Clay Hensley (2nd R) with students in the AP class at Cuiyuan Middle School yesterday. Wang Yuanyuan
Wang Yuanyuan
AN American educator discussed Chinese education reforms and the admission of international students into American universities with students and teachers at Cuiyuan Middle School in Luohu yesterday.
Clay Hensley, associate director of the American College Board, visited the school as it is the first in the city to implement an Advanced Placement (AP) program.
Hensley said he was very much impressed by the progress made by the school in the internationalization of its curriculum and the students’ expressive English skills.
The college board is now working jointly with the Ministry of Education in China to promote an international education system, to introduce Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) and AP programs in China to enable bright students to study in top universities in America, Hensley said.
“We will also help the ministry with the reform of the National College Entrance Examinations, applying the advanced education experience to the current Chinese basic education.”
Hensley is helping promote education systems, such as AP programs and SATs, around the world for the college board, an American examination board that was formed in 1900. The board manages standardized tests to measure students’ abilities. SATs and AP programs are widely used for admission to universities across the United States.
Before coming to Shenzhen, Hensley had been helping to reform Hong Kong’s university system. Hong Kong will lengthen its three-year undergraduate education programs to four years in order to be integrated with Western education systems, and the AP credits students earn in high school may soon become important standards for admission into the eight Hong Kong universities, he said.