







































 

 

 

 

 

The Role of China’s Teaching  

Research System in Promoting  

Evidence-based Reform in Education:  

A Case Study of Jiangsu Province

Shike Zhou 

 
Teaching and Research Office of Elementary and Middle Schools in Jiangsu Province, 

Nanjing 210013, China

Abstract. Teaching research system is a unique professional community 

of education and teaching research in China. It is an important driving 

and leading force in promoting evidence-based reform in education in 
China. Using fifteen-year exploration of evidence-based reform in 

education in Jiangsu Province as a case, this paper presents the ways 

and characteristics of evidence-based reform in education in China, with 
a focused analysis of the role of teaching research system in the reform. 

Despite its uniqueness, China’s evidence-based reform in education can 

still contribute experience to its world counterpart. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education 2021; 9(2):1227-1241. 

Doi: 10.15354/bece.21.or067. 

How to Cite: Zhou, S. (2021). The role of China’s teaching research system in 

promoting evidence-based reform in education: A case study of Jiangsu province. 

Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 9(2):1227-1241. 

Keywords: Teaching research System, Evidence-based Reform in Education, 

China Experience

 
 

Correspondence to: Shike Zhou, Teaching and Research Office of Elementary and Middle Schools in Jiangsu 
Province, Jiangsu 210013, China. E-mail: jyszsk@163.com  

Conflict of Interests: None. 
 

© 2021 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. 

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the 

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License 

(http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of 

the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed by the Insights Publisher. 

mailto:jyszsk@163.com


Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1228 

Introduction 

THE 4th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the 

People’s Republic of China and the Outline of Long-term Objectives for 2035” 

emphasizes the orientation and objectives for the policy “building a high-quality 

education system”. Promoting education reform through assessment mechanisms and 

building a high-quality education system are one of the important paths to drive high-

quality development during the 14th Five Year Plan period. However, in the practical 

reform, there are still some problems, such as backward assessment concepts, unscien-

tific assessment tools, inaccurate analysis and diagnosis, and unremarkable effects. To 

prevent subjective or even emotional judgements and stimulate sound and reasonable 

educational reform is essential in improving the quality of education and teaching and 

in building a powerful education system. 

In fact, how to make educational decision-making more rational and effective 

has not only been an issue faced by China, but also by the whole world. Amidst this 

situation, the evidence-based reform came into being in the 1980s, providing a possible 

way to address this issue. Being “evidence-based” refers to the concept that any deci-

sion, opinion, or conclusion must be based on solid evidence drawn from scientific re-

search. The evidence-based reform was meant to reduce the randomness in educational 

development, ensure that educational reform complies with scientific logic, and 

achieves the goal of educational development in a more efficient and steady way. Up till 

now, the evidence-based reform, as an important driver in global educational reform 

and development, has made remarkable achievements (Slavin & Cheung, 2019; Slavin 

et al., 2021). 

In this context, the importance of acquisition and use of scientific evidence has 

been increasing in China’s educational reform and development. Jiangsu, as a province 

with a high level of socio-economic and educational development, started the survey of 

student academic quality in basic education in 2006. Since then, following the princi-

ples of evidence-based reform, Jiangsu has made great efforts in pursuing effective and 

rational surveys and attaining a large amount of scientific evidence in improving the 

efficiency and quality of education and teaching. In driving the evidence-based reform 

of regional education, the unique teaching research system has played an important part. 

Teaching research institutions at all levels contribute to the search for laws of effective 

education and teaching, summarize and promote typical experience and effective prac-

tice through research results feedback, evidence-based reform projects and multi-party 

cooperation. As a result, Jiangsu succeeds in finding the path for evidence-based reform 

in education with Chinese characteristics. 

As part of the global wave of evidence-based reform in education, China start-

ed relatively late, but has been making rapid progress. By taking Jiangsu as a case and 

analyzing its evidence-based reform process, this study presents the patterns and char-

acteristics of China’s evidence-based reform in education and examines the roles of 

China’s teaching research system in this reform. Although China’s mode of promoting 

evidence-based reform through its unique teaching research system cannot be used by 

“ 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1229 

other countries directly, considering China’s huge volume and the important role of the 

teaching research system in promoting the development of high-quality education, we 

believe the general laws inferred from its exploration can be used as references for 

global educational development. 

