The Effects of Low Socioeconomic Status on Chinese Students' National College Entrance Exam and College Enrollment

Dongfang Lui

Southwest University

Dr. Lui currently serves as an assistant professor of educational leadership at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. A former principal at the high school level where he implemented several workshops for social learning community and developed national-wide training for the supervision of certified staff. He has worked with large urban districts on building internal leadership capacity and minority leader recruitment through the Education Bureau of Chongqing for Leadership project. Mr. Liu has conducted research on educational policy implementation, standards-based assessment, school finance, international education, and low SES students’ school success.

Heng-Yu Ku

University of Northern Colorado

Dr. Heng-Yu Ku is a Professor in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Northern Colorado. He taught courses in Instructional Design, Distance Education, and Educational Research courses. His research interests include technology integration, computer-based instruction, distance education, and cross-cultural studies. Dr. Ku is a productive scholar who has published many peer-reviewed articles and delivered numerous presentations at national and international conferences.

Lee Morgan

University of Northern Colorado

Dr. T. Lee Morgan is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Northern Colorado. Previously, he was the manager of the office of Social Emotional Learning at Denver Public Schools where he led a team of central office leaders in consulting with school teams to develop and implement the tools, resources, and relationships necessary to employ a whole child approach to education. Dr. Morgan has experience as a teacher, ans school leader in private, charter and public schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels across the United States. He also has experience serving students and family from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Dr. Morgan is an educator that is passionate about integrating the curriculum in meaningful ways to support the whole child. He earned his B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, his M.Min. from Cincinnati Christian University, and his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Denver. Professor Morgan specializes in social emotional learning, social justice leadership, culturally responsive pedagogy, and school improvement.

Abstract

Although every developing region in the world has reduced its poverty rate, China has brought about the greatest reduction of extreme poverty, going from 84% in 1981 to 12% in 2010. The nation has realized a reduction in the level of poverty, however, it has not mitigated the impact of poverty on student opportunity. In order to offer effective support for low-SES students, it is imperative to acquire a contemporary and comprehensive understanding of challenges facing low-SES students in Chinese education.

The National College Entrance Exam (NCEE) is designed as a summative evaluation of high school performance and is the only factor Chinese universities utilize for admissions. It is predicted that China’s slowing economic growth will increase competition among college graduates applying for high-end employment. Consequently, the value of the NCEE for low-SES students is critical in China, as realizing higher scores are the factor that increases the likelihood of social-mobility.

The educational disadvantage that low-SES student must overcome the effects of social mobility further widens the wealth gap in Chinese society. While there is wide acceptance of this phenomenon, there is insufficient research to address the specific issues pertaining to Chinese low-SES students’ performance on the National College Entrance Exam and their college enrollment. The purpose of this study is to document the challenges faced by students from low-SES homes that impact educational outcomes so that policies, practices, and further research might be introduced that mitigate these disadvantages. The central research question that guided this study is: What factors impact students from low-SES homes performance on the National College Entrance Exam and college enrollment?

This study takes the ‘contextual effects’ theory – where educational processes and academic achievement are connected to socioeconomic background, as its theoretical framework. We selected representative cases, governed by purposeful maximal sampling, for inclusion in the study. A total of 132 students from low-SES home were interviewed.

The findings revealed that school climate (general school quality, student-teacher interactions, and peer-pressure), and home environment (parental support, student-parent relationship, and family size) negatively impacted educational achievement for Chinese students from low-SES home. Participants reported that school climate and home environment negatively impacted their education process, NCEE score, and college enrollment. Based on the findings, we propose the low-SES Educational Achievement Model to illustrate the phenomenon of environmental conditions that may influence the low-SES NCEE scores and ultimately result in low college enrollment rates in China.

Authors

Dongfang Lui (Southwest University)
Heng-Yu Ku (University of Northern Colorado)
Lee Morgan (University of Northern Colorado)

Topic Area

Completed Research

Session

S7B » Theatre Presentation (09:00 - Sunday, 8th July, Lancaster 2)

Presentation Files

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