This study examined changes of test anxiety under the reform of the examination system in Taiwan. We sampled 46,361 Grade 9 students in Taiwan for 9 consecutive years starting from 2011 to collect data on their test anxiety, cram school attendance frequency, and academic achievement. Students' test anxiety level was compared between three periods:…

Students of middling achievement who achieve intermediate results on the Basic Competence Test, a national high-stakes entrance examination in Taiwan, experience the highest test anxiety. The present study explored why such students experienced greater test anxiety and the source of that anxiety. A questionnaire survey was administered to 5,220…

This study determined perspectives of students and their teachers regarding ideal mathematics teaching using questionnaires. The sample included 2437 Taiwanese and 1141 Chinese senior high school students and their mathematics teachers. Exploratory, confirmatory, and multigroup confirmatory factor analysis were conducted to determine the factors…

Home-school relationships and communication play an important role in promoting children's and adolescents' development and learning. This study investigated the relations between school-initiated and family-initiated contact regarding school events and concerns regarding adolescents' academic, behavioral, and health issues and adolescents'…

The author attempted to explore potential antecedents of achievement goals and relations of teacher and parental autonomy support versus psychological control to Taiwanese adolescents' perfectionistic tendencies. A total of 512 eighth-grade students completed self-reported questionnaires assessing variables of interest. Results indicated that…

The expansion of higher education has become a significant trend in the East Asia region, and Taiwan has proven no exception. The driving forces of higher education expansion in Taiwan include enhancing national competitiveness and human capital, responding to social and industrial needs, and reducing educational inequalities among social groups.…

This study examined the unique learning styles of Asian-American students, noting different Asian immigrants' backgrounds and relating Asian cultures to children's learning. Data came from a literature review; interviews with 19 families from China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan who had a total of 33 children ages 6-21 years; and home and…

Uses recent data and new theoretical perspectives to reexamine hypothesized links between academic competition and adolescent suicide in East Asia, particularly Japan. Finds no direct connection, discusses possible indirect effects on individual motives, and suggests a more complicated model. Analyzes how cultural and historical factors may…

This paper, commissioned for the development of the national report, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent," analyzes the policies and practices for educating high-ability students in Japan, Taiwan, and China. It reports on studies over the past 11 years of East Asian children's academic achievement. In the first…

The five commissioned papers in this anthology provided part of the research base for the national report, "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent." In the first paper, "The Performance of High Ability Students in the United States on National and International Tests," Carolyn Callahan describes…

Taiwan's commercial high schools are 3-year institutions that students enter after successfully passing a rigorous vocational, technical, or commercial school admission examination. Although commercial high schools date from the early days of Japanese occupation in 1895, the modern-day Chinese commercial high school did not come into being until…