During my high school years in Singapore, I loved physical education (PE) classes. I wasn’t very academic, and would much rather have picked up a badminton racket than a textbook. So I didn’t have any questions or complaints when we were required to take a standardized PE test every year called the NAPFA (National Physical Fitness Award/Assessment). For those who failed any component, they would have to train every day during recess until the second PE exam a month or so later. They would then continue to retake the exam as many times as needed until they passed.

Now, 20 years later, I’m hearing that obesity rates in China are at an all-time high, and that to combat this trend, the government had considered making local PE exams part of the national gaokao (the notorious national college entrance exams that local students spend their young lives preparing for). I knew that the local public schools had standardized PE tests, but I was curious about the state of physical education in international schools such as the one my own child is enrolled in. Armed with that curiosity, I went ahead and found three volunteers from top international schools in Beijing who were willing to attempt the local PE exam.

Scan the QR code to watch the video and find out if international school students can pass the local PE exam standards!

I would like to point out that a comparison of the local PE exam standards and my own Singaporean NAPFA test renders the latter quite mild. While we were filming the video, the international students were informed mostly of the NAPFA test standards, which is why student Isabella stopped attempting more sit-ups after she had done 14 – because in Singapore, you only needed to do 13 sit-ups to pass when you’re 13 years old. Here’s a small cross-sectional comparison just so you can get a glimpse of the rigorous fitness standards both countries place on their high schoolers.

NAPFA test standards for males in secondary, or high school

Beijing PE exam standards for males from 9 years onwards

Another noteworthy point would be the evolution of these respective tests over the years. The local PE exams have forgone their multiple-component requirements in favor of requiring only the endurance run, and they now offer a range of various sporting events, from basketball to badminton, in which students only have to prove competency in one or two of their choosing, in order to pass. What’s more, in Singapore, the NAPFA test is now only required once every two years, rather than yearly.

What about you? Do you think standardized tests in PE are necessary for our youth?

KEEP READING: Sex, Education, and the Emancipated Youth of Today

Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush, Unsplash

Why should I pay to take the SAT if universities don’t require it? Why take the SAT if my GPA is already high? Harvard doesn’t require SAT scores anymore, so does that mean it’s no longer important?

As we move into summer vacation, some high school students might take advantage of their free time to prepare for the SAT (Standardised College Admissions test). Rumored to have a strong bearing on college acceptance – as it is a measurement of one’s academic performance in relation to others in the same cohort – students dedicate a massive amount of time and effort to doing well. However, in recent years, the number of universities requiring SAT scores to be included in a student’s transcript has decreased significantly. Likewise, after COVID-19 disrupted the usual means by which students take the test, even more universities have altered their policies, effectively making SAT scores optional.

What do top universities say?

• “The SAT isn’t terribly important.” Christoph Guttentag, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions, Duke University.
• “High test scores are not the primary test factor considered in the application process.” Jared Whittney, Executive Director of Admissions, California Institute of Technology.
• “…the SAT is not very important.” Marilyn McGrath, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Harvard University.
• “Testing is flawed…testing is biased…” Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nonetheless…

SAT scores can boost your application’s value, and help administrators identify students who will succeed. Since most transcripts only give an overview of your academic records in the larger context, an internationally recognized standardized test can provide evidence of your achievements outside school expectations. SAT scores allow universities to understand you better in cases where your GPA does not give the full story. Depending on the school community you are involved in, your test performance can set you apart from peers. For example, if you are in an underrepresented school, earning a relatively high score can help administrators identify and recognize you. High SAT scores can also increase your chances of receiving scholarships and other financial aid. Given the benefits, it is still recommended to study and include an SAT score in transcripts to better showcase your abilities. But don’t stress it! Missing an SAT score is an obstacle that can be overcome through other means.

“The SATs and other similar tests, they’re useful to us in terms of understanding a student’s academic preparation”

Christoph Guttentag, dean of undergraduate admissions, Duke University

KEEP READING: They’re Off To Uni! So What Comes After The Empty Nest?

