PBS高端访谈:学生毕不了业究竟是谁的责任

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now: Should colleges be accountable for the graduation rates of their students? Hari Sreenivasan reports from Florida for the conclusion of our special series on Rethinking College, which is part of our weekly focus on education, Making the Grade.

HARI SREENIVASAN: This year at Florida International University, both the graduates and the staff have something to celebrate. The state of Florida awarded the college 73 million dollars in extra funding for their students' success. To earn the extra funding, public universities across Florida are graded each year on how well their students do on key measurements, like graduation rates, post-graduation employment and how much debt their students take on.

ELIZABETH BEJAR, Senior Vice¹ President for Academic Affairs, Florida International University: Universities should be accountable.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Elizabeth Bejar is senior vice president for academic affairs.

ELIZABETH BEJAR: We are really focused on student success. We do take responsibility, so it is not our students who fail. When they do fail, it's the university.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Florida is one of 35 states who tie college funding to metrics like graduation rates. The results have been mixed. Some studies show the funding incentives² haven't improved student outcomes. Others say rankings can penalize³ colleges with high numbers of low-income students. Still, outcome-based funding continues to be popular with state legislators. As some states begin tying higher ed funding to student outcomes, some education experts are starting to look at student success on a national level. And they're asking the question, should colleges be responsible for the graduation rates of students, especially when they're paying with taxpayer⁴ dollars? In a study by the Washington-based think tank Third Way, education analysts⁵ looked at newly released data from the Department of Education on graduation rates at four-year universities.Tamara Hiler, who authored the report:

TAMARA HILER, Third Way: Institutions on average were doing a significantly better job of graduating their wealthier students and leaving their lower-or moderate-income students behind.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The study focused on low-income students who qualify for federal financial aid, called Pell Grants.

TAMARA HILER: Thirty billion dollars is invested every year by taxpayers⁶ in the Pell Grant program. But up until last fall, we had absolutely no idea how well those Pell students were doing. We couldn't even answer a basic question around what is the percentage of Pell students that graduate each year.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The report, called, The Pell Divide, found an 18 percent gap in the graduation rate between students who use Pell Grants and those who don't. But there were exceptions. Florida International University has a large number of low-income students. However, students here who use Pell Grants graduate at about the same rate as non-Pell recipients⁸.

TAMARA HILER: You could look at two institutions that were taking the exact same share of Pell students, and one was getting wildly different outcomes than another. And so what that shows us is that demographics isn't destiny, right? It's possible at the institution level that there are resources and supports than can be put in place to make sure that all students are graduating.

HARI SREENIVASAN: That is what Florida International University did.

ELIZABETH BEJAR: We took a holistic⁹ approach to what we call student success.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The school tripled their advising staff, added tutoring math labs, created life coaches, and expanded special services for low-income students like Amber¹⁰ Mannings. What's a success in life coach do?

AMBER MANNINGS, Student: They promote success or development the correct way beyond your classroom, beyond pencil and paper. So it's more so concentrated on how well you are developing as a person, maturing, if your needs are being met, how you're doing mentally, how are you dealing¹¹ with stress, if you need some additional help, like mentoring¹². They advise you on all life categories.

HARI SREENIVASAN: So the school is giving you an academic adviser¹³, a success in life coach. They're giving you tutors and assistants. That seems like a lot of other stuff besides just teaching you.

AMBER MANNINGS: Yes. And I definitely think that I wouldn't be sitting here today if I didn't have those resources.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Mannings' high school years were a challenge. For a time, she even lived in her car. Now a college senior, she is applying to law schools and hopes one day to be a United States senator.

AMBER MANNINGS: I feel like institutions should focus, of course, how you are performing academically, but your overall well-being¹⁴. I know plenty of people that can attest¹⁵ to how stressful college can be, especially if you don't have a family member to help you, push you, encourage you that you can achieve this.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Jacqueline Diaz is the director for advising and student success.

JACQUELINE DIAZ, Director, Center for Advising and Student Success, Florida International University: In order for a student to be retained, to stay in college, and to be successful and complete, they have to be engaged and they have to be involved.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The university calls the approach high-tech¹⁶, high-touch. It's a method colleges throughout the country are adopting. By using predictive analytics, advisers¹⁷ can reach at-risk students early. Florida International University identifies students who are first in their family to attend college, have unmet financial needs, had mediocre¹⁸ grades in high school, or may have signed up for unusually challenging courses.

JACQUELINE DIAZ: It's proactive. I would say it's a little intrusive¹⁹. But when I started in advising, it was very much a waiting game. You waited for them to come to you. And I think what we found was a lot of the ones who needed help were not coming to us.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Danny De Leon is a Pell Grant recipient⁷ and a first-generation college student majoring in engineering. Before he was allowed to register for classes, he was flagged by analytics. A hold was placed on his account until he went in for advising.