China Teaching Research System 

China’s basic education is stereotyped as a process in which rigid, intensive and author-

itative exercises and training are emphasized by teachers in pursuit of academic 

achievements. In this process, educational outcomes depend mainly on the investment 

of time, energy and even money, while cultivation of students’ independent inquiry 

ability and teacher’s search for education and teaching methods are ignored. It is be-

lieved that when bringing excellent academic performance to Chinese students, the cur-

rent practice also causes problems such as heavy academic burden and unfavorable de-

velopment of high order thinking abilities. For this reason, Zhao (2014) believes that 

China may have the best and at the same time the worst education system in the world. 

In such an education system, students may be able to cope well with standardized exam-

inations and obtain better exam results but have difficulty in developing other important 

skills based on individual talent. 

We believe that such stereotyped ideas are biased in that they fail to cover the 

other side of China’s basic education. In fact, in the basic education area, China has 

established a complete and powerful teaching research system. Some people held the 

view this system is a simulation of the teaching research organizations of the former 

Soviet Union. In recent years, more researchers come to believe that China’s teaching 

research system is the result of domestic practice and exploration (Liu, 2021). It is 

thought to have originated in the late Qing Dynasty when the then-education depart-

ment began the trial to build teaching research institutions and implement teaching re-

search policies to meet the demands for school system reform. After the National Gov-

ernment was set up in 1912, it strengthened the guidance and survey of school teaching 

through a series of organizational construction, which laid the foundation for the estab-

lishment of China’s education system. After the founding of the People’s Republic of 

China in 1949, a complete teaching research system covering the whole country has 

been gradually established. It started with learning from the teaching research system of 

the former Soviet Union, and then built up China’s own system with Chinese character-

istics based on domestic practice, which is not only the result of inheritance and devel-

opment of the previous systems, but also that of exploration under the new historical 

background (Li, 2014). 

To date, China has built up a teaching research team of nearly 100,000 staff 

and a five-level working system. In 2019, the State Council issued the document named 

“Opinions on How to Deepen Education and Teaching Reform and Comprehensively 

Improve the Quality of Compulsory Education,”
1
 which not only fully affirmed the pro-

fessional and supportive role of teaching research in basic education, but also put for-

ward a series of tasks and requirements on how to strengthen teaching research in the 

next stage, further reinforcing the role and status of the teaching research system. Chi-



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1230 

na’s teaching research system has become a professional community for the growth of 

Chinese teachers and the improvement of education and teaching quality. Its functions 

include training and guiding teachers, engaging teachers in teaching research and direct-

ing teaching reform. Some scholars believe that emphasis on teaching research is ad-

vantageous to Chinese teachers, and the research itself is far superior to the general in-

service training received by foreign teachers (Chen, 2021). Given that, simply attrib-

uting the excellent academic achievements of Chinese students to highly intensive 

learning is somewhat biased. What worth noticing is the significant positive impact of 

China’s teaching research system on the educational reform. 

Furthermore, China’s teaching research system is not only a conglomerate of 

professional research institutions, but also undertakes certain administrative functions. 

In terms of organizational structure, it mainly consists of teaching research offices at all 

levels, from the central to local. The system exerts vertical and centralized management 

to implement the national policies on education through all kinds of teaching research 

programs. In addition, teaching research offices at each level can also set up their own 

teaching research projects and reform measures according to the specific needs of re-

gional education reform and development. Therefore, the system is run with a manage-

ment mode combining centralization and decentralization. Moreover, although China’s 

teaching research offices at all levels exist in the form of “research institutions”, they 

are also responsible for formulating educational and teaching policies, managing scien-

tific research projects and funds, assessing and displaying teaching scientific research 

outcomes, etc. Because these roles are closely related to the development of schools and 

teachers, the “instructions” issued by teaching and research offices are normally highly 

valued and seriously implemented by schools at all levels. Compared with Western 

teaching research institutions and professional bodies of teachers, China’s teaching re-

search system has stronger resource allocation and administrative power. Such power 

enables China’s teaching research system a strong capacity to organize and implement 

broad, highly intensive and targeted reforms and experiments (Liang et al., 2010; Lu & 

Shen, 2010). 

