣“学生工”

• 能接受更低的报酬

• 不要求社会保险

• 相对教育水平更高

Sure enough, internal stats from a large EICC member show that VET student workers make up 2/3 of their

current workforce.

一家大型EICC成员企业的内部统计显示，中职生占了工人总数的近2/3！

60%

99%

59%

36%

72%

70%

Factory 1

Factory 2

Factory 3

Factory 4

Factory 5

Factory 6

Factory 7工厂6

工厂5

工厂4

工厂3

工厂2

工厂1平均 66%

However, the electronics industry faces certain risks when hiring student workers

但是，电子行业也因此面临着较大的风险

• Students are a vulnerable population that is protected by the law and the EICC code of conduct.

• 尽管相关规章给予学生工一定的保护，但是学生工无疑是一个脆弱群体

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When firms violate this code, they are at risk of bad publicity and/or large fines

我们经常看到一些企业冒着名誉扫地或巨额罚款的风险违反这些规章

Suzhou electronics factory hired a child as young as 9 years old. – Feb 2012

Shenzhen electronics factory fined 1.96 million RMB for violation of minimum wage – Dec 2004

Electronics factory fined for illegal recruitment of child labor – July 2014

Partnering with HIGH QUALITY vocational schools may be a way to minimize this risk.

而最小化这类风险的途径可能是与高质量的中职学校合作

• Good schools do a better job of making sure their students’ are in legal and productive internships

• Good schools also TEACH their students skills they can use in their jobs… and for the rest of their lives.

• 好的中职学校在确保其学生得到合法的、能学到知识的实习岗位方面做得更好

• 好学校也会传授其学生在工作岗位上，以及毕生所需的知识和技能

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Unfortunately, there is no rigorous evaluation system for the quality of vocational schools.

不幸的是，当前中职没有一个严格的评估体系

• Factories can’t tell which are the good schools.

• Government can’t tell which are the good schools.

• Students can’t decide which schools to go to.

• 企业不能识别哪所学校是好学校

• 政府不能分辨哪所学校是好学校

• 学生无法决定应该去上哪所学校

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No standard evaluation = no quality control = low quality

没有规范的评价=没有质量控制=质量低下

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If vocational schools students are NOT learning, there

are several serious implications.

如果中职学生现在没有学到知识和技能，对个人、企业和社会都将是巨大的损害，我们国家将在未来缺乏质量可靠

的劳动力

•Bad for the kids….They will not be

ready for the future workplace

•Bad for China…Wasting money

•Bad for companies working in China

– Lower productivity from student

workers

– In the long term, lack of skilled

laborers to hire

• 孩子：他们将胜任不了未来的工作

• 国家：浪费财政支出

• 企业：

– 短期内，由于使用学生工导致生产率更低

– 长期来看，将导致高技能人才的匮乏

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schools?




vocational schools?


schools be held

accountable?





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Our objectives 研究目标

Phase 1. (2013-2014)

•Evaluate vocational schools on a common standard

– Find out which schools are good (are helping kids learn),

– and which are bad (are not helping kids learn)

第一阶段(2013-2014年）

•采用一个通用标准评估中职学校质量

– 找出好学校（帮助孩子学习）

– 和差学校（没有帮助孩子学习）

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Approach (Complete) 方法（已完成）

• Evaluate 185 vocational programs in Henan Province

• Non-falsifiable outputs– How much are kids learning?

– Document dropout rates

– Measure internship performance

• School inputs– Teacher credentials, teaching

practices, finances, facilities, governance

– Compliance with government standards

• 评估了河南省185个中职项目（计算机和数控）

• 以一些可靠的产出性指标为标准开展评估

– 学生学到了多少？

– 记录学生辍学率

– 检查学生实习表现

• 投入性指标

– 教师资质，财政、基础设施、管理

– 与政府部门常用的评估标准一致

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At the beginning of the academic year (Oct. 2013), we conducted a baseline survey

2013年10月（学年初），我们进行了基线调研

• Math and computer exams for all students 数学和专业测试

• Detailed student, teacher, principal surveys (including high school entrance exam participation and scores) 学生、教师和校长问卷调查

