Conventional wisdom suggests that students perform better when they are enrolled in smaller classes. But new research and advoca

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问题     Conventional wisdom suggests that students perform better when they are enrolled in smaller classes. But new research and advocacy groups suggest that targeted resizing of classes—including increasing class sizes in certain subjects—can save districts money while minimally impacting student achievement.
    Education Resource Strategies(ERS)estimates that up to $6 billion could be saved nationally by increasing class sizes by just one student. A report released in May by the Brookings Institution states that the same move would reduce the number of teachers necessary by approximately 7 percent.
    Class-size legislation has remained an important political issue in many states. At least 24 states have enacted class-size laws that limit enrollment. Karen Miles, executive director of ERS, says these laws can hurt students in the long term. Important programs like teacher development classes and extracurricular activities have been cut in order to employ enough teachers to keep class sizes low, she says.
    Others, including Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, have come around to her way of thinking. In a letter to governors weighing state budget cuts, he wrote that states should use federal money in a way that would have the "greatest positive impact on students. " Among his suggestions were "targeted adjustments in class size, and compensation models that reward the best, most effective work. "
    Research shows that drastic class size reduction can improve student performance. The most widely cited research, the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio study conducted in the late 1980s, showed that when class sizes were reduced from 22 students to 15 students, student a-chievement increased by about three months of additional schooling. Subsequent studies have shown that slight increases or decreases in class size enrollment have negligible effects on student achievement.
    The May Brookings report says, " It appears that very large class-size reductions, on the order of magnitude of 7-10 fewer students per class, can have significant long-term effects on student achievement. These effects seem to be largest when introduced in the earliest grades, and for students from less advantaged family backgrounds. "
    Miles stresses that schools and districts need a strategy when it comes to changing class enrollment. If class sizes are increased, the money saved should be spent training effective teachers. She says schools should experiment with hiring part-time experts to teach reading in small groups. If there are three third-grade classes in a school, for instance, those classes could be combined for part of the day in classes such as art.
    Enrollment reductions should be focused on underprivileged students and young students, she adds. Better teacher evaluation systems need to be developed and implemented so that ineffective teachers can be held accountable for student performance, and effective teachers can be rewarded.
Which of the following would Karen Miles most probably agree on?

选项 A、We should apply the money saved to training teachers.
B、The class size should be increased for the sake of better performance.
C、Art is a course suitable for large classes of all grades.
D、Money should be spent to improve students’ performance.

答案A

解析 观点态度题。由题干关键词Karen Miles定位至第七段。该段前两句提到,迈尔斯认为班级招收学生时需要讲究策略,当班级人数增加时,节省的教育经费要用来培训教师,故[A]符合文意。第三段第三句提到,迈尔斯认为24个州限制班级人数的法律从长远来看是不利于学生的发展的,可见,她并不提倡减少班级人数,故[B]与文意相悖;由第六段可知,小班级更适合低年级学生,所以第七段迈尔斯提到三年级的艺术课可以聚在大班一起上,但并不能说这种大班级授课方式适合所有年级的学生,[C]过于绝对;第四段第二句提到国家的经费应该花在能对学生产生积极影响的事物上,但这是阿恩·邓肯的观点,[D]属张冠李戴,故排除。
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