The History, Culture and Development of Basic Education System in Shanghai
Xu Jinjie, PHD Shanghai PISA Center, Shanghai Academy of Education Sciences
Sino-Finnish seminar on education systems, Shanghai, 31May -2 June 2012
Shanghai Student enrollment: 16,963, 00 students (kindergarten, primary & secondary) 
Number of schools:2,773 (kindergarten, primary & secondary)1 
Student demographics: o

Migrant children make up 21.4% of the entire student population in Shanghai.2 General Shanghai Demographics – Ethnic breakdown o
98.8% Of Shanghai's residents are of the Han Chinese ethnicity3 o
1.2% of Shanghai’s residents belong to various minority groups4
Shanghai is the largest city in China, with a population of 20.7million, of whom 13.8 million are permanent residents, and 5.4 million are temporary. In addition, there are around 1.5 million who are mobile (without a Shanghai home; Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau, 2010).5 1. Historical Review of Shanghai’s Basic Education
The education system in Shanghai has experienced several stages of development: multiple models coexisted and strongly influenced by the Western model and concept of the late 1900s, the period of reconstruction and quantitative expansion after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and move towards modernization and implementation of the scientific approach to development, laying 1
http://www.shmec.gov.cn/web/xxgk/rows_list.php?node_code=30308 OECD report 96 3
http://jfdaily.eastday.com/j/20110503/u1a878723.html 4
Ibid. 5
OECD (2010). Strong Performers and Successful Reformers In Education: Lessons from PISA for The United States. 1 2
a solid foundation for the building of an international center of economy, finance, trading and shipping industry in the 21st century.  Multiple Models Coexisted and Strongly Influenced by the West: 1843 to 1949 Due to Treaty of Nanking signed on 29 August, 1842, Shanghai was forced to start trading with the outside world in 1843. During this period, many western missionaries came to Shanghai and set up educational institutions, Shanghai Xuhui Secondary School was their first trail. At the same time, some officials of the Qing dynasty launched the Western Modernization Movement with introduction of western learning to the east. Under such circumstance, new‐ style schools mushroomed in Shanghai, including 5 most influential public schools, 285 primary schools, 12 secondary schools, 6 normal schools, 11 short‐term teacher training colleges and etc.6 a multi‐dimensional educational structure began to take root in Shanghai from the early 20th century. After the Anti‐Japanese War (1937‐1945), Shanghai implemented a national education system which combined education for school‐age children and that for adults to facilitate further development. Till to the year 1949, the educational institutions at various levels directly financed or managed by missionary organizations and other agencies from the West had formed an independent system.  Reconstruction and Quantitative Expansion: 1950s to 1980s The founding of the P.R.C in 1949 opened a new era for educational development in Shanghai. The First Five‐Year Plan witnessed the establishment of many new schools in Shanghai. The new government adopted the education policy that mass education is for the ordinary people, thus popularizing education for the working people. Especially with the promotion of work‐and farm‐study programs, vocational education witnessed a strong boost. As a result, both primary schooling and secondary education have undergone a period of rapid development. By the year 1981, there were total 832,200 pupils in 3,359 primary schools and 499,300 students in 939 secondary schools. 7 In compliance with the law of Compulsory Education enacted in 1985 which required every child to complete nine years of formal schooling‐ six years of primary school and three years of junior secondary school, Shanghai was among the first cities in China to achieve universal primary and secondary education. In 1980, Shanghai started pioneering new types of vocational 6
7
Shen XiaoMing(2007). Shanghai Education. Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd.pp.8. Shen XiaoMing(2007). Shanghai Education. Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd.pp.6. 2 schools, shifting from the strict manpower planning which had been an integral part of the planned economy been to market‐oriented economy system.  Innovation and Challenges: 1990s to the Present Since the 1990s, shifting from the focus on quantity to quality, Shanghai has promoted the strategy of equity development in compulsory education, pursuing for unifying equity with development, balancing quality and efficiency, emphasizing physical conditions and soft power and combining independent development with shared resources. In recent years, facing new requirements for city development and new expectations that people place on education, Shanghai’s basic education is going toward new stage of development with emphasis on both excellent quality and equity. Challenges can be reflected as three aspects: first, disparity in quality between urban and suburban; second, disparity in educational conditions for native Shanghai students and recent migrant students introduced by large number of migrant labors surging into Shanghai; third, variance between schools caused by historical traditions and professional quality of principals and teachers with different levels and features. st