In the 21st century, Chinese educators have significantly increased awareness 

of scientific evidence acquisition, and accordingly, made great progress in the im-

provement of teaching quality and effectiveness. With the expansion of the influence of 

evidence-based reform, how to promote evidence-based reform with Chinese character-

istics has become an important topic in China’s education community. Early this centu-

ry, Jiangsu established a provincial academic survey system for the purpose of accurate 

assessment of student academic performance and exploration of teaching effectiveness, 

and on that basis, vigorously promoted evidence-based reform in education. In this pro-

cess, the teaching research offices in primary and secondary schools in the provincial 

teaching research system played an important role in the reform and in harnessing the 

direction of the reform. Citing Jiangsu as a case, this article will further explain the pro-

gress of evidence-based reform in China and how the unique teaching research system 

works in this momentous reform. 

 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1231 

Fifteen-Year Evidence-Based Reform in Jiangsu 

Province 

In 2006, Jiangsu initiated the follow-up evidence-based reform, based on the provincial 

survey of basic education quality. In the initial phase of the reform, Jiangsu relied on 

the survey of academic performance to obtain promising evidence from relevant re-

search. After further accumulation of such evidence, the Provincial Teaching research 

Office arranged a series of follow-up reforms through the teaching research system, so 

as to obtain more stable evidence and reform experience. The fifteen-year reform can be 

divided into four stages. 

Preliminary Stage of Exploration (2006-2012): System-

atic Study and Team Building Jiangsu 

In 2008, the Provincial Basic Education Quality Survey Center of Jiangsu was estab-

lished, the first of its kind in China. Efforts were made in improving the survey rules 

and methods and building a stronger team with expertise. Through cooperation with the 

national project team and participation in survey projects, the Center accumulated sur-

veying experience, and formed work specifications and relevant supporting systems. 

After that, three rounds of survey of compulsory education quality were carried out in 

Jiangsu Province, which help build up practical experience and laid a foundation for 

follow-up work. 

Practical Stage of Reform (2012-2016): Tool Innova-

tion and System Construction 

A team of experts in academic quality survey were built in Jiangsu Province to study 

and create academic quality standards in line with the teaching situation of the province. 

They were engaged in research and development of assessment frameworks and tools 

for students’ core skills and key abilities, in establishing the comprehensive index as-

sessment system of student academic quality in compulsory education in Jiangsu Prov-

ince, and in creating a feedback system of survey result. Xishan District and Binhu Dis-

trict of Wuxi City and Hongze District of Huai’an City were chosen to carry out the 

follow-up reform based on the analysis at the city district and county levels and the co-

operative research on how to improve the quality of regional compulsory education. 

The pilot reform of improving the teaching management level based on the assessment 

and analysis was conducted in Nanjing foreign language school Xianlin Campus. 

Follow-Up Stage of Implementation (2015-2018): Mod-

el Construction and Project Promotion 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1232 

Under the guidance of evidence-based reform theory, the follow-up reform projects 

were implemented, and the working model of regional education quality improvement 

put forward. In 2015, the Provincial Department of Education set up “the Major Follow-

up Reform Program Based on the Assessment and Analysis “. Twenty-nine key follow-

up projects were launched at the levels of city, county, and school to promote the prac-

tical application of survey results of academic quality. A number of role models of the 

follow-up reform emerged, such as Suzhou Industrial Park, Nanjing Qinhuai District 

and Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Branch. In 2017, the Provincial Teach-

ing research Office, in cooperation with Nanjing Pukou District Government and other 

Institutions, carry out an evidence-based experimental intervention research to improve 

the quality and practical effectiveness of evidence-based reform. 

Finalizing Stage of Promotion (2018-2021): Results Re-

finement and Application Implementation 

Cooperating with academic institutions like Nanjing Normal University, the Provincial 

Teaching research Office strengthened scientific research and reinforced application of 

survey results. As a result, the evidence-based reform model of Jiangsu’s education was 

formed, which effectively integrates the academic research, teaching research manage-

ment and the teaching practice of the front-line teachers and facilitates scientific deci-

sion-making and scientific ways of teaching. It solved the problems of over reliance on 

experience and lack of rationality and effectiveness in the process of educational reform 

and development. The popularization and application of this model in the whole prov-

ince has greatly improved the quality of education and teaching and promoted the all-

round development of students. 

