Abstract
This paper discusses the process of the reform of the Joint First-Stage Achievement Test for National and Public Universities (JFAT) by the Japan Association of National Universities (JANU) during the 1980s. During the process of JANU's policy change, the number of test subjects was reduced and the so-called “à la carte” system was introduced into the JFAT. The purpose of this study is, by analyzing the JFAT reform process, to reexamine possible factors in the introduction of the new system into the standardized Japanese university entrance exam.
The analysis found that there were two important factors in the background of this change. One is the lack of consensus among JANU members. The purpose of the JFAT was originally to judge the degree of academic ability of examinees. However, national universities were shifting their focus to the grades received on the achievement tests constituting each university's secondary exam. Thus, the JANU members failed to build a consensus on the use of the JFAT. The other is that the Ministry of Education requested JANU to reform the JFAT for private universities' use. As a result, JANU made a policy change: they decided to promote the liberalization and flexibility of using JFAT grades by reducing the number of test subjects and introducing the “à la carte” system. This direction of the reform matched the content of the standardized test proposed by the Ad Hoc Council on Education in the Nakasone Cabinet. Furthermore, on the basis of the content of this standardized test, the newly standardized National Center Test adopted the “à la carte” system. So, it can be said that JANU's policy change in the JFAT reform process was one of the important factors in the introduction of the “à la carte” system into the standardized Japanese university entrance exam.
This conclusion provides beneficial suggestions about the changing standardized university entrance exam system in Japan and the current reforms of the Japanese university entrance exams.