 The 21 Century: Transforming learning for new knowledge and skills If the highlight of the 1980s and 1990s was expansion of basic education to the entire population, then the current emphasis is how to teach students new knowledge and skills of the 21st century. Under such large context of social transition, great contradiction emerges between the highly demand for talented people with all‐round quality and use of traditional examination as assessment method. Confronting such transformation, three issues should be taken into account as follows:  Assessment for Student. China’s society has a long tradition of valuing examination highly. Assessment method based on sorting students’ scores in sequence after taking traditional paper‐based examination can’t meet diverse demands for talented people in modern society. Therefore, we should build concept of overall quality education, explore multi‐evaluation of student and encourage enhancement of overall quality.  Assessment for Teacher. Complying with the policy of teacher’s salary based on their performance adopted by the government, how to conduct scientific and effective assessment of teacher, motivating their initiative and promoting their professional quality, all those issues merit our consideration. 3  Assessment for School. Each school has its own basic conditions for operation and each student represents different characters of different groups. So how to create variety of opportunities and conditions to meet the needs and aspirations for students’ personal development is great challenge which confronts the school. And how to evaluate work performance of school is also the issue we really concern about. 2. Cultural Heritage and Factors Contributing to Shanghai’ Education
In PISA 2009, Students in Shanghai outperformed their international peers in three test fields, reading, mathematics and science. This result makes Shanghai become a hot destination of scholars, officials and education researchers all over the world. It is essential to understand the cultural context in which Shanghai can achieve such good performance.  High Parental Expectations for Education
Shanghai is among the most internationalized cities of mainland China, but cultural traditions about education still prevail. Popular support for education means the city has had little difficulty in launching universal education. Like any other city in China, parents in Shanghai spare no effort to their children’s education. “to be a scholar is to be at the top of the society”, is one of the popular sayings that express such high expectation.  Diligence Can Compensate for Stupidity Chinese students are known to be hard working, believing that diligence can make up for any defects in intelligence. Hard work can change people’s fate and improve quality of life. When persuading their students to study hard, Chinese parents and teachers often quote Edison’s words “Genius is attributed to one percent inspiration and ninety‐nine percents perspiration.” Furthermore, Chinese also believe that individual difference can be overcome or narrowed through effort while education is the pathway to make it happen. Therefore, in people’s mind education serves as a social mobility pathway through which members of society regardless of their social backgrounds can change their social class, occupational status to achieve their aspirations.  Struggle with Undue Examination Pressure China has a long tradition of valuing education highly. This began with the Civil Examination system, established in 603 AD, which was also exported to Japan and Korea later in the 7th century. It was a very competitive yet efficient system for 4 selecting officials, and was known for its rigor and fairness. These examinations evolved over many dynasties before their abolition in 1905. Success in examination can be considered as the only respectable success. So the importance attached to examination results also underpins the prevailing mentality among teachers, students and parents, in which the direct relevance of the curriculum is less important than achieving high scores. Indeed schools and education institutions are ranked in parents’ minds. By the same token, parents would like to see their children ranked highest in their classes, and anything less than 100% is perceived as undesirable. 3. Structure and Management of Basic Education in Shanghai
Shanghai is the first city in China to have carried out the nine‐year compulsory education system and made it universal. In accordance with the national policy on education, quality service and promotion of students’ all round development in morality, intelligence and physical constitution are the priorities of basic education in Shanghai. In Shanghai, basic education follows a “5‐4‐3” format‐ five years for primary schooling, four years for secondary schooling and three years for senior high schooling. There are also schools which carry out nine‐year continuous schooling in line with regulations on compulsory education. Fig. 3.1 Shanghai’s Education System 5 Government is favorably oriented toward private schools, both primary and secondary, with policies emphasizing “adequate encouragement, strong support, proper guidance, and reinforced management.”Shanghai now has 148 private primary (19) or secondary (129) schools, accounting for 10.2% of all institutions of basic education in Shanghai. 