美国上学时间

原文标题 :

Show that 4 > 5

More schools in America are adopting a four-day week

Teachers and parents like it, but results for pupils are middling

证明 4 > 5

美国越来越多的学校开始实行四天学制

教师和家长都喜欢这种制度，但学生的成绩却很一般

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ELDON, IOWA,rarely bustles. “We’re on top of a hill, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by corn,” explains James Craig, the superintendent of the area’s school district, which has about 1,000 pupils.

爱荷华州埃尔登镇向来不热闹。“我们地处偏远的一处山丘之上，周围全是玉米地，”当地学区负责人詹姆斯·克雷格解释道。他们学区约有1000名学生。

But on Mondays, the schools are particularly quiet. Only the teachers are at the primary school, learning a new maths curriculum. Since 2022 the district has worked on a four-day week schedule. 但每逢周一，学校就格外安静。小学里只有老师在，都在学一套新的数学教材。自2022年起，该学区正式推行每周四天制的教学安排。

“I couldn’t be happier,” Mr Craig says, “everyone is thriving.” Giving students Mondays off has led to better attendance, behaviour and mental health, he thinks.

克雷格先生说：“我可太满意了，每个人都越来越好了。”他认为，周一放假的安排，有效提升了学生出勤率，改善了行为，促进了心理健康。

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Across America, more schools are embracing four-day weeks. Over 2,100 schools operate that way and every state west of the Mississippi now allows it.

全美范围内，越来越多的学校开始实行四天学制。目前实行这个制度的学校已有2100多所，密西西比河以西的每个州如今均已允许这种模式。

Created in order to either save money or attract teachers, four-day school weeks were previously a rural phenomenon. But they are now reaching into more towns and cities.

每周四天制最初是为节约开支或吸引教师而推行，早先仅见于乡村，如今正拓展至更多城镇。

In November voters in Independence, a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, opted to keep its 14,000 pupils on a four-day school week.

去年11月，密苏里州堪萨斯城郊独立市选民表决，让辖区1.4万名学生延续四天制。

Unsurprisingly, teachers and students love it. Parents, too, have embraced the chance to spend more time at home. But for educational outcomes, the policy gets middling marks.

不出所料，师生们都很喜欢这种模式。家长们也觉得挺好，能与孩子共度更多家庭时光。但就教育成效而言，这项政策仅获中等评价。

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How much less teaching takes place during a four-day week depends on each district’s policy.

四天制教学的课时缩减幅度，因学区政策而异。

Generally, schools extend the four remaining days by just less than an hour, according to a study by RAND, a think-tank.

根据智库兰德公司的一项研究，通常情况下，学校会将其余四天的每日课时延长不足一小时。

How schools use the spare day also varies: some offer tutoring or child care, while others (such as those run by Mr Craig) do not offer much or anything.

各校对这一额外休息日的利用方式也各不相同：有些学校提供课业辅导或托管服务，而另一些学校（例如克雷格所在学区的学校）几乎不提供任何服务。

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So what is the impact of all of this?

那么，这一切究竟会产生怎样的影响呢？

Start with test scores. The effect “is not huge”, says Emily Morton of NWEA, an education-research firm. “But it’s not nothing,” akin to students being two to seven weeks behind where they would be otherwise.

先看考试成绩影响。教育研究公司NWEA的埃米莉·莫顿说，四天制的成绩影响“其实不算大，但也不是完全没有影响”，相当于让学生的学业进度比正常情况落后了2-7周。

This is not felt equally—students in rural schools and schools that kept the same amount of teaching do better.

但不同群体受影响的程度不同——乡村学校，以及那些总教学时长未缩减的学校，他们的学生成绩更好。

Academics worry about compounding negative results as pupils go through school without ever having a full week.

学者们担心，学生若始终以非五天制模式上学，负面效应或将持续叠加。

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Despite this, educators are effusive about the impact of short-weeks on classroom atmosphere.

尽管如此，教育从业者对四天制教学的课堂氛围改善作用赞誉有加。

One teacher told researchers that students were less “burned out”.

一位教师告诉研究人员，学生的倦怠感有所减轻。

Karl Janson, a retired superintendent who took two school districts in Missouri four-day, said behaviour improved and severe discipline problems fell by half.

卡尔·詹森是一名已退休的学区负责人，他曾在密苏里州的两个学区推行四天制教学，他说，实行之后学生的行为有所改善，严重违纪问题减少了一半。

Some studies are more equivocal. One looking at Oklahoma’s four-day schools did find that they had less fighting and bullying.

不过部分研究结论比较含糊：一项针对俄克拉荷马州四天制学校的研究发现，这些学校的打架和欺凌事件确实有所减少。

But the RAND survey found that though parents and teachers perceived higher morale, surveys showed it was no different from full-time schools.

但兰德公司的一项调查发现，尽管家长和教师都认为校园士气有所提升，在数据层面与五天制学校并无差异。

And despite advocates’ hopes, research shows short weeks have not significantly improved attendance.

此外，与支持者的期望相反，研究表明四天制并未显著提升学生出勤率。

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The policy does not save districts much money, typically no more than 2.5% of their budget.

这项政策并不能为学区节省太多资金，通常不超过预算的2.5%。

Their motivation has been to address problems in teacher recruitment, explains Gregg Klinginsmith, a superintendent in Warren County, Missouri.

密苏里州沃伦县学区负责人格雷格·克林金斯密斯称，推行四天制的初衷是为了解决教师招聘问题。

He contrasts his area to the nearby St Louis suburbs, which “pay very, very well… Our community very much values low taxes.”

他将自己所管辖的学区与邻近的圣路易斯郊区进行对比，后者“薪资待遇十分优厚……而我们社区对低税收极为看重”。

He cites data that the transition to the four-day week has led to an increase in teachers sticking around.

他援引相关数据称，转为每周四天制后，教师的留存率有所提升。

But broad studies show that four-day weeks do not significantly improve rural teacher retention.

但大范围的研究结果显示，四天制教学并未显著提高乡村地区的教师留存率。

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Some worry about children who are falling through the cracks.

有人担忧正被忽视的儿童群体。

“We’re not finding and reaching the families that might be struggling,” says Emily Tomayko of Montana State University, pointing to kids in single-parent families.

蒙大拿州立大学的埃米莉·托马伊科指出，这类群体中不乏单亲家庭的孩子，“我们还没有找到并联系到那些可能面临困境的家庭”。

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Losing a day of child care might not work outside rural areas.

在农村地区之外，少了一天学校托管孩子的时间，这可能行不通。

But so far, parents are among the biggest supporters of four-day weeks.

但迄今为止，家长仍是每周四天制教学最坚定的支持者之一。

Nine primary-school parents out of ten told RAND they were satisfied and nearly as many would probably or definitely choose to keep it. (Some 95% of high-school pupils felt similarly.)

兰德公司的调查显示，九成小学生家长对四天制很满意，且同样近九成家长倾向或明确选择保留四天制。（约95%的高中生也持相似态度。）

“Our lives are less stressful, ” one parent said. “I feel like my kids are just happier.”

一位家长说：“我们的生活压力减轻了不少，我能明显感觉到孩子们变得更快乐了。”

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇631左右）

原文出自：2025年12月20日《TE》United States版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路VIP群本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene 仅供个人英语学习交流使用。