REAP directors Scott Rozelle and Linxiu Zhang presided as head trainers in a Shanghai-based Impact Evaluation workshop on October 16 and 17. During an intensive two day workshop Rozelle and Zhang taught and interacted with more than 100 ministers, high-ranking officials and policy analysts from China, South and Southeast Asia and Central Asia.

Sponsored in part by 3ie, an international organization dedicated to improving Impact Evaluation Practices, and the Asian Development Bank, the workshop has been run by SHIPDET and China's Ministry of Finance for the past several years. The Chinese government is committed to promoting development evaluation capacity building in China and across Asia through workshops such as this one. China's Vice-Minister of Finance has stated: "Performance evaluation will definitely become an important concept in China's economic development." REAP's participation in this year's Impact Evaluation workshop is an important step forward in this process.

Broken into two parts, in the first part of the workshop Rozelle lectured on the increasing importance of Impact Evaluation in good governance internationally and Zhang presented a talk on Impact Evaluation in China. The second part of the workshop was organized around a practioner's workshop. Participants developed Impact Evaluation proposals and discussed strategies for integrating Evaluation into their development programs.

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Read below for a summary of the proposed study.

Investment in Vocational vs. General Schooling: Evaluating China’s Expansion of Vocational Education and Laying the Foundation for Further Vocational Education Evaluation

A key policy question in developing countries, including China, is how to balance investments between vocational and general education in a way that supports economic growth and reduces social inequality. There is no definitive study in any developing country on the returns to vocational education and training (VET). In the absence of information on how VET might affect the earnings of workers, it is unclear if recent efforts of the Chinese government to expand VET are sound. If the returns are negligible, the government might consider slowing the expansion or improving the quality of VET.

Additionally, it is estimated that only about 40% of the students that graduate from junior high school in poor, rural areas continue with their studies; the rest enter the unskilled labour force. Why are these rates so low? Surprisingly, little is known about the factors that keep students out of school. There is no systematic study of what is working in VET and what is not. Despite the rapid expansion of VET, China has set up few mechanisms to evaluate the quality of VET programs.

The goal of this project is to help the Chinese government evaluate the effectiveness of the expansion of VET. It aims to provide empirical evidence on the returns to VET; the factors that might keep disadvantaged students from receiving quality schooling; and measure the quality and cost-effectiveness of VET programs.

This study will estimate the returns from VET versus general schooling using various “quasi-experimental” methods. It will follow a randomized control trial design and randomly assign junior high students to programmes that provide vouchers for VET schooling, vouchers for academic schooling, and academic counselling for students to become better informed about their schooling/employment options. The project will assess if students work harder, perform better and matriculate to academic high school and VET at higher rates when they have sufficient financial aid and counselling. Finally, it will also develop an Entrance/Exit Examination that can be used by principals of VET institutions and local officials in charge of VET to assess the quality of their programs. The findings of these quality studies of VET will be useful in influencing policy on one of China’s most debated education issues.

The Summer "Fresh" 2009 training course for migrant school teachers opened today at Zhongchu Hotel and Training Center, near Bajiao, with a talk by Brian Sharbono from Stanford University, the Managing Director of the Rural Education Action Project (REAP).

Summer "Fresh" is an English training course sponsored by REAP and offered to English teachers from dozens of migrant schools in Beijing. The three week, six days per week, intensive course will provide the migrant teachers a refresher in English grammar, practice in spoken English, and sessions dedicated to the pedagogy of teaching English.

Sharbono spoke on the importance of the education of migrant children in the context of China's education system and it's importance for China's economic development. Linxiu Zhang, Deputy Director of the Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of REAP-China also discussed the background and motivation for the training.

The 35 teachers invited to the event were randomly selected by REAP from a subgroup of more than 100. Prior to the training REAP gave a standardized English test to the 35 "selected" teachers, the 65 "not selected"  teachers and all of their students. REAP will retest all teachers and students at the end of the fall semester to see whether "training the teachers" makes a lasting difference.

Clear from the first day sessions is that the teachers' morale is high. After the opening talks, the migrant teachers, who will be living together during the three weeks, introduced themselves one by one. Nearly all expressed great appreciation for the invitation to attend.

"I have looked for a long time for an opportunity to improve my English teaching, because I want to better help the children in my classes," explained one participant, drawing enthusiastic applause from the audience. "But training is either very expensive or not available. So, I am very happy to be here and very thankful for this opportunity!"

Three trainers will lead the classes. Lisa Yiu, a PhD student from Stanford University School of Education, is an experienced teacher who researches issues of migrant education. Beijing-based, Diana Diao has more than 25 years of experience teaching English to students at all levels and training English teachers. Adam Ma, is a lecturer in the English Department at Capital Normal University, Beijing, and a PhD student in applied linguistics at Beijing Normal University.

Summer “Fresh” 2009 is a collaborative project of Stanford University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Center for Cultural Development of Migrant Children in Beijing and Renmin University. Volunteers from several universities and institutions are assisting.