8 At present, the management of basic education in Shanghai is carried out through a system called “Two‐tier Government, Two‐tier Management.” Under such framework, Shanghai Municipal government and education commission is responsible for policy making, supervision, monitoring and evaluating of schools’ performance. While local governments at the district/county level are responsible for the implementation of school reform and development under their jurisdiction. The expenditure on basic education is mainly from the districts/counties under the municipal government. However, districts/counties with a fiscal deficit are granted financial support through transfer payments. Apart from district/county governments, some township governments also share the responsibility of managing and funding kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools under their jurisdiction. During the Tenth Five‐Year‐Plan period, Shanghai tries to establish closer ties among educational institutions, government, and society by means of transforming government functions, streamlining administration, delegating power, and improving service packages.  Decentralizing at Districts/Counties Level. Shanghai Education Commission has further delegated power to its counterparts at the district/county level in the following aspects:  The approval of establishment, annulment, and modification of private secondary vocational schools, primary and secondary schools, and kindergartens;  The formulation and implementation of continuing education for teachers from junior high schools, primary schools, and kindergartens;  The appraisal of professional titles for teachers in kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools;  The enrolment, registration, and daily instruction of regular high schools, professional high schools, senior and junior high schools for adults;  The management and administration of the non‐degree education programs operated by private organizations;  The annual inspection and appraisal of experimental or model senior high schools under different administrative bodies are carried out at the district/county levels according to the requirement set by the municipal education commission. 8
Shen XiaoMing(2007). Shanghai Education. Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd.pp.18. 6  Closer Ties between Education and Community. Community Education Committees (CECs) are organized to better serve the children of school age. The establishment of CECs promotes community awareness of the interaction among community education, economic development, and social progress, optimizes the educational environment, integrates moral education and citizenship education into society. 4. Ongoing Curriculum Reforms in Shanghai
According to PISA 2009, in Shanghai students’ learning styles have changed, with more use of the skills of generalizing, comprehension and memory, self‐regulation, memory and elaboration, instead of simply learning by rote. Compared by OECD countries, the indexes of reading for pleasure, reading for enjoyment and reading diversity, all are higher than OECD average. We can conclude from the data that students in Shanghai have significantly improved their ability to apply knowledge to everyday life and teachers are equipped to use a variety of classroom teaching methods. Such achievement can be attributed to Shanghai’s continuous curriculum reform. Curriculum reform in Shanghai follows the general framework of national reform. But Shanghai is often given the privilege of experimenting with reforms before they are endorsed for other parts of the nation. Since 1989, Shanghai has launched two waves of curriculum reform. Their essence has been to overcome “examination orientation” practices in schools in order to build quality education (Ding, 2010). In the late 1980s, in order to meet the demands for cultivation of talents with inter‐disciplinary knowledge and skills, China has conducted large‐scale curriculum reform. The State Education Commission began to implement the “One Guide‐Multiple Textbooks” policy to offer more choice of primary and secondary school textbooks. Shanghai is a pioneer in education reform, while curriculum reform is the key. In May 1988, Shanghai established the “Curriculum and Teaching Material Reform Commission for Primary and Secondary Schools”, which is responsible for the city’s comprehensive reform on curriculum and teaching materials. The First Phase of Curriculum Reform (1988–1998), with an attempt to allow students to select courses of personal interest. A curriculum comprises three blocks: compulsory courses, elective courses and extracurricular activities. Accordingly, diversity of textbooks and teaching materials were implemented and phased in. in the year 1998, Shanghai has stepped into the second phase of curriculum reform, with the purpose of transforming students from passive receivers of knowledge to 7 active participants in learning, so as to improve their capacity for creativity, self‐development and to fully achieve their potential. The new curriculum has three components: the basic curriculum, to be experienced by all students, mainly implemented through compulsory courses; the enriched curriculum, which aims to develop students’ potential and is realized mainly through elective courses, and inquiry‐based curriculum, which is mainly implemented through extra‐curricular activities. the inquiry‐based curriculum component in Shanghai‐China asks students, with support and guidance from teachers, to identify research topics based on their experiences, seeking to develop the capacity of students to learn to learn, think creatively and critically, participate in social life, and promote social welfare. In fact, one very significant change implemented in Shanghai‐China through the slogan “return class time to students” was the increase in student activities in classes relative to teachers’ lecturing. Table 4.1
Characteristics of the Second Phase of Curriculum Reform in Shanghai
Objective
Curriculum Objective
To emphasize “innovation” and “practical ability”
To establish modern curriculum system that adapts and contributes
to the development of each student.
