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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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 Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:00 am Post subject: GAC (Global Assessment Cert) and ACT in China |
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GAC is a program to provide students with a Global Assessment Certificate and the ACT is an entry exam to Universities�well in USA. Those are the programs apparently getting started in China. Those programs/courses are managed by ACT Education Solution Limited. According to the prints of Global Assessment Certificate course books copies the Head Office is in North Sydney, Australia. The ACT has got a company/office in China that�s been located in Shanghai and that�s been trying to sell their courses to schools around.
These courses are to get Chinese students ready for western unies as well as ready for those ACT exams to make it clearer for you guys that might not be as familiar with it.
Now, I would like to know more about these programs, company and any experience anyone could share on this forum with me. There must be some teachers around that are involved in the programs, since this site has previously advertised for positions with ACT in China.
Peace to ACT, GAC and their agents
and
Cheers and beers to all hard working FTs in China |
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Dalaoer
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 24
Location: The Lost World
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| Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:54 am Post subject: |
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ACT Education Solutions used to be called Campus Global International Education Services, a small Australian company that developed the GAC. In January 2005 they were acquired by ACT Inc. (creators of the ACT test), and hence their rapid expansion in China. ACT Education Solutions' HQ is indeed in Sydney, and worldwide delivery of the GAC is controlled from there through regional offices. In China, it's ACT Shanghai.
The GAC is delivered locally by schools who purchase the license and who must meet the requirements stated in the license agreement. Teachers are employed by the local centre and have to be approved by ACT. Working conditions will vary greatly among individual centres.
AFAIK, some centres are as crooked as can be and some are great, it varies greatly. In any case, things cannot really get too bad because ACT would simply withdraw the license. QA is effected mostly through moderation of assessments and audits (twice yearly)
It's a university foundation course, much like the IFY or others: EAP, study skills, science, business, maths, test prep... the usual staple of foundation programs. It's recognised by over 110 universities.
My experience has been quite positive. As a DoS, politics can make my job difficult at times, but I'd say that for teachers it is a fairly rewarding program to teach in. It's an interesting project and students are generally motivated and capable (entry requirement is IELTS 5.0) It's nice to work with concrete goals and with a relevant, well-developed curriculum.
Anyone would care to share? |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 6:13 am Post subject: |
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Thanx for enlightening post there, Dalaoer. And, I am really glad that someone has actually got the experience with GAC/ACT in China.
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| ACT Education Solutions used to be called Campus Global International Education Services, a small Australian company that developed the GAC. In January 2005 they were acquired by ACT Inc. (creators of the ACT test), and hence their rapid expansion in China. ACT Education Solutions' HQ is indeed in Sydney, and worldwide delivery of the GAC is controlled from there through regional offices. In China, it's ACT Shanghai. |
I am not so sure about their "rapid expansion in China" since nobody on forums seems to know/care much about it, but I know that the ACT tests are carried out in some/quite a few US Unis. Are the ACT tests necessary for entries to Aussie Unis 
Sorry to have caught up with those ACT tests there, but they do seem to be the goal of ACT programs, don't they?
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| The GAC is delivered locally by schools who purchase the license and who must meet the requirements stated in the license agreement. Teachers are employed by the local centre and have to be approved by ACT. Working conditions will vary greatly among individual centres. |
I assume that the license agreement is provided by the ACT Solution HQ from Sydney, however I guess there is yet another license that the Chinese center has to have in order to operate such a program How does the ACT approve those teachers?
I really know what you mean by that working conditions that might often vary from center to center.
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| AFAIK, some centres are as crooked as can be and some are great, it varies greatly. In any case, things cannot really get too bad because ACT would simply withdraw the license. QA is effected mostly through moderation of assessments and audits (twice yearly) |
You might've partially answered a licencse question that I've stated above with this one. Would you know how those moderations of assessments and audits are carried out in China?
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| It's a university foundation course, much like the IFY or others: EAP, study skills, science, business, maths, test prep... the usual staple of foundation programs. It's recognised by over 110 universities. |
And so I've heard. In my opinion, the GAC is a great program for all Chinese students who wish to study in abroad unis. They should get well "adjusted" in those subjects out of their Chinese High Schools as well as they should get prepped well in English.
