No Dog Left Behind

The Answer Sheet - Dogs: An unusual guide to school reform
狗狗们给教育改革的启示
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/dogs-an-unusual-guide-to-schoo.html#more
By Marion Brady
Driving the country roads of Scotland, Ireland and Wales, I have sometimes been lucky enough to be blocked by sheep being moved from one pasture to another. I say ‘lucky’ because it allows me to watch an impressive performance by a dog – usually a Border Collie.
驱车行驶在苏格兰、爱尔兰和威尔士的乡间小道上，有时会幸运地被从一个牧场被赶往另一个牧场的羊群拦住去路。我说‘幸运’，是因为这让我有机会好好观察一条狗（通常是博德牧羊犬）的精彩表现。
What a show! A single, mid-sized dog herding two or three hundred sheep, keeping them moving in the right direction, rounding up strays, knowing how to intimidate but not cause panic, funneling them all through a gate, and obviously enjoying the challenge.
多么精彩的表现！一条中型犬孤身作战，把两、三百只羊赶在一起，使它们保持正确的前进方向，使掉队的羊跟上大部队，知道如何去威慑又不造成恐慌，让羊儿们依次通过一扇门，显然这牧羊犬还很享受这种挑战。
Why a Border Collie? Why not an Akita or Xoloitzcuintli or another of about 400 breeds listed on the Internet?
Because, among the people for whom herding sheep is serious business, there is general agreement that Border Collies are better at doing what needs to be done than any other dog. They have ‘the knack.’
为什么是博德牧羊犬，为什么不是秋田犬，也不是Xoloitzcuintli犬，或是网上列出的400个犬中的其它任何一种？因为在将放养当成正经事业来做的人之中有一个共识，即博德牧羊犬在做这项工作上比其它任何犬种都强。它们有‘诀窍’。
That knack is so important that those who care most about Border Collies even oppose their being entered in dog shows. That, they say, would lead to the Border Collie being bred to look good, and looking good isn’t the point. Brains, innate ability, performance – that’s the point.
那种特定的诀窍对博德牧羊犬来说非常重要，因此最在乎它们的人甚至反对博德牧羊犬参与狗狗选秀。他们说，那样会导致博得牧羊犬被打扮得花枝招展，而光鲜的外表对它们来说不是重点。头脑、天赋和表现才是重点。
Other breeds are no less impressive in other ways. If you’re lost in a snowstorm in the Alps, you don’t need a Border Collie. You need a big, strong dog with a really good nose, lots of fur, wide feet that don’t sink too deeply into snow, and an unerring sense of direction for returning with help. You need a Saint Bernard.
其它犬种在另外一些方面毫不逊色。如果你迷失在阿尔卑斯山的雪暴中，你所需要的不是博德牧羊犬，而是一条嗅觉极端灵敏、毛发浓密、爪子宽大不易深陷积雪的大型犬，还要有精准的方向感能领着你顺利走出迷茫。你需要一条圣伯纳犬。
If varmints are sneaking into your hen house, killing your chickens, and escaping down holes in a nearby field, you don’t need a Border Collie or a Saint Bernard, you need a Fox Terrier.
如果有狐狸潜入你家鸡窝杀死你的鸡后从附近田里的地道逃走，你不需要博德牧羊犬，也不需要圣伯纳犬，你需要一条猎狐犬。
It isn’t that many different breeds can’t be taught to herd, lead high-altitude rescue efforts, or kill foxes. They can. It’s just that teaching all dogs to do things which one particular breed can do better than any other doesn’t make much sense.
并不是说我们无法训练多种不同的犬去牧羊、去进行高海拔救援或是去猎杀狐狸。它们能被训练成那样。只是训练所有的犬种去做一件某个犬种最擅长的事情并不太合理。
We accept the reasonableness of that argument for dogs. We reject it for kids.
我们接受有关狗的此种论点的合理性，却拒绝承认它在孩子身上的合理性。
The non-educators now running the education show say American kids are lagging ever-farther behind in science and math, and that the consequences of that for America’s economic well-being could be catastrophic.
那些制作教育类节目的非教育工作者声称美国的孩子的科学和数学大拖后腿，而这方面的不足会给美国经济的良性发展造成灾难性的后果。
So, what is this rich, advantaged country of ours doing to try to beat out the competition?