Evidence-Based Reform in Education Led by the 

Teaching Research System in Terms of Organization, 

Method, and Model 

To date, the survey of basic education quality has become a powerful driver to Jiangsu’s 

educational experiment and reform. With the joint efforts of multiple departments and 

institutions, Jiangsu Province has built organizational, back-up and working systems for 

evidence-based reform based on the survey of education quality, with scientific research 

as major duties and practice improvement as the objective. 

Academic Survey System 

At present, Jiangsu’s survey of basic education quality covers all the main subjects at 

the compulsory education stage and all cities and counties in the province. Teaching 

research offices at all levels make contributions to the wide-coverage and completeness 

of this survey system (see Table 1). Jiangsu province attaches great importance to the 

construction of a professional survey team, and continuously raises the academic level 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1233 

Table 1.  Survey Sample Size in Jiangsu Province over the Years (2006-2020). 

Year 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Total 

Number of students  113,438 174,747 194,675 197,586 213,585 224,763 262,245 375,086 1,756125 

Number of students 28,473 35,759 31,458 33,636 34,971 37,484 40,407 54,744 296,932 

Number of principals 3,314 4,563 4,182 4,441 4,590 5,121 5,354 5,607 37,172 

Number of schools 1,762 2,290 2,109 2,260 2,453 2,695 2,808 2,917 19,294 

 

 

 

of the survey team by introducing professionals and strengthening personnel training. A 

full-time survey and analysis team of more than 150 staff has been built and made an 

important force in promoting evidence-based reform. 

Scientific and Accurate Assessment Tools 

The lack of scientific and accurate assessment tools has always been a factor restricting 

China’s evidence-based reform in education. To solve this problem, the Provincial 

Teaching research Office not only hires experts to participate in the preparation of ques-

tionnaires, but also organizes special personnel to analyze the assessment tools of PISA 

and other international projects, so as to absorb the theories, experience and methods of 

those classic assessment projects. Focusing on assessing student core skills and key 

abilities, the Provincial Teaching research Office first developed complete assessment 

tools and investigation tools for Chinese, mathematics, English of primary school and 

Chinese, mathematics, English, physics, biology, geography of junior middle school 

and produced more than 15,000 survey and analysis reports on education quality in 11 

categories. Cutting-edge and innovative, the assessment tools not only have good relia-

bility and validity and high accuracy, but also solve the assessment problems in non-

cognitive factors, high order thinking dispositions and other correlative factor scales, in 

the context of national conditions and teaching conditions, (see Figure 1). 

Furthermore, Jiangsu Province has developed a comprehensive index system 

for survey of basic education quality in Jiangsu Province by taking reference from re-

search results of other surveys of education quality at home and abroad (see Figure 2). 

This index system can not only survey students’ learning, but also comprehensively 

analyze correlative factors, processes, mechanisms, and results, respond to the key, dif-

ficult and hot issues of educational reform and development, and evaluate the imple-

mentation effect of educational policies and measures. Based on these tools and indica-

tors, a complete and accurate survey information system for Jiangsu learning and teach-

ing is created. Being comprehensive, practical and scientific, this system is in the lead-

ing position in China, providing accurate and high-quality evidence for the improve-

ment of education quality in Jiangsu. 

Follow-Up Educational Experiments and Evidence-

Based Reform 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1234 

 
Figure 1. Test Results of Measurement Dimension, Reliability and Validity of 

High-Order Thinking Disposition Scale for Primary and Middle School Stu-

dents. 

 

 

 

 

 
Figure 2. Comprehensive Index System of Basic Education Quality Survey in 

Jiangsu Province. 

 

 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1235 

 
Figure 3. Implementation Model of Follow-Up Evidence-Based Reform. 

 

 

 

 

 
Figure 4. Multi-Party Cooperative Reform Community. 