I know that there are Foundation Courses prior to foreign students first years at their respective unis in the US, Canada, Australia, UK. Those often last for 9 months. I do believe that the ACT Solution is aiming for the current Chinese market to carry such courses in the homeland of students where they might save some money too. Well, kids get sent to western unis through their Foundation Programs and their parents pay through their noses for those 9 months there. I certainly believe that the costs are lower here in China. 
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| My experience has been quite positive. As a DoS, politics can make my job difficult at times, but I'd say that for teachers it is a fairly rewarding program to teach in. It's an interesting project and students are generally motivated and capable (entry requirement is IELTS 5.0) It's nice to work with concrete goals and with a relevant, well-developed curriculum. |
Politics are always tough, aren't they?
Now, I must agree with you on that rewarding program to teach there, since I have learnt about GAC program myself. An interesting project in fact. And, there are defenitely concrete goals in this one.
My question here comes with those IELTS. Do the students have to pass the IELTS 5.0 band prior to their GAC courses?
This IELTS issue brings me back to the US unis where IELTS isn't accepted at all. Are there other options than IELTS to be taken instead?
Peace to the Chinese business people who've started this lovely program
and
cheers and beers to the goals/management of ACT Solutions as well as their plans to expand in China  |
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Dalaoer
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 24
Location: The Lost World
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| Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| englishgibson wrote: |
I am not so sure about their "rapid expansion in China" since nobody on forums seems to know/care much about it, but I know that the ACT tests are carried out in some/quite a few US Unis. Are the ACT tests necessary for entries to Aussie Unis
Sorry to have caught up with those ACT tests there, but they do seem to be the goal of ACT programs, don't they? |
There were about 10 GAC centres 2 years ago, and next year there will be around 30. The ACT test (like SAT) isn't required of international students in most US unis, but it certainly doesn't hurt students to have an ACT score. In the case of Aussie unis, it's not necessary either, as the GAC is accredited in Oz for direct entry into university.
ACT Inc. purchased the GAC and embedded the ACT test in the program with two obejctives: give students more options and have an idependent benchmark of student performance to evaluate GAC outcomes.
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| I assume that the license agreement is provided by the ACT Solution HQ from Sydney, however I guess there is yet another license that the Chinese center has to have in order to operate such a program How does the ACT approve those teachers? |
I'm not really sure if the centres require another license from the Chinese side. What I know is that ACT requires that the centres be experienced in international education programs. Teachers are approved prior to employment through examination of their credentials. Also, they are observed during audits. ACT assists individual centres in teacher recruitment if needed.
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| Would you know how those moderations of assessments and audits are carried out in China? |
There's the centre-level moderation process, which is led by the DoS. All written work is moderated by the DoS and teachers and then submitted to Shanghai for approval. After receiving feedback from Shanghai, we adjust the marks if necessary and give the marks to the students.
Then there's country-level moderation and global-level moderation. This ensures that all standards are the same worldwide.
Audits are carried out by Sydney and/or Shanghai staff twice yearly. All aspects of program delivery are examined (academics and operational) They're very thorough.
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| I do believe that the ACT Solution is aiming for the current Chinese market to carry such courses in the homeland of students where they might save some money too. Well, kids get sent to western unis through their Foundation Programs and their parents pay through their noses for those 9 months there. I certainly believe that the costs are lower here in China. |
That's indeed the idea
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| My question here comes with those IELTS. Do the students have to pass the IELTS 5.0 band prior to their GAC courses? |
Yes, IELTS 5.0 is a prerequisite (or TOEFL 500). For students who haven't the chance to take either test, there is a GAC entry test. In fact, in my experience the GAC entry test is superior to IELTS as an indicator of the English skills that are required of students, as it assesses more specific EAP skills. For students who reach IELTS 4.5, there's a 3-month GAC Foundation English program, which brings the total course duration to 12 months.
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| This IELTS issue brings me back to the US unis where IELTS isn't accepted at all. Are there other options than IELTS to be taken instead? |
Students can choose whether to take an IELTS preparation module or a TOEFL preparation module. Most students will take either test and apply to universities right after GAC Level 2.
