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VOA慢速英语-Education Report - Minding the Summer Learning Gap

时间:2008-10-10 06:34:33

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Each new school year brings fresh reminders1 of what educators call the summer learning2 gap3. Some call it the summer learning setback4. Put simply, it means5 the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget.
 
Some schools let students take summer classes online. Scott Landry, 14, of Massachusetts did that last summer.

The only thing they might gain is weight. Recent studies show that children gain weight more quickly in the summer than when they are in school.

Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar. Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation.

Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association6 for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than three thousand such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states.

But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school.

Brenda McLaughlin is research director7 at the National Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University. She says studies of year-round schooling8 have not found strong learning gains.

Last year, a study at Ohio State University reported that year-round students did not learn any more than other students. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said "year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback. They simply spread it out across the year."

Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther9 behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help.

But calling them "summer school" could be a problem. The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, recently wrote about this issue10 on his blog.

He said that in American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood. He said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term summer school. They said it created an image of children being forced to do work they missed during the school year.

The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp," "enrichment," "extra time" and "hands-on learning."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Join us Monday for a back-to-school report on THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Jim Tedder11.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 reminders aaaf99d0fb822f809193c02b8cf69fba     
n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 );提醒…的东西;(告知该做某事的)通知单;提示信
参考例句:
  • The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
  • The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。
2 learning wpSzFe     
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。
3 gap FhkxL     
n.缺口;间隔;差距;不足,缺陷
参考例句:
  • We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。
  • There is a gap of five miles between towns.镇与镇之间相隔五英里。
4 setback XzuwD     
n.退步,挫折,挫败
参考例句:
  • Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
  • She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。
5 means 9oXzBX     
n.方法,手段,折中点,物质财富
参考例句:
  • That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
  • We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。
6 association 6O1yp     
n.联盟,协会,社团;交往,联合;联想
参考例句:
  • Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
  • I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。
7 director mPlzm     
n.主管,导演;主任;理事;董事;处长
参考例句:
  • The director has taken the visitors off to his office.经理把客人带到他办公室去了。
  • The new director is easy to get along with.新来的主任很好处。
8 schooling AjAzM6     
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。
9 farther olHxM     
adj.更远的,进一步的;adv.更远的,此外;far的比较级
参考例句:
  • I can throw the ball farther than you can.这个球我能比你扔得远。
  • The farther hill is five kilometres away.那座更远的小山在五公里以外。
10 issue r3dxs     
n.出版,发行,(报刊等)期、号,论点,问题,结果, (水,血等的)流出;vt.使流出,放出,发行(钞票等),发布(命令),出版(书等)发给;vi.发行,流出,造成...结果,进行辩护,传下
参考例句:
  • I bought the book the day after its issue.这书出版后的第一天,我就去买了它。
  • I'll support her down the line on that issue.在那个问题上我将全力支持她。
11 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

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