Images: Pexels

By now, May 9 every High School Senior should have made that one choice for the school they will attend next year. One hopes that all the effort and energy placed into applying came through and everyone is happy with their final choice. Now it is the time to focus on those pesky final exams – IB, AP and A Level. One should not think that these final marks are not important – they are! But we have been down that road and not the topic of this article. So what is? That elusive thing called Demonstrated Interest.

I know, not an overwhelmingly exciting topic and certainly one that I have brought up before. So, why talk about it again? I just returned from the fabulous city of Austin, Texas where I attended a conference. One of the presentations was… you guessed it Demonstrated Interest (DI). You may ask why I am bringing this up again – because I think many students don’t pay attention to this important factor in admission – whether it is boarding school or university.

What is DI and why so much hype from me about it? Many students a. are unaware of DI b. some students think that just applying is DI c. most think it is unimportant. DI is important because schools are interested in students who may enroll in their school. Filling seats is their whole purpose; something called Yield. Yield comes from the number of students who are offered a place and decide to attend that university. When it comes to ranking, this is one of many factors US News and others use to quantify in the ranking process.

Back to what is DI? DI is any way that a student reaches out, in one way or another to find out about the university. This could be opening an email, logging into the school’s website, contacting current students or professors, visiting campus, attending an information session at a student’s high school or in their city or just simply completing an inquiry form for the school or finding information about the school on social media.

Let’s just say that schools have gotten very technical about this whole process. Many universities use a database called Slate to track the number of times a student responds or takes action. And track they do because Slate reports all that information back to each student and then in the admissions committee that information is displayed.

How much influence does DI play? It depends on the school. For some schools, it may just be writing cogently in response to the Supplement Essays. DI is a student’s way of showing that they have done much more than apply to show interest in the school. They have researched and shown how that research has helped them understand that they FIT the school. DI can also come into play when a student actually submits their application. A student who completes their application several weeks before the deadline is showing more interest than the student who submits an hour before.

One could argue that a student could show that fit in a number of ways. But when a student has the academic acumen to make them a viable candidate – Grades, SAT scores, letters of recommendation, then DI comes into play. Obviously, one student cannot possibly be all things to all schools. And despite how the news reports admission decisions, one would think that it is advantageous to apply to a number of schools. Those students we read about who were admitted to all the Ivies or to 20+ schools have something most don’t have – a major hook like first generation to attend college or a minority that is under-represented; some factor that stands out significantly. Most students do not fall into any of those categories.

As mentioned in the beginning, many students take a very passive roll in applying to schools. In the new age of data collection, this just doesn’t cut it anymore. Students must take a more active role and also be a bit more discerning. The days of “Just Try” applications is long gone. There is too much competition for spaces available, particularly at the top schools – boarding and college. The message is clear – do your homework on schools, take the time necessary to research and reach out, create a good viable list of schools and hopefully all will be good.

One final note – be genuine in all that you do. DI should be a natural way of showing that as a student you genuinely are interested in the schools to which you are applying. As a student intending to apply, you have much to do. So don’t procrastinate – too much is at stake to be passive in your future.

Photo: http://www.slate.com/

It’s a common mistake for students and their families to think that applying to college is all about the numbers – from ranking to test scores. And while numbers may play a certain role, many students from Asia place too much emphasis where it does not belong.

Most colleges and universities employ a holistic approach to reviewing applicants. When a student centers on one single factor they are missing the point of what holistic means. There are several definitions but let’s focus on “Considering all factors.” In a sense, colleges place emphasis on all aspects of a student’s portfolio and typically follow the following in order of importance:

1. Grades. Not just the grades themselves but the challenge of the courses they took and how a student does over their time in high school.
2. Test scores. This would include TOEFL or IELTS and SAT. Typically there should be concordance between a student’s grades and their scores. However, a problem does occur when students place too much attention to test scores and over prepare. More on this later…
3. Recommendations from teachers. Describing what kind of student they are, how they approach their learning, deal with academic challenges, work beyond the subject to make interdisciplinary connections or focus on particular areas of the coursework that fascinate or intrigue them.
4. Interests, hobbies and other activities a student partakes in during and after school.
5. Essays. How a student views themselves in the world and how events have helped them understand who they are at this point in time. Supplement essays ask students to explain why a particular school “fits” them and how they will use the resources at that school to reach their goals.
6. Whether initially or in person, interviews bring a more personal approach to the application allowing a student to show their enthusiasm for the things they do and what is important to them.

