2022年10月25日 VOA慢速英语：美国的考试成绩在 COVID 之后出现“历史性”下降

 
Students across the United States have had "historic" drops in math and reading test scores since the start of the pandemic.
自大流行开始以来，美国各地的学生的数学和阅读考试成绩出现了“历史性”下降。
 
Across the country, math scores saw their largest decreases ever. Reading scores dropped to 1992 levels. Nearly four in 10 eighth graders failed to understand basic math ideas. Not a single state saw any improvement.
在全国范围内，数学成绩出现了有史以来最大的降幅。阅读分数下降到 1992 年的水平。近十分之四的八年级学生未能理解基本的数学概念。没有一个州有任何改善。
 
Those are the findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) — also known as the "nation's report card."
这些是国家教育进步评估 (NAEP) 的调查结果——也称为“国家成绩单”。
 
Hundreds of thousands of fourth and eighth graders across the U.S. took the test earlier this year. It was the first time the test had been administered since 2019. The result is seen as the first nationally representative study of the pandemic's effect on learning.
今年早些时候，美国有数十万四年级和八年级学生参加了考试。这是自 2019 年以来首次进行该测试。该结果被视为关于大流行对学习影响的第一项具有全国代表性的研究。
 
"It is a serious wakeup call for us all," Peggy Carr, an official with the National Center for Education Statistics of the Education Department said. "In NAEP, when we experience a 1- or 2-point decline, we're talking about it as a significant impact on a student's achievement. In math, we experienced an 8-point decline — historic for this assessment," she said.
“这对我们所有人来说都是一个严重的警钟，”教育部国家教育统计中心的官员佩吉卡尔说。“在 NAEP 中，当我们经历 1 或 2 分的下降时，我们将其视为对学生成绩的重大影响。在数学方面，我们经历了 8 分的下降——对于这次评估来说是历史性的，”她说.
 
Researchers usually consider a 10-point gain or drop as comparable to about one school year of learning. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said it is a sign that schools need to work much harder to help students recover.
研究人员通常认为 10 分的增长或下降相当于大约一学年的学习。教育部长米格尔·卡多纳（Miguel Cardona）表示，这表明学校需要更加努力地帮助学生康复。
 
"Let me be very clear: these results are not acceptable," Cardona said.
“让我非常清楚：这些结果是不可接受的，”卡多纳说。
 
Declines across all groups
所有组均下降
 
The NAEP test is usually given every two years. It was taken between January and March by students in every state and the nation's largest school systems. Test scores did not show any progress even before the pandemic. But the latest scores show decreases at levels not seen before.
NAEP 测试通常每两年进行一次。它是在 1 月至 3 月期间由每个州和全国最大的学校系统的学生参加的。即使在大流行之前，测试成绩也没有显示任何进展。但最新的分数显示出前所未有的水平下降。
 
In both math and reading, students scored lower than those tested in 2019. But while reading scores decreased, math scores sharply dropped by the largest amount in the history of the NAEP, which began in 1969.
在数学和阅读方面，学生的得分均低于 2019 年的考试成绩。但在阅读成绩下降的同时，数学成绩急剧下降，创下 1969 年开始的 NAEP 历史上的最大降幅。
 
Math scores were worst among eighth graders, with 38 percent earning scores judged as "below basic." That is lower than in 2019 when 31 percent of eighth graders scored below basic.
八年级学生的数学成绩最差，38% 的学生的收入分数被判定为“低于基础”。这低于 2019 年，当时 31% 的八年级学生得分低于基本标准。
 
Every part of the country saw test scores fall, and every state saw declines in at least one subject. Several major school systems saw test scores fall by more than 10 points. Schools in Cleveland, Ohio saw the largest single drop, falling 16 points in fourth-grade reading, along with a 15-point decline in fourth-grade math.
该国每个地区的考试成绩都在下降，每个州都至少有一门科目出现下降。几个主要的学校系统的考试成绩下降了 10 多分。俄亥俄州克利夫兰的学校单次跌幅最大，四年级阅读下降 16 分，四年级数学下降 15 分。
 
"This is more confirmation that the pandemic hit us really hard," said Eric Gordon, head of the Cleveland school system. To help students recover, the school system has added summer school and after-school tutoring.
克利夫兰学校系统负责人埃里克·戈登（Eric Gordon）说：“这更加证实了大流行对我们的打击非常严重。” 为了帮助学生康复，学校系统增加了暑期学校和课后辅导。
 
Educators are concerned, however, about the widening divide among different groups of students. Black and Hispanic students saw bigger decreases than white students in fourth grade. And scores fell most sharply among the lowest-performing students as compared to the others.
然而，教育者担心不同学生群体之间日益扩大的鸿沟。在四年级时，黑人和西班牙裔学生的降幅大于白人学生。与其他学生相比，表现最差的学生的分数下降幅度最大。
 
Alberto Carvalho is head of the Los Angeles, California school system and serves on the National Assessment Governing Board. The board decides policy for the NAEP. Carvalho said the recent test results show that schools must deal with the "long-standing and systemic shortcomings of our education system."
Alberto Carvalho 是加利福尼亚州洛杉矶学校系统的负责人，并在国家评估管理委员会任职。董事会决定 NAEP 的政策。卡瓦略说，最近的测试结果表明，学校必须解决“我们教育系统长期存在的系统性缺陷”。
 
"While the pandemic was a blow to schools and communities, we cannot use it as an excuse," he said. "We have to stay committed to high standards and expectations and help every child succeed."
他说：“虽然大流行对学校和社区造成了打击，但我们不能以此为借口。” “我们必须坚持高标准和期望，帮助每个孩子取得成功。”