PBS高端访谈:奥巴马的新考试计划对美国学生意味着什么?

 WILLIAM BRANGHAM: President Obama and the federal Department of Education are calling on states to cut back on standardized¹ tests in schools. U.S. school kids from pre-K through 12th grade, on average, take eight standardized tests every year. That's almost one test a month during the school year.

In a Facebook video yesterday, the president said teachers have told him the pressure to teach to those tests — quote — "takes the joy out of teaching and learning."

His administration has now released a testing action plan with new guidelines.

For more insight on that, I'm joined by Kate Zernike of The New York Times.

Welcome.

KATE ZERNIKE, National Correspondent, The New York Times: Thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, this is a pretty big statement from the president on this very contentious² issue. Why — why is he coming out now?

KATE ZERNIKE: Well, I think they wanted to get past the spring testing push last year, or this — or this year.

But I think, also, there was a report coming out from the Council of the Great City Schools, which is a coalition³ of about 70 urban school districts. And they have generally been pro-testing. But their superintendent⁴ set out to find out how many tests the kids are taking.

And what they found, the report also came out yesterday — or Saturday — was that there are just are — that, as you said, there are, you know, eight tests a year. There's just so many — so many people are calling for so many different tests, that a lot of these tests are — they're not only onerous⁵, but they're sort of pointless and purposeless. They're not really tied to what we want them to be tied to, to learning in the classroom.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, the president acknowledges maybe we have too — testing kids too much. He even acknowledges that his administration might be part of the problem.

What is he proposing as a possible solution to that?

KATE ZERNIKE: Well, I think the thing that is going to jump out at people is this — he wants a cap on the time spent on testing. So, no more than 2 percent of classroom time should be spent on testing.

And that is a reduction from what the Council of the Great City Schools found. But they also are proposing things like not — they're saying no one — no teacher should be evaluated solely⁶ on a test, no child should be — no child's high school graduation or any cutoff should be attached solely to a test. So, that is a big deal.

A lot of proponents⁷ of testing will say that the thing that got us in trouble, they wanted testing. The problem is, we started tying it to too many things. We started saying, teachers weren't going to get tenure⁸ if they didn't pass a test, or, if their kids didn't pass the test, school — kids wouldn't graduate from high school if they didn't pass the test.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, those advocates of testing say, OK, maybe a little bit of reform is useful, but don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

KATE ZERNIKE: Absolutely.

I mean, we have to remember that before — this has sort of been a 20-year approach, or a 15-year approach. Before this was happening, there was a lot of — a lot of kids, and particularly in urban schools, were not learning anything.

And so — they're not learning anything may have been a little too harsh, but that there was no — there was no accountability, and we had no standards, and we weren't — they were just being passed from grade to grade. So, this was really an effort to make sure that we were — that we had some accountability.

This is a $600 billion industry, public schooling⁹ in America. It is reasonable to expect that we would want some accountability, but I think the problem is, we have just — as in many things, the pendulum¹⁰ has swung too far.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This is obviously a huge, contentious issue across the country. A lot of parents and school districts have been in a real uproar¹¹ over this testing.

Do you think this effort by the president, this initiative, is going to put a — is going to satisfy the critics?

KATE ZERNIKE: You know, I really don't think it is. I think a lot of people are already saying this is too — too little too late.

You know, the question really has been in suburban¹² districts, where people felt like, our schools are fine. Why is there this push? We are doing everything fine. This is not our problem.

The opt-out movement that we have seen has largely been in suburban districts. We have — we have seen very few opt-outs in urban districts.

So, I think it's going to be — the other problem is going to be, they're saying, we want this 2 percent cap on testing, but then what kind of tests are we going to be allowed to use? There has always been a problem — schooling in this country is a very, very local tradition.

And so is the — is the federal government going to way, well, you should use this test or you shouldn't use that test? That is the problem. It's going to be — we are going to see this again. People will call it a federal takeover.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Kate Zernike of The New York Times, thank you so much.

KATE ZERNIKE: Thank you.

1 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

2 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

6 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

7 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

8 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

9 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

10 pendulum   

n.摆，钟摆

参考例句：

• The pendulum swung slowly to and fro.钟摆在慢慢地来回摆动。
• He accidentally found that the desk clock did not swing its pendulum.他无意中发现座钟不摇摆了。

11 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

12 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。