Technically, all of these factors are looked at in a balanced way at each school. Obviously, no one student is similar to another. Every student is an individual and has specific qualities both strengths and weaknesses. It is the job of the admissions committee to closely read a students application to try to elicit those unique qualities and match them to the school’s ethos, determining if a student (a) is a good fit for what the school hopes will make the next year’s class, and (b) he/she will be successful at that school.

One problem that arises is due to formulaic thinking concerns activities or interests. A student’s personal interest in activities, hobbies, sports, or any extracurricular activity should be organic. I met a student whose mother is forcing him to play hockey because she thinks, due to what she’s heard from other parents, that hockey is what will get him admitted. This is the same as applying to a major that you don’t like. When a school is looking at a student’s profile, they want to see genuine engagement. It is not about quantity but about the quality of that engagement. If a student is halfhearted about that interest it will show – in the way they talk about the role that activity has played in forming the person they have become. There is also something to be said for disingenuous resume building. Schools can see it a mile away.

The focus of the admission committee comes in several ways. First, they want to see that a student is not just focused on grades. Seeing whether a student engages with their current school community and/or the community at large is definitely important. If we think of universities as providing different opportunities to learn and grow, schools hope to see that a student has developed interests outside the classroom, which they will bring to their unique community. In addition, much is to be said about character. In my blogs on www.beijingkids.com, I have mentioned the importance a school places on how a student views the world around them, and their place in that world.

Many schools today are looking to see how students are working to change the world – from scientific achievements to battling for human rights and environmental issues. There is no specific thing a school is looking for. What they want to see is whether a student has found several activities which they feel strongly about, and what they have done to get involved.

It is important to look beyond the numbers – researching and understanding schools to find those which match who you are. Avoid the herd mentality, strike out on your own and honor your inner self. As an individual, act like one and challenge the norms. Trying to fit a numbers matrix eliminates one from seeking opportunities that will help you grow and develop as a young adult prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

This article originally appeared on p94-95
of beijingkids School Choice Guide 2018-2019.

The vexed issue of HIV in China came to the fore once more when it was reported that a group of children who are HIV positive took their gaokao exam in a separate venue.

The gaokao, properly the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, is the annual test which determines university entrance, and took place last week. As the number taking the exam increases, but the provision of higher education in China fails to keep pace, the gaokao has become increasingly competitive, and feelings about it always run high.

Now those feelings have tangled with the emotive issue of HIV. The children in question are students at the Red Ribbon School in Linfen, Shanxi Province. The school was established by Guo Xiaoping, formerly President of the local hospital, so that HIV+ children could study without suffering discrimination and ostracization. However his idea that they should sit the exam on the school premises has provoked controversy on social media, according to What’s On Weibo.

Opinion is divided between those who think the decision encourages discrimination, and those who unashamedly express their preference to be kept away from people with HIV. What’s On Weibo reports that the most “liked” comment was that of a mother who wrote:

“Would you feel safe knowing your kid is playing with those HIV-positive children? They are so little and don’t know how to protect themselves. Something might happen that leads to contact with blood.”

However the gaokao is only the first barrier in the way of HIV+ students hoping to attend university. One Red Ribbon School student wrote, movingly, in an open letter:

“So many questions have been troubling me: whether I will be accepted to a university, if the teachers will accept me as a normal student, and whether my classmates will study and live with me.”

Students in the Junior year are taking on the monumental task of being a Junior. With the month of May just at the onset, exams of all sorts are starting to take place. There is no doubt that students at this stage of high school are confronted with an enormous set of tasks. “There’s too much to do!” and “How do I prioritize?” and “How do I manage?” are all questions running through students’ heads. So what’s the big deal? Lots!

