States and local communities in the United States gained more control over education standards and testing last week.
上周美国各州和地方社区在教育标准和测试上赢得了更多控制权。
U.S. President Barack Obama signed the education reforms into law last week.
美国奥巴马总统上周签署教育改革方案成为法律。
"After more than 10 years, members of Congress from both parties have come together to revise our national education law," Obama said. "This law focuses on a national goal of ensuring that all of our students graduate prepared for college and future careers."
他说，“经过十来年，两党国会成员走到一起修订了我国的教育法。该法的重点是确保所有毕业生做好上大学和未来就业准备这一国家目标。”
The new education reform law urges the 50 state governments to limit how many and how often students take tests. The law limits the high-stakes nature of the testing for underperforming schools. And the national government will not be able to tell states and communities how to evaluate schools and teacher performance.
新教育改革法督促美国50个州政府限制学生参加考试的次数和频率。该法律限制了考试对表现不佳学校的高风险性。而中央政府将无法指示各州和社区如何评估学校和教师的表现。
But states and schools must still give reading and math exams in grades three through eight, and in high school. The states will have more authority in setting standards for the tests.
但是各州和各个学校仍然必须在三到八年级以及在高中举行阅读和数学考试。各州在设立考试标准上将会有更大权限。
Congress passed the measure easily. Republicans and Democrats supported it.
美国国会轻松通过了这一措施。共和党和民主党都支持它。

No Child Left Behind
不让一个孩子掉队
The new law replaces the No Child Left Behind measure approved in 2002. It called for extensive testing and standards set by the national government.
这项新法会取代2002年通过的“不让一个孩子掉队法”。“不让一个孩子掉队法”要求进行广泛测试并执行中央政府制定的标准。
Parents, teachers and lawmakers found that policy unworkable. They said it gave Washington bureaucrats too much control over the country's 100,000 public schools.
家长、教师和立法者发现该政策行不通。他们表示，该政策让华盛顿官僚过多地控制了全国的10万所公立学校。
"This bill makes long overdue fixes to the last education law. It replaces a one-size-fits-all approach to reform," Obama said.
奥巴马表示，“这项（新）法案对前版教育法进行了姗姗来迟的修订。它将取代‘有教无类法’进行改革。”
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander is one of the measure's chief authors. He said, "This new law will result in fewer and better tests because states and classroom teachers will be deciding what to do about the results of the tests."
共和党参议员拉马尔·亚历山大（Lamar Alexander）是该法案的主要作者之一。他说，“这部新法将会让考试更少而精，因为各州和任课教师将会决定就考试成绩做些什么。”
The law's other key sponsor is Democratic Senator Patty Murray. She said the new focus will be on early childhood education. She added that minority and poor children will benefit, and get a better start in their earliest years of school.
该法律的其他关键支持者是民主党参议员帕蒂·穆雷（Patty Murray）。她说，儿童早期教育将会是新的重点。她补充说，少数族裔和贫困儿童将会受益，并在他们上学的最初几年获得一个更好的开始。”
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。

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