VOA教育报道2022 为什么美国学生在疫情期间数学成绩最差?（在线收听）

Students at American public schools struggled in math during the pandemic.

在疫情期间，美国公立学校的学生数学成绩不佳。

The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) is a math and reading test given to fourth and eighth grade students in public schools around the country.

美国“国家教育进步评价”是一项针对美国公立学校四年级和八年级学生的数学和阅读测试。

Results from this year showed that students' scores had the largest decreases in math since 1990, when the test was first released.

今年的结果显示，学生的数学成绩出现了自1990年首次发布该测试以来的最大降幅。

All areas of the U.S. reported lower test scores in math.

据报告，美国所有地区的数学考试成绩都较低。

More than one-third of students scored below basic levels.

超过三分之一的学生成绩低于基本水平。

The decreases were also more severe in math than in reading.

数学成绩也比阅读成绩下降得更严重。

There has been a lot of evidence showing that students struggled with remote learning during the pandemic.

有大量证据表明，在疫情期间，学生们难以进行远程学习。

They especially struggled with math, said Frances Anderson.

弗朗西斯·安德森说，他们在数学方面尤其吃力。

She is an education researcher with the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a former teacher.

她是内布拉斯加州大学奥马哈分校的教育研究员，曾任教师。

Her work centers on math ability.

她的工作重点是数学能力。

She said in an interview with The Conversation that students, who are not as skilled in math, need more face-to-face learning.

她在接受The Conversation采访时表示，数学能力不强的学生需要更多面对面得学习。

Anderson said that during remote learning, "teachers didn't have as many ways to keep students engaged. It was difficult to do hands-on activities and project-based learning, which are better for students who struggle in math."

安德森说，在远程学习期间，“老师没有那么多方法可以让学生参与进来。很难进行动手活动和基于计划的学习，动手活动和基于计划的学习对数学有困难的学生来说更好。”

She added that a lot teaching math is visual learning.

她还说，很多数学教学都是视觉学习。

"You need so much more than one screen," she said.

她说：“你需要的不只是一个屏幕”。

Heather Hill and Jon Star are professors at Harvard University’s school of education.

希瑟·希尔和乔恩·斯塔尔是哈佛大学教育学院的教授。

They spoke on Harvard University's education podcast about the NAEP results.

他们在哈佛大学的教育播客上谈到了“国家教育进步评价”的结果。

Hill said "math scores have always been more sensitive than reading and English scores to students' opportunities to learn.”

希尔说：“对于学生的学习机会，数学成绩一直比阅读和英语成绩更敏感。”

She said a lot of reading skills are developed in the home, in addition to school.

她说，除了学校之外，很多阅读技能都是在家里培养的。

Kids can read books and the internet at home, or read text messages from friends, for example.

例如，孩子们可以在家里看书和上网，或者阅读朋友的短信。

But there are fewer ways for kids to work on math skills outside of the classroom.

但孩子们在课外学习数学技能的方法较少。

"School is the only place that kids, for the most part, learn math," Hill said.

希尔说：“在大多数情况下，学校是孩子们学习数学的唯一地方。”

Star, who is also a math teacher, argued that NAEP scores were low for eighth graders because of the age at which these students started learning remotely.

斯塔尔也是一名数学教师，他认为，由于八年级学生开始远程学习的年龄，这些学生的“国家教育进步评价”成绩很低。

He said that the two years leading up to eighth grade, where scores declined the most, are extremely important for building math skills.

他说，八年级之前的两年分数下降最多，而这两年对培养数学技能极其重要。

He said those are the years when students start moving from arithmetic to algebra, and other more complex mathematics.

他说，在这几年，学生们开始从算术转向代数以及其他更复杂的数学。

The NAEP for eighth graders largely tests algebra skills.

八年级学生的“国家教育进步评价”主要测试代数技能。

"So…it's no surprise that they're really struggling. Those struggles are not going to be easy to make go away," Star said.

斯塔尔说：“所以……他们真的在苦苦挣扎也就不足为奇了。这些困难不会轻易消失”。

He added that in online learning, teachers were forced to teach math using the "least desirable aspects of math instruction that we would want to see."

他还说，在在线学习中，教师被迫使用“我们希望看到的数学教学中最不受欢迎的方法”来教授数学。

Teachers had to lecture more and there was less student interaction, which is not as effective for math instruction, he said.

他说，老师不得不多讲课，学生互动更少，这对数学教学不太有效。

"It's not necessarily the teachers' fault, it's just the way that they've been forced to teach during the pandemic," Star said.

斯塔尔说：“这不一定是老师的错，这只是他们在疫情期间被迫采取的教学方式。”

Hill added that there is some evidence that teachers do not perform as well when they teach math.

希尔还说，有一些证据表明，教师在教授数学时表现不佳。

Often, teachers do not especially enjoy math, nor think of themselves as math experts, she said.

她说，老师通常并不特别喜欢数学，也不认为自己是数学专家。

And that feeling can make it hard to teach the subject confidently.

而这种感觉可能会让你很难自信地教授这门课。

Both said it is going to very difficult for schools to make up for learning losses during the pandemic, especially for the students who struggled the most.

两人都表示，学校将很难弥补疫情期间的学习损失，尤其是对于那些最困难的学生来说。

Especially with math, students returned from the pandemic with uneven abilities.

尤其是在数学方面，从疫情中归来的学生的能力参差不齐。

It can be hard for teachers to form lesson plans for entire classes when the skills are so varied among students, Star said.

斯塔尔说，当学生的技能差异很大时，教师很难为整个班级制定课程计划。

They agreed that to make up for the loss in learning, students are going to need a lot of extra help outside the classroom.

他们一致认为，为了弥补学习上的损失，学生将需要大量课外帮助。

"Students who have fallen behind should have twice as much instruction," said Anderson, from the University of Nebraska.

来自内布拉斯加大学的安德森说：“落后的学生应该得到两倍的指导。”

Resources should go to students and communities which struggled the most, often minorities, Hill suggested.

希尔建议，资源应该流向那些最困难的学生和社区，通常是少数群体。

For example, tutoring students in small groups can help kids catch up in math.

例如，以小组形式辅导学生可以帮助孩子们赶上数学课程。

Hill said although difficulties lie ahead, "kids are pretty resilient. You give kids opportunities to learn and they learn stuff."

希尔说，尽管未来困难重重，但“孩子们的适应能力很强。你给孩子们学习的机会，他们就会学到东西。”

I'm Dan Novak.

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