F9: Recruiting Quality Students From China - nacac

F9: Recruiting Quality Students From China 

Updates From AP ® Schools in China on 

Student Readiness for Postsecondary 

Study at American Institutions 

John Tucker, Delaware Valley School District, Milford, PA 

Bo Wang, the College Board, New York, NY 

Stephen Woolbert, Wuxi Tianyi High School, Wuxi, China 

Ye Pengfei, Fuyang High School, Fuyang, China 

Wang Guangfa, Beijing Royal School, Beijing, China

Outline 

• Introduction of the panelists 

• An overview of AP Program ® development in China 

• Presentations from principals at AP schools in China 

• Panel discussion 

• Questions and answers

Introduction 

Moderator: Jay Tucker 

Counseling Department Chairperson, 

Delaware Valley School District, Milford, PA 

College Board Trustee Member 

• Worked at the high school, community college and private university 

levels. 

• Has over 30 years of experience in the education field 

• For the last 10 years as Counseling Department Chairperson, in 

Delaware Valley School District, Milford, PA 

• Was elected and is serving a four year term on the Board of Trustees 

of the College Board.

Introduction 

Presenter: Dr. Xiangbo Wang 

Vice President, Relationship Development, Asia 

The College Board, New York, NY 

• Dr. XiangBo Wang is the Vice President of College Board’s 

Relationship Development in China. 

• He has a Ph.D. from University of Hawaii. Prior to his current 

position, Dr. Wang had also held various leadership and technical 

positions at the College Board, ACT, Chauncey Group International, 

ETS, and LSAT.

Introduction 

Presenter: Stephen Woolbert 

AP Center Principal 

Wuxi Tianyi High School, Wuxi, China 

• Stephen Woolbert is the AP Center Principal and oversees the AP 

program center at Tianyi High School, one of the best high schools 

in Jiangsu province. 

• Stephen has over 20 years’ experience of student counseling and 

AP teaching in high schools in the U.S. before he moved to China.

Introduction 

Presenter: Ye Pengfei 

Vice Principal 

Fuyang High School, Fuyang, Zhejiang, China 

• Mr. Ye Pengfei is the Vice Principal and oversees the AP program at 

Fuyang High School in Zhejiang province, China. 

• He received a master’s degree from U.K. 

• Mr. Ye has been high school principals for over 20 years in China 

and has great experience running international programs.

Introduction 

Presenter: Wang Guangfa 

Chairman and Principal 

Beijing Royal School, Beijing, China 

• Dr. Wang Guangfa is the Chairman and Principal of Beijing Royal 

School, a private high school in Beijing, China, which features 

international education and is the largest AP school in China. 

• Dr. Wang earned his Doctor of Laws at China University of Political 

Science and Law (CUPL) .

AN OVERVIEW OF AP DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA 

By Dr. Xiangbo Wang, The College Board

AP in China 

• Number of AP Schools: 260 

• Number of AP Exams: 28,888 

• AP Exam Performance of students in China 

– Math and science subjects are strong 

– Language arts subjects are challenges for Chinese students 

– Social science subjects are slowing growing 

• Focuses of the College Board’s work in China: quality not quantity 

– AP Course Audit 

– AP Teacher Professional Development 

– School visits and support 

• College Board does not endorse or support any kind of short-term AP 

training programs. AP is an academic program within high school. 

• Test Center Model for exam administration to ensure test integrity.

WUXI TIANYI HIGH SCHOOL’S AP EXPERIENCE 

By Stephen Woolbert

Wuxi Tianyi High School 

School and Student Background 

• Tianyi High School is an elite public boarding school in Wuxi, Jiangsu, 

China . 3,000 students attend Tianyi. 

• Our program is the Tianyi AP Center, that consists of 230 students 

who do not prepare for the gao kao(China’s National College Entrance 

Exam), but instead take AP classes, SAT, and TOEFL and apply to 

western universities nearly all in the United States and Canada.


AP Program History 

• The AP program began in 2009. This year’s graduating class is the 

third graduating class. The 2012-2013 school year will be our fourth 

year of operation. 

• Students in our program take the city high school entrance exam and 

we usually select from among the top 5%. English fluency is also a 

determining factor. The AP program at Tianyi is a highly selective 

program. 

