Step by Step2000第四册 06atching Dreams with Education(II（在线收听）

Unit 6 Matching Dreams with Education (II)

Part I Warming up

A.

Tapescript:

There is a great demand for graduates with high-tech degrees, but fewer students were going for them. A new study by 'the American Electronics Association found that high-tech degrees declined by 5 percent between 1990 and 1996.

Preliminary findings from 1997 and 1998 indicate the trend is continuing. The Association blames the education system, saying that elementary and secondary schools must do more to get students ready to tackle high-tech education. Among the states, California Colleges awarded the most high-tech degrees. It also had one of the greatest declines, awarding 1,600 fewer degrees in 1996 than in 1990. Nationwide unemployment rate for high-tech careers is extremely low.

B.

Tapescript:

A decade long study has found that students in smaller classes do better than students in bigger classes. The study says that students in classes of 13 to 17 pupils have higher grades, better graduation rates, and they are more likely to attend college. It also says that minority and poor students were helped even more. The study involves Tennessee public school students' who are randomly placed in three class-sized groups. The regular size is about 25 students. The Clinton administration and Senate democrats are citing the study in their call for nearly one and a half billion dollars more for their plans to reduce class size nationwide.

C.

1. We all tend to be night owls around here, so we're more of a night family.

2. Home-school advocates say they have cooperatives where a lot of students gather for sports and other activities.

3. The second thing is that of course you can document that the media stories have become more favorable.

4. Information that researchers gleaned from these tests is the closest thing this country has to a national report card on students' academic progress.

5. Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980.

Part II Home schooling

Outline

I. Home schooling -- one of the fastest growing trends in American education

Definition: parents teaching children at home instead of sending them off to school

II. People taking part in home schooling

A. Those taking part

1. Twenty years ago: mainly some people who rejected formal education

2. Today: many people from mainstream America

B. Number of home schooling students

1. A decade ago: 300,000

2. Today: 1,500,000

III. A specific example about Jean Forbes and her boy

IV. Major arguments against home schooling

A. Standards set by state laws being too relaxed

1. No teacher's certificate or undergraduate degree required

2. Only 26 states requiring an annual standardized test

B. Lack of socialization

V. Future of home schooling in Patricia Wines' view: slowly gaining broad acceptance

A. The Gallup poll: ratings going up to support people's right to try home schooling though most Americans still do not really approve of it as an educational method

B. Media stories becoming more favorable

VI. Percentage of home-schooled children in America: 1.5%

B.

Questions Answers

1. What was Jean's opinion of leery / kooks / underground

home schooling? movement / scary

2. Why did Jean choose home dyslexia / school not handling

schooling for her boy Aaron? well / not afford private schools

3. How does Aaron feel about loved it / excited / never wanted

home schooling? to go back

4. What is the schedule like relaxed / night owls / not get up

for Aaron? early / either chores or school

first / no grading system /

different approach

5. Does Jean give any tests to occasionally / not very often

Aaron?

Tapescript:

A--Announcer R--Reporter J--Jean P-- Patricia

A: One of the fastest growing trends in American education is called home schooling. It means that one or both parents teach their children at home instead of sending them off to school.

R.. About twenty years ago, most Americans wouldn't have considered it an option. People who tried it were few and far between, basically some fundamentalist Christians and former hippies who, for different reasons, rejected formal education. Today it is legal in every state. The number of home schooling students is estimated at 1.5 million, up from 300,000 a decade ago, and many are from mainstream America.

Jean Forbes, of Alexandria, Virginia, a former actress and mother of two boys, is one of the new generation of home schoolers.

J. I did not know anything about home schooling and I was a little leery. I thought it was a bunch of kooks out there. You know, some underground movement that was a little scary. And I was wrong. I also found out that there are probably almost as many reasons for home schooling as there are home schoolers. People who have ... gifted children who are learning disabled, for instance. It's a huge growing sector of the home-school community.

R: Six years ago Jean and her husband, Jan, pulled their boy, Aaron, out of a public school. The boy has dyslexia, a reading disability. Jean Forbes says the school wasn't handling it well at all.

J. We decided we maybe could do a better job. We also couldn't afford private schools. So we didn't feel we had a whole lot of options. The only thing left was home schooling.

R: And how does he feel about that?

J: He absolutely loves the idea. He was very excited and every time ... he's now a freshman in high school ... we're still home-schooling him as well as his younger brother and he's never ever wanted to go back. Every time I've said, "Hey, is this you, you want to go back to school? .... What, are you kidding?" That's the normal response I get.

R: Tell me about the day, how it starts. Is it like a regular classroom schedule? Do you start 9 o'clock math, 10 o'clock ... you know... ?