1. Compulsory curriculum,
Three Main Categories
2. Elective curriculum,
3. Extra-curricular,
1. Basic knowledge,
2. Basic skills,
Four Basics
3. Basic ability,
4. Basic attitude.
1. Experience of moral formation and personal development,
2. Experience of potential development and cognitive development,
Five Kinds of learning
Experience
3. Sports and fitness experience,
4. Artistic culture and development experience,
5. Experience of social practice.
1. Language and literature,
Eight Learning Fields
2. Mathematics,
8 3. Natural science,
4. Social sciences,
5. Technology,
6. Arts,
7. Physical education,
8. Practicum.
Overall, the second phase of curriculum reform has had a significant impact on primary and secondary schools in Shanghai. First, the concept of focusing on “students’ development” has been strengthened. Second, classroom teaching activities had become more varied, with improved awareness and teaching capacity. Third, students’ academic quality, innovative spirit and practical skills saw overall improvement. Fourth, a mechanism of sustainable development and protection of various types of expert teams has been formed. Fifth, the guidance of the research team has been significantly enhanced (Curricular Review Committee of Primary and Secondary Schools [Nursery Schools] in Shanghai, 2011). Fig. 4.2 The Strategy of Curriculum Reform for Basic Education in Shanghai 5. Teaching System and Teaching Reform in Shanghai
Unlike other countries, China has its own unique teaching and research system not only to ensure smooth implementation of curriculum reform as a mean of administrative control but also to support teachers’ professional development.  Teaching and Study System China has long developed a rather rigorous framework and system of teaching. Such system can be divided into three levels: at school level, “teaching‐ study groups” 9 engage in study and improvement of teaching on a daily basis; at district/county level, “teaching‐study office” in the Education Bureau with responsibility of supervision of each subject area; at municipal level, “teaching‐study office” in the Education Commission in turn supervises the work of its counterparts at district/county level. Professionally, all these “teaching‐study” setups operate under the Basic Education Department II within the central government’s Ministry of Education. In order to facilitate the sharing of good practices of teaching and curriculum design, a web‐based teaching and study platform was constructed in Shanghai and put into use in 2008. Included on the website are plenty of resources for curriculum development and learning and research papers on teaching. During actual teaching, teachers may observe each other or may be observed by peers (in the case of a new teaching topic because of curriculum change, for example), by new teachers (so they can learn from more experienced teachers), by senior teachers (for mentoring), or by the school principal (for monitoring or for constructive development purposes). Sometimes, teachers are expected to teach demonstration lessons (called public lessons) for a large number of other teachers to observe and comment upon.9  Teaching Reform. After the resumption of the National College Entrance Examination in 1977, Shanghai encouraged bottom‐up educational reform. The “Experimental Reform of Mathematics Teaching in Qingpu County” was one of the most influential tests of reform education. In 1980, Gu Lingyuan organized and led a mathematics teaching experiment in Qingpu County in order to improve the quality of mathematics teaching in secondary schools. Through an investigation of teaching, experience screening, experimental research, promotion and application, Gu’s team summarized four kinds of basic teaching experience to help students study effectively; the first being to stimulate students’ interest in learning by providing strong motivation; the second to re‐organize teaching content and sequence; the third to improve teaching methodology by supplementing test activities in teaching; and the fourth to strengthen feedback to adjust instruction as needed. These measures are referred to as a “trail and adjustment by feedback” approach. With the 9
OECD (2010). Strong Performers and Successful Reformers In Education: Lessons from PISA for The United States. 10 success of the reform in mathematics, experimental reforms of other primary and secondary school subjects were trialed in Qingpu. The quality of education scaled up in the mid‐1980s, reaching the middle and upper level of urban schools in Shanghai. The Shanghai Bureau of Education (the present Municipal Education Commission) and the State Education Commission promoted the success in Qingpu across the country between 1986 and 1992. In 1996, the experimental reforms in Qingpu were shared with an international mathematics education conference (Li, 2010, p. 136). In the 1980s, schools in Shanghai carried out diversified overall experimental reforms in education with their own characteristics and features. In 1985, Jianqing Experimental School in Changning District launched a new school system of “2‐5‐4” comprising of a two‐year nursery, five‐year primary and four‐year secondary education, while Liaoyang Secondary School and the primary school attached to it carried out a comprehensive experiment of a nine‐year compulsory education, with five years of primary and four years of secondary school. In 1987, Liu Jinghai carried out a “successful education” reform in No. 8 Secondary School of Zabei District, which started from a study of “students with learning difficulties,” finding that the essence of “failure is the mother of success.” After several attempts, Liu formed a successful education concept, defined as the “three believes:” that every child has the desire for success, that every child has the potential to succeed and that every child can succeed in many aspects (Li, 2010, p. 138). In the 1990s, Shanghai Experimental School adhered to the study of overall education reforms, proposing the experimental objective of “developing students’ intellectual potential, developing their individual strengths, guiding each student to gradually complete the growth process of self‐discovery, self‐learning, conscious performance in the 10‐year learning process and realizing the domination of hidden potential.” The school continuously adjusted and improved the experimental plan according to results at each stage.10 6. Teachers and Teacher Education
