With Shaanxi province as an example, this study presents empirical evidence on the effect of primary school consolidation in rural areas on student achievement, using the difference-in-differences method. The results show no significant differences in student achievement between consolidated schools and nonconsolidated schools. If student…

Two waves of reform have been conducted in China since the 1980s to transform its early childhood curriculum into a Western-style, progressive model. Western curricula and programs such as the Montessori method, the project approach, the Reggio Emilia method, and the high/scope method have been imported and adopted all over the country. But the…

This study analyzes the structural reform of local governments funding for early childhood education (ECE) as the general public still casts doubts about the fairness of ECE system in China. A particular case in point is the Shenzhen Municipal Government's reform on their ECE funding system. Because the reform efforts are more about restructuring…

In today's steadily progressing economic transformation, and against the background of setting up a harmonious society and striving for a balanced educational development, a reform of the financing system for China's early childhood education is inevitable. However, this reform must be conducted within the framework of social and educational…

The systemic reform of early childhood education (ECE) in Shenzhen has given rise to widespread debate as it has, in fact, changed ECE's rights and power relationships. It has created an impact in terms of ECE's public nature and, in a way, affected the integrity of China's education system. Although this reform possesses positive significance,…

Since the early 1990s, the central government of China has been gradually privatizing early childhood education. As the main precursor of this large-scale reform in the country, Shenzhen has witnessed several innovative as well as radical changes. The existing public early childhood settings in the city were therefore forced to transform into…

This article is an open letter of a group of early childhood education (ECE) practitioners to Premier Wen Jiabao. This open letter was written with one goal in mind: to ask Premier Wen's government to take measures to protect young children and support early childhood education. These practitioners have become worried about the many accidents that…

This paper is a keynote speech delivered at the National Symposium of Early Childhood Education) held by the Ministry of Education, December 16-19, 2004. In this paper, Jiang Jin first analyzed the difficulties and challenges that China faced in the development of early childhood education (ECE), including the partially dissolved ECE system,…