• 100% of graduates have enrolled in American and Canadian 

universities . There has been clear and verifiable progress in the 

program year to year.


AP Program Structure 

• The program lasts 3 years. Year 1 students take 14 classes with AP 

teachers and 26 classes with Chinese teachers. Year 1 students take 8 

classes of English and 6 pre-AP classes in calculus, physics and 

economics. 

• Year 2 students take 26 classes with AP teachers and 14 classes with 

Chinese teachers or in independent study. Year 2 students take 

English, AP Macroeconomics, AP Physics B, and AP Calculus AB. 

• Year 3 students take all their classes with AP teachers or are in 

independent study. Students can choose between 3 and 6 AP classes 

in Year 3. Those classes are AP Calculus BC, AP Physics C, AP 

Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Microeconomics, AP 

Statistics, AP Psychology and AP English if their TOEFL score is over 

100. If not enrolled in AP English students take academic English.


AP Program Recourses and Staff 

• All textbooks are standard AP or pre-AP books. 

• All of our AP teachers this year are American and certified by 

recognized bodies in the United States. 

• The Center has a computer lab with 40 computers. 

• All science classes are taught in science labs. 

• Each classroom has a computer and data projector.


Academic Performance and Program Outcome 

• Nearly all of our students pass all their AP exams and a majority of 

scores are 4 or 5 . 

• Calculus and physics scores are the highest and psychology and 

environmental science the lowest. We believe this correlates with the 

English ability needed in the different classes. 

• 100% of our graduates are now enrolled in American and Canadian 

universities. Our top graduates are attending Rice, Middlebury, 

Carleton, Vassar, Wesleyan, Bryn Mawr, Michigan, UCLA, Virginia and 

many more schools.


Student Counseling at the AP Center 

• We have an accomplished and dedicated in-house counseling 

program. Our head counselor, Helen Gao, has a veteran staff of 5 

counselors. 

• The students also get in-house assistance with TOEFL and SAT 

preparation. 

• Counseling begins in the first year and there is a detailed 3-year plan. 

We use US-style transcripts and the Center Principal signs all 

transcripts.

FUYANG HIGH SCHOOL’S AP EXPERIENCE 

By Ye Pengfei

Fuyang High School 

School Background 

• Our High School is situated in Fuyang, a relatively wealthy suburb of 

Hangzhou. Hangzhou, with a population of about 6 million, is the 

capital city of Zhejiang province, one of the wealthiest provinces in 

China. 

• Our school has both public and private programs and is part of a K-12 

school group that annually enrolls about 10,000 students and is 

officially recognized both nationally and provincially as a key school. 

Many of our students board at the school returning home on Sunday 

to visit family.


Academic Excellence 

• The public school component has an excellent reputation and each 

year 99% of the students pass the Gao Kao, the national University 

entrance exam, and about 80% of the graduates will be admitted into 

the best universities in China, like Tsin Hua University ,Beijing 

University , Zhejiang University. 

• This last school year, Zhejiang Province was allocated 100 placements 

in the highest ranked Chinese universities. Our school qualified 13 

students representing over 10% of that allocation. 

• For a number of years, many Fuyang graduates were accepted into 

universities in the USA, Australia, U.K. and Canada. 

• More and more Chinese families have turned to alternate overseas 

education paths for their children. Fuyang High School decided to 

provide a program in keeping the school’s excellent reputation.


AP Program Staff 

• Led by the Chinese Principal (AP Center Program Director), myself 

• A foreign AP Center Principal who is responsible for supervising the 

AP teachers and ensuring a quality program. 

• 10 foreign AP subject teachers 

• 2 assistant Center vice-principals 

• Chinese Head Teachers for instructional quality and student discipline 

• 14 Chinese subject teachers


Staff Quality and Development 

• We are very proud of the cooperative nature of our Chinese and 

foreign staff and the collegial and collaborative work that takes place. 

• 90% of our Chinese staff in the AP program speak English well and are 

able to supplement and complement the AP coursework in their 

provincial courses. 

• All of our Pre-AP and AP courses as well as English classes and Year 

3 Foundation courses are taught by foreign teachers. 

• Administrators and AP teachers have attended College Board’s AP 

workshops and received training for the requirements and rigor of AP 

coursework, as well attended ongoing school based professional 

development. All foreign teachers have personal professional 

development plans annually.


