On October 9th, a sampling plan confirmation meeting was held at the NEEA. This sampling plan is part of the project of “English Language Proficiency Assessments in China: Current Status and Future Needs.” The participants include: Yongjin Jin, Dean of the School of Statistics at Renmin University; Yan Luo, Educational Researcher at the Institute of Education at Tsinghua University; Wenkai Sun, Professor at the School of Statistics at Renmin University; the needs analysis group at Tsinghua University as well as the Foreign Language Assessment System working group of NEEA.

　　The research group has composed questionnaires for teachers in different educational sectors, including senior high schools, universities and vocational schools. These have all been trialed and revised. With a draft sampling plan on hand, this conference discussed, inter alia, which provinces to choose and the reasons for these choices, how to select schools in each province, and how to analyze the data.

　　Following the suggestions of the statisticians, the working group revised the sampling plan. The next step would be to conduct research nationally using this plan. The working group also decided to survey and interview international schools during the China Education Expo in order to gain a better understanding of students’ needs while studying abroad.