Does the U.S. Want what China Wants to Throw Away: The Role of
Testing in Two National Education Reform Plans In front of me
are two documents that could significantly affect the future of
the world. I am not exaggerating because these two documents are
plans to overhaul education in two of the most powerful nations
in the world: China and the United States. If the plans are
executed as intended and outcomes achieved as expected, the
future will see China moving closer to being a center of
innovation and the US? – a nation of test-takers, like China
today. China released the second draft of Guidelines for Mid and
Long-Range Education Reform and Development Plan (2010-2020) at
the end of February, 2010 to solicit public comments. A couple
of weeks later, the United States released A Blueprint for
Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, which also uses 2020 as the target year. While
both plans are a continuation of reform efforts that had been
undergoing for a while, they prop