Cheers and beers to yourself (and a few beers for me too:D) |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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The ACT test (like SAT) isn't required of international students in most US unis, but it certainly doesn't hurt students to have an ACT score. In the case of Aussie unis, it's not necessary either, as the GAC is accredited in Oz for direct entry into university.
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ACT score surely doesn't hurt, but what might hurt is the time and money spent on studying for it with all due respect...however, i understand that foreign students have got to brush up on their language skills as well as get more culturally aware.
It's nice to see that the GAC is accredited in Australia and I assume that the ACT Solution in China has got its students in that program. And so this GAC might bring some special importance to FTs carrying it out here in China.
If the growth of these kinda centers is so rapid or is planned to be so rapid, then it is deffenitely great news for us.
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I assume that the license agreement is provided by the ACT Solution HQ from Sydney, however I guess there is yet another license that the Chinese center has to have in order to operate such a program How does the ACT approve those teachers?
Reply:
I'm not really sure if the centres require another license from the Chinese side. What I know is that ACT requires that the centres be experienced in international education programs. Teachers are approved prior to employment through examination of their credentials. Also, they are observed during audits. ACT assists individual centres in teacher recruitment if needed. |
That licensing is interesting since ACT/GAC programs are provided on Universities'Colleges' campuses by organizations not affiliated with those schools. Ironically since it is provided on premises of Unis, the ACT does seem to be a future competition to Chinese higher education. It seems to be really cool.
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Would you know how those moderations of assessments and audits are carried out in China?
Reply:
There's the centre-level moderation process, which is led by the DoS. All written work is moderated by the DoS and teachers and then submitted to Shanghai for approval. After receiving feedback from Shanghai, we adjust the marks if necessary and give the marks to the students.
Then there's country-level moderation and global-level moderation. This ensures that all standards are the same worldwide.
Audits are carried out by Sydney and/or Shanghai staff twice yearly. All aspects of program delivery are examined (academics and operational) They're very thorough.
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Forgive me, but that "and/or" gives me an impression that Shanghai will be responsible. Still it is a fine plan to supervise the individual centers that carry out the franchised product.
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My question here comes with those IELTS. Do the students have to pass the IELTS 5.0 band prior to their GAC courses?
Reply:
Yes, IELTS 5.0 is a prerequisite (or TOEFL 500). For students who haven't the chance to take either test, there is a GAC entry test. In fact, in my experience the GAC entry test is superior to IELTS as an indicator of the English skills that are required of students, as it assesses more specific EAP skills. For students who reach IELTS 4.5, there's a 3-month GAC Foundation English program, which brings the total course duration to 12 months. |
I must agree with you that the GAC is superior to IELTS as that indicator there. Great program in fact.
Dalaoer, I thank you for your time sharing your knowledge and experience on the topic. And, I am sure that some others will appreciate it as well.
I hope that this thead will go on in order to remind others of this fine program that has such big plans in China...and I have already seen the ACT advertisements for positions around
Peace to Chinese education as well as the western one
and
cheers and beers to all hard working FTs as well as students in China
PS I'll send you a few cold ones then |
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Dalaoer
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 24
Location: The Lost World
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| Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 2:01 am Post subject: |
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It's my pleasure to share.
In fact, I encourage other teachers in international programs to share their experiences because... well, working in such programs is a nice break from the usual ESL mill/university job, isn't it? Plus, not many people know about them. |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Fri May 04, 2007 5:52 am Post subject: |
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yes, it is a nice break, although these programs ought to come with some standardized contractual agreements for the employees that carry them out as well as their organizational structure...ACT solution needs to look at options they have with respect to its apparently and as you have described it "ACT Solution franchisees" who'd probably go as "low" as they could at times (chinese nature) ...i mean, FTs joining in those programs would most likely want to work under some kinda standards and especially if they'd move on to another "ACT Solution franchise" within this country...i believe that the ACT Solution is looking for a retention of its existing foreign teachers in within, is it?