J. No, we don't. There are home schoolers I know that do that, because that's what's comfortable for them. We don't do that. We have a much more relaxed schedule. We all tend to be night owls around here, so we're more of a night family. So the kids don't get up out of bed even that early. It's almost 10 o'clock now. They probably won't get out of bed for another half hour or so.

R. And then what happens?

J. And then we decide are we doing chores first this morning, and then school, or the other way around. So, I try to keep a little more relaxed. I don't use a grading system. If you know this material, we go on. If you don't know it, we try to find a different way of approaching it so that you do learn it.

R. Any tests?

J. Occasionally, but not very often.

R. Jean Forbes has a relaxed approach. In fact, one of the major arguments against home schooling is that standards set by state laws are too relaxed. Not one state requires parents to have a teacher's certificate or an undergraduate degree. Only 26 states require students take an annual standardized test.

Another criticism of home schooling is the apparent lack of socialization. Critics say the children don't meet enough people outside the families. Home-school advocates say they have cooperatives where a lot of students gather for sports and other activities. Jean Forbes, for instance, has 40 students in her drama class. And in some states the children even have access to public schools. They can use computer rooms, try out for the football team, even sign up for an advanced science course, like biology or chemistry. Patricia Lines, a senior research analyst at the U. S. Department of Education, says that in her view, home schoolers are slowly gaining broad acceptance.

P: Most Americans ... if you look at the Gallup poll on it, : most Americans still do not really approve of home schooling as an educational method, but they do support peoples' right to try it and their ratings are going up gradually. The second thing is that of course you can document that the media stories have become more favorable.

R. Still, a relatively small percentage of the nation's children are home-schooled, only about 1.5 percent of the elementary and secondary school population, according to researchers. The fact is, most American parents, men and women, work outside the home, which obviously precludes their involvement in home schooling. And most Americans apparently remain satisfied with their schools in spite of a mixed academic record and the occasional reports of violence.

In my next report, I'll look at the downside to home schooling.

Part III Education then and now

9-year-olds 13-year-olds 17-year-olds

Science slightly better grasp today scores have stalled

Math a. better (add, subtract, multiply, divide) than 30 years ago

b. more skilled in basic geometry as they get older

Reading a. the 1970s and '80s: scores improved

b. the 1990s: scores dropped & stayed flat

Leading statement:

Today's students are doing better than students from 30 years ago when put in on the same field.

Supporting details:

1. More students taking tougher courses now

a. More 13-year-olds taking algebra

b. More 17-year-olds enrolling in calculus, biology and chemistry

2. More homework now

4. Sex difference / difference between boys and girls

a. In math: gap disappearing

b. In science:

(1) At the age of 13 and 17: boys better than girls

(2) At the age of 9: no difference

C.

1. What is the information from the tests compared to?

A national report card on student's academic progress.

2. From the reading scores for students in all three age groups in 1990s, what conclusion can be drawn?

They may have trouble locating and identifying facts from stories or summarizing and explaining what they read.

3. Which three more important reports will come in the near future?

a. new fourth grade reading scores

b. a state by state breakdown of math scores

c. the first batch of science scores

Tapescript:

For nearly 30 years now, the U.S. government has tested nine-, thirteen-, and seventeen-year-olds in reading, math, and science. The information that researchers gleaned from these tests is the closest thing this country has to a national report card on students' academic progress. Today the Education Department released a lengthy study detailing how students have been doing since 1969.

The government's test results are pretty mixed. Today's nine-, thirteen-, and seventeen-year-olds can add, subtract, multiply, and divide better than they could 30 years ago. As they get older, today's students are more skilled in basic geometry, using decimals, percentages, and fractions. In reading, scores improved during the 1970s and '80s. Then they dropped and stayed flat for most of the 1990s. This means kids in all three age groups may have trouble locating and identifying facts from stories or summarizing and explaining what they read. Nine-year-olds today, however, do have a slightly better grasp of science than they did in 1969 when the first science test was given nationwide. But again, science scores for thirteen- and seventeen-year-olds have stalled.

So are students today smarter, better educated than they were 30 years ago? In some way, it's like asking whether baseball players today are better than they were in the past.

"But the trends report puts today's students in on the same field as students from 30 years ago. Today's students are doing better.'

The report points out that a much greater percentage of students today are taking tougher courses. The percentage of thirteen-year-olds taking algebra is up. So is the percentage of seventeen-year-olds enrolled in calculus, biology, and chemistry. Kids are even doing more homework than they did 30 years ago. In math, the gap between boys and girls has all but disappeared. In science, thirteen- and seventeen-year-old boys still do better than girls, but at age nine there's no difference.

Private school students outperformed public school students, but math and science scores for private school students have remained flat since 1980. Education Department officials say three more important reports are due. New fourth grade reading scores will be released in February. A state by state breakdown of math scores will be ready by May. And a fresh batch of science scores will follow.