VOA慢速英语20060413a

EDUCATION REPORT - School Districts Approve Plans to Link Teacher Pay with Student PerformanceBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, April 13, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Last month, the Florida Board of Education approved a program that will link increases in teachers' pay to improvements¹ in students' test scores.

The program will take effect next school year. It increases a teacher's pay if his or her students increase their scores on the Florida Comprehensive² Assessment³ Test. The test measures reading and mathematics⁴ knowledge. It is now used to decide if students will pass to the next grade level. The state gives extra money to schools whose scores are good or have increased from the year before. Normally⁵, the money is divided among the school workers.

The new program requires all school districts in the state to list the top ten percent of teachers in each subject area. These teachers will receive an increase of five percent in their yearly⁶ pay. For an average teacher, that would be about two thousand dollars.

Those who teach reading and mathematics will be judged on the test scores only. That is, how much their students have improved since the year before. But those who teach other subjects like geography, art and music will have to be judged differently. State officials say they will develop a system to do this.

Florida is not the only state with a plan to link teacher pay and student performance. Schools in Texas, Colorado and Minnesota have similar programs. But not all of them link pay with test scores alone.


Teacher in a Minnesota school system that pays teachers based on performance.

Teacher groups around the country generally oppose⁷ such programs. They say it is not fair to judge teachers by how well students score on a test. They say many things affect a student's test scores, such as learning⁸ problems or lack of sleep. They also say that there are other ways to judge strengths and weaknesses of students.

Some teachers say the quality of teaching⁹ will decrease if teachers are forced to compete with each other for money and praise. They fear that teachers will refuse to work in schools where many children have learning problems or do not speak English well.

Those who support the new pay programs say teachers must be judged the way other professionals¹⁰ are 鈥?by the results of their work. And they say that using student test scores is a true measure of a teacher's performance.

This VOA Special English Education Report was written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember. Our weekly reports can be found at www.unsv.com.

1 improvements   

增加或修改( improvement的名词复数 )； 改进； 改善； 改良

参考例句：

• improvements in efficiency at the factory 工厂效率的提高
• They've spent a lot of money on home improvements. 他们花了很多钱装修家居。

2 comprehensive   

adj.综合的，全面的，广泛的

参考例句：

• He was educated at the local comprehensive school.他曾在地区的综合中学受教育。
• An objective test can be quite comprehensive.客观测试相当全面。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。

5 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

6 yearly   

adj.每年的，一年一度的；adv.一年一次地

参考例句：

• The flower show is a yearly event in our town.我们镇上的花展一年举行一次。
• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。

7 oppose   

vt.反对，以…对抗，抗争；vi.反对

参考例句：

• The government called on the workers to oppose waste.政府号召工人反对浪费。
• The old man can't bear anyone in the family to oppose him.这位老人决不能容忍家里有人违抗他。

8 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

9 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

10 professionals   

n.具有某专业资格的人( professional的名词复数 )；专业人士；内行；专门职业者

参考例句：

• The tournament is open to both amateurs and professionals. 这次锦标赛业余选手和职业选手均可参加。
• a book written for professionals and laymen alike 一本内行外行都可以读的书