EDUCATION REPORT - Better Teachers

EDUCATION REPORT
–
April 11, 2002: Better Teachers

By Jerilyn Watson

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The Bush administration is trying to improve teaching in American public schools. The goal is to have all
American teachers well prepared by the school year beginning in Two-Thousand -Five.

Officials say the nation will need more than two-million new teachers during the
next ten years. But experts also say the number of possible new teachers is
decreasing.

President Bush’s wife, Laura, recently held a meeting about this situation. Missus
Bush is a former teacher. She invited educators and policy-makers to the White
House Conference on Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers.

Historian¹ Diane Ravitch told the conference that a public school teacher once
needed only to have good morals. Now, she said, a person must satisfy many
governmental requirements. Mizz Ravitch said some of these rules might prevent excellent young people from
becoming teachers. At the same time, she said there is a lack of teachers in many schools in large cities.

Sandra Feldman is president of the American Federation² of Teachers, a labor³ union. She noted⁴ a report that a
committee of her union prepared two years ago. The report called for changes in teacher-education programs in
universities. It said students who want to become teachers should study more liberal arts and science subjects.
The goal is to increase knowledge of the subjects they will teach. Currently⁵, many college students studying to be
teachers spend more time learning teaching methods than subject content.

However, Mizz Feldman also said knowing educational methods is extremely important. She asked those
attending the conference to consider how they would teach children without knowing what methods succeed. She
asked them how they would teach twenty-five children to read without knowing how children learn.

Mizz Feldman noted that the report called for new teachers to succeed on tests before they can begin teaching.
She also urged that the best teachers supervise⁶ and support new teachers.

Laura Bush also said better preparation is very important. She said she had felt satisfied with her college
education. But as a new teacher, she recognized that she needed more skills. Missus Bush said teaching was a
much harder job than she had thought.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

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1 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

2 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。