VOA标准英语2012--‘C’ Isn't Average in All Schools Any More

 ‘C’ Isn't Average in All Schools Any More

There’s an old, but often-played, song by the late Sam Cooke whose lyrics¹ go, in part:

Now I don't claim to be an "A" student

But I'm trying to be.

And so are millions of other American children each school term. Being an “A” student signifies being the best, the smartest, the highest achiever. “B” means good but not best, “C” stands for average, “D” for below average, and either “E” or “F” for unsatisfactory, or to put it more harshly, failure.

But in hundreds, maybe thousands, of American schools, nobody’s an A student any more. And the idea of getting “straight A’s” - and thus being the best of the best - is gone as well. There aren’t B or C or F students, either. Thanks to something called “standards-based” report cards, these students are receiving a numerical rating - a number instead of a letter - for their performance in each class. 

Those numbers - usually 4 for best, down to 1 - reflect a lot more than just mastery of the subject matter. In a math class in New York State schools, for instance, a 4 means the student can not only add and subtract but has, in the new terminology², displayed high skill in “number sense and operations.”

A student holds a test with the failing letter grade of "F." 

The switch from letter grades to numbers has something to do with national education standards, which are tied to student performance on standardized³ tests. That performance is measured in numbers. And now, so is their work in the classroom. 

This means a lot more work for teachers, because they’re being asked to factor as many 50 detailed⁴ skill areas into their ratings of student success in each class. 

A lot of parents are unhappy with the new numerical report cards. One woman told the Washington Post that they “don’t provide any recognition for a student who is consistently doing excellent work.” Another parent told the New York Times that “what has happened is that the high-performing students are saying, ‘I don’t have to work that hard,’ and they all stopped trying.”

And parents seem to be saying - without using these exact words - "It’s a lot cooler to have a bumper⁵ sticker that reads, ‘I’m riding with an A student from McKinley School’" than it is to say they’re carting around a “Number 4.”

1 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

2 terminology   

n.术语；专有名词

参考例句：

• He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
• The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。

3 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。

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

5 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。