Shanghai Municipal Government attach great importance to the cultivation of school administrative and teaching staff. The overall teaching quality of primary and secondary schools and kindergartens has been greatly improved. The percentage of teachers with a bechelor’s degree (or above) in kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools has been increasing rapidly. There are 584 senior teachers in Shnahgai now; over 200 of them are in service. There are also 82 senior principals, 10
ZHANG Minxuan, KONG Lingshuai(2012). An Exploration of Reasons for Shanghai’s Success in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009[J]. Front. Educ. China 2012, 7(1) 11 with 72% of them belonging to the urban areas, 18% suburban, and 10% rurual. At present, 73% of senior principlas are in office. 11  Teacher Qualification System. This system, officially commenced on october, 1, 2001 in Shanghai, set a basic requirement and precondition for people, who intend to embark on a teaching career. The classificaiton and requirments for Teacher Qualification Certificate in pre schools, primary schools, general high schools and vocational secondary schools stipulates that: ⑴ all teachers in kindergartens or primary schools hold an education of or higher than the preschool teacher training schools or the teacher training schools; ⑵ teachers in junior high schools hold an education of or higher than teacher training college or other colleges for professional training; ⑶ teachers in senior high schools or vocational secondary schols hold an education of or higher than a regular university or other universities; ⑷ the fieldwork supervisors in vocational secondary schools hold an education of or higher than vocational secondary schools.  Training Programmes. To accelerate the professional development of teachers in basic education, training programmes for teachers, headmasters, and principlas were carried out. ⑴ Training Programme for Teachers. Shanghai was the first district in China to require CPD (continuous professional development) for teachers. Every teacher with medium‐level professional post is expected to engae in 240 hours of professional training within five years. And each teacher with senior professional post is expected to engage in 540 hours of professioanl trainging within five years. Among those training programmes, school‐based trainging accounts for 50% above. ⑵ Training Programme for Outstanding Teachers and Principals. In 2004. Shanghai Conference on Educational Affairs proposed a project for the cultivation of outstanding principlas and teachers. Launched in 2005, the ultimate goal of the project was to produce distinguished and influential principals and teachers and propel Shanghai toward an education highland. The specific objective of the project, firstly to select 200 highly enterprising principals with strong management skills and great development potentials. Over the next five years, the number will increase to 1000, out of whom 100 will become model principals and participate in international exchanges and cooperation. Finally , ten candidates should be selected from the model principals to be cultivated to enjoy a nationwide reputaiont. The second task is to selecet 1000 key teachers from various subjects as trainees. It is expected that after five years, the number will increase to 5000, with 500 of this number receiveing 11
Shen XiaoMing(2007). Shanghai Education. Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd.pp.26. 12 special attention as municipal key teachers an research leaders or master teaches. From these teachers, 100 candidates will be further cultivated into internationally renowned scholars and eduational experts who are familiar with frontier theories on education, strong and self‐driven in classroom instruction, reform and related research projects, and active in international educational exchanges. 7. In-Service Teacher Training in Shanghai
In Shanghai, teacher's professional development is defined as a process continuing throughout the work career and everyday work. China has a well established system of on‐the‐job training for teachers, a unique teaching and research group as mentioned above, classroom group discussions and collective preparation of instruction system to carry out professional seminars, improve and advocate regular and systematic teachers’ experience sharing. However, in the U.S. and Europe, teaching is more about teacher’s personal behavior. Shanghai also attaches great importance to on‐the‐job teacher training and professional development in primary and secondary schools. There are five main forms of training. Teaching and Research Group (TRG) and Classroom Group (CG) are distinctive organizational forms which have existed in primary and secondary schools for a long time. TRG takes discipline as the basic unit. Teachers of the same subject carrying out teaching and research activities are able to improve their teaching and teaching capabilities, and ultimately improve teaching quality. CG is a collection based on the students in the same grade and teacher, or teacher in charge of a class in the same grade. It is on the basic unit of the class to facilitate cooperation between teachers of various disciplines, strengthen the horizontal linkages among teachers, coordinate work content among teachers, co‐manage students in the grade, and evaluate teachers’ completion of tasks (Zhou, 2005). Lesson planning (LP) is not only a task but also an important way to promote the professional development of teachers. TRG and CG play a role in LP capability and classroom teaching skills of teachers, and thus can contribute to the sustainable development of teachers’ professional standards. According to research from Chinese scholars such as Ding Gang’s team (2010), TRG plays a major role in the collective preparation of instruction, which 74% of the teachers sometimes or often used. CG ranks second place, with 62% of teachers sometimes or often using it (see Fig. 1.7).12 12
