文章概括：

這篇文章討論了私立學(xué)校在英國(guó)和美國(guó)的作用以及其對(duì)大學(xué)錄取的影響。文章指出，盡管私立學(xué)校的費(fèi)用不斷上漲，但在英國(guó)和美國(guó)，私立教育仍然能夠給學(xué)生帶來許多優(yōu)勢(shì)。在英國(guó)，接受私立教育的學(xué)生在考試成績(jī)、大學(xué)錄取和未來工作收入等方面表現(xiàn)更好。在美國(guó)，私立學(xué)校的畢業(yè)生仍然享有進(jìn)入頂尖大學(xué)的機(jī)會(huì)，并且私立學(xué)校在招生中起著重要的作用。然而，私立教育所帶來的好處也受到了一些批評(píng)，認(rèn)為私立學(xué)校會(huì)維持精英階層，并使社會(huì)不平等問題加劇。

此外，文章還提到了私立教育的成本不斷上漲，給家庭帶來了經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力。在英國(guó)，私立學(xué)校的費(fèi)用已經(jīng)是世界上最高的之一。在美國(guó)，私立學(xué)校的費(fèi)用平均較低，但在本世紀(jì)初也出現(xiàn)了大幅增長(zhǎng)。對(duì)于私立教育的好處，需要將私立學(xué)校學(xué)生與接受公立教育的學(xué)生進(jìn)行比較研究，以了解私立教育對(duì)學(xué)生的影響。

最后，文章指出，私立學(xué)校在大學(xué)錄取中的優(yōu)勢(shì)正在逐漸減少。在英國(guó)，私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生進(jìn)入牛津和劍橋大學(xué)的比例有所下降。在美國(guó)，私立學(xué)校學(xué)生在大學(xué)錄取中占比較高，但對(duì)于普通的私立學(xué)校學(xué)生來說，他們與接受公立教育的學(xué)生相比，在學(xué)術(shù)成績(jī)方面并沒有明顯的優(yōu)勢(shì)。

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International?|?Studying for success

國(guó)際 | 為了成功而學(xué)習(xí)

Should you send your children to private school?

你應(yīng)該送自己的孩子上私立學(xué)校嗎？

As shortcuts to elite universities, American schools work better than British ones

作為進(jìn)入頂尖大學(xué)的捷徑，美國(guó)學(xué)校比英國(guó)學(xué)校更有效

Jun 8th 2023

Eton college?can boast of educating more than a third of Britain’s 57 prime ministers over its 583 years. Less impressive is the fact that the number of its pupils winning places at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge fell by more than half between 2014 and the 2021-2022 school year. Some parents pick private schools in the hope that their kids will benefit from more attention or less bullying. Others bet that these institutions will lead to a better education, higher grades and a place at a venerable university. But soaring costs and changing university admissions policies are prompting discussion of whether the crests and crenellations are worth it.

伊頓公學(xué)可以自豪地說，在其583年的歷史中，培養(yǎng)了英國(guó)57位首相中的三分之一以上。不那么令人印象深刻的事實(shí)是，在2014年至2021-2022學(xué)年期間，獲得牛津或劍橋大學(xué)錄取的學(xué)生人數(shù)下降了一半以上。一些家長(zhǎng)選擇私立學(xué)校，希望他們的孩子能從更多的關(guān)注或更少的欺凌中受益。其他人打賭這些機(jī)構(gòu)將會(huì)帶來更好的教育、更高的分?jǐn)?shù)和進(jìn)入令人仰慕的大學(xué)。但是不斷飆升的成本和不斷變化的大學(xué)招生政策引發(fā)了關(guān)于這些大學(xué)紋章和雉堞是否值得的討論。

In many rich countries, traditional private schooling is in decline. Across 30-odd members of the?oecd, a club of mostly wealthy countries, the share of children in schools that get less than half their funding from government fell from about 8% in 2000 to some 5% in 2018. Private schools in Britain and America have fared better, and the debate over them remains particularly politically charged in both countries.

在許多富裕國(guó)家，傳統(tǒng)的私立學(xué)校正在衰落。在經(jīng)合組織的30多個(gè)成員中，學(xué)校從政府獲得不到一半資金的兒童比例從2000年的約8%下降到2018年的約5%。英國(guó)和美國(guó)的私立學(xué)校表現(xiàn)得更好，關(guān)于它們的爭(zhēng)論在這兩個(gè)國(guó)家都充滿了政治色彩。

Recent evidence suggests that for most privately schooled children in Britain and those who attend elite private institutions in America, the advantages of an expensive education remain robust. The benefits are probably bigger in America than they are in Britain, at least for pupils sitting in the swankiest private classrooms. That is because their alumni continue to enjoy access to the best universities at rates which would cause a furore in the old country. That might surprise anyone who assumes that American society is less ridden by class than British society.

