The " US-China Education Think Tank Dialogue" –sponsored by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People’s Republic of China and organized by the NIES – was held in Beijing on June 7-9th, 2016. The dialogue ran alongside the 7th Annual US-China High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchanges (CPE).
About 150 educational policymakers, managers and researchers from research institutions and universities in the United States and China participated. Well represented at the dialogue were NIES, Education Development Research Center of the MOE, Tsinghua University, East China Normal University, Shanghai Normal University, the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), Harvard University, Stanford University and the Policy Center at American Institutes for Research.
China’s Deputy Minister of Education Hao Ping delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. He said such a dialogue was an important part of the US-China people-to-people exchange mechanism, is significantly meaningful for establishing a new strategic relationship between China and the United States. The two sides discussed "Education Research, Policymaking and Innovation in the Knowledge-based Economy" through keynote reports, thematic presentations and Q&AS. NIES President Tian Huisheng and Marc Tucker, Chairman of NCEE, gave keynote speech– the former on "China's Educational Reform Achievements and Future Prospects" and the latter on "U.S. Education Reform in a Global Context". Other keynote speakers included Professor Fernando Reimers, Director of the International Education Policy Research Center of Harvard University; Susanna Loeb, Director of Stanford Center on Education Policy Research; Professor Xie Weihe of Tsinghua University; and Professor Zhang Minxuan of Shanghai Normal University. Those present discussed topics such as "Education Reform and Development", "Curriculum Reform for the 21st Century", "Innovation in Classrooms and Schools ", "Higher Education Reform and Employment", "Education Standards and Evaluation", "Teacher Training and Development" and "Education Development and Innovation". Vice President Liu Jianfeng presided over the opening and closing ceremonies. President Tian Huisheng addressed the opening and closing ceremonies.
On the morning of June 7th, Tian Huisheng and some American representatives attended the 7th Annual High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE), co-chaired by Vice Premier Liu Yandong and US Secretary of State John Kerry, at the National Museum of China in Beijing. On the same day, American representatives visited Beijing Haidian Minzu Primary School and Beijing No. 35 High School, and participated in the " U.S.-China School Principal Dialogue". The principals of American model schools for educational reform, and the principals of Beijing No. 35 High School and Beijing No. 2 Experimental Primary School had an in-depth discussion – under the theme “New Paradigm of School Development in the 21st Century” – on issues such as school development, teacher development, student developmnt and exchange and collaboration between the US and China. The NIES Vice President Liu Jianfengdelivered a speech at the dialogue.
The event was co-organized by the NIES and the NCEE. Sponsors of the preparation and organization of the event included, on the Chinese side, the Education Development Research Center of the MOE, Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, Shandong Provincial Institute of Education Sciences, Beijing No. 35High School, Beijing Haidian MInzu Primary School, and Beijing Royal School.; on the American side, the Global Education Innovation Initiative (GEII) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, National Education Policy Center , California State University Northridge, University of Northern Colorado, University of Hawaii Kabilolani Community College, and the American Academy of Innovative Education.
The sides exchanged their latest progress in educational policymaking and research, and their experiences in establishing first-class educational think tank. During the conference, representatives from education think tanks also held consultations on the drafting of a strategic framework for China-US educational research cooperation and other cooperation matters.