 

 

 

 

The evidence-based education reform in Jiangsu Province proceeded after the comple-

tion of survey. The Provincial Teaching research Office started to address the relevant 

research findings and to promote their application in the front-line teaching practice, 

with the purpose of improving the education and teaching quality based on scientific 

evidence. In this regard, Jiangsu’s teaching research system creatively organized and 

implemented the “follow-up reform” using the academic survey data analysis. The 

“Follow-up Reform Program Based on Assessment and Analysis” involved 29 projects 

in the whole province, including 2 entrusted projects by colleges and universities, and 9 

projects at each level of district, city, county and school. From 2017, to integrate survey, 

teaching research and scientific research, follow-up reform projects were included in 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1236 

the subject research projects of primary and secondary schools in Jiangsu Province for 

the first time. 15 provincial key projects were granted, which were supported and com-

plemented by projects at all levels. A total of 700 projects were set up to encourage and 

promote all localities and schools to carry on follow-up evidence-based reform. Under 

the guidance of the Provincial Teaching research Office, Suzhou, Changzhou and other 

places achieved remarkable outcomes through local academic surveys and follow-up 

reforms. The Provincial Teaching research Office allocated special funds to support 

relevant research and reform projects, and invested 22.5 million yuan in recent five 

years, which effectively guaranteed the smooth progress of the reform (see Figure 3). 

In recent years, the follow-up evidence-based reform in Jiangsu has emphasized the 

importance of the stability of evidence and the mining of causality and carried out edu-

cational intervention experiments of different scales in many places. Further efforts will 

be made to explore the laws of education and teaching more steadily and deeply and 

improve the effectiveness and quality of education by adopting the cutting-edge meth-

ods and technologies of international evidence-based research.  

Multi Party Cooperative Reform Community 

In the long-term exploration, Jiangsu has evolved a reform community consisting of 

professional researchers from colleges and universities, governmental administrative 

departments and teaching research institutions, and primary and secondary schools, 

which complement one another with each party’s advantages and share a collaborative 

relationship (see Figure 4). This community takes the improvement of education quali-

ty as the first priority, and implements the relevant research results and policy measures, 

to make sure that research results can really play a part in upgrading the quality of edu-

cation and teaching. Under the condition of data security, Jiangsu Teaching research 

Office opens data resources, decentralizes the design authority of survey projects and 

research topics, and tries to introduce multiple intellectual resources to improve the 

quality of survey and the effectiveness of the reform. 

Therefore, while enhancing the education quality of Jiangsu to a new level, the 

model of evidence-based reform in education led by teaching research system helps 

integrate multi party strength in research and practice, enabling quick and effective re-

sponses to difficult and hot issues in the process of education reform and development. 

Before each assessment session, the Provincial Teaching research Office will adjust the 

methods and contents of assessment and investigation according to the previous re-

search findings and the new problems, new situation and new needs faced by Jiangsu 

Province. A task force is delegated by the Office to analyze the contents of Pisa and 

other international authoritative assessment projects, so as to follow the latest progress 

in the area of international education assessment in terms of student skills, assessment 

methods, correlative factors and research topics, to better understand and judge the di-

rection of global education reform and development. At the same time, more analysis of 

Jiangsu educational situation is made to confirm the urgent needs and common con-

cerns of the public. In recent years, to make the survey of basic education quality more 

targeted and practical, the Office have focused on issues like student burden reduction, 

effective teaching strategy, educational equity for the underprivileged, student stress 

 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1237 

 
Figure 5. Follow-Up Reform Outcomes at the School Level: Taking Nan-

jing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus as a Case. 

 

 

 

resistance, teacher job satisfaction, student high-order cognitive ability development, 

educational resources allocation. 

Outcomes of Evidence-Based Reform in Education 

After 15 years of exploration, Jiangsu has made remarkable achievements in evidence-

based reform in education. The concept and mode of “scientific evidence-based and 

follow-up reform” have been integrated into all aspects of school teaching reform, and 

fruitful results have been attained in practice.  

 

Firstly, the quality of basic education is significantly improved, and student all-

round development is promoted.  

 

At the school level, through survey and assessment, comprehensive and accurate diag-

nosis of school teaching problems has been made, and remarkable results have been 

achieved in the follow-up reform in experimental schools such as Nanjing Foreign Lan-

guage School Xianlin Campus (see Figure 5). At the local level, follow-up reform pro-

jects are taken seriously in seeking for effective ways to improve the education quality 

and promote student all-round development. At the provincial level, Jiangsu has made 

remarkable achievements in previous PISA and relevant national surveys, with continu-



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1238 

ous improvement of various indicators and steady progress in high-quality and balanced 

development, which fully indicates that the reform has achieved significant results. 