The Junior year is the linchpin to college applications. This is, for many students, the last set of grades many colleges will see when making decisions on applications, particularly if a student is applying under any Early scheme of admissions. While it is impossible to significantly raise one’s GPA, students can set a mark by showing the stuff they are made of this last term of the year.

“Why can’t I raise my GPA?” Well for one thing if you been in a school for the two or three previous years, a student (under a semester system) would have 5 semesters of GPA calculations weighing against one (if said student entered the school in Grade 9). A student who started in Grade 10, would have three semesters, but even still turning one’s intellectual jets on this last term can only marginally impact GPA. This is not to say that a student should throw in the towel. Absolutely, put the nose to the grindstone and nail those final exams. Lots of schools look to see improvement over time, maturity in taking school seriously and focus, even if it comes late in one’s high school career.

May is the month when not only final semester exams loom but also AP or AS Level exams start. Depending on what curricula a student is taking these exams are where a student shows the culmination of their work over the semester. However, students need to be aware that results on an AP or AS exam do not get calculated into GPA (some schools may do this but…), nor do they replace a poor grade in that class. (If that is the case, universities will wonder why you did so well on the exam, but what were you doing during class?).

These exams are important and a student should definitely focus on doing well. Managing one’s time, keeping organized and focusing on each exam is an important and sometimes daunting task. It is important to wisely spend one’s time going to review sessions with teachers, utilizing study groups, and ensuring competence in the subject areas you will be examined on. Never assume you know what you think you know. Double check, triple check and nail those exams!

May is also a time for SAT exams, another marker for university applications. For students who have been preparing since the October PSAT and a winter SAT (December or January) it is possible that this could be your final SAT, maybe. Depends on how you do, of course. Your college counselor should be able to let you know if you have one more test in your system, once results come back in a couple of weeks. However, it should be noted that most students do have one more test in them. This one is for the October SAT. (A reminder, a student should NEVER take more than 3 SAT I exams.) If you are an ACT student, the advice above also applies.

Hopefully, you are not in the situation where you have not taken an SAT yet. But if you are, it’s ok. This is an important SAT and it means that you have a fair amount riding on this test. Why is it an issue? Well for starters, this is going to be your baseline test. There is no other evidence to stand on to see where your scores will go, especially if you have not taken a PSAT or PLAN (the equivalent for the ACT). By just having this test, it challenges your college advisor to help with your list of schools.

If you are the unfortunate student who did not get the news that there is no longer any SAT I in June for International students, well ouch. If you have no previous tests under your belt, and are thinking of applying Early to a college, you now only have one chance (October) to perform well on the SAT. That is a very tough place to be. “But, my mock SAT/ACT tests show…” Mock tests are not the same. The materials are different, the setting is different, and the whole situation is completely different than taking the real deal. Most students outperform on practice tests. This is not evidence enough to rely on heavily, if at all.

June is a great time to take SAT II, but only if schools on your list require, recommend or state they are optional. There is no need to take an SAT II if you don’t meet the conditions above. By the way, performance on an SAT II definitely does not cover a poor grade. How could an hour-long exam equal a grade earned over a year?

Finally, as a Junior you need to be focusing on building your college list, starting your application essays – Common Application released the new Personal Statement essays last month. At very least, students should be brainstorming ideas on what they will write about.

So, yes, Junior year is a mass of things to get done. Don’t make the mistake of focusing on one item at a time. Divide your day up in to hours and tasks. Do a little bit of everything, every day.

As we enter this important season, work well, keep organized and with both of these things as a focus, you should be in great shape for summer!

For many students, particularly students in international schools, the end of the fall term is here. For students in the Chinese system, there is still more work to be done! Students are either preparing for or taking final semester exams or Mock exams. Just after that comes the Winter Holiday. It is a time filled with hard work, some anxiety, anticipation that it will all be over soon, and finally a break for several weeks.

It is important to stress that performance on in-school exams are not only a vital piece of a students’ academic record but also for a students’ application to schools and universities. Most exams are cumulative in nature and show a student’s ability to comprehensively attack information they have been learning all year. Whether a student is applying to boarding school or university, schools will review grades earned up to a certain point. It is these grades, which should show a mastery of their academic subjects. In other words, DO WELL! Always!!