Baseline 基线调查

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At the end of the academic year (May 2014), we conducted a follow-up survey

2014年5月（学年末），我们进行了评估调研

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Baseline 基线调查 Endline 评估调查

At the end of the academic year (May 2014), we conducted a follow-up survey

2014年5月（学年末），我们进行了评估调研

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• Measured dropout 记录了学生的辍学情况


Produce an index of school quality

基于这些信息，我们建立了一个反映学校人才

培养质量的综合指数

• 每一个学校都有自己的一个综合质量指数（0-100），该指数反映了该校: – 学生学习情况

– 学生实习情况

– 学生素质等其他相关指标

• 综合质量指数的总体分布可以全面地反映中职学校人才培养的质量差异。

• For each school, we create

a quality index (0-100)

• Index reflects:

– students learning

– dropout rates

– internship performance

• Create a distribution of

schools

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RESULTS 主要结果

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0

100

100 (最好)

There are a lot

of schools that

do not meet

standards

What have we learned so far about the quality of


综合质量指数告诉了我们什么？

有很多质量差的学校

0

100

100 (最好)There are also

a lot of VERY

GOOD schools

There are a lot

of schools that

do not meet

standards


也有一些质优的学校




0

100

100 (最好)

There are also

borderline

schools

There are a lot

of schools that

do not meet

standards


There also are

a lot of VERY

GOOD schools

也有一些质优的学校

还有一些“刚刚达标”的学校




About 1/3 of students dropped out of school in the first two years

中职学生辍学率高

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Beginning of the first year

一年级学年初End of the second year

二年级学年末

中职第一学年和第二学年累计辍学率在30%左右

100

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Dropout rates vary across schools

学校之间差异很大

At some schools, dropout

rates are low

质优的学校几乎没有学生辍学

In other schools,

accumulated dropout rates

are above 60%

质量差的学校的学生两年累计辍学率超过60%

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No Significant Gains in Vocational Skills 专业知识增长不明显

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Point 分

Baseline survey Endline survey Gains

No Significant Gains in Vocational Skills 专业知识增长不明显

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Point 分


This means that students in the computer major learned NOTHING about computers… Students in the digital control major learned

NOTHING about digital control…

这意味着计算机专业学生没有学到任何关于计算机的知识，数控专业的学生没有学到任何关于数控的知识

No Significant Gains in Academic Skills文化基础知识普遍没有进步

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Point分


No Significant Gains in Academic Skills文化基础知识普遍没有进步

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Point分


Students learned NO academic skills over the course of the year. Students who don’t know basic math are going to have a

hard time finding jobs in the future…

学生一学年没有学到任何的数学知识！而不懂基本的数学知识将使他们在未来难以找到能胜任的工作

But there is wide variation across schools in learning gains

但是学校之间差别很大

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Point分

Vocational skill Academic skill

Top 10%

Bottom 10%

Top 10%

Bottom 10%

So are students learning?

学校究竟在学校做什么？In some schools, students acquire knowledge and skills…

在一些学校，学生在认真地学习……

In other schools, they do not…

而在另一些学校，学生却没在学习……

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What about internships?

学生的实习情况如何？

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Examples of code violations (1)

实习违规举例（1）

•Minimum age 顶岗实习最低年龄要求

Cannot be younger than 16 years old

参加顶岗实习年龄不得低于16岁。

•Evidence of Violation 事实：

– 7% of students who reported having internship experience were younger than 16 years old 7%的学生说第一次参加顶岗实习时

自己不到16岁。



• Oversight实习指导教师制度

Students should have an accompanying teacher to help them learn

and adjust to the internship

实习指导老师要全程指导和管理学生顶岗实习

• Evidence of Violation 事实：– 33% of students did not have teachers accompany them on the

internship

– 参加过顶岗实习的学生中，33%的学生报告自己实习期间没有指导老师



•Internships related to major 专业对口

Students should have internships related to their major

提供岗位与学生所学专业对口或相近的企（事）业单

位组织学生顶岗实习

•Evidence of violation 事实：

– 68% reported that the content of their internship did not match their major

– 有67%的学生反映他们的实习岗位与在校所学专业不对口

So how are students doing in their internships?