最近的證據(jù)表明，對(duì)于大多數(shù)在英國(guó)私立學(xué)校上學(xué)的孩子和那些在美國(guó)精英私立學(xué)校上學(xué)的孩子來說，昂貴教育的優(yōu)勢(shì)仍然存在。美國(guó)的好處可能比英國(guó)大，至少對(duì)坐在最豪華的私人教室里的學(xué)生來說是這樣。這是因?yàn)樗麄兊男Ｓ牙^續(xù)享受著進(jìn)入最好大學(xué)的機(jī)會(huì)，其費(fèi)用會(huì)在這個(gè)古老的國(guó)家引起轟動(dòng)。這可能會(huì)讓那些認(rèn)為美國(guó)社會(huì)不像英國(guó)社會(huì)那樣受階級(jí)支配的人感到驚訝。

Private schools in Britain serve around 6.5% of kids, about the same share as they did in the 1960s. (Hockey sticks and rice pudding appeal across the ages.) America’s ones teach about 9% of children, a share that had held steady for a decade by the time of the covid-19 pandemic. In America about 75% of private-schoolers go to institutions with religious affiliations (a big chunk of which operate on fees that are similar to, or less than, per-pupil funding in government schools). But that country also has an exclusive subset of schools, often called “independent” schools, which most closely mimic fee-paying ones in Britain. These educate less than 2% of American youngsters.

英國(guó)的私立學(xué)校為大約6.5%的孩子提供服務(wù)，與20世紀(jì)60年代的份額大致相同。美國(guó)9%的孩子都是由私立學(xué)校教的，這一比例在新冠肺炎疫情時(shí)代已經(jīng)穩(wěn)定了十年。在美國(guó)，大約75%的私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生都去了有宗教背景的學(xué)校。那個(gè)國(guó)家也有一個(gè)排外的學(xué)校子集，通常被稱為“獨(dú)立學(xué)校”，它們最接近英國(guó)的收費(fèi)學(xué)校。這些學(xué)校只為不到2%的美國(guó)孩子提供教育。

Costs in Britain are among the highest in the world. A family there can expect to cough up more than ￡16,000 ($20,000) a year to put one child through a private day school. That is three times what they were paying in the 1980s; it is around half the median household income in Britain, whereas it was once one-fifth. Fees in America are lower on average, but also rocketed by 60% in the first decade of this century, according to the most recent good government data. The most snooty schools bill parents on average $28,000 each year for a day pupil.

在英國(guó)，私立學(xué)校的費(fèi)用是世界上最高的之一。在那里，一家人每年可能需要支付超過16,000英鎊（20,000美元）的費(fèi)用來供養(yǎng)一個(gè)孩子上私立日校。這是1980年代的三倍；它約占英國(guó)家庭收入中位數(shù)的一半，而曾經(jīng)只占五分之一。美國(guó)的學(xué)費(fèi)平均較低，但根據(jù)最近可靠的政府?dāng)?shù)據(jù)，這個(gè)世紀(jì)初的十年里也增長(zhǎng)了60%。最高檔的學(xué)校每年對(duì)一名走讀生收費(fèi)平均達(dá)到28,000美元。

Measuring what benefits flow from these outlays matters both to critics of private schooling—who accuse posh schools of perpetuating elites—and to those who pay for it. At first glance, the pay-offs are clear: all around the rich world privately educated pupils do better in exams, go to better universities and end up with better-paid jobs. But some of that success derives from advantages outside the classroom, such as having wealthy, encouraging or intelligent parents. Understanding the boost from private education involves comparing pupils’ fortunes with those of otherwise similar peers in government schools. Good research of this sort is easiest to find in Britain.

衡量這些支出所帶來的好處對(duì)于批評(píng)私立教育的人——他們指責(zé)豪華學(xué)校在延續(xù)精英統(tǒng)治——以及為此付費(fèi)的人來說都很重要。乍一看，回報(bào)是顯而易見的：在富裕世界范圍內(nèi)，接受私立教育的學(xué)生在考試中表現(xiàn)更好，進(jìn)入更好的大學(xué)，并最終獲得更高薪水的工作。但其中一部分成功源于課堂之外的優(yōu)勢(shì)，比如擁有富裕、鼓勵(lì)或聰明的父母。了解私立教育的提升效果涉及將學(xué)生的命運(yùn)與政府學(xué)校中與其條件相似的同齡人進(jìn)行比較。這類研究在英國(guó)最容易找到。

Getting the abacus out

拿出算盤

By the time they turn 25 Britons with private education earn 17% more than other workers from similar homes, according to a study from 2015. The pay premium widens by the age of 42, according to earlier research, to around 21% for women and 35% for men. In part this is because privately schooled people are more likely to enter high-earning professions, such as finance. Alumni networks may help in this, but peer pressure and parental expectations probably play a big role, too.

