VOA标准英语2010年-Diverse High School Battles Low Test S

TC Williams, the only public high school in the city of Alexandria, Virginia, is dealing¹ with challenges.

The school is known for its ethnic² and cultural diversity but it has been named by Virginia's Department of Education as one of the lowest achieving schools in the state.

The unflattering review follows the students' consistently low scores on federally mandated³ Standards of Learning Tests.

But many ask if the students are failing or if the US educational system is failing them.

In 1971, TC Williams' experienced racial integration⁴. The same year, the public high school in Alexandria, Virginia and its ethnically⁵ mixed football team made headlines by winning the state championship.

Forty years later, the school is even more diverse. 

Immigrants in large numbers have been moving to Alexandria. 

Alexandria Public School Superintendent⁶ Morton Sherman points to diversity as one of the school's strengths.

"That is the face and voice of America. And it is a wonderful face. And there are wonderful voices there of teachers and children working hard to succeed," says Sherman.

According to Sherman, 84 percent of last year's graduating class went to college. But the school has a 30 percent drop-out rate, mostly minorities.

The persistently⁷ low test scores of TC Williams students have made the school one of the lowest achieving in Virginia.

Filomena Reyes, a student there, says many kids lack basic reading skills and self confidence.

"It's coming from another country and not speaking the language and being told that you can't learn the language, that you're so stupid, that you're not gonna learn it," says Filomena. "Being told that Hispanics are not worth anything."

Filomena arrived in the United States from central America five years ago. She did not speak any English. Today she writes a column in the school newspaper. She credits her foster mother for her success.

But not all of the students have family support.

"They cry and they cry with all their hearts," says Guadalupe Silva-Kraus,  the school's counselor⁸. "Because they try not to be babies but they still are. And they try to be grownups in a different country and they don't know how to."

Guadalupe says many immigrant parents have two jobs and no time to spend with their kids. So kids look in the wrong places for love. 

Some, like Carolina, end up pregnant. She has a 1-year-old baby.

"I didn't want to come to school," she says. "I had so many people coming up to me asking me 'why this, that.' I got picked on and I got pushed when I was pregnant."

Rafael Lopez, graduating this year, says he was involved with gangs. Now he is studying hard because he wants to go to college. He faults the students for TC Williams' failure.

"They don't go to classes. They skip their classes."

But Bander, from Egypt,  says "don't blame the kids. Blame their families."

"They want them to drop out and get a job so that they can pay their own rent."

Middle class students with high scores, on the other hand, feel underserved by the school. One of them is Catherine, a senior at TC Williams. .

"I'd be wanting to pay attention but because there's disruption in the class or because the teachers were not really paying attention to the students, that nothing really got done."

Gregory Baldwin, a special education teacher, blames standardized⁹ tests mandated under "No Child Left Behind." The law was passed under President George W. Bush.  

"You are more than a test score. You are more than a grade," says Baldwin. "We don't believe that this one size fits all approach works."

Superintendent Sherman has been under pressure to raise test scores. Recently, he unveiled a plan for improving the school's academic standards.

The plan involves smaller classrooms, more professional development for teachers and more extensive student tutoring.

Teachers agree. They say this is not only about academics in one failing U.S. public high school. It is about the changing face of America and the need for a new system that works for everyone.
 

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 mandated   

adj. 委托统治的

参考例句：

• Mandated desegregation of public schools. 命令解除公立学校中的种族隔离
• Britain was mandated to govern the former colony of German East Africa. 英国受权代管德国在东非的前殖民地。

4 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

5 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

6 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

7 persistently   

ad.坚持地；固执地

参考例句：

• He persistently asserted his right to a share in the heritage. 他始终声称他有分享那笔遗产的权利。
• She persistently asserted her opinions. 她果断地说出了自己的意见。

8 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

9 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。