 

Secondly, the integration of evidence-based reform into normal teaching and re-

search drives the quality improvement and transformation of grass-roots teaching 

and research in the province.  

 

Under the guidance of the Provincial Teaching research Office, all localities carry out 

evidence-based teaching diagnosis in teaching and research, reform teaching methods, 

constantly improve teachers’ professional skills and teaching quality. Various models of 

classroom reform have emerged throughout the province, such as Nantong’s “Learning-

centered Classroom”, Xuzhou’s “Learning and Presentation Classroom”, Yancheng’s 

“Critical Learning Classroom”, Suzhou’s “Suzhou-style Classroom”, Huai’an’s “Inte-

grated Learning Classroom”, Taizhou’s “Micro Classroom”, Zhenjiang’s “Integrated 

Classroom”.  

 

Thirdly, the assessment tools of student core skills and key abilities, question de-

signing technology and investigation by questionnaires have been widely used in 

the whole province.  

 

Directed by the Provincial Teaching research Office, Changzhou, Yangzhou, Suzhou 

and other places deepened follow-up reforms by using provincial assessment tools and 

technologies. After several rounds of training, their standardized framework of survey 

of academic quality, and question designing skills have become an important reference 

for academic assessment for all cities in the province and made an important contribu-

tion to the improvement of exam question quality in the middle school entrance exami-

nation in our province. The popularization of these tools and technologies has greatly 

improved the quality of educational assessment and reform in Jiangsu, and the relevant 

exploration and achievements are in the leading position in the country. 

 

Finally, aimed to improve education quality by survey, the evidence-based reform 

model of Jiangsu makes a big difference in the country.  

 

Jiangsu’s evidence-based reform in education has attracted extensive attention. Fujian, 

Hainan, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Qinghai and other provinces have sent personnel to Jiangsu 

to study and transplant Jiangsu experience to the survey and teaching reform in their 

own provinces. In recent years, the teaching research staff have published more than 30 

papers in authoritative journals at home and abroad, and relevant personnel have been 

invited to make theme reports at important conferences over the world for many times. 

China Education Daily and Xinhua news agency reported on Jiangsu’s achievements in 

education reform and interviewed leading research personnel, which was well received. 

A project team created the “Best Evidence in Brief” website 

(http://www.cnbeb.org.cn:81/). Its official account of WeChat has registered nearly 20 

thousand subscribers both at home and abroad and become an important channel for 

obtaining information on evidence-based research and reform results in education. 

http://www.cnbeb.org.cn:81/


Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1239 

Discussion: Uniqueness and Universality of China Ev-

idence-Based Education Reform 

Jiangsu, as one of the regions of high socio-economic and educational development 

levels in China, takes the lead in evidence-based reform in education, in which China’s 

unique teaching research system plays an important role. In the case of Jiangsu, its 

strong teaching research system has always been the director and motivator of the pro-

vincial evidence-based reform in education. Decision-makers’ determination to trans-

form the traditional experience-dependent teaching modes to scientific evidence-based 

education models is the prerequisite for the role of the teaching research system in the 

reform. Moreover, the strong capacity of resource mobilization, organization and coor-

dination of China’s teaching research system lays a solid organizational and institution-

al foundation for the rapid progress and remarkable effectiveness of this reform. 

As mentioned earlier, China’s teaching research system is not only a conglom-

erate of research institutions, but also performs the administrative and organizational 

function in teaching and scientific research. In the process of evidence-based reform in 

education in Jiangsu, massive human and financial resources are required in both organ-

izing large-scale provincial academic survey and setting up follow-up reform projects. 

The establishment of an academic survey system covering the whole province, the 

compilation of a complete package of scientific assessment tools, the promotion of 

large-scale intervention experiments within the province, and the formation of evi-

dence-based education policymaking and implementation mechanisms, within just 15 

years, depend entirely on the strong force of such a system. Local educational depart-

ments, whether they support evidence-based reform in education or not, must keep in 

line with the overall arrangement under this system, which ensures the effective promo-

tion of reform. Once the effect of the reform at the initial stage is confirmed, such a sys-

tem can help carry out large-scale verifying experiments and then further deepen the 

reform. 

