2020年经济学人 中断的学校教育使不平等加剧(1)

United States

美国版块

Back to school

重返校园

Learning and covid

学习与新冠肺炎疫情

Disrupted schooling¹ spells worse results and deeper inequality

中断的学校教育会引发更糟的结果，且不平等加剧

The first meeting between teachers in Montpelier, Vermont, before the start of the autumn term is usually festive—hugging over breakfast and coffee. This year they had to make do with an online videoconference. After a scramble² in the spring (to set up online learning, pack lunches for poor pupils who relied on them and ship computers to those without them), the district plans to let younger pupils return for in-person learning on September 8th. High school will remain partly online because the building is too small to allow social distancing. The young pupils who can return will need to wear masks, keep their distance and have temperature checks before entering school buses or buildings.

佛蒙特州蒙彼利埃市的教师们通常会在享用早餐和咖啡时，欢悦地拥抱，以此来庆祝秋季学期开始前的第一次会面。但是今年，他们只能通过在线视频会议勉强应付一下。今年的春季十分艰难（校方要安排网课，为贫困学生提供他们依赖的午餐，并为没有电脑的学生提供电脑），此后，蒙彼利埃地区计划让低年级学生在9月8日返校进行面授学习。高中将依旧安排部分线上授课，因为教学楼太小了，学生们无法保持社交距离。那些能够返校的低年级学生需要戴上口罩，保持距离，并在进入校车或教学楼之前进行体温检查。

Setting up these protocols³ took many 60-hour weeks over the summer holidays, says Libby Bonesteel, the superintendent⁴. Her husband, a microbrewer, recently dedicated⁵ a new beer, “Our Impossible Ask”, to teachers. “Pairs well with late staff meetings, upended expertise⁶, existential crisis and seemingly unending complications,” suggest the tasting notes.

教育局局长利比·博内斯泰尔表示，我们在暑假期间用了好几周的时间，且每周要工作60个小时，才制定了这些方案。她的丈夫是一位微酿酒师，他最近将一款新调制的啤酒“我们不可能的要求”献给了老师们。品酒记录上写着：“老师们迟来的会面、颠覆性的专业知识、人类的生存危机与似乎永无止境的难题完美搭配”。

Of the 50 largest school districts in America, 35 plan to start the coming term entirely⁷ remotely. The opportunity to squelch⁸ the virus over the summer has been lost, upending plans for “hybrid” education (part-time in-person instruction). This means more than just child-care headaches for parents. The continued disruption to schooling will probably spell permanent learning loss, disproportionately hurting poorer pupils.

在美国最大的50个学区中，有35个学区计划在下学期完全线上授课。在夏季压制病毒传播的机会已经丧失，这颠覆了“混合式”教育计划的推行（部分时间面授）。这不仅会给父母带来儿童保育方面的麻烦。学校教育的持续中断很可能会引发永久性的学习损失，对贫困学生造成不成比例的伤害。

“Achievement gaps will become achievement chasms,” warns Robin⁹ Lake, director of the Centre on Reinventing Public Education, a research group. Analysts¹⁰ at McKinsey, a consultancy, reckon that the typical American pupil would suffer 6.8 months of learning loss if in-person instruction does not resume until January 2021 (which looks plausible). This would fall heaviest on black pupils, who would regress by over ten months’-worth of instruction, and poor ones, who would fall behind by more than a year. There could also be 648,000 more high-school dropouts.

研究组织“公共教育革新中心”的主任罗宾·莱克发出警告，“成绩差距会变成成绩鸿沟”。咨询公司麦肯锡的分析师估计，如果到2021年1月仍旧没有恢复面授课，那么美国学生一般会蒙受6.8个月的学习损失。（该评估似乎很合理）。这次教育中断也给黑人学生带来了最严重的负担，他们的教学将倒退超过10个月，而贫困生将会落后一年多。高中辍学的人数可能会增加64.8万人。

1 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。

2 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

3 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

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 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

6 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 squelch   

v.压制，镇压；发吧唧声

参考例句：

• The President wants to squelch any perception that the meeting is an attempt to negotiate.总统想要消除任何视本次会议为谈判尝试的看法。
• You cannot squelch wanting.你不能压制要求。

9 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。