ZHANG Minxuan, KONG Lingshuai(2012). An Exploration of Reasons for Shanghai’s Success in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 [J]. Front. Educ. China 2012, 7(1) 13 Fig.7.1 The Use Ratio of Teacher’s LP Form (%) 100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1.7
4.9
11.2
6.0
13.0
31.5
20.1
25.1
43.0
82.2
32.4
53.9
occasionally
32.7
sometimes
29.6
31
29.6
never
25.8
always
12.5
4.1
collective LP under the LP under the
LP by CG
guidance of guidance of
teachers
experts
10
LP by
oneself
Collective
LP by TRG
8. Education for Migrant Children
Shanghai is one of the principal recipients of migrant workers because of its active industrial and commercial economies. Statistics in 2006 indicated that 80% of migrant children were of school age, and those who studied in Shanghai schools were 21.4% of the entire student population at the basic education level (Ding, 2010). Large number of migrant labors has contributed immensely to Shanghai’s economic growth and social development. “Education of migrant children is mainly the responsibility of the recipient city”, and “Migrant children should be educated mainly in public schools”. These policies became necessary at a time when recipient cities did not want to spend local taxpayers’ money on migrant children and when parents in public schools did not want to their own children to be mixed with migrant children. The national policy is interpreted differently in different cities.To ensure migrant children obtain the right of receiving free compulsory education is major item on government’s working agenda in recent years. In 2008, Shanghai municipal government launched 3‐year compulsory education initiative for migrant children. Up to 2011, more than 500,000 migrant children have received free compulsory education in public schools and private primary schools commissioned by municipal government. Among them, 74% in public schools and 26% in private primary schools run by other social groups in accordance with basic conditions as required ( government offers them basic cost as subsidies) . 9. Strengthening Weak Schools
14 According to PISA2009, variance between schools in Shanghai is 38%, near to OECD average (39%). Shanghai has adopted serveral strategies to reduce such variance,with most influential ones as follows:  Financial Transfer Payment, which aims to mobilize public funding with positive discrimination. Statistics showed that per‐student expenditure in rural areas was only 50% to 60% of that in the city. Rural schools also had far lower capital spending than downtown schools on average (Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, 2004). The strategy was then to set a minimum standard for per‐student public expenditure at different levels, and to transfer public funds to the deprived areas. Between 2004 and 2008, over USD 500 million was transferred to rural schools to help them build new facilities and laboratories, update older ones, purchase books and audiovisual materials, and increase teacher salaries.  Transfer teachers from urban to rural areas and vice versa. It was often difficult for rural schools to recruit teachers, and they also suffered from high teacher turnover. For example, it was reported that in Qingpu District, a rural area, 160 experienced teachers in relatively poor junior secondary schools resigned between 1997 and 2002.25 To reverse the situation, the government transferred a considerable number of teachers from urban public schools to rural schools, along with some outstanding urban principals (Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, 2008). Meanwhile, young and middle‐aged principals and teachers from rural schools were transferred to urban schools. They are expected to return to the rural schools to enrich them with their new urban experiences.  Pair off Urban Districts with Rural Districts. In 2005, the educational authorities of nine urban districts signed three‐year agreements with educational authorities of nine rural districts. The authorities exchange and discuss their educational development plans and join hands to deal with problems such as teachers’ capacity building. Teachers’ Professional Development Institutes affiliated to both authorities share their curricula, teaching materials and good practices. Moreover, some 91 schools paired up as sister schools, and a substantial number of teachers undertook exchange programmes among the sister schools (Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, 2009). The first round of the three‐year “pairing off” programme ended in 2008, and the second round is under way.  Commissioned Administration. A kind of school custody programme in which the government commissions “good” public schools to take over the administration of “weak” ones. Under this scheme, the “good” public school appoints its 15 experienced leader (such as the deputy principal) to be the principal of the “weak” school and sends a team of experienced teachers to lead in teaching. It is believed that the ethos, management style and teaching methods of the good schools can in this way be transferred to the poorer school.
