时间:2019-01-11 作者:英语课 分类:VOA慢速英语2008年(五)月


英语课

Education Report - Study Raises Questions About Reading Program in US
In schools using Reading First, researchers find more time being spent on skills, but without higher test scores on average. Also, a look at the book reading habits of students in American schools. Transcript 1 of radio broadcast:
14 May 2008


 


This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
 






A mother and son choose books at a library in Richmond, Virginia




A federal program in the United States called Reading First has received one billion dollars a year for the past several years. The money has gone to school systems to get them to use scientifically based ways to teach reading. The goal is to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade.

The Bush administration's education law, the No Child Left Behind Act of Two Thousand One, established Reading First. Now, the Department of Education has released findings from a study of the program.

On average, teachers using it increased the time they taught reading skills like phonics and vocabulary. But the study also found, on average, little or no effect on test scores in reading comprehension.

Government researchers say they are not sure how to explain the results.

Critics call the program a failure and want Congress to end it. The program also came under attack after Education Department officials were accused of conflicts of interest with reading publishers.

Congress cut the billion-dollar budget by almost two-thirds this year. But federal officials want to continue the program. The study did find improvements in some cases.

The report examined the effects of Reading First grants in seventeen school districts across twelve states and one statewide program. The findings are for two thousand four to two thousand six. A final report with an additional year of research is expected early next year.

Another new report listed the books read most often last year by students in American schools. The Renaissance 2 Learning company based the report on its reading programs used in many schools. Students read books and then take computer quizzes to see if they understood them. There are tests for more than one hundred fifteen thousand books.

The book read most often by first graders was "Green Eggs and Ham" by Doctor Seuss. In fourth grade the top book was, not surprisingly, "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" by Judy Blume.

Three of J.K. Rowling's Harry 3 Potter books were among the top ten in grades nine through twelve. But the book read most often was "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. Others included John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men," "A Child Called 'It'" by Dave Pelzer and "Holes" by Louis Sachar.

Also in the top ten were "Night" by Elie Wiesel, "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton and "Twilight 4" by Stephenie Meyer.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.



n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书
  • A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
  • They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。
n.复活,复兴,文艺复兴
  • The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
  • The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。
vt.掠夺,蹂躏,使苦恼
  • Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天,人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
  • Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。
n.暮光,黄昏;暮年,晚期,衰落时期
  • Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
  • Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。
标签: voa 慢速英语
学英语单词
a sheet of
aesthetic categories
amniotic villus
Anammelech
Androcorys spiralis
array input statement
array of pixel
atrophia cutis idiopathica maculosa
be no better than
biz-anks
bosom friends
Brand X
calendographers
callionymus meridionalis
cased confectionery
Cassia mimosoides L.
certification
Christic
clad valve
corrogate
Coudekerque-Branche
DA (differential analyzer)
dalar
depression coast
diagonaly body break
diverse crops
domain-wall switching
drill edge
Dynel
electromotor nuclei
elevable
EMUST (electromagnetic-ultrosonic testing)
error-free running
ex-bankers
eye dropper
feminam
fennessey
fished beam
fogler
furisode
get sth for free
glossdynia
grishchuk
gross flux distribution
hunger pack
hypermutated
induction heating
infantile flaccidity
jawann
Kisawa
lape
lead network
leanest
left-hand engine
lines of business
Make an enquiry
match arc
method of quartering
niene
normal carryover
offence of splitting the state
overflow cascade washers
Owen, Mt.
padding of splints
pig process
Popin
prepress service bureau
private-banking
propr
pulse Doppler air target tracking radar
ratholite (pectolite)
rotor balancing
semi-submarine ice-breaking tanker (ssit)
shut off mechanism
sieva bean
site-defined master user identification
slate
sodium deficit
staggered gauging
statement of financial opsition
statistic map
steady potential
stray-current
synthetic sound
tempered metal
thalgine
Theodosius the Great
think logically
thyroglossal ducts
to clear of
tomb - sweeping day
Tongchang-ni
torve
tympanophonia
Tzummarum
umeh
unburnished
unexpressable
verify
vistepite
weals
you made my day