根據(jù)2015年的一項(xiàng)研究，英國(guó)接受私立教育的人在25歲時(shí)的收入比其他來自類似家庭的工人高出17%。根據(jù)早期的研究，這種薪資溢價(jià)在42歲時(shí)擴(kuò)大，對(duì)于女性約為21%，對(duì)于男性約為35%。部分原因是因?yàn)榻邮芩搅⒔逃娜烁锌赡苓M(jìn)入高收入行業(yè)，比如金融行業(yè)。校友網(wǎng)絡(luò)可能在其中起到一定幫助作用，但同齡人的壓力和父母的期望可能也起到了重要作用。

A larger reason for higher incomes is because private-schoolers get more and better academic qualifications than they otherwise would. They enjoy a “modest” boost in test scores when compared with children from similar homes who enroll in government classrooms, reckons Francis Green at University College London. This advantage accumulates with every additional year they spend in private schooling. One study finds that the edge they enjoy by the time they are 18 is roughly the equivalent of moving from grades of?AAB?to?AAA?(school-leavers on England’s academic track commonly take nationally standardised exams in three subjects).

更高收入的一個(gè)更大原因是私立學(xué)生獲得的學(xué)術(shù)資格比他們否則可能獲得的更多且更好。倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的弗朗西斯·格林認(rèn)為，與就讀于政府學(xué)校的類似家庭的孩子相比，他們的考試成績(jī)得到了“適度”的提升。這種優(yōu)勢(shì)隨著他們?cè)谒搅W(xué)校度過的每一年而累積。一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，到他們18歲時(shí)，他們所享有的優(yōu)勢(shì)大致相當(dāng)于從AAB級(jí)別提升到AAA級(jí)別（英格蘭的學(xué)校畢業(yè)生通常會(huì)參加三個(gè)科目的全國(guó)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化考試）。

The critical point is that even a modest boost in results can have a big effect on the size of additional earnings. That is because better grades might secure a pupil a slot at a more prestigious university than they would have gone to otherwise, or a slot at a university at all. In 2021 more than half of privately educated pupils who started a degree in Britain attended one of the 24 “Russell Group” universities (a club that includes most of the best ones). Such pupils are more likely to spend their last years at school studying the tough, traditional subjects that very selective universities most want to see on applications. They are also more likely to get extra help so as to ace interviews and admissions tests.

關(guān)鍵點(diǎn)在于，即使是考試成績(jī)的適度提升也會(huì)對(duì)額外收入的規(guī)模產(chǎn)生重大影響。這是因?yàn)楦玫某煽?jī)可能使學(xué)生獲得比原本更有聲望的大學(xué)錄取機(jī)會(huì)，或者干脆獲得大學(xué)錄取機(jī)會(huì)。2021年，在英國(guó)開始大學(xué)學(xué)位的私立教育學(xué)生中，超過一半就讀于24所“羅素集團(tuán)”大學(xué)（該集團(tuán)包括大部分頂級(jí)大學(xué)）。這些學(xué)生更有可能在最后幾年的學(xué)校時(shí)間里學(xué)習(xí)那些非常有選擇性的大學(xué)最想看到的難度較高、傳統(tǒng)科目。他們也更有可能得到額外幫助，以在面試和入學(xué)測(cè)試中取得優(yōu)異成績(jī)。

Private-schoolers no longer nab quite such unfair shares of top university places as they once did. They comprise around 18% of all pupils aged 16-19 in England, as well as about 25% of all those with top grades in school-leavers’ exams. Last year they were 20% of new undergraduates at Russell Group universities.

不再像過去那樣，私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生不再占據(jù)那么不公平的大學(xué)名額。在英格蘭，私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生約占所有16-19歲學(xué)生的18%，以及約占所有獲得高分的學(xué)生考試成績(jī)的25%。去年，私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生在羅素集團(tuán)大學(xué)的新本科生中占比20%。

In 2016 about 6% of all private-schoolers who began a degree in Britain won places at the universities of Oxford or Cambridge; that share has since fallen to about 4% (it is around 2% for those from government schools). Last year private-schoolers made up 32% and 27% of the pair’s new British undergraduates, down from 43% and 39% a decade before. This shift has rocked the handful of elite private schools which once sent hordes of pupils to the two universities.

