In both China and in the United States, policies of "positive discrimination" were originally intended to lessen educational and economic inequalities, and to provide equal opportunities. As with affirmative action in the American context, China's "preferential policies" are broad-reaching, but are best known for taking ethnic…

This article documents the experiences of two American professors who have taught in China and describes the similarities and differences between their students at home and abroad. Brian Coppola, who taught organic chemistry at Peking University (PKU), observes how the strengths in science preparation that Chinese students achieve in their…

China is now facing significant challenges in funding its rapidly expanding higher education systems, though it has experienced enormous economic growth in recent years. Equity has become a serious concern in Chinese higher education system. This article tries to identify the causes and implications of under-representation of the rural-poor…

Since the 1980s, "key school system" (KSS) in basic education has contributed to teaching quality and the development of some schools. However, at the same time it brings about many serious problems such as failure to attain educational objective, being away from the goal of education equity, arising students' mental or emotional…

Nations have many goals in mind when they design their education systems. Instilling in young people both a desire for democracy and the knowledge to perpetuate it and enabling them to understand and appreciate achievements of humanity, to reason for themselves, and to understand and empathize with others. However, a nation that ignores the need…

In the last 20 years, more and more Chinese high school graduates have applied to American colleges. They want to study in this country because the Chinese higher education system cannot meet the needs of China's huge population. This article talks about a seven-month, pre-college program hosted by the Graduate School of Education at the…

In 2005, Governor Tim Pawlenty and the Minnesota Legislature charged the Minnesota Office of Higher Education with developing an accountability system to measure the higher education sector's effectiveness in meeting state goals. Minnesota's leaders recognized that the knowledge, creativity and intellectual capacity of the state's people are the…

The relation between secondary and higher education is considered by 10 different authors in 10 country/area profiles: United States, England and Wales, France, West Germany, Sweden, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Latin America, and Africa. The systems of secondary and higher education are detailed for each country. The question of how the…