The demand for large-scale assessments in higher education, especially at an international scale, is growing. A major challenge of conducting these assessments, however, is that they require understanding and balancing the interests of multiple stakeholders (government officials, university administrators, and students) and also overcoming potential unwillingness of these stakeholders to participate. In this paper, we take the experience of the Study of Undergraduate Performance (SUPER) in conducting a large-scale international assessment as a case study. We discuss ways in which we mitigated perceived risks, built trust, and provided incentives to ensure the successful engagement of stakeholders during the study’s implementation.

We examine the effects of computer-based versus paper-based assessment of critical thinking skills, adapted from English (in the U.S.) to Chinese. Using data collected based on a random assignment between the two modes in multiple Chinese colleges, we investigate mode effects from multiple perspectives: mean scores, measurement precision, item functioning (i.e. item difficulty and discrimination), response behavior (i.e. test completion and item omission), and user perceptions. Our findings shed light on assessment and item properties that could be the sources of mode effects. At the test level, we find that the computer-based test is more difficult and more speeded than the paper-based test. We speculate that these differences are attributable to the test’s structure, its high demands on reading, and test-taking flexibility afforded under the paper testing mode. Item-level evaluation allows us to identify item characteristics that are prone to mode effects, including targeted cognitive skill, response type, and the amount of adaptation between modes. Implications for test design are discussed, and actionable design suggestions are offered with the goal of minimizing mode effect.

The wide-scale global movement of school education to remote instruction due to Covid-19 is unprecedented. The use of educational technology (EdTech) offers an alternative to in-person learning and reinforces social distancing, but there is limited evidence on whether and how EdTech affects academic outcomes. Recently, we conducted two large-scale randomized experiments, involving ~10,000 primary school students in China and Russia, to evaluate the effectiveness of EdTech as a substitute for traditional schooling. In China, we examined whether EdTech improves academic outcomes relative to paper-and-pencil workbook exercises of identical content. We found that EdTech was a perfect substitute for traditional learning. In Russia, we further explored how much EdTech can substitute for traditional learning. We found that EdTech substitutes only to a limited extent. The findings from these large-scale trials indicate that we need to be careful about using EdTech as a full-scale substitute for the traditional instruction received by schoolchildren.

The wide-scale global movement of school education to remote instruction due to Covid-19 is unprecedented. The use of educational technology (EdTech) offers an alternative to in-person learning and reinforces social distancing, but there is limited evidence on whether and how EdTech affects academic outcomes, and that limited evidence is mixed.1,2 For example, previous studies examine performance of students in online courses and generally find that they do not perform as well as in traditional courses. On the other hand, recent large-scale evaluations of supplemental computer-assisted learning programs show large positive effects on test scores. One concern, however, is that EdTech is often evaluated as a supplemental after-school program instead of as a direct substitute for traditional learning. Supplemental programs inherently have an advantage in that provide more time learning material.

Recently, we conducted two large-scale randomized experiments, involving ~10,000 primary school students in China and Russia, to evaluate the effectiveness of EdTech as a substitute for traditional schooling.3,4 In both, we focused on whether and how EdTech can substitute for in-person instruction (being careful to control for time on task). In China, we examined whether EdTech improves academic outcomes relative to paper-and-pencil workbook exercises of identical content. We followed students ages 9–13 for several months over the academic year. When we examined the impacts of each supplemental program we found that EdTech and workbook exercise sessions of equal time and content outside of school hours had the same effect on standardized math test scores and grades in math classes. As such, EdTech appeared to be a perfect substitute for traditional learning.

In Russia, we built on these findings by further exploring how much EdTech can substitute for traditional learning. We examined whether providing students ages 9–11 with no EdTech, a base level of EdTech (~45 min per week), and a doubling of that level of EdTech can improve standardized test scores and grades. We found that EdTech can substitute for traditional learning only to a limited extent. There is a diminishing marginal rate of substitution for traditional learning from doubling the amount of EdTech use (that is, when we double the amount of EdTech used we do not find that test scores performance doubles). We find that additional time on EdTech even decreases schoolchildren’s motivation and engagement in subject material.

The findings from the large-scale trials indicate that we need to be careful about using EdTech as a full-scale substitute for the traditional instruction received by schoolchildren. There are two general takeaways: First, to a certain extent, EdTech can successfully substitute for traditional learning. Second, there are limits on how much EdTech may be beneficial. Admittedly, we need to be careful about extrapolating from the smaller amount of technology substitution in our experiments to the full-scale substitution in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. However, these studies may offer important lessons. For example, a balanced approach to learning in which schoolchildren intermingle work on electronic devices and work with traditional materials might be optimal. Schools could mail workbooks to students or recommend that students print out exercises to break up the amount of continuous time schoolchildren spend on devices. This might keep students engaged throughout the day and avoid problems associated with removing the structure of classroom schedules. Schools and families can devise creative remote learning solutions that include a combination of EdTech and more traditional forms of learning. Activities such as reading books, running at-home experiments, and art projects can also be used to break up extensive use of technology in remote instruction.

