Dr. Yang Xiangdong_The 3rd Chinese-European Conference on Curriculum Development of Basic Education

Dr. Yang Xiangdong

Position: East China Normal University, School of Education, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, China, 200062.

Dr. Yang is an Associate Professor in the department of Curriculum and Instruction at East China Normal University (ECNU). Prior to joining the faculty at ECNU, Dr. Yang was Assistant Professor of Inquiry Methodology, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University. He also served as Research Associate with the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation (CETE) at the University of Kansas.

Short CV: East China Normal University, School of Education, 3663 North Zhongshan Road, Shanghai, China, 200062.

Dr. Yang is an Associate Professor in the department of Curriculum and Instruction at East China Normal University (ECNU). Prior to joining the faculty at ECNU, Dr. Yang was Assistant Professor of Inquiry Methodology, Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology at Indiana University. He also served as Research Associate with the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation (CETE) at the University of Kansas. In these roles, Dr. Yang conducted research and taught courses in the area of psychometrics, quantitative methods, and research design in Education. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from University of Kansas. He was the recipient of “the Gulliksen Psychometric Fellow” Award from Educational Testing Service (ETS) at Princeton, New Jersey. He has published on journals including Educational and Psychological Measurement, Journal of Applied Measurement, Educational Assessment, The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Special Education. He also wrote monographs that appeared in books such as Handbook of Statistics: Psychometrics, Rasch Measurement: Advanced and Specialized Applications, Complementary research methods for education (3rd ed.), and Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment in Education: Theory and Applications.

Area of interest:

In these roles, Dr. Yang conducted research and taught courses in the area of psychometrics, quantitative methods, and research design in Education. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from University of Kansas. He was the recipient of “the Gulliksen Psychometric Fellow” Award from Educational Testing Service (ETS) at Princeton, New Jersey. He has published on journals including Educational and Psychological Measurement, Journal of Applied Measurement, Educational Assessment, The Journal of Technology, Learning, and Assessment, Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of Special Education. He also wrote monographs that appeared in books such as Handbook of Statistics: Psychometrics, Rasch Measurement: Advanced and Specialized Applications, Complementary research methods for education (3rd ed.), and Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment in Education: Theory and Applications.

The Effect of School Choice on Student’s Mathematical Achievement in China （Yang Xiangdong & Ke Zheng）

Based on Rubin’s conceptual framework of causal inference, the average effect between key schools and ordinary schools in China was estimated by combining hierarchical linear modeling with propensity score stratification. Different from the sector classification of Catholic versus public school, the classification of key and ordinary schools in China reflects more of the direct consequences of policy initiative and resource allocations. Results of the current study showed that a statistically significant school effect exists between key schools and ordinary schools. Students from key schools are generally expected to have higher on mathematical achievement than those from ordinary schools, net of characteristics of students and their families. Yet specific magnitudes of such school effects vary substantially. The advantages of key schools over ordinary schools were found to be generally greater among urban schools than among suburban schools.