In fact, China teaching research system as a whole has always had such a pow-

erful capacity, yet undoubtedly, some of the reforms it initiated previously could not 

reach the goals as expected or be verified of their effects. The success of Jiangsu’s evi-

dence-based education reform is attributed to the strong organization and coordination 

abilities of its teaching research system, yet more to the value orientation and action 

path determined by the teaching research system led by the Provincial Teaching re-

search Office. During the 15 years of exploration, the reform has consistently been 

based on solid scientific research, to ensure the correctness of reform direction and the 

effectiveness of reform measures. 

Jiangsu’s education reform and experiment are of great significance to the 

promotion of China’s evidence-based reform in education and innovation of teaching 

research approach, in that the follow-up evidence-based reform in Jiangsu takes scien-

tific evidence as the basis of reform and practice, through which long-standing prob-

lems with China’s education reform such as lack of scientific approach and poor effec-

tiveness can be solved.  The survey of basic education quality in Jiangsu and the rele-

vant analysis provide the reform with full support of scientific research. Directed by 

laws of education, the reform can overcome blindness and achieve the expected results. 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1240 

Moreover, the follow-up evidence-based reform uses reform experimental projects as 

media in applying survey results fully into practical work, thereby dissolving the sepa-

ration between professional research and practical work. Such follow-up reforms start 

with scientific research, and then apply it to practical work, and in turn draw research 

subject matter from practical work, thereby to form a promotion path of reform combin-

ing theory with practice, resulting in the pertinence and effectiveness of scientific re-

search, and the strengthened guidance on practical work. 

It should be noted that the great achievements made in the Jiangsu evidence-

based reform in education is significantly conditioned by China’s unique teaching re-

search system and its powerful strength. In a sense, the path of China’s evidence-based 

reform in education can hardly be replicated by other countries. However, emphasis on 

scientific survey tools, multi-party cooperation in reform and gradual expansion of re-

form scope from pilot experiments to popularization are universal experience in line 

with laws of educational development. 

Challenges and Prospects 

Despite the remarkable results achieved by the follow-up evidence-based reform of 

Jiangsu supported by the survey of educational quality, the reform is still facing several 

challenges and has a long way to go when looking into the future. 

 

Firstly, data conditions need to be further improved and vertical tracking data 

covering more subjects are to be built.  

 

The lack of vertical tracking data has been constraints to China teaching research and 

the progress of evidence-based reform in education. A comprehensive and scientific 

vertical tracking database is essential infrastructure in further push for such reform. 

 

Secondly, the progress of global evidence-based research should be followed, and 

more cutting-edge and scientific analysis technology be introduced. 

 

With the technological and scientifically advancement, more cutting-edge technology 

and methodology have been applied to the educational survey and the evidence-based 

reform. China’s evidence-based reform in education should draw more investment of 

energy and effort in the future, keep pace with global cutting-edge technology and lo-

calize educational innovation, in the push for intelligence-oriented development in this 

field. 

 

Lastly, the follow-up reform should be reinforced, and closer combination of scien-

tific evidence and practical work be advocated. 

 

In the future, more flexible and innovative follow-up measures are needed to further 

strengthen the promotion, publicity and application of evidence and improve the effec-

tiveness of evidence use. 

 

 

 



Zhou. China’s Teaching research System and Education Reform. 

BECE, Vol.9, No. 2, 2021 1241 

Note: 

1. The project team began to develop the high order thinking disposition scale for primary and mid-

dle school students in 2016. Referring to similar studies at home and abroad, after testing trials 

of nearly 100,000 samples in more than 2 years, an assessment tool with high reliability and va-

lidity was obtained and applied to the provincial survey in 2018. The assessment results are good. 

The above figure shows the confirmatory factor assessment results. The assessment tool takes the 

lead in solving the technical problem of high order thinking disposition assessment in provincial 

survey and has high academic value and practical application value. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Received: 11 October 2021 

Revised: 30 October 2021 

Accepted: 05 November 2021 

 

 

 

 

 

https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.001
https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.001
https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.005
https://doi.org/10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5560.2021.05.005
https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.19.ar027
https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120976060
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12863-015-0165-4

	OrignialArticle-ShikeZhou-BECE_title_Dec2021
	OriginalArticle-ShikeZhou--BECE_MaintextDec2021