在2016年，約有6%在英國(guó)開始大學(xué)學(xué)位的私立學(xué)校學(xué)生獲得牛津或劍橋大學(xué)的錄取機(jī)會(huì)；這一比例已經(jīng)下降到約4%（對(duì)于政府學(xué)校的學(xué)生來說，這一比例約為2%）。去年，私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生占到牛津和劍橋大學(xué)新英國(guó)本科生的32%和27%，較10年前的43%和39%有所下降。這種變化對(duì)曾經(jīng)將大量學(xué)生送進(jìn)這兩所大學(xué)的少數(shù)頂級(jí)私立學(xué)校造成了沖擊。

Picking apart the benefits of private education in America is difficult, because its schools are a more motley bunch than Britain’s. Since religion is banned from government schools, many pious parents pick private classes for reasons other than academic performance alone. Overall, evidence to suggest that America’s private-schoolers learn more than they would if they went to government schools is less secure than it is in Britain.

在美國(guó)，分析私立教育的好處很困難，因?yàn)槊绹?guó)的學(xué)校群體比英國(guó)更加多樣化。由于政府學(xué)校禁止宗教活動(dòng)，許多虔誠(chéng)的家長(zhǎng)選擇私立學(xué)校不僅僅是出于學(xué)業(yè)表現(xiàn)的原因?？傮w而言，相比英國(guó)，美國(guó)的私立學(xué)生比起就讀政府學(xué)校的學(xué)生學(xué)到更多的證據(jù)并不那么確鑿。

A study published in 2018 by two academics at the University of Virginia, Robert Pianta and Arya Ansari, analysed the test scores of 1,000 children who were born in the 1990s. It found that by age 15 the ones who attended American private schools were getting no better grades, after adjusting for their backgrounds. There is not much good research, however, singling out the extra benefits rich children gain from attending America’s subset of “independent” schools. But it is reasonable to think that they boost a child’s prospects by at least as much as their British cousins.

弗吉尼亞大學(xué)的兩位學(xué)者羅伯特·皮安塔和阿里亞·安薩里在2018年發(fā)表的一項(xiàng)研究分析了1000名20世紀(jì)90年代出生的兒童的考試成績(jī)。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，年滿15歲時(shí)，就讀美國(guó)私立學(xué)校的學(xué)生在考試成績(jī)上并沒有取得更好的成績(jī)，經(jīng)過背景調(diào)整后的結(jié)果是如此。然而，目前并沒有太多關(guān)于從美國(guó)的“獨(dú)立”學(xué)校獲得的額外好處對(duì)富裕孩子的影響的良好研究。但是，合理地認(rèn)為，這些好處至少能夠?yàn)楹⒆拥那熬皫砼c英國(guó)同等水平的提升。

America’s universities welcome those from grand schools with open arms. In 2021 James Murphy of Education Reform Now, a think-tank in Washington,?dc,?collected data from 35 of America’s highest-ranked universities and liberal-arts colleges. He found that on average about 34% of their new undergraduates were educated in private high schools (see chart). That is astonishing given that the private sector educates just 8.5% of American high-schoolers. Pupils from “independent” schools do brilliantly. The most recently published data suggest they made up about one-third of new undergraduates at Dartmouth and more than a quarter at Princeton. “Legacy” preference, whereby the relatives of alumni get a leg-up in admissions, may explain some of this. Nothing so brazenly unfair happens at British universities.

美國(guó)的大學(xué)熱烈歡迎來自頂級(jí)學(xué)校的學(xué)生。2021年，華盛頓的智囊團(tuán)“教育改革現(xiàn)在”的詹姆斯·墨菲收集了美國(guó)排名最高的35所大學(xué)和文科學(xué)院的數(shù)據(jù)。他發(fā)現(xiàn)，平均約有34%的新本科生在私立高中接受教育（見圖表）。這一比例令人驚訝，因?yàn)樗搅⒔逃块T只占美國(guó)高中學(xué)生的8.5%。來自“獨(dú)立”學(xué)校的學(xué)生表現(xiàn)出色。最近發(fā)布的數(shù)據(jù)表明，他們?cè)谶_(dá)特茅斯大學(xué)占到新本科生的約三分之一，在普林斯頓大學(xué)超過四分之一。在招生中給予校友親屬優(yōu)先錄取的“傳統(tǒng)優(yōu)待”政策可能解釋了其中的一部分。而在英國(guó)的大學(xué)，沒有發(fā)生如此明目張膽的不公平情況。

Green lawns and greenbacks

富裕和財(cái)富

Money helps, too. Whereas English universities charge every domestic student the same tuition fees (though those from abroad pay more), America’s best universities vary the cost according to means. This allows exceptional pupils from poor backgrounds to study for little or nothing. But it also gives universities good reason to keep in with dependable “feeder” schools, full of clever pupils with ample wealth.

