Review on assessment of students’ academic achievements studies in China

A new wave of school curriculum reform has been launched in China since 2001 with the publication of the new National Curriculum Standards. Promoting the function of assessment for learning more than on selecting has become an urgent issue on the way of reform. Three national projects have been started up to solve the problems: a) Junior Secondary Science Graduation Examination Study, which focuses on situated test items’ development; b) Senior Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievements Study, which focuses on open-ended test items’ grading and formative assessment; c) Assessment for Teacher Professional Development and Student Development Study, which focuses on qualitative assessment and portfolio assessment. This paper reviews these three projects’ achievements and discusses the problems which need to be resolved in the future.