Norman R. Augustine

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The chief problem with U.S. schools apparently isn’t high dropout rates or underquali fied teachers but standardized testing.1. dropout: 輟學(xué)學(xué)生；underquali fied:資歷不足的，不合格的；standardized: 標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化的。This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the push by parents and teachers in Buffalo, Philadelphia, Seattle and elsewhere to help students opt out of taking standardized tests.2. 這是我們從家長和教師們的舉動中能得到的唯一結(jié)論。在水牛城、費(fèi)城、西雅圖以及其他城市，他們正在推動并鼓勵學(xué)生選擇不參加標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試。push: 推動，促進(jìn)；opt out: 拒絕參加，自愿退出。

Members of this burgeoning anti-test movement fail to grasp testing’s valuable role in motivating and guiding students and teachers.3. burgeoning: 迅速成長的，迅速發(fā)展的；grasp: 理解，領(lǐng)悟；motivate: 激發(fā)……的積極性（或?qū)W習(xí)興趣）。Preparing young Americans for success in the global economy will require our schools to improve, not abolish4. abolish: 廢除，取消。, academic standards.

Opponents of standardized tests typically rely on three basic arguments.

First, they contend that these exams detract from the larger goals of education by encouraging teachers to “teach the test.”5. contend: 聲稱，主張；detract: 轉(zhuǎn)移，使分心。

In a certain sense, however, teaching the test is the whole point.Exams are instruments for measuring student pro ficiency.6. instrument: 工具，手段；pro ficiency:精通，熟練。And,as I’ve learned during my career in the business world, measuring something is often the best way to maximize or improve it.Economist Dan Ariely of Duke University has said: “CEOs care about stock value7. stock value: 股票價值。because that’s how we measure them. If we want to change what they care about, we should change what we measure.”

不可否認(rèn)，考試有許多不盡如人意之處：過分重視終結(jié)性考試，不可忽視的高分低能現(xiàn)象與素質(zhì)教育主流趨勢似乎南轅北轍，等等。那么，我們究竟需不需要考試？考試的意義究竟何在？在日新月異的21世紀(jì)，考試與評價又將如何變革與發(fā)展呢？

If an exam effectively gauges a student’s mastery of U.S. history or English grammar, then teaching the test is simply a matter of helping students develop that knowledge.8. 如果一門考試有效地評估了學(xué)生對美國歷史或英語語法的掌握程度，那么應(yīng)試教學(xué)則僅僅是幫助學(xué)生掌握相關(guān)方面的知識。gauge: 測量……的大小，評價。Teachers who feel that a test ignores something essential should commit to fixing the test,not condemning the entire practice of testing.9. commit to: 致力于……，投入……；condemn: 譴責(zé)，非難；practice: 實(shí)踐，實(shí)行。

Another oft-heard argument is that standardized tests drive educators to cheat. Teachers and administrators in the Atlanta public school system, for instance, were indicted this year in an alleged scheme of in flating their students’ test scores to avoid sanctions and attract better future students.10. indict: 控告，指控；alleged: （尤指在證據(jù)不足的情況下）被指控的，有嫌疑的；scheme: 陰謀，詭計；in flate: 抬高，使……膨脹；sanction: 制裁，處罰。Not surprisingly,some education advocates were quick to blame the scandal on the tests themselves.

It should be noted that most teachers are honest, dedicated11. dedicated: 專注的，為……而獻(xiàn)身的。professionals. But even if this sort of fraud were rampant, it would be absurd to fault standardized tests.12. fraud: 欺騙，詐騙；rampant: 蔓延的，猖獗的；fault: v. 找……的缺點(diǎn)，責(zé)難。As Thomas J. Kane,director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, noted last spring, such a reaction would “be equivalent to saying ‘OK, because there are some players that cheated in Major League Baseball, we should stop keeping score, because that only encourages people to take steroids.’ ”13. 哈佛大學(xué)教育政策研究中心的主任托馬斯·J.凱恩去年春天指出，這樣的反應(yīng)“相當(dāng)于說‘好吧，因?yàn)橛幸恍┣騿T在美國職棒大聯(lián)盟比賽中作弊了，我們就應(yīng)該停止計分，因?yàn)檫@樣只會鼓勵人們服用興奮劑?！眀e equivalent to: 相當(dāng)于，與……等效；Major League Baseball: 美國職棒大聯(lián)盟，美國最著名的職業(yè)棒球聯(lián)賽；steroid: 類固醇，是激素、興奮劑等的主要成分。

The third argument is that high-stakes testing14. high-stakes testing: 高利害性考試，如中國的高考等重要考試。places too much pressure on students. This objection is not without some merit15. not without some merit: 不是一無是處的，不是毫無道理的。.

Having visited schools in other countries where a single five-day examination can determine a student’s future, I understand how tests can sometimes constitute16. constitute: 實(shí)際上等于，相當(dāng)于。cruel and unusual punishment.But surely there is a sensible middle ground between such brutal practices and full-scale abandonment of standardized testing.17. 但可以肯定的是，讓考試成為如此殘酷的考驗(yàn)和全面放棄標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試之間，我們應(yīng)該能找到合理的中間地帶。full-scale: 全面的，完全的。

Finding that middle ground has never been more important,as U.S. students continue to fall far behind their international peers. In its most recent report, the World Economic Forum18. World Economic Forum: 世界經(jīng)濟(jì)論壇，一個以基金會形式存在的非營利組織，總部設(shè)在瑞士日內(nèi)瓦，以其每年冬季在瑞士達(dá)沃斯舉辦的年會（俗稱達(dá)沃斯論壇）聞名于世，聚集了全球工商、政治、學(xué)術(shù)、媒體等領(lǐng)域的領(lǐng)袖人物，討論世界面臨的最緊迫問題。ranked U.S. math and science education 52nd in the world. A 2009 evaluation of students in 34 developed nations found that U.S. 15-year-olds were outperformed19. outperform: 勝過，比……做得好。in science by students from 12 countries. The results were worse in math: Students in 17 countries outperformed U.S. students.

To address U.S. students’ international achievement gap,the National Governors Association helped create a set of nationwide achievement goals known as the Common Core State Standards.20. address: 處理，對付；Common Core State Standards: 各州共同核心標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，美國的一套課程標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的架構(gòu)，用以規(guī)范學(xué)生于21世紀(jì)所應(yīng)該學(xué)到的核心知識、技能與能力。These voluntary benchmarks in English language arts and math re flect what young Americans will need to know if they are to compete with students from China, Singapore,Finland, Republic of Korea and elsewhere.21. voluntary: 非官辦的，私立的； benchmark: 基準(zhǔn)尺度，基準(zhǔn)。

Instead of speaking out against the Common Core, critics of standardized testing should see this reform effort as an opportunity to make testing better.Educators have an indispensable role in creating tests that do justice to student achievement while rewarding skilled teachers.22. indispensable: 不可缺少的，重要的；do justice to: 公平對待，使……的價值充分發(fā)揮。

Raising standards should be the primary goal of education reform. Those who argue against standardized testing are not only misguided but are also leading U.S. schools and students in precisely the wrong direction.