JOANNA SANABRIA, Florida International University: Many students don't necessarily have support at home that some students do. So we just put that hold on, have them come in, so they meet us.

HARI SREENIVASAN: JoAnna Sanabria is Danny De Leon's adviser.

JOANNA SANABRIA: By placing a hold, like we did with Danny his freshman²⁰ fall, he came in. I introduced myself, kind of told him my role, and, yes, I will help you pick classes, yes, I will help you make sure you're graduating in four years.

DANNY DE LEON, Student: When I went to go see her, she took off the hold, but she also kind of told me like my, the courses I could take.

She told me when I could take them. So she kind of gave me a little plan to get my degree.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Now a senior, De Leon credits Sanabria for keeping him on track to earn a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. The university plans to use the state's performance award to continue to improve, and lift the overall graduation rate, which still remains²¹ below the national average.

ELIZABETH BEJAR: There is a renewed focus, if you will, on what our core mission is and should be.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Tamara Hiler hopes the Pell Divide study will encourage a conversation about how to better serve low-income college students.

TAMARA HILER: We really have no way, especially at the federal level, to hold those institutions accountable and to figure out ways that we can make sure we're investing those tax dollars more wisely.

HARI SREENIVASAN: In Miami, for the PBS NewsHour, I'm Hari Sreenivasan.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：今天我们来讨论一下学校是否应该为学生毕不了业负责呢？哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑从佛罗里达州发回的报道汇总了“反思大学”的特殊系列内容，这也是我们本周关于教育问题的部分报道，即《取得好成绩》。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：今年，佛罗里达国际大学的师生们都有值得庆贺的事情。佛罗里达州给予该大学7300万美元的额外补助金，助力学生实现成功。为了获得这笔额外的援助金，佛罗里达州的许多公立大学每年都要进行参与评分排名，看看各所学校的学生在重点措施上做的怎么样。比如，毕业率、就业率、负债情况 。

伊丽莎白·贝哈尔，佛罗里达国际大学教务处高级副主任：各所大学都负有责任。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：伊丽莎白·贝哈尔是教务处高级副主任。

伊丽莎白·贝哈尔：我们很注重培养学生成功。我们当然有责任这样做，所以如果学生失败了，那并不是他们的错。他们只要失败，就是学校的问题。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：包括佛罗里达州在内有35个州将给大学的资金补助与毕业率等指标挂钩。这样做的结果却五味杂陈。一些研究表明，补助金的举措并没有提高学生的成果。还有一些研究表明，给各学校排名就是在给那些有大量低收入学生的学校以处罚。不过，基于结果的补给措施依然在各州议员间盛行。随着一些州开始将高额的教育补给金和学生收入捆绑，一些教育界专家开始从国家层面上审视学生成功与否的问题。专家们会问这样一个问题：各所大学是否应该为毕业率低的问题负责，尤其是在学校还要纳税的情况下？在一则华盛顿智库第三条道路发起的研究中，一些教育界分析师审视了教育部发布的最新数据，内容有关一些四年制大学的毕业率情况。塔玛拉·西勒授权了这份报告：

塔玛拉·西勒，第三条道路：平均来看，各学校在提升毕业生工资方面做的比以前更好了，低收入和中等收入的毕业生数量已经大大减少。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：该研究的侧重点是符合联邦助学金（佩尔助（奖）学金）标准的低收入学生。

塔玛拉·西勒：纳税人们每年为佩尔助（奖）学金倾注300亿美元。但是直到去年秋天为止，我们都完全不知道这笔钱起了什么效果。我们甚至都不知道一个基本的问题——接收过佩尔助（奖）学金资助的学生，每年毕业率如何。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：一份名为《佩尔助学金中引起的两极分化》的报告发现，接收和未接收过佩尔助学金的学生毕业率相差很大。但也有例外情况。佛罗里达国际大学有很多低收入的学生。不过，该校接收过佩尔助学金的学生和未接收过该助学金的学生毕业率持平。

塔玛拉·西勒：您可以比对一下接受过同等幅度佩尔助学金的两所学校，他们的毕业率相差很大。这个现象告诉我们人口统计学并不总是可靠的，对吗？从学校的层面来说，很有可能有一些资源和支持可以给到位，从而确保学生可以顺利毕业。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：佛罗里达国际大学就是这样的。

伊丽莎白·贝哈尔：我们全盘研究了所谓学生的成功。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：我们学校给学生们配备了建议教职工数量的三倍，增加了数学教研室，新增了生命教练，为安布尔·万宁等低收入学生拓展了特殊服务。生命教练是负责哪方面工作的呢？

