A research center has found that students learning English as a second language, or ESL, struggled during the coronavirus health crisis.
一个研究中心发现，学习英语作为第二语言（ESL）的学生在冠状病毒健康危机期间陷入困境。
Last month, the WIDA consortium, a research group based at the University of Wisconsin, released a study on ESL students. It found English proficiency and growth in English studies decreased during the 2020-2021 school year. WIDA provides standardized tests to English learners in 36 states. State and federal law requires ESL students to be tested from kindergarten through 12 th grade. The WIDA test is used to find out if a student should remain in ESL classrooms or join the general student population.
上个月，威斯康星大学的研究小组 WIDA 联盟发布了一项针对 ESL 学生的研究。报告发现，2020-2021 学年，英语水平和英语学习增长有所下降。 WIDA 为 36 个州的英语学习者提供标准化考试。州和联邦法律要求 ESL 学生从幼儿园到 12 年级都要接受测试。 WIDA 测试用于确定学生是否应该留在 ESL 教室或加入普通学生群体。
Scores in many areas of English proficiency — reading, speaking, listening and writing — decreased during the last school year. The biggest decreases were in speaking. Students in the elementary and middle school grades showed the biggest decreases, while high school students improved in areas like listening and reading.
上学年，许多英语能力领域——阅读、口语、听力和写作——的分数都有所下降。下降幅度最大的是口语。小学和初中年级的学生下降幅度最大，而高中生的听力和阅读等方面有所提高。
Educators and school officials say that online classes made it more difficult for ESL students to use English when it was not spoken at home. Students did not have a full day of schooling in English online, said Dessynie Edwards. She is the assistant superintendent of Austin Independent School District in Texas. But she expects student performance to improve this year now that classes are returning to normal.
教育工作者和学校官员表示，在线课程使 ESL 学生在家里不说英语时更难使用英语。黛西妮·爱德华兹 (Dessynie Edwards) 表示，学生们没有接受一整天的在线英语教育。她是德克萨斯州奥斯汀独立学区的助理学区长。但她预计，随着课堂恢复正常，今年学生的成绩将会有所提高。
There were some limits to the WIDA data however. WIDA required its tests to be taken in-person, even in districts where classes were online. That may have been the reason why 30 percent fewer students took the WIDA test in 2021 than in 2019 and 2020.
然而，WIDA 数据存在一些限制。 WIDA 要求其考试必须亲自进行，即使是在网上授课的地区也是如此。这可能就是 2021 年参加 WIDA 测试的学生比 2019 年和 2020 年减少 30% 的原因。
Because of the pandemic, students were also tested at irregular times. Instead of being tested every 12 months, students took the test between 9 and 15 months apart. And students who took the test one year, might not have taken the test again.
由于疫情的原因，学生们也不定期接受测试。学生们不再每 12 个月进行一次测试，而是相隔 9 到 15 个月进行一次测试。参加过一年考试的学生可能不会再参加考试。
The total number of students in the study was also low, said Leslie Villegas. She is with the New America Foundation, a public policy research group in Washington, D.C. Students from Texas, California and New York do not take the WIDA test and are not included in the data. However, those three states have the highest numbers of ESL students.
莱斯利·维勒加斯 (Leslie Villegas) 表示，参与这项研究的学生总数也很少。她供职于新美国基金会，这是华盛顿特区的一个公共政策研究小组。来自德克萨斯州、加利福尼亚州和纽约州的学生没有参加 WIDA 测试，因此不包含在数据中。然而，这三个州的 ESL 学生人数最多。
Villegas said the study provides some useful information but that educators should be “careful” about forming opinions from it. The information is “definitely not representative of all (English learners) in the country,” Villegas said. “I think we need to keep that in mind.” Students may not have been in a good academic position before the pandemic either, she said.
维勒加斯表示，这项研究提供了一些有用的信息，但教育工作者在从中形成意见时应该“小心”。维勒加斯说，这些信息“绝对不能代表该国所有（英语学习者）”。 “我认为我们需要牢记这一点。”她说，在大流行之前，学生的学术地位可能也不佳。
Finding good quality information on English learners’ educational progress has been difficult throughout the pandemic, Villegas said.
维勒加斯说，在整个大流行期间，找到有关英语学习者教育进展的优质信息一直很困难。
For example, Edwards said there is a “ gap ” in data about ESL learners’ performance and participation rates in Austin. While Texas has a statewide test to measure performance, the test was not required for all students last year.
例如，爱德华兹表示，奥斯汀的 ESL 学习者表现和参与率数据存在“差距”。虽然德克萨斯州有一个全州范围的测试来衡量表现，但去年并没有要求所有学生都进行该测试。
“I would not use (2021) test data to say, ‘Oh, this is where we’re going as a nation,’ other than to see if it aligns with something that we have some evidence of locally,” Kristina Robertson told the publication Education Week . Robertson is the head of ESL programs at Roseville Area Schools in Minnesota.
克里斯蒂娜·罗伯逊 (Kristina Robertson) 告诉《教育周刊》：“我不会用（2021 年）测试数据说，‘哦，这就是我们作为一个国家的发展方向’，而是看看它是否与我们在当地掌握的一些证据相符。”罗伯逊是明尼苏达州罗斯维尔地区学校 ESL 项目的负责人。
Villegas said states should look at their own test scores and information to find out where to place their resources to best serve their students.
维勒加斯表示，各州应该查看自己的考试成绩和信息，以确定将资源放在哪里才能最好地为学生服务。
"The onus is not on students,” she said. “The onus is on the system to figure out where the need is and target resources and attention and support to those areas.”
“责任不在学生身上，”她说。 “系统有责任找出需求所在，并将资源、关注和支持投放到这些领域。”
Dan Novak wrote this story with additional reporting from Education Week. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.
丹·诺瓦克（Dan Novak）撰写了这篇文章，并附有《教育周刊》的补充报道。马里奥·里特 (Mario Ritter, Jr.) 担任编辑。