Most students who are applying to schools are in the final stretches of the application process. For students applying to boarding schools, the process ends in early January. The same is true of university applicants. And while there may be the longing to be somewhere else, whether a beach in the South Pacific or already attending the one’s target school, focusing on the tasks at hand is imperative.

Some teenagers are masters of procrastination. “Oh, I’ll get to that tomorrow!” and “tomorrow” and so on. But here’s the thing, procrastination does not make that task go away, it only makes the “doing it” more anxiety filled. Studying for exams, completing the project that needs to be done, writing those application essays – it only gets harder as time passes.  Guilt and anxiety rule the day, and trying to maintain high expectations in conjunction with negative feelings only leads to poor outcomes.

Those who succeed focus on their target, seek extra-help if needed, ask for guidance and direction, and ultimately win out in the end. But the average teenager hoping to prove their maturity will try to do everything on their own. If taken broadly, teamwork can apply to one’s education – such as by seeing one’s teachers not only as a coach, but also as a guide and a mentor. Teachers and classmates all make up a team whose aim is to help each individual win. Mavericks rarely win over the long haul.

Teachers throughout the course of the semester provide information and hope that students who are struggling will seek needed advice. Students may expect teachers to see their struggles and approach the student. The responsibility is on the student, not the teacher, to seek out help when needed. A teacher, like most humans, cannot read minds nor should they be expected to!

Many counselors may to get students to complete applications before the holidays and well before deadlines, however some students wait to work on applications and essays during this period. Thinking that the holidays are a time to attend to these major tasks. Without the guidance of adults, students will most likely not do as well as they could have had they planned ahead.

Even if the application process is a year or two down the road, make sure you, as the student, are seeking out all the help and guidance you need to succeed. Here is an important question – “What have you done today for that school you are dreaming about?” Have you worked on you vocabulary? Have you created something new? Have you prepared for all your exams? Have you written, reviewed and edited your essays? Dreams don’t just happen because you dream. They happen because you work for them, tirelessly!

So get to work!

Photo: lawschooltoolbox.com

Parents, send your children out of the room. On no account let them read this post. I’m about to reveal something shocking.

Are they all gone? OK, here goes….

Scientists in Australia have discovered a positive correlation between playing online video games and higher exam scores in math, science and reading.

You read that right. According to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, tests on over 12,000 Australian teenagers found that those who regularly played online games scored 15 points above average in maths and reading tests and 17 points above average in science.

Now, I don’t know what your family life is like, but mine is a daily battle over how much screen time the kids get. If my boys find out that playing games helps them at school, that battle may be lost forever. And this study is not an outlier; research by Columbia University linked video game playing in 6-11 year olds with “a greatly increased chance of high intellectual functioning and overall school competence.”

I have to admit that the reason we have a games console is that I’m rather partial to a spot of button-bashing myself. In fact I believe games to be emerging as the dominant narrative art form of the 21^st century. If video gaming still makes you think of Space Invaders and Pacman, you’re in for a shock. The best current video games have greater depth and subtlety, and better characterization, than the average Hollywood blockbuster. Sometimes I watch my kids playing, and marvel at the degree of cooperation and creativity that’s going on, whether they’re building castles in Minecraft or designing levels for Little Big Planet.

But correlation is not causation. Perhaps all the studies show is that the more intellectual children are spending time online, while the sporty kids are out playing ball. And academic success is not the only important thing in life. I want my boys to be fit and healthy, to be able to kick and throw and catch, to roam and explore within safe boundaries.

And not all online activity is good news. Heavy users of social media score lower on average, and the more frequent the use the greater the impact on academic achievement. They also have a shorter attention span. Shocking, isn’t it? Parents must be warned. I’d better go right now and post about it on Facebook and WeChat…

Photo: Chris Parfitt via Flickr

SAT and TOEFL Breached
Just the other day, news agency Thompson Reuters, posted an article about SAT and how College Board knowingly recycled tests in China and that, despite increased security measures, even the new Revised SAT will be compromised. Last year, the Chinese version of Newsweek, posted an article about how a reporter was able to purchase online a mechanism that held answers to the TOEFL test.  ETS has amazing security, from voice recognition to using students’ photos to identify the test taker.

