Ma Liang: How to correctly disclose the information of the college entrance examination

Wen Shu Ma Liang (Researcher of the National Academy of Development and Strategic Studies, Chinese Min University, professor of the School of Public Administration. ）

Every year, when the college entrance examination is released, it is the most heart-wrenching moment for candidates and parents, and it is also the opportunity that middle schools, colleges and universities and related enterprises pay the most attention to. The middle school hopes to use the good results of the candidates to publicize and promote, so that it can attract more high-quality students in the coming year and continue the brilliant results of the college entrance examination. Well-known institutions that are keen on "pinching the tip" have listened to the news of the college entrance examination, providing various commitments and opportunities, hoping to attract excellent students. At the same time, all kinds of training, coaching and consulting companies will not miss such a rare golden advertising opportunity to use the college entrance examination to hype and gain customers.

In order to control the educational disorder and social chaos brought about by the college entrance examination, the education department stipulates that all localities strictly manage the scores of the college entrance examination and the information of the candidates, and it is strictly forbidden to disclose the relevant information of the college entrance examination and make commercial use. However, in order to cope with the restrictions of the education department, secondary schools in various places also "have countermeasures under the policy" and adopt many alternative methods to "wipe the edge ball".

For example, some middle schools deliberately do not use the word "college entrance examination", but refer to it with words such as "the test is better", which is tantamount to "there is no silver three hundred and two here". For another example, some middle schools are rumored to have issued a grand notice that it is strictly forbidden to publicize and publish information on the college entrance examination, especially not to expose the college entrance examination in their own schools. Such an attempt to cover up is ironic, and it also exposes the embarrassment and challenges faced by the current college entrance examination publicity and release work.

It should be said that in terms of controlling the chaos of the propaganda and release of the college entrance examination, the good intentions of the education department are worthy of recognition, and the measures taken can also be described as "the strictest in history". However, in terms of the publicity and release of information related to the college entrance examination, in addition to chasing and blocking, do government departments have other ways to solve the problem? In terms of controlling the chaos of college entrance examination publicity and release, does the policy direction need to be completely adjusted?

The publicity and release of information related to the college entrance examination is essentially a matter of supply and demand for public education information. Government departments provide and publish information, and parents, students and related institutions obtain and "consume" information related to the college entrance examination. Solving the contradiction between supply and demand can not only suppress demand, but also expand supply. In the case of test-oriented education is still difficult to completely get rid of, the feasibility of demand suppression is minimal, and the prospect of supply expansion is very broad.

The college entrance examination is a lifelong examination that determines and changes the fate of a candidate and even his family, so people have poured a lot of effort into it, and naturally there will be a strong demand for relevant information. The reason why the "school selection style" is very popular, and the price of "school district housing" is rising, is that parents hope that their children can choose an ideal good school and win at the starting line of life. Therefore, instead of hiding or half-concealing educational information such as the college entrance examination, it is better to be completely open and transparent.

At present, the core problem of the publicity and release of the college entrance examination is the information asymmetry, that is, people need a lot of rich information, and the government departments have not effectively provided this information. Therefore, instead of hoping to suppress people's demand for information on the "demand side", it is better to solve the contradiction between supply and demand by expanding supply on the "supply side".

In order to promote the focus on performance in public services such as schools, improve service quality and enhance the satisfaction of service recipients, many developed countries have evaluated the performance of these institutions and regularly disclosed performance information. In this way, students will be guided to "vote with their feet" and move to schools with higher quality of service. At the same time, it will also strengthen the incentives, supervision and accountability of schools, so that schools can focus on improving the quality of services.

Taking New York City in the United States as an example, it has developed a complete performance management system for public schools, regularly conducts "physical examinations" of schools, and discloses various types of school-related performance information to the public for parents to refer to when choosing a school. This performance information is detailed, including performance information such as the average grades and test pass rates of students in each grade in each school, and the grades of students of different ethnic and family backgrounds. This performance information is published in categories and provides visualization services such as two-to-two comparisons, which can make it easier for parents to compare and choose the school of their choice, and supervise their children's schools.

A large number of studies from abroad have found that the public disclosure of various performance information of schools can guide parents and students to choose schools rationally, and also help to force schools to improve the quality of teaching. Of course, the disclosure of performance information may also bring certain side effects, and it is also a problem that needs to be vigilant. For example, low-income households pay little attention to information on school performance, which can exacerbate problems such as social inequities. However, in general, the general direction of public disclosure of school performance information is correct, which helps to improve the quality of teaching and strengthen social participation and supervision.

People's eagerness to take the college entrance examination is certainly related to the "aura" on their heads, but it is also related to the lack of other information. Every family knows that the college entrance examination is rare, and the chances of their children becoming college entrance examination winners are also very small. Therefore, parents are more concerned about the average level of a middle school than the unattainable college entrance examination. Therefore, instead of allowing all kinds of schools to selectively and unilaterally disclose the information on the college entrance examination and mislead parents and students, it is better to disclose all relevant information through the education department.

For example, under the premise of ensuring information desensitization and personal privacy protection, government departments can provide information services through the official website to disclose how many people in each middle school take the college entrance examination, what is the average score and median score of candidates, the number of people on the line of each grade, the results of different groups of candidates such as boys and girls, and so on. I believe that the release of this information can naturally make people shout "quench their thirst", and will also avoid the abuse and misleading of limited information caused by the scarcity of information.

Some people will say that the full disclosure of college entrance examination information is "lest the world is not chaotic", but "sunlight is the best antiseptic", and public education information will help solve the problems faced by the current college entrance examination publicity and release. The recently passed Data Security Law emphasizes the need to "promote the open use of government data", and government data openness is an important measure to promote the improvement of government governance.

Like the logic of any social governance, the release of educational information also needs to be "unblocked rather than blocked". More importantly, in the Internet era when information such as the college entrance examination can fly "like wings", it is tantamount to chasing and blocking relevant information, which is tantamount to asking for fish. When people can't access authoritative information through normal channels, gossip will fly all over the world, and rumors will bring new governance problems. Therefore, the education sector needs to consider how to adjust the current direction of the college entrance examination publicity and release work, change the policy of blocking, and highlight the policy of neglect, which may help solve the current problems and open up a new path for future education reform.

(The article represents the views of the author only.) Editor-in-charge email: [email protected]. ）