学生在实习时都做些什么？

Some students are prepared to

learn / work well

一些学生做好了准备，并且得到了很好的学习机会

Others are not ready

另一些则没有……

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In Conclusion 小结

• Phase 1 of REAP’s work has demonstrated that vocational schools are HIGHLY VARIABLE in quality.

– There are really good schools…

– There are also lots of really bad schools…

• REAP第一阶段的研究表明中职学校质量差，并且学校之间差异很大

– 有一些真正好的学校

– 但也有许多实在很差的学校

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schools?




vocational schools?


schools be held

accountable?





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Phase 2: Credentialing System for Vocational Schools

第二阶段：中职学校质量认定体系

Work with EICC (with support from the Henan Department of Education) to put in place a credentialing system for VET programs.

在EICC和河南省教育厅的大力支持下，我们在河南省实施了“中职学校质量认定体系”试点项目

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Our objectives 研究目标

Phase 2 (2014-2015)

• Factories can partner with good schools, government can reward good schools with more resources

• Win-win-win!

– Student gets better education

– Government spends money more effectively

– Factories hire better workers

第二阶段 (2014-2015年）

•企业将与通过质量认定的学校（好学校）建立合作关系，政府部门也将分更多的资源给这些学校，从激励学校努力做得更好

•三“赢”

–学生获得更好的教育

–政府更有效地“花钱”

–企业雇到更好的工人 47

Phase 2: Credentialing System for Vocational Schools第二阶段：中职学校质量认定体系

• In every other level of China’s education system, there are rigorous systems in place to hold schools accountable for clear quality standards.

• Credentialing systems motivate change because they tie assessments of quality to tangible benefits.

• They also provide information to government, industry and the public at large about which programs are of high quality.

• This allows all actors engaging with vocational programs to make better, more informed choices.

• 除了中职，中国教育体系的每一

个阶段不仅有严格的评估工具，

并且建立了认定体系，促使学校

各司其责。

• 我们将在参加试点的中职学校建

立质量认定体系；通过认定将给

学校带来可观的利益，从而激励

学校进行改革。

• 质量认定体系还能帮助政府、行

业和公众了解哪些学校质量好。

• 这让所有利益相关者在在信息更

充分的情况下做出更好的选择。48

Step 1 第一步:Baseline survey (May 2014)

2014年5月，我们进行了基线调研



Baseline 基线调查

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October 2014: REAP hosted meeting with Henan Bureau of Education for VET principals to explain the credentialing system.

2014年10月，河南省教育厅召开中职校长会议解释质量认定体系

Step 2 第二步：Principal meeting 校长会议

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• Measured dropout 记录学生的辍学情况等


Step 3 第三步:Endline survey (April 2015)

2015年4月，我们将进行评估调研

Step 4 第四步:Good schools receive credential

学校接受质量认定

• The schools that meet minimum quality standards (as measured by our evaluation) will receive a credential

• 达到质量认定标准基本要求的学校将获得质量认定证书

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• Credentialed schools get:

– Increased opportunities for resources from government

– Increased opportunities for collaboration with EICC members and suppliers

• 通过认定的学校将因此：

– 从政府获得的资源

– 将得到更多与EICC成员及其供应商的合作机会

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Why should principals pay attention?

校长为什么要重视这个事？

We look forward in Phase 2 to evaluating whether this credentialing system can improve vocational program quality and the lives of millions of youth in China.

我们期待着在今年四月回访学校，评估这一

质量认定体系是否能提高中职学校教育质量，并希望因此能改善数以千万计的年轻人的生活

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• China’s government ultimately could adopt these or similar standards … as a public service to all manufacturers and for the education system itself (i.e., this would motivate lower-performing schools to “shape up” and reward higher-performing schools)

• 我们希望能将第二期的结果提交到政府部门，从而推动中国政府最终采用这些或者类似的标准…作为提供给企业以及教育部门自己的公共服务（即，刺激差的学校不断改进，鼓励好学校不断进步）

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The vision is sustainable policy impact

我们也将努力继续推动政策的改变

Thank you!谢谢大家！reap.stanford.edu

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Technology

Evaluating and Credentialing Vocational Education in China