When the Reuters article broke there was a immediate backlash from counselors around China. Personally, I stated that I was both disgusted and disheartened by the news. Even though I have known of the “breaches” and lived through the anxiety with my students over cancelled tests and delayed scores, this news, while not truly new, reaffirmed my conviction that testing on the level of SAT, TOEFL, and even SSAT is no longer truly valid.

No Longer A Level Field
To what extent does the leaked information go? Who really knows, but the reality is that the information is available to any student, whether they know it or not, if they are engaged in test preparation. Granted this is a generalization, and certainly not all test takers are “cheaters.” But the facts, as pointed out in the article, are that testing is compromised. If we go on that premise, what is the real value of standardized testing? Even if a majority of the test takers in Asia do not use errant methods, how can one truly ascertain the validity of their tests when put up against those who did use illicit means?

In my day-to-day work, I have students who have avoided test prep, and yet when compared to their applicant pool in the admission process they come out wanting. Their scores are not competitive and so they lose out in one way or another. But even still, students who may have come across real test material during their preparation are less competitive compared to those who used more aggressive prep providers.

What is further infuriating is whether a school, reading the application, is aware on any level of the unbalanced tests scores they are using. For a minute, lets assume they have no idea, and they are looking at scores without bias. Certainly with students presenting promising scores combined with grades and other materials, admission committees are accepting at face value what they see. Is that fair? Perhaps one could argue that given holistic review, one could say “sure”, but not really.

If admission committees accept that scores are skewed, to what extent do they count scores in the admission process? Do they down grade overall test scores? Subtract a percentage? To what extent is that fair?

Members of the school counseling arena have been decrying the testing environment in Asia for quite some time. Yet, universities and other schools continue to use testing as a factor in admission. Knowingly or not, they are complicit in the high stakes pursuit of “talented” youth. From ranking to accepting tainted scores, everyone marches on as if there is nothing to really do about it. Universities accept College Board and ETS practices, continue to use test scores in the admission process. High schools continue to administer the tests, hoping that students have not gained an unfair advantage in one way or another, all the while hoping that their students will score to gain entry to more selective schools. And the wheel goes around and around, year by year.

My question is this – when will everyone agree that this is not that answer? When will all the stakeholders say enough is enough? High schools are at the mercy of a broken system, yet those with the ability to make change – those on the receiving end of applications – continue to proceed as if nothing is wrong. Or if is wrong, make little effort to change. And, by the way it is not just an Asian problem. The system is broken, and no one seems capable of finding an appropriate fix to solve it.

We can all agree that the admission process is unfair, especially for highly selective schools. Counselors, parents and students, particularly this time of the year cry about how they did not get into their “dream” school with amazing resumes and materials to back up their applications. But if the system is broken from a fundamental level, and we all know it, why do we continue to rant and rave when it does not work in “our students” favor?  Blind faith?

Coming this April is the new Coalition application, which is supposed to change the playing field. Yet, I know of no counselor who has any idea what the application looks like or how the application will work. The Coalition has been particularly mute on the subject. But what will really change? It seems as if there is now just another thing to worry about, another system to game, continuing the inequality of the application system.

Elite schools will not change to become more inclusive. Why? They cannot accept all the qualified students who apply, even if the system did not have its major flaws. Yet, overall, until those who control the admission process take a stand and create true change, we will all continue to bemoan the system, roll our eyes, and march forward, hoping that one day it will change.

Real change will happen when ranking disappears and other means of evaluating students come into play – like performance on AP, IB, A Level and other measures of student ability that have true meaning, even interviewing students through processes like IntialView and Vericant. Schools should be applauded that have changed their admission criteria by becoming test optional or schools like NYU that have multiple entry criteria. Schools that are willing to go against the grain of a process and lead, not accept status quo.

Break free and lead! Bring some sanity back to the admission process. Please!

Photo: Diablomag.com