2006年VOA标准英语-Fighting the High School Dropout Rate

By Jeff Swicord
Howard County, Maryland
18 May 2006
 
watch School Drop Out report
 
  
  
It is estimated between 15 and 30 percent of high school students in the U.S. will not graduate. And among some minority groups, the dropout¹ rate is believed to be much higher.  Jeff Swicord looks at one school system that provides special help to struggling students ... long before they get to high school.

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"And what does it say here?  Not following directions and disruptive?  What ?… in language arts with Mrs. Solomon?"

Two fifth graders at an elementary school in Howard County, Maryland, north of Washington D.C., have been struggling in school. 

Identifying potential dropouts early -- while they are still in elementary school --  is the key to a program here. Teachers and administrators² work with students through their high school years to make sure they have the resources they need to learn and graduate -- and don't disrupt the learning experience for others. 

 
Carol Gallay
  
Carol Gallay is the Alternative Education Coordinator³ at Running Brook⁴ Elementary School. Identifying struggling students early is key. "We know that a lot of behavior problems -- at least in elementary school -- are academic-based.  When children can't do the work that they are being asked to do, they will get frustrated⁵ and act out."

Recently, a major U.S. weekly news magazine ran a cover story titled "Dropout Nation." It cited estimates that up to one in three high school students will fail to graduate.

Howard County's dropout rate is just over 1 percent.  Craig Cummings is Coordinator for Alternative Education Programs for Howard County. He attributes part of the success to aggressive and early intervention⁶ to help kids. 

 
Craig Cummings
  
"The longer that academic and behavioral problems fester and go unaddressed, the more difficult it is to change those things around and have some positive outcomes."

Cummings says there are many reasons students decide to quit school. 

All the educators we talked with agreed the biggest factor was a lack of connectedness … schools and teachers failing to build relationships with kids so they feel they belong.  

 
Razia Kosi 
  
Razia Kosi, a school mental health therapist, says this sense of belonging can improve the success rate. "If you look at actual brain research that is coming out, the relationship piece, the emotional piece of kids feeling connected to school is very high on the list of them being able to learn and ready to learn.  It is not just a fluff thing.  Biologically there is something going on in the brain that helps people feel connected and they need to be able to do that."

Homewood High School takes the most at-risk students in Howard County.  It uses smaller class sizes, more individual attention and behavioral counseling.

It also offers an afterschool program, where teachers are committed to building relationships with students. 

Kosi adds, "You are getting into multi-generational levels of dysfunction in the family.  Coming into Homewood you are seeing parents who have dropped out.  So they didn't have the academic ability to help their kids move on."

Teen pregnancy⁷ also contributes to the dropout rate nationwide. 

 
Gerry Maxwell-Jones
  
Gerry Maxwell-Jones is a facilitator for a special program for teen mothers and fathers, so they can stay in school. She works with 11 students who attend classes at a traditional high school.

They receive free transportation, day care, and other support services.

Maxwell-Jones is ensuring everyone has an opportunity to succeed. "They would drop out because it is real hard.  It is easy to mesh⁸ into the school population.  And often times these students drop through the cracks.  Because there is no one there to advocate for them there is no one to encourage them." 

Not all school systems across the U.S. have the resources of Howard County.  The personal attention and services these kids receive are expensive.  But Carol Gallay says, in the end, it pays off. "So, if they stay with an alternative ed [education] program all the way through, probably 90 percent of them are successful and will graduate."

1 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

2 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

5 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

7 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

8 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。