校園生活:抨擊學校的"自動升級"

In the past few years, reformers have embraced a disarmingly simple idea for fixing schools: Why not actually flunk those students who don't earn passing grades? Both Democrats and Republicans have begun attacking the practice of "social promotion"—shuttling bad students to the next grade, advancing them with peers even if they are failing. Make F truly mean failure, the movement says.

過去幾年，改革派一直堅持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學校的問題：對於那些成績不達標的學生，爲什麼不讓他們留級？民主黨和共和黨已經開始抨擊“自動升級”的做法—-按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學一起進入下一年級。這場運動主張要讓“F”這個成績真的意味着“不及格”。

Last week in Los Angeles, the reformers learned just how ornery the current system can be. According to a plan released Tuesday by the L.A. school district, ending social promotion there will take at least four years, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars—and probably would require flunking about half the district's students. That's a pessimistic assessment, but it's not just bureaucrats' caterwauling. Rather, L.A. school superintendent Ruben Zacarias was an eager convert to the crusade against social promotion. In February he unveiled an ambitious plan to end unwarranted promotions in five grades during the 1999-2000 school year—a full year ahead of the timetable set by a state law.

過去幾年，改革派一直堅持用一種令人毫無懷疑的簡單想法解決學校的問題：對於那些成績不達標的學生，爲什麼不讓他們留級？民主黨和共和黨已經開始抨擊“自動升級”的做法—-按照這種做法，就算差生考試不及格，他們照樣可以和其他同學一起進入下一年級。這場運動主張要讓“F”這個成績真的意味着“不及格”。

At the time, Zacarias acknowledged that his goal would be hard to meet. He estimated that as many as 6 of every 10 students would flunk if they had to advance on merit. Zacarias wanted to spend $140 million in the first year alone to help these kids. Why so much? Because a mountain of research shows that ending social promotion doesn't work if it just means more Fs. Kids who are simply forced to repeat grades over and over usually don't improve academically and often drop out. Zacarias wanted more tutoring, summer school and intensive-learning classes. Unqualified students wouldn't rise to the next grade; nor would they be doomed to redo work they already failed. It was a forward-looking plan that Zacarias, 70, didn't have the clout to enact. He wasn't popular enough—the school board recently bought out his contract after a bitter power struggle—but even fellow reformers think his plan was too much, too soon. Says board member David Tokofsky: "You've got the unions who want their say. And, of course, there's the facilities issue: Where do you send all these eighth-graders if you can't send them to high school?" The district now says it will stop advancing low-achieving students only in two grades (second and eighth), and it will begin next year.

扎卡雷斯承認他的目標在當時很難實現。他估計如果按照成績升級的話，十個學生中將有六個過不了關。僅第一年扎卡雷斯就打算花費1.4億美元來幫助這些孩子。爲什麼要花這麼多錢呢？因爲衆多研究表明如果取消“自動升級”僅僅意味着有更多學生無法升級的話，那麼它就失去了意義。那些被迫一遍又一遍地復讀的孩子成績並沒有提高，甚至還經常會退學。扎卡雷斯希望學生們能得到更多的指導，開設更多的夏季班和強化學習班。不合格的學生不會進入下一年級，但也不必把功課重學一遍。他提出的這一計劃很有遠見，但70高齡的扎卡雷斯本人並沒有足夠的影響力將其付諸實施—-他還不夠受歡迎—-在一場激烈的權力鬥爭之後，該校董事會最近買斷了他的合同—-但就連其他改革派也認爲他的計劃太宏大，太迫切。另一位董事會成員大衛·託科夫斯基說：“工會想要有發言權。當然，還有設施的問題：如果不能把八年級學生送入中學，那該把他們送往哪裏呢？”現在，該教育區宣佈它將只在兩個年級（二年級和八年級）對成績較差的學生取消升級，並將從明年起實施。

Los Angeles isn't the only place that has run into roadblocks while trying to end social promotion. In New York City, some advocates have said in lawsuits that parents weren't notified early enough that their kids were flunking. And in Chicago, which led the nation on the issue, a parents' group has filed civil rights complaints alleging that the promotion crackdown holds back a disproportionate number of black and Latino kids.

洛杉磯並不是唯一一個在取消“自動升級”工作中遇到困難的地方。在紐約市，一些辯護律師在訴訟中稱家長沒有及時被告知他們的孩子會留級。在芝加哥，一個家長團體提出了民權控訴，宣稱取消自動升級使相當比例的黑人和拉丁美洲裔的孩子升不了級。

Still, the war on social promotion could have one salutary consequence: if every school district takes L.A.'s approach, struggling students will get a lot more teaching help, not just a kick in the rear as they finish another unproductive school year.

然而，這場關於“自動升級”的戰爭還是會帶來一個有益的結果：如果每個教育區採用洛杉磯的做法，那些學習吃力的學生就會得到學習幫助，而不僅僅是在學完一年毫無收穫之外再被踢上一腳。