Abstract
Fairness and social justice has been the subject of much discussion in educational research, and concerns about fairness are paramount in the milieu of high-stakes admission testing. This study explored stakeholders’ perceptions of the fairness of a high-stakes graduate school admission test, the Graduate School Entrance English Examination (GSEEE) that decides whether students may have a chance to gain admission into master’s programs in China. By interviewing three groups—program administrators, English teachers, and test-takers, the study found different groups had different knowledge about the test. While there was much fairness concern regarding item quality, standardized administration, and scoring practices, the three groups expressed their acceptance and support toward the use of the GSEEE. In the end, the paper questioned whether the GSEEE truly achieved its selection purpose, given its flawed estimates of test-takers’ English proficiency due to unfair treatment in item quality, administration, and scoring, as perceived by those participants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Based on the Syllabus for Non-English Major Master’s Students (1992), master’s students across China have to obtain certain credits on English courses at the master’s level to obtain a master’s degree, unless specified otherwise.
The 34 universities, all top Chinese universities, have been granted the autonomy to decide their cut-scores since 2002.
The GSEEE test specifications include a list of approximately 5500 required words and idioms.
The eight-legged essay (baguwen) is a written form of argument in the Imperial Examination in China. This format later becomes synonyms of pedantry or triteness.
References
American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education. (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Brooks, R. (2009). In your own words, please: Using authorship attribution to identify cheating on translation test. In L. Taylor & C. Weir (Eds.), Language testing matters: Investigating the wider social and educational impact of assessment (pp. 77–103). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Camilli, G. (2006). Test fairness. In R. L. Brennan (Ed.), Educational measurement (4th ed., pp. 221–256). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Camilli, G. (2013). Ongoing issues on test fairness. Educational Research and Evaluation, 9, 104–120.
Cheng, L., & DeLuca, C. (2011). Voices from test-takers: Further evidence for test validation and test use. Educational Assessment, 16, 104–122.
Cleary, T. A. (1968). Test bias: Prediction of grades of Negro and white students in integrated college. Journal of Educational Measurement, 5, 115–124.
Coleman, D., Starfield S, & Hagan, A. (2003). The attitudes of IELTS stakeholders: Student and staff perceptions of IELTS in Australian, UK and Chinese universities (IELTS Research Reports Volume 5). IELTS Australia, Canberra.
Crocker, L. (2003). Teaching for the test: Validity, fairness, and moral action. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 22, 5–11.
Cumming, J. J., & Dickson, E. A. (2007). Equity in assessment: Discrimination and disability issues from an Australia legal perceptive. Education and the Law, 19, 201–220.
Fan, J., & Jin, Y. (2013). A survey of English language testing practice in China: the case of six examination boards. Language testing in Asia, 3(7), 1–16.
Fereday, J., & Muir-Cocharan, E. (2006). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5, 1–11.
Fischer, F. T., Schult, J., & Hell, B. (2013). Sex-specific differential prediction of college admission tests: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105, 478–488.
Fox, J. (2003). From products to process: An ecological approach to bias detection. International Journal of Testing, 3, 21–47.
Fox, J., & Cheng, L. (2007). Did we take the same test? Differing accounts of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test by first and second language test-takers. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 14, 9–26.
Hamp-Lyons, L. (2000). Social, professional and individual responsibility in language testing. System, 28, 579–591.
He, L. (2010). The Graduate School English Entrance Examination. In L. Cheng & A. Curtis (Eds.), English language assessment and the chinese learner (pp. 145–157). New York: Routledge.
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values, behaviors, and organizations Across Nations. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Holland, P. W. (1985). On the study of differential item performance without IRT. Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Military Testing Association, 1, 282–287.
Huang, D., & Garner, M. (2009). A case of test impact: Cheating on the College English Test in China. In L. Taylor & C. Weir (Eds.), Language testing matters: Investigating the wider social and educational impact of assessment (pp. 59–76). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hyatt, D. (2012). Stakeholders’ perceptions of IELTS as an entry requirement for higher education in the UK. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 36, 1–20.
International Language Testing Association. (2007). ILTA guidelines for practice.
Kunnan, A. J. (2000). Fairness and justice for all. In A. J. Kunnan (Ed.), Fairness and validation in language assessment (pp. 1–14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kunnan, A. J. (2010). Test fairness and Toulmin’s argument structure. Language Testing, 27(2), 183–189.
Lewins, A., & Silver, C. (2007). Using software in qualitative research: A step-by-step guide. London: Sage.
Liu, Q. (2010). The National Education Examinations Authority and its English language tests. In L. Cheng & A. Curtis (Eds.), English language assessment and the Chinese learner (pp. 29–43). New York: Routledge.
May, L. (2009). Co-constructed interaction in a paired speaking test: The rater’s perspective. Language Testing, 26, 397–421.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2006). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry. New York: Pearson Education Inc.
Meyer, H., St. John, E. P., Chankseliani, M., & Uribe, L. (2013). Fairness in access to higher education in a global perspective: Reconciling excellence, efficiency, and justice. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Ministry of Education. (2011). 2011年国家研究生招生计划. [Enrollment Planning Objectives of 2011]. Retrieved April 20, 2011 from http://kaoyan.eol.cn/html/ky/taiwan/2011.shtml.
National Education Examinations Authority. (2012). GSEEE syllabus. Beijing: Higher Education Press.
O’Loughlin, K. (2011). The interpretation and use of proficiency test scores in university selection: How valid and ethical are they? Language Assessment Quarterly, 8, 146–160.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Qi, X. (2011). Face: A Chinese concept in a global sociology. Journal of Sociology, 47(3), 279–295.
Rea-Dickins, P. (1997). So, why do we need relationships with stakeholders in language testing? A view from the UK. Language Testing, 14, 304–314.
Schulte, A. A. G., Elliott, S. N., & Kratochwill, T. R. (2000). Educators’ perceptions and documentation of testing accommodations for students with disabilities. Special Services in the Schools, 16, 35–56.
Scott, C. (2007). Stakeholder perceptions of test impact. Assessment in Education: Principles, policy, & practice, 14, 27–49.
Song, X. (2016). Fairness in educational assessment in China: Historical practices and contemporary challenges. In S. Scott, D. E. Scott & C. F. Webber (Eds.), Assessment in education: Implications for leadership (pp. 67–89). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Song, X., Cheng, L. & Klinger, D. (2015). DIF investigations across groups of gender and academic background in a large-scale high-stakes language test. Papers in Language Testing and Assessment, 4(1), 97–124.
Wang, Q. (2009). A study on the reform of the graduate enrollment and examination system in China. Unpublished Master’s thesis. Chongqing: South Western University.
Willingham, W. W. (1999). A system view of test fairness. In S. J. Messick (Ed.), Assessment in higher education: Issues of access, student development, and public policy (pp. 213–242). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Willingham, W. W., & Cole, N. S. (1997). Gender and fair assessment. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Xiao, S., & Zhu, Z. (1999). 1999年硕士研究生入学考试英语试卷的分析评估. [Item analyses of 1999 Graduate School English Entrance Examination]. In R. Wang, Q. Wang, & T. Li (Eds.), A review and outlook on the past 20 years of Graduate School Entrance Examination in Shaanxi Province [陕西省研究生招生考试20年回归和展望] (pp. 188–197). Xi’an: Shaanxi Normal University.
Yu, L., & Suen, H. K. (2005). Historical and contemporary exam-driven education fever in China. KEDI Journal of Educational Policy, 2(1), 17–33.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to express her gratitude to Dr. Liying Cheng for her guidance and support of the study. Thank also goes to Queen’s University for funding this research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Song, X. The Fairness of a Graduate School Admission Test in China: Voices from Administrators, Teachers, and Test-Takers. Asia-Pacific Edu Res 27, 79–89 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0367-4
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-018-0367-4