Chronic consequences of high-stakes testing? Lessons from the Chinese civil service exam

In their article on China's imperial examination system the authors - two educational psychologists - show the relevance of this history to current debates about university entrance and secondary school leaving exams. Based on painstaking archival research they present instructive details and reveal unintended consequences of testing over a very long period. The authors argue that memorizing model essays, focusing on test-taking skills, and cheating are likely to be pervasive consequences of any high-stakes testing regime. Exam-induced psychological and behavioural problems are likely to result from such a regime. As the system with the longest and best-preserved records, the Keju system exhibited these same problems throughout its history. The fact that these problems persisted in the Keju system, despite repeated attempts to remove them, suggests that threats to the consequential basis of validity are stubbornly chronic in nature. When measures are taken to remove them, they mutate to new forms. (DIPF/Orig./Ba.).