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Many elementary school teachers say they dislike the idea of teaching mathematics even at the most basic level.
许多小学教师表示，他们不喜欢教最基础的数学。
That is a cause for concern among educators.
这引起了教育工作者的关注。
Experts say it is critical for students to have a solid foundation in the subject because math skills build on each other.
专家表示，对学生来说，扎实的数学基础是至关重要的，因为数学技能是建立在彼此的基础上的。
Research published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that math is a common cause of anxiety for adults, especially for women.
美国国立卫生研究院发表的一项研究发现，数学是成年人，尤其是女性焦虑的常见原因。
About 90 percent of elementary teachers in the U.S. are women.
在美国，大约90%的小学教师是女性。
The NIH study suggested that, in the field of education, anxiety can have a harmful effect on learners.
美国国立卫生研究院的研究表明，在教育领域，焦虑可能会对学习者产生有害影响。
International studies have found that U.S. students are behind many other democracies in math skills.
国际研究发现，美国学生在数学技能上落后于许多其他民主国家。
In 2017, the OECD, an international economic research group, ranked the U.S. 30th among member countries.
2017年，国际经济研究组织经合组织将美国排在成员国中的第30位。
Since the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the math test scores in the U.S. suffered even more.
自新冠疫情席卷全球以来，美国学生的数学考试成绩更是雪上加霜。
Educators now say an important step to improving math skills after the pandemic is to increase the confidence of elementary school teachers.
如今，教育工作者表示，疫情过后，提高数学技能的重要一步是增加小学教师的信心。
The Erikson Institute in Chicago is a graduate school centered on child development.
芝加哥的埃里克森儿童发展研究院是一所以儿童发展为中心的研究生院。
The school holds a yearly math conference where elementary teachers can ease their anxiety about math.
该研究院每年举办一次数学会议，小学教师可以在会上缓解他们对数学的焦虑。
Teachers find out how young children learn math and plan activities for the classroom.
教师了解孩子们是如何学习数学和为课堂活动做计划的。
Jennifer McCray is a research professor at Erikson.
詹妮弗·麦克雷是埃里克森儿童发展研究院的研究教授。
She said the best way to see how a child will perform in math up through eighth grade is to learn how the child did in math when they started kindergarten.
她说，了解一个孩子直到八年级的数学成绩的最好方法就是了解这个孩子在幼儿园时的数学成绩。
Teachers are worried that they will transfer their math fears to their students.
老师们担心他们会把自己对数学的恐惧传染给学生。
Math specialists say this is a persistent issue in elementary school classrooms.
数学专家表示，这是小学课堂上一个长期存在的问题。
Elementary school teachers are expected to teach every subject, often leading them to spend less classroom time on math.
小学教师被要求教授每一门学科，这往往会导致他们在数学上花费的课堂时间更少。
During the Erikson Institute's summer meeting, teachers work with math concepts that they can use in the classroom.
在埃里克森儿童发展研究院的夏季会议上，老师们学习了他们可以在课堂上使用的数学概念。
For example, the group built 10-sided shapes out of colored blocks.
例如，该组织用彩色积木构建了十边形。
These exercises helped the teachers with their own math skills.
这些练习帮助老师们提高了自己的数学技能。
Lauran Solarski is a trainer with the Early Math Collaborative at Erikson.
劳兰·索拉斯基是埃里克森儿童发展研究院初等数学合作项目的培训师。
She told a group of educators, "There's a misbelief that in order to teach early childhood math, you don't really need to know math well."
她告诉一群教育工作者：“有一种误解认为，为了教幼儿数学，你并不真的需要精通数学。”
Lisa Ginet is the director of operations at Erikson.
丽莎·吉奈是埃里克森儿童发展研究院的运营总监。
She said that early childhood teachers do not necessarily need to be experts in complex math subjects like algebra and geometry.
她说，幼儿教师不一定需要是代数和几何等复杂数学问题的专家。
But they need to understand that many of the skills they are teaching are connected to mathematical thinking and to subjects that students will learn later in school.
但他们需要明白，他们教授的许多技能都与数学思维和学生以后在学校学习的学科有关。
Stacey Stevens works for the Kentucky Department of Education as the director of early childhood education training center.
史黛丝·史蒂文斯在肯塔基州教育部担任幼儿教育培训中心主任。
She said she changed her study major in college to early childhood education to avoid high level math.
她说，她在大学里把学习专业改为幼儿教育，以避免高水平的数学。
After she completed a yearlong class in math to improve her teaching, she finally started to understand how to teach the subject.
在完成了为期一年的数学课以提高教学水平后，她终于开始了解如何教授这门学科。
Stevens said she was passionate about teaching preschool because she did not want children to have the same struggles in math that she had growing up.
史蒂文斯说，她对教学前班充满热情，因为她不想让孩子们在数学上遇到她小时候遇到的同样的困难。
"I wanted them to understand that four triangles make a square: to actually see it and do it and not just be told that a triangle is a fourth of a square."
“我想让他们明白，四个三角形构成一个正方形：要真正地去观察，去做，而不仅仅是被告知三角形是正方形的四分之一。”
Heather Peske is the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a research group based in Washington, D.C.
希瑟·佩斯克是美国教师质量委员会的主席，这是一个总部设在华盛顿特区的研究组织。
She said colleges need to better prepare teachers to teach math before they get into the classroom.
她说，大学需要在老师教授课程之前更好地培训数学老师。
The NCTQ studied teacher preparation programs in 2022.
美国教师质量委员会研究了2022年的教师培训项目。
It found that most do not spend as much time on elementary math content as NCTQ thinks is necessary.
美国教师质量委员会发现，大多数项目在基础数学内容上花费的时间没有达到该委员会认为的必要时间。
The recommendations were based on studies that linked student achievement to teacher's math studies in college.
这些建议是基于将学生成绩与教师在大学期间的数学学习联系起来的研究得出的。
Peske said, "If we prepared them better, they would be stronger at both their math knowledge as well as their ability to teach math, and this would reduce their anxiety and improve student outcomes."
佩斯克说：“如果我们更好地培训他们，那么他们的数学知识和数学教学能力就会更强，从而减少他们的焦虑，提高学生的成绩。”
I'm Faith Pirlo. And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
费斯·皮尔洛、小马里奥·里特为您共同播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