Student Selection 

• At the end of Grade 9, students in Zhejiang province take a set of exit 

exams (Zhong Kao). These results determine entrance to High 

Schools. Our AP center uses these exam results as well as additional 

English language reading and writing tests, in conjunction with an oral 

interview with a foreign teacher, to determine acceptance to our AP 

program. 

• Our acceptance rate is on average approximately 65% of all 

applicants. We anticipate incremental growth in enrollment will 

continue. 

– 2010-2011: 40 students in Grade 10 and 30 students in Grade 11. 

– 2011-2012: 75 students in Grade 10, 40 students in Grade 11 and 27 

students in Grade 12. 

– 2012-2013: 105 students in Grade 10, 73 in Grade 11 and 37 in Grade 

12.


AP Program Background 

• Our AP program is a private component of our school and we are one 

of only 4 schools in China that have national and provincial 

endorsement. 

• Unlike many provinces in China, Zhejiang province requires all 

students to obtain a Chinese High School diploma to graduate even if 

they are in a private alternate program. 

• The students at Fuyang High School AP Program therefore study two 

separate programs during their final three High School years, the 

Chinese curriculum and the western AP curriculum. 

• Our students are challenged by having to master two entirely different 

curricula (AP at a college level !) and in two very different languages. 

Their school day begins at 7am and ends at 9:30 pm.


Instructional Strategies 

• On top of the subject content that must be mastered, the students also 

deal with differing instructional strategies depending upon the 

program. We make a point in our AP classes to introduce learning 

styles and cooperative learning experiences to begin to prepare them 

for studying in a Western setting. 

• Our Chinese classes are typically around 50 students, our AP classes 

typically around 24 to a maximum of 30 students.


Course offering 

• We decided to initially begin our AP program with an emphasis upon 

Science courses as this is typically our students’ strength 

• English Language acquisition is of course the biggest challenge in the 

classroom. Our English program concentrates on all aspects of 

language and is performance oriented not just test focused. 

• We have a summer camp for incoming Grade 10 students that is 

taught by foreign ESL teachers and all incoming students are retested 

using IPT and placed for differentiated ESL instruction in September. 

In the second semester of Grade 10 TOEFL training begins. 

• Our Grade 11 students begin the year with intensive TOEFL instruction 

and our Grade 12 students add SAT test preparation if necessary. 

• In Grade 10, our students take Pre-AP courses in Calculus, Physics , 

Micro-or Macro-Economics ( we alternate courses).


Zhejiang Province Required Courses for Graduation 

• Year 1 Chinese; English; Mathematics; Politics; Chemistry; 

Geography; Physics; I.T.; P.E.; Music; History; 

• Year 2 Chinese; Mathematics; Physics; Chemistry; General 

Technology; Biology; Politics; English; P.E. 

• Year 3 Chinese; Mathematics; P.E.


Pre-AP and AP courses 

• Pre-AP Calculus, AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC 

• Pre-AP Chemistry, and AP Chemistry; 

• Pre-AP Micro-economics, and AP Micro-economics, 

• Pre-AP Macro-economics and AP Macro-economics 

• Pre-AP Physics, AP Physics B and AP Physics C 

• AP Statistics 

• Pre-AP Environmental Science 

• English Language courses of speaking, listening, writing and reading


Other Activities 

• Fuyang High School AP program has a three year advisory program in 

place for parents and students. 

• In the first year, students and parents are educated in the 

requirements of foreign universities and in the types of programs 

available. As part of this process, the AP program itself is described as 

it represents a very different type of education than the norm. 

• All students are encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities. 

As the school day and week is already very long there is not a lot of 

time for activities but student and teacher initiatives have resulted in 

a soccer and basketball team, The Duke of Edinburgh Awards 

program, charity fund-raising functions and a Rock Band.

BEIJING ROYAL SCHOOL’S AP EXPERIENCE 

By Wang Guangfa

Beijing Royal School 


• Established in 1996, Beijing Royal School is a K-12 private boarding 

school established and managed through Chinese-foreign cooperation 

and approved by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education. 

