VOA教育报道2022 美国20个州的高中毕业率下降（在线收听）

High school graduation rates in the United States dropped in at least 20 states after the first full school year during the coronavirus health crisis.

在受新冠疫情健康危机影响的第一个完整学年结束后，美国至少20个州的高中毕业率有所下降。

The information comes from the publication Chalkbeat.

这一信息来自出版物Chalkbeat。

It suggests that the pandemic may have ended almost 20 years of improvement in high school graduation rates in America.

这表明，这场疫情可能结束了近20年来美国为提高高中毕业率所取得的进展。

Graduation rates fell in some states even though educators eased requirements to help struggling students.

尽管教育工作者放宽了毕业要求来帮助有困难的学生，但一些州的毕业率还是下降了。

The information comes from only 26 of the 50 states.

这些信息只来自50个州中的26个。

But it is the latest concerning trend in education.

但这是教育领域最新的令人担忧的趋势。

Last year, many students attended classes online and the new coronavirus continues to affect learning and teaching.

去年，许多学生在线上课，新冠疫情继续影响学习和教学。

Educators fear that the next several graduating classes could be affected even more.

教育工作者担心接下来的几届毕业班可能会受到更大的影响。

In 2020, when schools closed for the final months of the school year, most states eased graduation requirements.

2020年，当学校在该学年的最后几个月停课时，大多数州放宽了毕业要求。

They reported a rise in graduation rates.

他们报告称毕业率有所上升。

But the results were different for the class of 2021.

但2021届毕业生的结果有所不同。

In 20 of 26 states that have released their information, graduation rates fell.

在公布信息的26个州中，有20个州的毕业率有所下降。

The Associated Press reports that complete national data will likely not be available until 2023.

美联社报道称，完整的国家数据可能要到2023年才能获得。

Those decreases were less than a percentage point in some states, like Colorado, Georgia and Kansas.

在科罗拉多州、佐治亚州和堪萨斯州等州，毕业率降幅不到1%。

But, in other states, they were larger.

但是，在其他州，毕业率降幅更大。

Illinois, Oregon and North Dakota reported graduation rate decreases of two percentage points.

伊利诺伊州、俄勒冈州和北达科他州的毕业率下降了2%。

Indiana, Maine, Nevada, South Dakota and West Virginia reported drops of at least one point.

报告称，印第安纳州、缅因州、内华达州、南达科他州和西弗吉尼亚州下降了至少1%。

Where rates did increase, growth was small.

在毕业率上升的州，增幅很小。

Florida has had graduation rates increase by more than 2 percentage points every year for 10 years.

佛罗里达州的毕业率在过去10年里每年增长超过2%。

But in 2021, it gained just one tenth of a percentage point.

但在2021年仅增长了0.1%。

Robert Balfanz is an education researcher with Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

罗伯特·巴尔凡兹是马里兰州约翰·霍普金斯大学的教育研究员。

"We do have to be concerned that grad rates are down and that some number of kids that earned a diploma, they've learned less than prior years," he said.

他说：“我们不得不关注毕业率下降的问题，而且一些获得毕业证的孩子学到的东西比前几年少了。”

Last year's graduating class was affected in many different ways.

去年的毕业班在许多不同方面受到了影响。

In Nevada's Washoe County schools, for example, the graduation rate dropped by 2.6 percentage points.

以内华达州瓦肖县的学校为例，毕业率下降了2.6%。

Many high school students worked longer hours or spent more time caring for family members.

许多高中生工作时间更长，或者花更多时间照顾家人。

Carly Lott is a counselor at a school in Reno, Nevada.

卡莉·洛特是内华达州里诺市一所学校的辅导员。

She became concerned last year when students started working 40 to 50 hours a week.

去年，当学生们开始每周工作40到50个小时时，她开始感到担忧。

Some students worked during remote school days, while others took late-night hours that made them too tired to do schoolwork.

一些学生在远程学习日工作，而另一些学生则工作到深夜，这让他们太累了，以至于无法做功课。

Graduation rates across the whole country are still higher now than they were a few years ago.

现在全国的毕业率仍然高于几年前。

But the decreases are troubling to many people.

但毕业率下降让许多人感到不安。

In 2001, an estimated 71 percent of U.S. students who started public high school graduated four years later.

据估计，2001年在公立高中就读的美国学生中，有71%的人在四年后毕业。

By 2019, that number had risen to 86 percent.

到2019年，这一数字已经上升到86%。

Observers say that increase is a great success in American education.

观察人士说，这种增长是美国教育的一大成功。

A study by the Brookings Institution suggested that the increases were the result of new pressure on states and schools from the federal government.

布鲁金斯学会的一项研究表明，毕业率提高是联邦政府对各州和学校施加新压力的结果。

The study found little evidence that the long-term improvements were caused by lowering graduation requirements.

该研究发现，几乎没有证据表明这种长期改善是由于较低的毕业要求。

Some fear that all the effects of the pandemic will hit future graduating classes hardest.

一些人担心新冠疫情的所有影响将会对未来的毕业班造成最严重的打击。

In both Oregon and Nevada, the share of first-year high school students who finished last school year in a position to graduate was about 10 percentage points lower than before the pandemic.

在俄勒冈州和内华达州，完成最后一学年学业即将毕业的高中学生的比例比疫情爆发前低了约10%。

Educators are hopeful, however, that last year's drop is not the sign of a trend.

然而，教育工作者们希望去年毕业率的下降并不是一种趋势的迹象。

In Peoria, Illinois, the graduation rate fell four points after rising for years.

在伊利诺伊州的皮奥里亚，毕业率在上升数年后下降了4%。

But Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said the school system is expanding measures for struggling students.

但学校负责人莎伦·德斯穆林-凯拉特表示，学校系统正在扩大针对有困难的学生的措施。

Every week, a team of educators finds students with failing grades and provides them extra support.

每周，一组教育工作者都会找到成绩不及格的学生，并为他们提供额外的支持。

The school system has added ways working students can earn credits in the evenings or on weekends.

学校系统增加了打工学生在晚上或周末获得学分的方式。

It has also employed workers to help students who are in the juvenile justice system to finish school.

它还雇佣了工作人员来帮助少年司法系统中的学生完成学业。

"It is not easy," Desmoulin-Kherat said.

德斯穆林-凯拉特说：“这并不容易”。

"It's definitely a marathon, not a sprint."

“这绝对是一场马拉松，而不是短跑。”

That means the effort is unlike a short race, but more like a long, difficult one.

这意味着这种努力不像是一场短距离比赛，而更像是一场漫长而艰难的比赛。