那么，我们这个富有的强势国家用何种策略来击退竞争者呢？
Mainly, we put in place the No Child Left Behind program, now replaced by Race to the Top and theCommon Core State Standards Initiative. If that fact makes you optimistic about the future of education in America, think again about dogs.
大体上来说，我们推出了‘不让一个孩子掉队’(No Child Left Behind)计划，现已被‘力争上游’(Race to the Top)和‘公共课程国家标准倡议’(the Common Core State Standards Initiative)取代。如果这项事实让你对美国教育的未来信心满满，你不妨再想想上文所述的各种犬类。
There are all kinds of things they can do besides herd, rescue, and engage foxes. They can sniff luggage for bombs. Chase felons. Stand guard duty. Retrieve downed game birds. Guide the blind. Detect certain diseases. Locate earthquake survivors. Entertain audiences. Play nice with little kids. Go for help if Little Nell falls down a well.
除了牧羊、救援和猎狐之外，他们还能做其它各种事情。他们能利用敏感的嗅觉发现行李中的爆炸物、能追捕罪犯、能担当保卫工作、能衔回被击中的鸟儿、能为盲人引路、能发现特定疾病、能搜索定位地震幸存者、能娱乐观众、能跟小朋友们玩乐、能在小耐尔落井后及时求救。
So, with No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top as models, let’s set performance standards for these and all other canine capabilities and train all dogs to meet them. All 400 breeds. All skills. Leave No Dog Behind!
这样一来，我们可以以‘不让一个孩子掉队’和‘力争上游’计划为模板，给上述各种能力及犬类的其它能力制定‘工作标准’并训练所有400种犬在所有能力上都达到该标准。不让一条狗掉队！
Two-hundred-pound Mastiffs may have a little trouble with the chase-the-fox-down-the-hole standard, and Chihuahuas will probably have difficulty with the tackle-the-felon-and-pin-him-to-the-ground standard. But, hey, no excuses! Standards are standards! Leave No Dog Behind.
200磅重的獒犬在在地洞中追捕狐狸这项标准上遇到麻烦；吉娃娃在与罪犯对峙并将其制服这项上遭遇困难。但是，别找借口！标准就是标准！不让一条狗掉队！
Think there’s something wrong with a same-standards-and-tests-for-everybody approach to educating? Think a math whiz shouldn’t be held back just because he can’t write a good five-paragraph essay? Think a gifted writer shouldn’t be refused a diploma because she can’t solve a quadratic equation? Think a promising trumpet player shouldn’t be kept out of the school orchestra or pushed out on the street because he can’t remember the date of the Boxer Rebellion?
觉不觉得所有人统一标准、统一考试的教育方式有点不对劲儿？觉不觉得一个数学奇才不该因写不出一篇精彩的文章而无法继续发展？觉不觉得一个有天分的作家不该因解不出二次方程而被拒发学位？觉不觉得一个有前途的小号手不该因记不住义和团事件的日期而被学校管弦乐团拒之门外或是扫地出门？
If you think there’s something fundamentally, dangerously wrong with an educational reform effort that’s actually designed to standardize, designed to ignore human variation, designed to penalize individual differences, designed to produce a generation of clones, photocopy this column.
如果你也认为这个以标准化为目的，忽视人类多样性、不公平对待个体差异、最终将造就一代克隆人的危险的教育改革措施有根本性错误，请把这个专栏影印出来。
If you think it’s stupid to require every kid to read the same books, think the same thoughts, parrot the same answers, make several photocopies. And in the margin at the top of each, write, in longhand, something like, “Please explain why the standards and accountability fad isn’t a criminal waste of brains,” or, “Why are you trashing America’s hope for the future?” or just, “Does this make sense?”
如果你也认为要求每个孩子读同样的书、思考同样的内容还鹦鹉学舌是蠢到极点的政策，那多影印几份。在每份影印件的顶端空白处手写类此内容：“请解释一下为什么这些标准和问责制不是对才能的可耻浪费？”或者“你们为什么要破坏美国未来的希望？”或者就写“这说得过去吗？”。
Send the copies to your senators and representatives before they sell their vote to the publishing and testing corporations intent on getting an ever-bigger slice of that half-trillion dollars a year America spends on educating.
赶在参议员和众议院议员投票准予出版和测试公司分得美国每年投资在教育上的五亿美元中更大一杯羹之前，快把这些影印件寄给他们。