Located north of the ancient Palace Museum and the modern Olympic 

Village in Beijing, the Beijing Royal School campus comprises nearly 

100,000 square meters. 

• Beijing Royal School students are educated to be international. The 

school is a bridge that connects advanced international education to 

China, and that provides an opportunity for Chinese students to attend 

leading universities abroad.



• BRS provides American Advanced Placement ® program and 

Cambridge International Examination A-Level program, in addition to 

preparation for IELTS, TOEFL iBT, and SAT examinations. 

• With the approval of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, 

BRS students only need to take some Chinese courses, such as 

Chinese Ideology, Chinese Politics and Chinese History, and take 

international courses to substitute other subjects, so our students are 

released greatly from a heavy course load. 

• BRS offers the students the opportunity to take international tests 

required to meet the admissions requirements of universities abroad, 

such as AP, A-Level, TOFEL iBT, GRE, PSAT, and ACT etc on campus. 

• Dual Diploma Program & Student Exchange Program prepare quality 

students to study in a U.S high school for immersion exchanges.


Guidance Counseling Office 

• The GCO provides students with college admission guidance and 

assists each student in curriculum and course selection in guidance 

counseling course. It also provides quality- oriented education, 

overseas study and employment counseling. 

• All English classes are arranged in an identical time and students are 

divided into primary, intermediate, high-level groups based on their 

English level. 

• Besides, BRS’s classrooms are course-specific. Teachers remain in 

the same classroom, and the students move from one classroom to 

another.


International Exchange 

• Summer/Winter Camps at Leading Universities Abroad 

• Education Programs for Gifted Youth 

• Summer Schools of American Top Universities


Teachers from Around the World 

• BRS teachers are excellent international teachers with 40% foreign 

teachers, 40% overseas-educated Chinese teachers and 20% bilingual 

Chinese teachers. 

• BRS has signed agreements for “famous teacher” programs with Duke 

University, UNC at Chapel Hill, NC State University and University of 

Minnesota. 

• BRS introduces international pedagogies through working with the 

Harvard Graduate School of Education.


Student Selection 

• Our students come from all over China. We look at their past academic 

performance and their potential to succeed by interview. 

• Our selection process includes review of previous GPA, test scores, 

interview and additional on-site tests.



• We are the first to introduce A-Level program in 2003 and AP program 

in 2006 and now has 6 years’ experience with AP. 

• We are the first local school in China to become a member of the 

College Board. 

• The College Board has authorized Beijing Royal School as a test 

center for Advanced Placement examinations and the PSAT, and has 

also designated the school as the first Advanced Placement Teaching 

Demonstration School in 2010.

• AP Calculus AB 

• AP Calculus BC 

• AP Statistics 

• AP Physics B 

• AP Physics C 

• AP Chemistry 

• AP Biology 

• AP Environmental Science 

• AP Macroeconomics 


20 AP Courses are offered at BRS 

• AP Microeconomics 

• AP United States History 

• AP Art History 

• AP Chinese Language and 

Culture 

• AP French Language


Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 

# of 

students 

Students Taking AP exams 

11 66 203 296 290 335 

Exams 29 189 685 1338 1359 1248


Advanced Laboratories


2012 BRS Students’ AP Performance 

Grade 5 4 3 2 1 

Percentage 23% 25% 18% 22% 12%


BRS Graduates 

• All of the school’s graduates attend leading international universities. 

• 97% of Beijing Royal School graduates attend the top hundred 

universities in the world. 

• 30% of the graduates are accepted to the world’s top 30 universities, 

and 30% of graduates receive scholarships to pursue higher 

education. 

• In the US., BRS graduates are attending Princeton, MIT, Stanford, 

Dartmouth, Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell, Emory, Rice, 

the University of California(Berkeley), UCLA, University of Virginia, 

and University of Minnesota etc. 

• In the UK, BRS graduates are attending Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial 

College, and University College London etc. 

• In Canada, BRS graduates are attending University of Waterloo, 

University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia etc. 

• In Australia, BRS graduates are attending the University of Sydney etc.

PANEL DISCUSSION 

Led by the Moderator: Jay Tucker 

Participated by the Panelists

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

THANK YOU!

F9: Recruiting Quality Students From China - nacac

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