if the centers get a free hand at their management techinques, the franchise will just become just like some other mills in china, where employers lay their "strong hand" on their operations and employees suffer...FTs would prefer to know who their supervisor is as well as they'd prefer a sort of a "reasonable" communication at work
when i was a DoS at one mill in china, aside my center manager's nuisance, the course consultants as well as teachers assistants interfered in my FTs work on regular basis (directed by the center manager who was the owner as well)
i know it is tough in china, since we often run into some kind of traditionalizm at work, however if we want to do it the right way we need to limit the owners interferences to certain degree
peace to the 10 or so centers in china that carry out those lovely ACT products
and
cheers and beers to the teachers working in |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 8:17 am Post subject: |
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With all the importance of this program for foreign students joining western unis, it's rather peculiar to me that nobody replies. This is an Australian company as they say, although who works there and what they do
I've posted on Australian forum
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=46549
I've posted on North American forum
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=46548
and got little feedback from others who might work with it..well except Dalaoer and his rather enthusiastic reply
| Quote: |
| In January 2005 they were acquired by ACT Inc. (creators of the ACT test), and hence their rapid expansion in China. ACT Education Solutions' HQ is indeed in Sydney, and worldwide delivery of the GAC is controlled from there through regional offices. In China, it's ACT Shanghai. |
so much for their rapid expansion in China and their international recognition
Their Head Office in China is completely managed by Chinese and any connection to the western education I can see only through the GAC books that have a whole in the middle of the cover page..assuming there was a name of the program/company on it
In any case, it sounds like an interesting franchise not to have been around but to come around soon and it's my pleasure to share my views. 
Peace to GAC, ACT as well as their other names
and
cheers and beers to all hard working FTs in China that know what/who they're working for
_____________________________________________________________
What I know doesn't scare me as much as what I don't know |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:33 am Post subject: |
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'cause i work with ACT i am really interested in views or experiences of others in it and so far only one on here's come forward and shared his ACT and GAC programs' knowledge/experience on the forum
recently, i've been told there're 35 ACT centers around china, although the chinese head quarters do not seem to be publicizing it enough
as far as i know centers've got predominantly chinese staff and they're in control of both administrative and academic affairs....academic material's customized to the needs of chinese and it focuses quite a bit on chinese culture and the academic management in the shanghai's head quarters that's in control is also chinese...AOM is a chinese female
this program with end of courses Global Assessment Certificate is to allow graduates join western unis and i'd love to know about the foreign experts involved in the program and in the ACT centers around this lovely country ... it seems that there're only those chinese experts in it
peace to all locals involved in programs that prepare chinese for abroad studies
and
cheers and beers to foreign experts that provide some help in the process |
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MGreen
Joined: 22 May 2007
Posts: 81
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| Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 8:35 am Post subject: |
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| Most universities in the States are starting to recognize the IELTS exam. |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:09 am Post subject: |
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just about time...toefl's shite...now they ask students to do the speakin' TO COMPUTERS 
anyone in ACT Global Assessment Certificate program in this lovely country or anywhere else
i'm beginnin' to feel real lonely in this "globally recognized certificate program" that requires so many experts to assess students 
peace to ACT solution that runs the show
and
cheers and beers to all experts in this fine program that has some clear goals |
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Robin53
Joined: 24 Oct 2008
Posts: 74
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:12 am Post subject: GAC (Global Assessment Certificate) and ACT in China |
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Thanks for starting this topic back in 2006 English. Recently there has been a lot of discussion about GAC/ACT under the heading Rebecca Tao, but I think there is not much more to say about Rebecca. I think there is more to be said though by the FT's who are actually doing the job of teaching in this program. The FTs are what brings in the money for what is an education business making a big profit. The FT's are completely out of the management loop of Chinese managers in this western teaching model. Its normal for lowly teachers to be "seen but not heard" in Chinese state schools, but in this forum we have our chance to compare how the job goes, and guess about decisions being made about us. I think this is positive and helps us become better teachers in the GAC/ACT programs. For a FT, culturally the job goes easier if we have better access to management decisions.
A couple of questions: Are the jobs being advertised in www.anesl.com in several provinces (I've seen them for about 2 years now) at 8000 a month GAC/ACT teaching jobs? If so, are these 12 month contracts, and what are the average weekly classes? Also, how much paid holiday is there?
