Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/62426

KEYWORDS : educational articulation;university entrance examination;dysfunction of the articulation system;educational reform;knowledge-based society

The articulation system between high school and university consists of two factors; one is educational articulation that is assured both by continuity in the curriculum between high school and university and by academic achievement in high school. The other is selection for admission. In Japan, reforms in both education and selection of the 1990s undermined this system, and caused dysfunction of the Japanese articulation system; there is no common test/examination that assesses academic achievement in high school, and so entrance examinations of individual departments/faculties/universities are left with the task of assessing academic achievement. If Japan is to become a truly knowledge-based society, Japanese public policy must solve this dysfunction. This article gives the historical background and an analysis of the Japanese system, and comments upon the current reform policy.