金錢也起到一定作用。英格蘭的大學(xué)向每個(gè)本國(guó)學(xué)生收取相同的學(xué)費(fèi)（盡管來自國(guó)外的學(xué)生要支付更高費(fèi)用），而美國(guó)的頂級(jí)大學(xué)根據(jù)學(xué)生的經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況來確定學(xué)費(fèi)。這使得來自貧困背景的優(yōu)秀學(xué)生可以以很低的費(fèi)用甚至免費(fèi)接受學(xué)業(yè)。但這也使得大學(xué)有充分理由與可靠的“供養(yǎng)”學(xué)校保持聯(lián)系，這些學(xué)校有大量富有且聰明的學(xué)生。

It follows that Britain’s private schools are pointing more of their leavers overseas. Last year about 6% of those who went to university chose to study abroad, up from 4% in 2016. America is the most popular destination. Its universities demand top grades, says Barnaby Lenon of the Independent School Council, which represents British private schools. But he adds that they also value non-academic achievements, such as those obtained through extra-curricular activities of a kind that private schools try hard to provide.

因此，英國(guó)的私立學(xué)校正在將更多的畢業(yè)生引向海外。去年，約有6%的升大學(xué)的學(xué)生選擇出國(guó)留學(xué)，相比2016年的4%有所增加。美國(guó)是最受歡迎的目的地。英國(guó)私立學(xué)校協(xié)會(huì)的巴納比·萊農(nóng)表示，美國(guó)大學(xué)要求學(xué)生取得優(yōu)秀成績(jī)。他補(bǔ)充說，美國(guó)大學(xué)也重視非學(xué)術(shù)成就，例如通過課外活動(dòng)獲得的成就，而私立學(xué)校正努力提供這種機(jī)會(huì)。

The edge enjoyed by private-schoolers is much less discussed in America than it is in Britain, in part because questions of race, rather than class, tend to take centre stage in debates about university admissions. Political battles that have broken out over the teaching of race, sex and history are benefiting private providers, in part because states are choosing to put money into private “school-choice” programmes. These involve local governments paying for some private-school places (commonly only for poor children and usually in the cheapest kinds of private institutions).

在美國(guó)，私立學(xué)校學(xué)生所享有的優(yōu)勢(shì)比在英國(guó)更少被討論，部分原因是關(guān)于大學(xué)錄取的辯論中，種族問題往往比階級(jí)問題更加突出。由于關(guān)于種族、性別和歷史教學(xué)的政治斗爭(zhēng)而爆發(fā)，私立教育機(jī)構(gòu)受益，部分原因是各州選擇將資金投入私立學(xué)校選擇計(jì)劃。這些計(jì)劃包括地方政府為一些私立學(xué)校提供資助（通常僅限于貧困兒童，通常是在價(jià)格較低的私立學(xué)校）。

America may be on the verge of change, however. Imminent rulings from its Supreme Court could ban the use of affirmative action in university admissions. And if colleges and universities can no longer boost applicants from underrepresented minority groups, the advantages enjoyed by posh pupils may receive greater scrutiny. Private schools in Britain face a bumpy ride, too. The Labour Party, which looks likely to win power at elections due in the next 18 months, talks of abolishing private schools’ charitable status and stripping them of tax breaks. That could cause tuition fees to jump. Meanwhile, the paths to Oxford and Cambridge will keep narrowing. Expect a growing gang of Brits to head across the Atlantic.

然而，美國(guó)可能即將發(fā)生變化。最高法院即將作出的裁決可能會(huì)禁止在大學(xué)錄取中使用平權(quán)行動(dòng)。如果大學(xué)不再能夠提高來自少數(shù)群體的申請(qǐng)者的錄取機(jī)會(huì)，那么富裕學(xué)生所享有的優(yōu)勢(shì)可能會(huì)受到更多審視。英國(guó)的私立學(xué)校也面臨艱難的時(shí)期。工黨有望在未來18個(gè)月內(nèi)的選舉中獲得勝利，他們提出廢除私立學(xué)校的慈善地位并取消它們的稅收優(yōu)惠。這可能導(dǎo)致學(xué)費(fèi)上漲。與此同時(shí)，進(jìn)入牛津和劍橋的道路將繼續(xù)變窄。預(yù)計(jì)會(huì)有越來越多的英國(guó)人前往美國(guó)留學(xué)。

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