BECE, Vol.12, No.2, 2022 1609 Evidenced-based Educational Reform Supported by Education Quality Monitor- ing: China’s Exploration and Experience Jijun Yao School of Educational Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210024, Jiangsu, China “Every child should have the opportunity to receive a quality education.” –Bill Frist N China’s educational community, there is a consensus that any deci- sion-making or advance in reform must be based on scientific evidence. It has been realized that the traditional instruction modalities that draw on educators’ personal experience have become ineffective in accomplishing better education in the new era. In this context, China’s educational adminis- trators have been committed to constructing an evidence-based system to en- able reform in education. In the Construction and Application of Regional Education Quality Monitoring Databases: A Case Study of Suzhou’s Education Quality Moni- toring in this issue of the journal (Shen & Luo, 2022), Suzhou’s education quality monitoring (EQM) research team presents their city’s experiences in developing EQM databases. Suzhou, a city with a high level of socio- economic development, has made successful experiments in evidence-based educational reform. It has created a citywide EQM system, which can pro- vide comprehensive evaluation of student academic performance as well as useful information about school operation, teachers’ instruction behavior, students’ learning behavior, and home education, etc. As a result, ample data are available for systematic analyses of teaching and learning processes and © 2022 Insights Publisher. All rights reserved. Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed un- der 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. I http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ BECE, Vol.12, No.2, 2022 1610 outcomes. Technically, Suzhou’s EQM system has incorporated big data analytics and AI assessment technologies; it also enables longitudinal re- search on student long-term development. Such educational database design is original and cutting-edge in China. The significance of Suzhou’s exploration in EQM database construc- tion is remarkable. First, there are big gaps in social development level among regions in China. Attitudes towards evidence-based educational re- form vary in different areas. It necessitates pioneers and successful stories from relatively developed regions which can serve as role models for less developed ones by sharing valuable experience. Suzhou proves to be a good example in this regard. Second, Suzhou’s practice provides a useful reference for global evidence-based educational reform. Its EQM database architecture is top-notch in operational procedure and technological application, and has many advantages in supporting educational decision-making and practice. Although each country has its own national circumstances and educational conditions, we believe that Suzhou’s technical innovation in EQM can go beyond regional and national boundaries and has the potential of universal application. Third, Suzhou’s evidence-based educational reform focuses on issues of Chinese features. Chinese society tends to overemphasize student academic achievements. This has caused a series of problems, but also offers a chance to achieve the breakthrough in educational reform. For its regional EQM, Suzhou has established a complete feature database system focused on student academic performance, which is a reasonable and effective strategy under China’s circumstances. This pathway can not only assist in responding to the most pronounced and critical issues, but also ignite a larger scale of educational reform and make it a successful change. As the evidence-based educational reform is still in its infancy in Chi- na, the exploration in this area, including Suzhou’s, is undergoing progres- sive improvement. Despite the remarkable achievements that have been made in Suzhou’s EQM, there is still room for improvement in obtaining more reliable and robust evidence. We believe that over time, with the con- tinuous efforts of researchers and practitioners, China’s, including Suzhou’s, educational reform based on empirical evidence will surely generate more sa- lient results and provide valuable insights to its counterparts worldwide. References Shen, J. & Luo, Q. (2022). The construction and application of regional education quality monitoring databases: A case study of Suzhou’s education quality monitoring. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 2022; 12(2):1613-1628. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.22.re031 https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.22.re031 BECE, Vol.12, No.2, 2022 1611 Correspondence to: Jijun Yao, Ph.D. School of Educational Science Nanjing Normal University Nanjing 210024 Jiangsu China E-mail: E-mail: yaojijun_njnu@163.com Conflict of Interests: None. Doi: 10.15354/bece.22.co020 mailto:yaojijun_njnu@163.com