Standards-based assessments for 12-year basic education in Taiwan

Taiwan officially implemented 12-Year Basic Education. Entrance examinations and classroom assessments are one of the keys to the success of this new program. Because thousands of Taiwanese children will be affected, how to help the program succeed deserves scrutiny. In recent years, many developed nations have used standards-based assessment to enhance their educational programs. Standards-based assessment, therefore, could potentially be advantageous for Taiwan as well. In this study, the implications of broadly applying standards-based assessment were investigated by exploring its effect on knowledge diversity, scholastic ability, and academic pressure among junior high school students.