In some accountability regimes, teachers pay more attention to higher achieving students at the expense of lower achieving students. The overall goal of this study is to examine, in this type of accountability regime, the impacts of a pay-for-percentile type scheme in which incentives exist for all students but which are larger for improving the achievement of lower achieving students. Analyzing data from a large-scale randomized experiment in rural China, we find that incentives improve average achievement by 0.10 SDs and the achievement of low-achieving students by 0.15 SDs. We find parallel changes in teacher behavior and curricular coverage. Taken together, the results demonstrate that incentive schemes can effectively address teacher neglect of low-achieving students.

Purpose: Although China has instituted compulsory education through Grade 9, it is still unclear whether students are, in fact, staying in school. In this paper, the authors use a multi-year (2003–2011) longitudinal survey data set on rural households in 102–130 villages across 30 provinces in China to examine the extent to which students still drop out of school prior to finishing compulsory education.

Design/methodology/approach: To examine the correlates of dropping out, the study uses ordinary least squares and multivariate probit models.

Findings: Dropout rate from junior high school was still high (14%) in 2011, even though it fell across the study period. There was heterogeneity in the measured dropout rate. There was great variation among different regions, and especially among different villages. In all, 10% of the sample villages showed extremely high rates during the study period and actually rose over time. Household characteristics associated with poverty and the opportunity cost of staying in school were significantly and negatively correlated with the completion of nine years of schooling.

Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study suggest that China needs to take additional steps to overcome the barriers keeping children from completing nine years of schooling if they hope to either achieve their goal of having all children complete nine years of school or extend compulsory schooling to the end of twelfth grade.

Originality/value: The authors seek to measure the prevalence of both compulsory education rates of dropouts and rates of completion in China. The study examines the correlates of dropping out at the lower secondary schooling level as a way of understanding what types of students (from what types of villages) are not complying with national schooling regulations. To overcome the methodological shortcomings of previous research on dropout in China, the study uses a nationally representative, longitudinal data set based on household surveys collected between 2003 and 2011.

One of the defining features of China’s economy over the two decades between 1995 and 2015 was the persistent rise of wages for workers and professionals in nearly every segment of the economy—with wage rates for labor-intensive jobs in manufacturing, construction, and the informal service sector rising the fastest. Recently, however, the economic environment in China has begun to change, including changes in both employment and wages. We identify recent employment/wage trends throughout China’s economy and postulate the sources of these trends as well as possible future consequences if they continue. We use official, nationally aggregated data to examine employment and wages in multiple sectors and industries. Our findings indicate that China may have entered a new phase of economic development in the mid-2010s. According to the data, in recent years, wage growth has begun to polarize: Rising for professionals employed in formal skill-intensive industries; and falling for workers in the informal labor-intensive service sector. We attribute this increase in skill-intensive wages to an increase in demand for skill-intensive employment, due to the emergence of a large middle class in China, for whom the demand for high technology, finance, banking, health, and higher education industries is increasing while, at least in the recent short term, the supply of experienced, high-skilled professionals has not kept up. The employment/wage trend in the informal (low-wage) service sector, however, is following a different pattern. While there is a rising demand for services in China’s economy, the growth, due to a number of factors (e.g., large shares of GDP targeted by policymakers to investment; high rates of savings by consumers), is relatively slow. In contrast, due to a number of economic forces, including globalization and automation, the supply of labor into the service sector of the informal economy is being fueled by the flow of labor out of manufacturing and construction (two industries that that have experienced employment declines since 2013). These supply and demand trends, in turn, are leading to the fall in the growth rate of wages in the informal service sector. We conclude by discussing the possible longer-term consequences of these emerging polarization trends based on an examination of recent experience with wage polarization occurring in both middle- and high-income countries, as well as its consequences. We also present policy recommendations for greater investment in education and human capital, as well as for the development of a more comprehensive set of social safety nets for different segments of China’s population.

Background: 
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is generally considered an effective way to promote breastfeeding. Although China has the largest number of baby-friendly hospitals in the world, research on baby-friendly practices in China is limited, and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) at 6 months, 20.7%, compared to the 2025 global goal of 50% is low. It is, therefore, important to determine the factors that remain significant barriers to EBF in China. To explore how the key baby-friendly practices affect EBF duration in China, we used a case-control study to compare the effects of baby-friendly-related practices on both EBF and non-breastfeeding (NBF) mothers at 3 months and to investigate the effects of both single and comprehensive baby-friendly practices in promoting EBF duration at 3 months, which is one step toward EBF at 6 months.

