Oh my goodness,
MachineGhost - that's... wow. I had no idea there were bear rescue facilities in Chengdu, but there obviously are. Thank you for posting that, and thank you for donating.
There are some fantastic folks on this forum, there really are.
Dualstow, believe it or not, I *have* seen that movie. I saw it back in 2011, so it's been a while, but yes, I saw it. As for whether bribes are now needed in addition to great gao kao scores... I'm sure your wife knows far more about China and those sorts of things than I do. I will say that the ability of wealthy Chinese families to be able to easily send their college-bound students who don't do well enough on the gao kao (or even those who do, if they wish) to colleges in the United States takes a lot of pressure off the Chinese government, I should think, in this area.
WiseOne, yes, I think so. My 16 year old son actually has been attending a school for a while that is based on the British educational system. It's completely different than the US system. Basically, in the British system, they teach all students all subjects until the end of what we in the States would call 10th grade. By the end of (the equivalent of) 10th grade, British students have had roughly of all English, math, science, history, etc. as a typical student would would have if he or she had completed all 12 grades in the US (without having taken AP classes, theoretically, although right now my son has learned far more than the equivalent of 12th graders in the US in several subjects). Anyway, then at the end of that equivalent of 10th grade, students take huge, long tests in every single subject. And we're not talking multiple choice tests or scantron tests, oh heck no. We're talking essay tests - big, long, HUGE essay tests that each go on for pages and pages and pages - multiple tests in every single academic subject. The testing goes on for something like six weeks at the end of (the equivalent of) 10th grade.
When the dust clears and the test results are back, the students then face the next academic year (our equivalent of 11th grade). What happens then is that the four academic subjects that they scored the best in (this is a rough idea of the way it works - I'm trying to simplify a bit) are the four subjects they then take in 11th grade. The subjects are taught at the college level... very in depth. So, basically, students who are not strong in math will wave goodbye to math after our equivalent of 10th grade. Those students who are incredibly strong in math will continue on into our equivalent of 11th grade. There is more subject weeding out at the end of 11th grade; only a student's THREE strongest subjects are then taught to them in our equivalent of 12th grade. Thus, if you compare British 11th graders and American 11th graders, well, almost all Americans are still taking math of some type in 11th grade, whereas at that same time a large amount of British students have funneled out of math, and only those who are quite strong in math are still taking it. I hope this makes sense. This is why you absolutely cannot compare math capabilities of British students with those of American students in the later grades with any kind of fairness.
On one hand, the British educational system is FAR superior to the American system. My son's education blows my mind. I am very math-y and science-y, and I envy him the ability to learn with this curriculum. The American high school educational system is just... broken...especially in math and science, I think. That said, one aspect of the British system is... rather sobering. That is the idea that, once you leave a subject behind, it is my understanding that this very much impacts your choices from then on out. In America, we pretty much teach everyone everything until, what? The end of your freshman or sophomore years in college, roughly? And only then are you expected to begin really focusing on what you want to pursue? In Britain, if you want to pursue math or science (or any subject, actually), you had best do well in them on your 10th grade tests or you will be leaving them behind, maybe forever. It narrows your choices later on, and at such a young age.
For example, if you want to be a doctor, you must score well on your math and science tests so you can continue on in math and science at the end of your 10th grade year. Then you have to do so again the end of your 11th grade year. Then, in your 12th grade year, you apply to medical school, which literally starts at the beginning of your first year of college (the same year in the US that would be your freshman year). So different! And the path began narrowing when the student was just 16 years old. So that is what I consider to be a possible downside to the British high school educational system. I like how the American system really keeps your options open for far longer.
Ad Orientem, that's hilarious. I can't even tell you what a horrible job I would do! Believe it or not, I suck at things like sightseeing or what hotel to stay in or what restaurant to eat at, lol. But thank you and
TennPaGa for the very kind words.