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有时候就是不得不承认钱不是万能,但是没有钱是万万不能。
在一项严格保密的,对墨尔本西区和北区家庭的调查惊人地发现,出身于相对贫寒的家庭的孩子在阅读和计算能力上,较来自于小康家庭的孩子更不容易进步。
研究对比了同样在7年级阅读能力不佳的学生,发现70%的北区孩子在两年后依然落后于同龄人,而来自稍富一点家庭的孩子当中,只有一半在两年后没能赶超同学。
数学计算能力方面的差异就更加惊人了。80%的出身贫寒的孩子两年里没能显著提高数学成绩,富裕家庭的孩子的这一比例只有57%。
目前联邦政府正在准备给全澳1500所弱势学校投放11亿资金;维州的教育局也积极引导一些学校进行详细的剖析,研究到底什么原因影响了学生的发展。
负责这项研究的墨尔本大学教育学专家Richard Teese说,调查结果并不是给出身不佳的学生“判了死刑”,而是给政府敲响了警钟。
另外,来自维州审计局的数字表明,过去十年中,从学前班到二年级中,贫富孩子的阅读和数学能力差距并未缩小;在三到十年级中,阅读差距方面有小幅好转,数学计算能力上依然没有改善的迹象。
Poor children 'less likely to improve'
http://www.theage.com.au/national/poor-children-less-likely-to-improve-20090417-aa9j.html?page=-1
Farrah Tomazin and Carol Nader
April 18, 2009
MOST students from Melbourne's poorest families struggle to improve in reading and maths as they move through high school, with State Government research showing that being rich or poor affects how well you can break the cycle of under-achievement.
The confidential study of schools in Melbourne's working-class northern and western suburbs has confirmed that a person's chances of getting ahead is linked to family capital: students from better-off families move forward much more quickly than those from poor backgrounds.
The study found 70 per cent of north-suburban children from poor families who struggled to read in year 7 still lagged behind their peers by year 9. But for students from better-off families, only half of those who struggled to read in year 7 continued to struggle two years later.
When it comes to numeracy, the gap is even more profound: four out of five children from poor homes who struggled with maths in year 7 continued to lag behind their peers two years later, compared with 57 per cent of children from better-off homes.
The findings come as the Federal Government prepares to roll out $1.1 billion for 1500 of the nation's most disadvantaged schools over the next five years.
Education Minister Julia Gillard told The Age schools would get more money if they implemented reforms to lift results, such as literacy and numeracy coaches, breakfast clubs or schemes to reduce absenteeism.
In Victoria, state Education Minister Bronwyn Pike has directed severely struggling schools to undergo a forensic analysis of their performance data, teacher practices and programs, to work out which measures are needed to turn them around.
But educators and welfare experts warn that more changes are necessary if governments are serious about bridging the gaps in education, after an Age analysis found:
■ Figures from the state's Auditor-General show the gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged schools for literacy and numeracy have not narrowed over the past 10 years for prep and grade 2 students.
Between year 3 and year 10 there was "moderate improvement" in literacy, but no improvement in maths.
In the VCE, literacy skills worsened for disadvantaged students.
■ State schools are continuing to impose "levies" on disadvantaged families that cannot afford to pay them, and students are missing out on programs because of costs.
The Victorian Council of Social Service was notified of one case in which a high school charged students 50 cents to get a copy of the school book list, which is meant to be free. In another, a year 9 student chose electives she did not want to do because she knew her single mother could not afford to pay for the subjects in which she was interested.
■ At least one high school is buying text books and renting them to students in severe financial hardship.
■ State Government equity funding for disadvantaged students is insufficient and not targeted properly, with school sources admitting some funds are idle in school bank accounts or being used to pay teachers or for building maintenance.
Melbourne University education expert Richard Teese, who did the research on northern and western schools for the state education department, said his findings should be a wake-up call for authorities — but "not a sentence of death" for disadvantaged students.
"Just because you're poor doesn't mean you can't progress," Professor Teese said. "It does mean, however, that a big effort needs to be made to support the schools where a majority of kids are from poorer backgrounds.
"We need better targeting of resources… and greater awareness of the gaps."
Tony Vinson, honorary professor in the faculty of education and social work at Sydney University, who has mapped social disadvantage across the country, said the best and most experienced teachers should be encouraged to work in the most disadvantaged schools, and free preschool for the most disadvantaged should start at age three.
VCOSS deputy director Carolyn Aitkens said many disadvantaged parents were being squeezed out of the education system because of rising costs.
"Some schools are working very hard to ensure that kids whose families are on low incomes are not excluded, but the system as a whole is working against them," she said.
[ 本帖最后由 一炷香 于 2009-4-22 19:48 编辑 ] |
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