ABSTRACT

In 1983, the United States published A Nation at Risk, which set out the educational crises that the country was facing, but at the same time inaugurated the excellence movement in the eighties. The awareness of educational crises and the urge for educational excellence does not seem to be a U.S. patent, however. Many other countries, such as Japan, are experiencing similar crises and have expressed similar concern for promoting excellence in education. 1 And it seems pertinent to apply this perspective in studying recent educational development in China.