首页
登录
职称英语
Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, announced a pilot reform to th
Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, announced a pilot reform to th
游客
2023-12-15
23
管理
问题
Margaret Spellings, the secretary of education, announced a pilot reform to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), George Bush’s education law, which was passed in 2002 Up to ten states, she said, would be allowed to target their resources at the most severely struggling schools, rather than at the vast number needing improvement. The change drew a predictable mix of praise and censure. Above all, though, it was a reminder of utter inaction elsewhere.
Congress, which was supposed to re-authorize the law last year, has made little progress. On the campaign trail, concerns over Iraq and the economy have made education a minor issue. Contrary to appearances, the law’s main tenets are unlikely to be abandoned completely. But for the Democratic candidates in particular, a proper debate on NCLB is to be avoided like political quicksand.
Most politicians agree that the law has the right goals—to raise educational standards and hold schools accountable for meeting them. NCLB requires states to test pupils on math and reading from third to eighth grade (that is, from the ages of eight to 13), and once in high school. Some science testing is being added. Schools that do not make "adequate yearly progress" towards meeting state standards face sanctions. Pupils in failing schools can supposedly transfer to a better one or get tutoring.
Most also agree that NCLB has big flaws that must be fixed. Few pupils in bad schools actually transfer—less than 1% of those eligible did so in the 2003—04 school year. Teachers’ unions say the tests are focused too narrowly on math and reading, fail to measure progress over time and encourage "teaching to the test". They also complain that the law lacks proper funding. The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, a conservative policy group, has exposed wide gaps in state standards. Test-data reflect this. In Mississippi 90% of fourth-graders were labeled "proficient" or better in the state reading test in 2006-07. Only 19% reached that level in a national test.
John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, offers NCLB tepid support but fails to elaborate. At Democratic rallies, NCLB is little more than a whipping-boy. Hillary Clinton proclaims that she will "end the unfunded mandate known as No Child Left Behind". But though she and Barack Obama deride NCLB publicly, each endorses the idea of accountability. They favor using more sophisticated "assessments" in place of tests, want to value a broader range of skills, punish schools less and support them more. How these ideas would be implemented remains unclear.
Not surprisingly, more controversial proposals can be found among those not running for president. Chester Finn of Fordham thinks the federal government needs greater power to set standards, while states should have more leeway in meeting them. A bipartisan commission on NCLB has issued a slew of proposals. Particularly contentious is a plan to use pupils’ test scores to help identify ineffective teachers as in need of retraining.
Of course, standards alone do not improve education. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama propose a host of new programs for schools, described on their websites if rarely on campaign. But accountability is likely to remain a big part of school reform. Last April a group of philanthropists announced a $60m effort to make education the top domestic issue of 2008. So far, it looks like money spent. [br] The word "sanctions" in the third paragraph means
选项
A、approval.
B、punishment.
C、support.
D、decree.
答案
B
解析
文章指出,要面对sanctions的对象是没有取得“一定年度进步”以达到教育标准的学校,因此,sanction在此应理解为“制裁,惩罚”,B项punishment的词义与它相近,因此选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3276602.html
相关试题推荐
InJanet’sopinion,schooleducationcouldbeimprovedifthestudentscouldbe
[originaltext]PresidentClinton’snomineeforDefenseSecretary,WilliamPer
[originaltext]PresidentClinton’snomineeforDefenseSecretary,WilliamPer
[originaltext]Ahard-linenationalistandpro-Westernreformerappearedhea
[originaltext]TheClintonAdministrationFridayannouncedthatitwillclose
[originaltext]TheClintonAdministrationFridayannouncedthatitwillclose
[originaltext]TheClintonAdministrationFridayannouncedthatitwillclose
Theneedforasatisfactoryeducationismoreimportantthaneverbefore.Now
[originaltext]SecretaryofStateColinPowellisurgingthePalestinianstosei
[originaltext]SecretaryofStateColinPowellsaysarecentreportshowinga
随机试题
TheMoralityTestA)Fromca
VariationsinBritishAccentsLanguage【T1】______aspeopletrytoexpres
Childrenfrompoorfamiliesarealreadyayearbehindinvocabularytestswh
艺术作品的内容由_____和_____两种因素构成。( )A.审美 B.题材
Earnedvalueanalysisisanexampleof(
下列药物中能诱导肝药酶的是:A.氯霉素 B.苯巴比妥 C.异烟肼 D.阿司
贷款审批要素包括()。A.贷后管理要求 B.贷款利率 C.贷款期限 D
下列关于某上市公司的信息中,不属于内幕信息的是( )。A.公司计划将再融资
下列属于法治社会建设内容的是:A.人民法院巡回法庭在农村事发地公开审理民事纠纷案
人在每一瞬间,将心理活动选择了某些对象而忽略了另一些对象。这一特点指的是注意的(
最新回复
(
0
)