PBS高端访谈:什么推动了美国高校的毕业率?

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Some good news to report today from the world of public education:

　　For the first time in recent years, American high schools have cracked a milestone¹ on graduation rates, reaching 80 percent.

　　Jeffrey Brown has the story, as part of our American Graduate project, a public media initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: In fact, 81 percent of American high schools graduated on time in 2012. That is up from 73 percent six years earlier. The report is based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and was compiled by a coalition² called America's Promise Alliance.

　　Joining us now is John Bridgeland, president and CEO of Civic³ Enterprises, one member of that group, and he's an author of today's report. He has been adviser⁴ to the American Graduate project.

　　And welcome to you.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND, Civic Enterprises: Thank you. Nice to be with you.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, what is driving the good news? What — how did we get there?

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Well, the significant gains in graduation rates have actually been among Hispanic students and African-Americans since 2006.

　　And these students, half of African-Americans and 40 percent of Hispanics, were trapped in these dropout⁵ factory schools, where it was literally⁶ a 50-50 proposition whether you graduated or not.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: You use the term dropout factory?

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: We do. It's a tough term, but I think it's an appropriate term, because, literally, you go into these places, and half of your classmates are not finishing school.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, give me an example of a place or two where you saw the difference that resulted in these kinds of statistics.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: New York City had these large urban school districts. They broke them up into small — smaller learning communities, schools within schools, ninth grade academies, made them more personalized learning environments, where young people could connect to learning in ways that showed relationships between what they were learning in school and what they wanted to be in life.

　　In fact, we had done a study called “The Silent Epidemic,” listening to the perspectives of dropouts all across the United States. And they told us the leading reason they left is because they didn't see those connections between career dreams and classroom learning.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, good news, but that of course still means that one in five students are not graduating.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: It's true.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: So, there is a lot left to do.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: There is.

　　And, in fact, the gaps between graduation rates of low-income students and their middle- and higher-income peers up 20 percentage points or up to 30 percentage points in some states. Also, for students with disabilities, the graduate rate in Nevada is 24 percent. The graduate rates in Kansas and Montana are 77 percent and 81 percent respectively. So, we have these huge gaps between students with different needs and abilities.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, what are the main factors you see in schools? Because you look at your report, and, yes, there are some places that are already approaching that 90 percent mark.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: There are — or above it. Then there are others below 60 percent.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: One is the awareness⁷ of the gaps between these populations.

　　Also, we can predict as early as late elementary school and middle school the early warning indicators⁸ of chronic⁹ absenteeism, poor behavior, course performance in reading and math. And when these young people are falling of track, we can get them the supports they need to stay on track.

　　We're also seeing large school systems reform and be redesigned in ways that they become more personalized and engaging to the students, smaller classroom settings, also, beyond academics, teaching social and emotional skills, things like persistence¹⁰ and grit¹¹ and character and discipline and collaborative problem-solving, the very skills that employers are looking for.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: I know this has been an effort for a long time, and I read in one article — one — in your report that it's been undertaken by four presidents.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: It's true.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Why has it taken so long?

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: It's so interesting.

　　Four successive presidents set effectively the same high school graduation rate goal of 90 percent by some certain date.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: And we have had flatlining graduation rates for 30 years.

　　However, in the last decade, we have increased awareness. People understood who these young people were, why they dropped out from high school, and that 50 percent of the dropouts were only found in 15 percent of the schools. So it seemed like a targeted, fixable problem.

　　Also, a civic Marshall Plan emerged. General Colin and Alma Powell assembled a group of leaders, educators, principals, administrators¹², community-based organizations, and said, let's take the goal seriously. The class of 2020 is in third grade today. What does the evidence tell us about what we can do to keep those young people on track?

　　And so all these organizations have been aligning¹³ against — this GradNation and plan of action.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, so I wonder now, looking ahead, two things. One, is there any sense that the easy part has been done…

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: … that from here on, it gets a lot harder?

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Right.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: And then, of course there's the factor that we have reported on, on this program plenty of times, Common Core, a lot of changes that are being introduced into the curriculum in high schools around the country.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Right.

　　I think the good news, Jeffrey, is that the most progress since 2006 was right during the period when graduating from high school became more complicated, more difficult, more rigorous, more AP courses, more courses — courses required to graduate, exit exams to graduate.

　　And so schools and districts are rising to a standard of excellence¹⁴. The Common Core will usher¹⁵ in an era of learning and accountability across the country in ways where we will know that young people, whether they are in Akron or Albuquerque or anywhere in the country, are learning effectively to a high standard. And that's what we ought to be ascribing to.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: That goes to not only the numbers, but the quality of education, which of course is still very much on the table.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: That's exactly right. Yes.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right, John Bridgeland, thank you so much for joining us.

　　JOHN BRIDGELAND: Nice to be you with you, Jeffrey.

　　JUDY WOODRUFF: We have a lot more reporting from our American Graduate team, a project funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. That's on our Education page.

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

4 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。

5 dropout   

n.退学的学生；退学；退出者

参考例句：

• There is a high dropout rate from some college courses.有些大学课程的退出率很高。
• In the long haul,she'll regret having been a school dropout.她终归会后悔不该中途辍学。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

9 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

10 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

11 grit   

n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关

参考例句：

• The soldiers showed that they had plenty of grit. 士兵们表现得很有勇气。
• I've got some grit in my shoe.我的鞋子里弄进了一些砂子。

12 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

13 aligning   

n. (直线)对准 动词align的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals. 有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。
• ToolTips provide textual hints that assist in drawing lines and aligning objects. 工具提示提供了协助画线和对象对齐的文本提示。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

15 usher   

n.带位员，招待员；vt.引导，护送；vi.做招待，担任引座员

参考例句：

• The usher seated us in the front row.引座员让我们在前排就座。
• They were quickly ushered away.他们被迅速领开。