安布尔·万宁，学生：生命教练可以促进我们以正确的方式实现成果、获得发展，这是书本上学不到的东西。生命教练更关注的是学生作为个体的发展情况和心智成熟情况，关注的是学生的需求是否得到了满足、精神状况如何、抗压能力如何、是否需要其他帮助，比如指导。他们在人生的各个领域为学生提供建议。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：所以学校给学生配备了学术顾问，这是生命教练的一个成功范例。学校配备了导师和助理。似乎有很多书本之外的东西。

安布尔·万宁：是的。而且我百分百确信，我今天不会坐在这里，除非我当初享有过这样的资源。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：万宁的高中时代对她来说是一段充满挑战的时期。曾几何时，她只能在车上生活。现在，已经大四的她正在申请法学院研究生，希望有朝一日能成为美国参议员。

安布尔·万宁：我觉得学校这样的机构当然应该关注学业成绩，但更应该关注整体表现。我知道很多人都能证明读大学的压力很大，尤其是在没有家人帮忙、敦促和鼓励的情况下，更难撑过去。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：杰奎琳·迪亚兹是咨询与学生成功事务中心的主任。

杰奎琳·迪亚兹，主任，咨询与学生成功事务中心，佛罗里达国际大学：为了保住学生，让他们通过大学校园的生活取得成功并顺利毕业，他们就必须全心投入，必须参与其中。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：学校称这种举措为高技术个性化。这是全国各地高校都在采用的做法。通过使用预测分析的方法，顾问们就可以早一点接触到濒临危险的学生。佛罗里达国际大学找到家里首位步入大学校园的学生，并在其中筛选出从未有财务问题，高中成绩一般，或者可能申请好过课程的学生。

杰奎琳·迪亚兹：与其说是积极的做法，我更倾向于认为这种做法很有冒犯性。但当我开始做顾问服务的时候发现，整个过程都在考验等待的能力。你要等着学生来找你。我觉得很多需要帮助的人并没有来寻求帮助。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：丹尼·利昂曾获得过佩尔助学金，是工程学专业的第一届毕业生。当他获准注册课程的时候，却被分析数据阻碍了步伐。他的账号被暂停使用，只有进行了顾问咨询后才能使用。

乔安娜·萨纳夫里亚，佛罗里达国际大学：很多学生不需要家里的支持，但有些学生需要。所以我们就会暂停账号使用，这样学生会来找我们。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：乔安娜·萨纳夫里亚是丹尼·利昂的顾问。

乔安娜·萨纳夫里亚：我们像对丹尼一样在开学季暂停账号后，学生就会来找我们。我进行了自我介绍，告诉了她我能提供什么帮助。我会说，没错，我能帮你选课；没错，我能帮你4年后顺利毕业。

丹尼·利昂，学生：我看到萨纳夫里亚老师的时候，她就解除了暂停的限制，但同时她也告诉我，我应该选哪些课程。她告诉我什么时候选哪些课程。所以她相当于帮我制定了一份短期计划，从而顺利拿到学位。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：现在已经步入大四的利昂很感谢萨纳夫里亚能让他一直走在正轨上，并顺利获得了土木工程专业的学士学位。该大学计划通过州立绩效奖励来继续提升学生整体表现情况和毕业率，不过目前该州的毕业率还在全国的平均水平以下。

伊丽莎白·贝哈尔：我们的主要任务和当务之急有了变化。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：塔玛拉·西勒希望《佩尔助学金中引起的两极分化》的研究能鼓励学校更好地为低收入毕业生服务。

塔玛拉·西勒：我们真的没有办法，尤其是在联邦政府的层面上，我们没法让学校负责，也没法让学校找到一定能够把钱花到实处的方法。

哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑：感谢收听哈里·斯瑞尼瓦桑从迈阿密发挥的《新闻一小时》。

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 penalize   

vt.对…处以刑罚，宣告…有罪；处罚

参考例句：

• It would be unfair to penalize those without a job.失业人员待遇低下是不公平的。
• The association decided not to penalize you for the race.赛马协会决定对你不予处罚。

4 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

5 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。

6 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

7 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

8 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

10 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

15 attest   

vt.证明，证实；表明

参考例句：

• I can attest to the absolute truth of his statement. 我可以证实他的话是千真万确的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place. 这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

16 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

17 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

18 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

19 intrusive   

adj.打搅的；侵扰的

参考例句：

• The cameras were not an intrusive presence.那些摄像机的存在并不令人反感。
• Staffs are courteous but never intrusive.员工谦恭有礼却从不让人感到唐突。

20 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。