10. Innovations on the Policy for Enrolment
As for enrolment reform, Shanghai had been moving toward a system in which both a students’ academic performance and his/her system comprehensive quality are considered in the process of enrollment. There conducted two main reforms on enrollment to eliminate inequality that caused by “ school choice”.  Neighbourhood Attendeance. In 1994, Shanghai was the first jurisdiction in China to introduce neighbourhood attendance at primary and junior secondary levels, requiring students to attend their local schools and in effect eliminating the notion of key schools at these levels. There posed a challege to society and led to some worries among parents, who were bewilderede that their children could not compere for admission to the better schools. Forced by great social pressure, there reached a compreomise: students could choose schools in other neighbourhoods by paying a sponsorship fee.  A Quota Allocation System. In order to reduce excessvive competition for key high schools and to promote a equitable distribution of educational resources, Shanghai has experimented with a new admissoin policy for senior high schools: a quota allocation system, making a pro‐rata distribution of 10% of experimental model high and modern boarding high school to secondary schools in the area. Under such system part of the quota of high‐quality senior high schools are allocated to these junior high schools according to the number of junior high school students in the area. In other words, in the past students with the best performance in originally comparatively poor secondary schools were unable to be admitted to high‐quality senior high schools, so parents selected other secondary schools. After its implementation, regardless of the strength of the school, it had an equal quota of places in high‐quality senior schools. Conclusions: Equality and Equity as the Main Goals
Promotion of excellent quality and equity in basic education has become a major issue on government’s education agenda in Shanghai. At present, Shanghai is pushing the unification of standards for school expenditure, teacher’s salary, school allocation of resource and equipment of teaching staff. Meanwhile, starting with working mechanism and administrative institutions, Shanghai municipal government 16 has been keen to gradual elimination of the large gap between the rural and urban as well as great disparity between regions and schools. In order to promote equality education and equity development, further attention should be paid to equality in the process of education as basis of achieving equality at the starting line. We should not only ensure everyone can obtain right for education but also maintain the quality and the level of school running improved simultaneously. Only in this way, can we ensure equality in the process of education. Today in pursuit for equity development, measuring different schools with different rules and standards is a new level which we attempt to reach. We don’t think equity means all the schools should reach the same curriculum standard at the same level. In some way, disparity in education exists forever. In terms of equity development, starting with research on student, paying more attention to personal growth of internal world and lifelong development influenced by basic education are what we pursuit for. That is also the direction which we strive for to achieve equity development of Shanghai’s education. In sum, the most important specific features of the Shanghai educational system are:
 highly selective education system: academic and vocational tracks coexist
 high parental academic demands and expectations for education
equity in learning opportunities, independent of family background
 more centrally and professional organized teaching system  qualified teachers with professional knowledge and research methodology  teachers profession highly valued  open and innovative education system References:
Ding, G. (Ed.). (2010). Investigation and policy analysis of professional development of primary and secondary school teachers in China [R]. Shanghai, China: East China Normal University Press. Jiang, H. B. (2010, April). [60% of admission quota of high‐quality high schools in Shanghai will be equitably distributed]. Retrieved May 10, 2010, from http://edu.people.com.cn/ GB/11305888.htm OECD (2007). PISA 2006 Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World. Volume 1 – Analysis. Paris :OECD. OECD (2008). Education at a Glance. OECD indicators 2008. Paris: OECD. OECD (2010). Strong Performers and Successful Reformers In Education: Lessons from PISA for The United States Shanghai Municipal Government (2010), Shanghai Yearbook 2009, Shanghai Municipal Government, Shanghai. 17 Shanghai Municipal Statistics Bureau (2010), Shanghai Statistical Yearbook 2010, China Statistics Press, Shanghai. Shen XiaoMing (2007). Shanghai Education. Shanghai Century Publishing Co., Ltd. ZHANG Minxuan, KONG Lingshuai(2012). An Exploration of Reasons for Shanghai’s Success in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009[J]. Front. Educ. China 2012, 7(1). http://www.shmec.gov.cn/web/xxgk/rows_list.php?node_code=30308 http://jfdaily.eastday.com/j/20110503/u1a878723.html 18