[ti:US Colleges Could See Increase in Students Unprepared for School] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]American colleges could see an increase [00:04.56]in students unprepared for the demands [00:07.68]of college-level work, education experts say. [00:11.80]Unprepared students have a higher risk of dropping out [00:16.64]– an action that hurts everything [00:19.04]from a person's long-term earnings [00:21.72]to the health of the country's workforce. [00:24.76]Across the U.S., there are many students like Angel Hope. [00:30.40]Hope graduated near the top of his high school class. [00:35.08]But on a test — a University of Wisconsin exam [00:39.64]that measures what new students learned [00:42.16]in high school — all he could do was guess. [00:46.48]It was like all the problems caused by the pandemic [00:50.16]were catching up to him at once. [00:53.28]Hundreds of thousands of recent graduates [00:56.16]are going to college this autumn [00:58.56]after spending more than half their high school years [01:02.20]dealing with the pandemic. [01:05.12]These students experienced a move to online learning, [01:09.24]the difficulties of U.S. teacher shortages, [01:12.52]and large changes to their home lives. [01:16.48]Many students are believed to be far behind in learning. [01:21.12]Allison Wagner is head of All-In Milwaukee [01:25.76]- a program that provides financial aid [01:28.80]and other assistance to poor students, including Hope. [01:33.92]Wagner saw many students work part-time jobs [01:37.44]in their last year of high school. [01:40.12]She saw more students than ever who did not take math [01:44.20]or science classes because of teacher shortages. [01:48.84]"There is no way they are going to be [01:51.28]academically prepared for ... college," she said. [01:55.76]Her group is spending more money to help students [01:58.76]with summer classes in math or science. [02:02.48]Still, she feels the setbacks will force some students [02:06.88]to take more than four years to graduate or, worse, drop out. [02:13.36]Researchers say that online learning was difficult for students. [02:18.32]For younger students, there is still hope [02:21.12]that America's schools can close learning gaps. [02:24.80]But for those who graduated in the last two years, [02:29.04]experts fear many will struggle. [02:32.44]Colleges from New Jersey to California [02:35.32]have been expanding "bridge" programs. [02:38.52]These programs provide summer classes, [02:41.68]often for students from poor families [02:44.84]or those who are the first in their families to attend college. [02:49.40]In Hanceville, Alabama, Wallace State Community College [02:54.40]this year used state money [02:56.48]to create its first summer bridge program. [02:59.96]Students can take three weeks of lessons in math and English [03:05.04]in order to avoid remedial classes. [03:08.52]Remedial classes are for students [03:11.56]who need special help to improve in a subject. [03:15.20]The school hoped to bring in up to 140 students, [03:20.08]but just 10 signed up. [03:22.84]Other states have used federal pandemic money [03:26.40]to help colleges build summer programs. [03:29.68]Kentucky, for example, [03:32.00]gave colleges $3.5 million for the effort this year. [03:37.28]Amanda Ellis is a vice president [03:40.32]of Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education. [03:45.08]"We need these people to be our future workforce, [03:48.60]and we need them to be successful," she said. [03:52.36]Months after struggling with his math test, [03:56.16]Hope went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison [04:00.08]for six weeks of classes in a summer bridge program. [04:04.24]He took a math class [04:06.40]that covered what he missed in high school. [04:08.92]He signed up to take calculus in the autumn. [04:12.64]Hope also brought back study skills that he stopped [04:16.48]using in high school. He started studying at the library. [04:21.40]He rediscovered what it is like to enjoy school. [04:25.64]Most importantly, he says the experience [04:29.44]changed his way of thinking. [04:31.84]Now he feels like he is at school to learn, [04:35.88]not just to get by. [04:38.08]"After this, I definitely feel prepared for college," he said. [04:43.48]"If I didn't have this, I would be in a very bad place." [04:49.24]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM