【2009经济学人杂志双语阅读】Raising Alabama阿拉巴马，竿头日进

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Raising Alabama
阿拉巴马，竿头日进

Jul 16th 2009 | ALEXANDER CITY
From The Economist print edition

An experiment in levelling the playing field

提高教育水平的试验

ON A sweltering day in Alexander City, Alabama, summer school was in full swing. Two girls were reading “Julius Caesar” as two others wrestled with maths. A boy worked his way through a psychology quiz, and a teacher monitored an online discussion with students from around the state: Was Napoleon the last enlightened despot or the first modern dictator?

这是阿拉巴马州亚历山大市炎热的一天，暑期学校正如火如荼地进行着。两名女生正读着《凯撒大帝》，而另外两名女生正为着数学题目绞尽脑汁。一个男生正在努 力地坐着他的心理测试，而一名老师正在线上组织着来自全州各地的同学进行讨论：拿破仑是最后一个开明的君主还是第一个现代独裁者？

This is not a traditional classroom scene, but it has become common enough in Alabama. The state has many small, rural schools. Because of their size, and the relative scarcity of specialised teachers, course offerings have been limited. Students might have had to choose between chemistry or physics, or stop after two years of Spanish. But thanks to an innovative experiment with online education, the picture has changed dramatically.

这并非是一个传统课堂的景象，但是在阿拉巴马州来说这最普通不过了。该州拥有多家小的乡村学校。由于它们规模较小，又相应地缺乏专业教师，课程的开设受到 了一定程度的限制。学生们不得不在化学和物理中二选一，或者放弃学习了两年的西班牙语。但是，多亏了在线教育这一新试验，这一情况得到明显改善。

In 2005 the governor, Bob Riley, announced a pilot programme called Alabama Connecting Classrooms Educators and Students Statewide, or ACCESS. The idea was to use internet and videoconferencing technology to link students in one town to teachers in another. It was something of a pet cause for Mr Riley, who comes from a rural county himself. He was especially keen that students should have a chance to learn Chinese.

2005年，该州州长鲍伯莱利推行了一名为“阿拉巴马州全州教育网络化”或“联网”的项目。该项目旨在使用英特网及视频会议技术来连接处在不同地方的学生和老师。对于同样出身于乡村的莱利来说，在某种程度上这是一项嗜好。他曾经非常渴望学生们能有机会学习中文。

There were sceptics. The pilot programme cost $10m, not pocket change in a poor state. Teachers worried about how they would connect to their virtual students. But ACCESS quickly became a hit. In 2006 students took more than 4,000 courses at 24 schools. In 2008, with ACCESS now in more schools, the number exceeded 22,000. Administrators are finding new ways to liven up the experience. Last year a dozen schools went on a “virtual field trip” to Antarctica, with scientists beamed in by satellite, and a school in Birmingham has been liaising with a counterpart in Wales.

怀疑派者认为这项试验项目花费了一千万美元，这对一个不太富裕的州来说并不是一比小数目。老师们也曾担心怎样在网上与他们的学校交流。但“联网”项目迅速 打响了第一炮。2006年，24所学校的学生接受了超过4000门课程。到2008年，随着“联网”项目普及到更多的学校，这一数字达到了22，000 人。政府官员们正想出了一些新的方法来使此项目办得更加有声有色。去年，12所学校的学生与科学家们通过卫星连接，一道体验了南极“虚拟户外教学”，而伯 明翰的一所学校还与位于威尔士的一所学校通过网络连接成兄弟院校。

As for the goal of levelling the academic playing field, the state is pleased so far. Mark Dixon, the governor’s adviser for education, says that several years ago fewer than half of Alabama’s public high schools offered any college-level Advanced Placement (AP) courses. As of this summer, they all will; ACCESS is being extended to all the state’s schools.

对于实现专业学术水平的目标，到目前为止的情况还是令人满意的。该州州长的教育顾问马克•狄克逊表示，几年以前不到一半的阿拉巴马州的公立高中可以为学生 提供美国“高考”（AP考试）的有关课程。而今年夏天，所有高中都将拥有这项课程；“联网”项目已经推广到该州的所有学校。

Joe Morton, the state superintendent of schools, points to the number of black students taking AP courses. In 2003, according to the College Board, just 4.5% of Alabama’s successful AP students (those who passed the subject exam) were black. In 2008 the number was up to 7.1%. There is still a staggering gap—almost a third of the state’s students are black—but the improvement in Alabama was the largest in the country over that period. “That makes it all worthwhile right there,” says Mr Morton.

该州教育官员乔•默顿提到了修读AP课程的黑人学生数目。根据美国大学理事会数据显示，2003年，在阿拉巴马州仅有4.5%的“高考”成功学生（即通过 学术考试的学生）为黑人。而到2008年，这项数据已经上升到7.1%。虽然这与该州三分之一的学生为黑人还是有差距的，但在过去的这段时间中，阿拉巴马 州已经是全国进步最快的了。莫顿说：“这使得所有努力都是值得的。”