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The impact of education reform on the quality assurance system in Japan

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Abstract

International assessment studies have shown since decades that Japanese students score highly on math and science tests. As a consequence, many scholars, education policy officials and journalists outside Japan share the opinion that quality of education is ensured and turn to the Japanese educational system to identify educational effectiveness enhancing factors. Simultaneously, a sense of educational crisis exists within Japan, which resulted into numerous education reforms. In this paper, we describe how quality in education has been ensured in Japan, what changes in the assurance of quality are brought forth by the most recent wave of reform measures as well as the reaction of scholars toward these measures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Educational Effectiveness and Evaluation, Department for Educational Sciences, University of Leuven, Dekenstraat 2, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Heidi Knipprath

  2. Research Department for Primary and Secondary Education, National Institute for Educational Policy Research of Japan, 6-5-22 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, 153-8681, Tokyo, Japan

    Masahiro Arimoto

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  1. Heidi Knipprath
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  2. Masahiro Arimoto
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Correspondence to Heidi Knipprath.

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Knipprath, H., Arimoto, M. The impact of education reform on the quality assurance system in Japan. Educ Res Policy Prac 6, 205–217 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-007-9019-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-007-9019-9

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