Methods: 
Participants were recruited from four maternal and child health hospitals in western (Chongqing), eastern (Qingdao), southern (Liuzhou), and central China (Maanshan). A total of 421 mothers (245 in the EBF group, 176 in the NBF group) of infants aged 3 months were surveyed through a self-reported questionnaire from April 2018 to March 2019. The experience of baby-friendly practices and breastfeeding during hospitalization were assessed with yes/no questions. Socio-demographic factors that influenced breastfeeding at 3 months were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results: 
Of mothers in the EBF group, 65.57% reported engaging in at least seven baby-friendly practices compared to 47.72% of mothers in the NBF group. Significantly more mothers in the EBF group engaged in baby-friendly practices than in the NBF group. These practices included “breastfeeding within one hour after birth” (74.29% vs. 59.09%), “breastfeeding on demand” (86.48% vs. 75.00%), and “never use a pacifier” (46.53% vs. 31.25%). After adjusting for confounding variables, we found that the mothers who engaged in fewer than seven baby-friendly practices were about 1.7 times less likely to breastfeed than were those who engaged in seven or more baby-friendly practices (odds ratio [OR] 1.720, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.106, 2.667). Further, the mothers who did not breastfeed on demand were as likely to not breastfeed up to 3 months (OR 2.263, 95% CI 1.265, 4.049), as were mothers who did not breastfeed during hospitalization (OR 4.379, 95% CI 1.815, 10.563).

Conclusions: 
These data from hospitals in China suggest that higher compliance with baby-friendly practices may have a positive impact on EBF at 3 months, particularly in terms of promoting the implementation of breastfeeding on demand and breastfeeding during hospitalization in China.

Purpose To describe changes in the prevalence of visual impairment and glasses ownership with age and as associated with income and population density for visual impairment among rural and urban migrant Chinese students.

Design Meta-analysis of 12 cross-sectional, school-based studies conducted between 2012 and 2017.

Setting Rural and urban migrant schools in seven Chinese provinces.

Participants A total of 83 273 rural and urban migrant Chinese students aged 6–17 years.

Results Prevalence of visual impairment (uncorrected visual acuity ≤6/12 in either eye) rose from 19.0% at age 6 to 66.9% at 17, with the overall age-adjusted prevalence higher for girls (35.8%) than for boys (30.1%, p<0.001). The rate of glasses ownership among students who needed them increased from 13.0% at age 6 to 63.9% (p<0.001) at 17 and was significantly higher for girls (37.0%) than boys (34.7%, p<0.001). The unmet need for glasses as a proportion of the student population peaked in junior high school (31.8%). A 1% increase in per capita gross domestic product was associated with a 4.45% rise in uncorrected visual acuity (R2=0.057, p=0.020). Population density was significantly associated with glasses ownership among children (R2=0.359, p=0.012). A 1% population density increase was associated with an increase in the glasses ownership rate of 6.83%.

Conclusion Efforts are needed to improve vision screening coverage in China’s schools, particularly junior high schools, as this is when many rural children leave school and glasses coverage is lowest.

Objective: To assess the effect of free eyeglasses provision on visual acuity among middle school students in northwestern rural China.

Methods and analysis: Among 31 middle schools randomly selected from 47 middle schools in northwestern rural China, students were randomly allocated by school to one of two interventions: free eyeglasses (intervention group), and eyeglasses prescriptions given only to the parents (control group). The main outcome of this study is uncorrected visual acuity after 9 months, adjusted for baseline visual acuity.

Results: Among 2095 students from 31 middle schools, 995 (47.5%) failed the visual acuity screening, 515 (51.8%, 15 schools) of which were randomly assigned to the intervention group, with the remaining 480 students (48.2%, 16 schools) assigned to the control group. Among these, a total of 910 students were followed up and analysed. Endline eyeglasses wear in the intervention group was 44%, and 36% in the control group. Endline visual acuity of students in the intervention group was significantly better than students in the control group, adjusting for other variables (0.045 LogMAR units, 95% CI 0.006 to 0.084, equivalent to 0.45 lines, p=0.027), and insignificantly better only for baseline visual acuity (difference of 0.008 LogMAR units, 95% CI −0.018 to 0.034, equivalent to 0.08 lines).

Conclusion: We found no evidence that receiving free eyeglasses worsened visual acuity among middle school students in northwestern rural China.