The other question is that our jobs depend on there being enough rich parents to afford this very expensive program. With the recent economic events beginning to be felt in China, is the supply of clients likely to start drying up?
Its Monday, so have a good teaching week with hopefully no surprises. |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: |
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I don't think it will dry up due to any rrecession. Thee is too much money in idle hands. Parents will become even more desperate to send their child overseas, as they have less and less respect for the China system.
I actually see far more Chinese co-teachers want their child to go to America because they see the Brit schools' scams.
Someone mentioned NOVA. I do think if foreign schools start lowering standards and GAC lowres standards, parents will talk, and the program will crash. |
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arioch36
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 3589
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| Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| Are the jobs being advertised in www.anesl.com in several provinces |
Overall Angelina's is a scam, though it can be a useful scam. They steal job adverts from other places, such as Helen's CHina tefl. But unlike Helen's. they don't let u know what school it is, nor let u contact the school direct.
Still, it is a site of jobs. let us know |
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englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
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| Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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robin, thanx for renewin'this one
good points on job adverts. some chinese employers just love to be "annonymous" when they're advertising. some fts might not even know who their real employer is and that after they accept their gigs and sign their lovely contracts.
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| Someone mentioned NOVA. I do think if foreign schools start lowering standards and GAC lowres standards, parents will talk, and the program will crash. |
i know the story about NOVA and the lower GAC standards with chinese employers pushin'their luck as far as they can worries me too. and, GAC's got a shanghai's head office full of chinese only which just increases the level of risk. hopefully, this is china and laws don't apply until all "other" options have been exhausted. i'd love to see the employers of this one come to their senses and realize that "this isn't china" but a serious international program to prepare students for western unis
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| A couple of questions: Are the jobs being advertised in www.anesl.com in several provinces (I've seen them for about 2 years now) at 8000 a month GAC/ACT teaching jobs? If so, are these 12 month contracts, and what are the average weekly classes? Also, how much paid holiday is there? |
yes, they've been advertised. however, salaries aren't standardized in GAC centers around. some fts sign confidentiality contracts and that prohibits them from tellin'how much they make. then, employers take advantage of the situation and offer substandard salaries if there's not a demand for teachers. you could work with 5 fts with 5 different salaries per month and GAC head office wouldn't give a shite as they aren't the employer and seemingly have no standardized ft contracts.
regarding the lenght of contracts i believe that many fts have to sign one year (if not part time teaching one subject) which is due to the lengthy of program. it'd be quite hard to change teachers in the middle of it.
with respect to weekly classes, i have 18 real hours of teaching and they are well devided into the subjects that i teach. it sucks we've got a foundation class that is intended to prepare for the GAC. so, prep class for prep class to go abroad.
on the topic of holidays, some employers choose to give the thirteenth month salary which "suplements" the vacation days. with that kind of contract an ft has his/her right to re-sign another contract and start after the month's vacation or pocket the vacation money and go on working. however, there are a few paid holidays in china, but you have to take them at the same time as others and might have to work at weekends prior to the holidays too. (that sucks since i go to church on sundays)
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| The other question is that our jobs depend on there being enough rich parents to afford this very expensive program. With the recent economic events beginning to be felt in China, is the supply of clients likely to start drying up? |
as arioch has said, i don't think it'll dry up. this program also seems to be a way out of trouble after the chinese high school grads are turned down by their chinese unis. they still have the GAC and abroad studies available
by the way, some people have suggested that some parents choose the countries for their kids carefully too
i can't help repeating myself but it's amazing that parents of these kids know so little about who runs these GAC programs in china, although they see our pics on walls of the centers offices or their lovely sites.
a few weeks ago, i inquired at the shanhai's head office about how to find a teaching position at another licensed GAC center in china. since they do not have a recruiting center, i've got a few links to my email. here's the link to the GAC centers in china to show you how many centers there really are
http://www.actinternationalservices.com/en/aesl/gac/atc.html
cheers and beers to the GAC program that hopefully lasts a bit longer since there are many other worse programs in china and i'm married with a child here |
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