VOA慢速英语听力：疫情期间，学校失去了对无家可归儿童的追踪 Schools Lost Track of Homeless Kids during Pandemic.
During the coronavirus pandemic, many schools struggled to keep a count of students whose families struggled with homelessness.
The number of children identified as homeless by schools nationwide dropped by 21 percent from the 2018-2019 school year to the 2020-2021 school year, federal data found. That decrease represented more than 288,000 students.
But it is likely there were many students whose schools did not know they were homeless.
By the time Aaliyah Ibarra started second grade, her family had moved five times in four years in search of housing. As she was about to start a new school, her mother, Bridget Ibarra, saw how much it was affecting Aaliyah’s education.
At 8 years old, Aaliyah did not know the alphabet. Her family's struggles came during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced Aaliyah to begin school online.
Online school was especially hard for Aaliyah because she was homeless. And, like thousands of other students across the country, her school did not know.
By not being identified as homeless, such students lose out on important support like transportation, clothes-cleaning services and other help.
Two years later, the effects have worsened. Students nationwide have struggled to make up for missed learning. And educators have lost important time identifying who needs the most help.
Schools are offering services like tutoring and counseling. But schools now have limited time left to spend federal pandemic assistance money for homeless students, said Barbara Duffield. She is director of SchoolHouse Connection, a national homelessness organization.
Many education leaders, Duffield said, do not even know about federal money meant to support homeless students. The federal support ends next year.
In Bridget Ibarra's case, she chose not to tell the school her children were homeless. She said that teachers never asked. She was worried if officials knew the family was staying in a shelter, the family would face pressure to attend a different school that was closer to the shelter.
The stigma that comes with homelessness also can lead families not to tell anyone they do not have housing, Duffield said.
If schools cannot identify homeless children, “we can’t ensure that they have everything they need to be successful in school and even go to school," Duffield added.
Aaliyah's school is in Phoenix, Arizona. It continued with online learning for her whole kindergarten year. Aaliyah and her older brother spent most of their school days on computers in a temporary classroom at the shelter.
While the shelter helped the family meet their basic needs, Ibarra said she often asked the school for extra help for her daughter. She felt the school was giving all its attention to Aaliyah’s older brother because he is a special education student. That means he has been identified as needing extra educational support.
The school’s principal, Sean Hannafin, said school officials met often with the children's mom. He said they offered the support they had available. But he said it was hard to know online which students required more help.
There is a federal law aimed at making sure homeless students have equal access to education. The law provides rights and services to children without a “fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.”
Many students are not identified as homeless when they sign up for school. At school, teachers or other school workers often notice students who may be dealing with difficulties at home. But with children learning online, teachers often could not see signs of problems.
Overall, the drop in the student homelessness count began before the pandemic. But it became greater when the pandemic began.
The percentage of enrolled students identified as homeless in the U.S. dropped from 2.7 percent in 2018-2019 to 2.2 percent in 2020-2021. Over that time, Arizona had one of the biggest drops in the number of students identified as homeless.
Eventually, Bridget Ibarra had to send Aaliyah to a different school after moving to find new housing. At Aaliyah's new school, Frye Elementary, Principal Alexis Cruz Freeman saw how hard it was to communicate with families when children were not in classrooms.
Aaliyah has improved at her new school, Cruz Freeman said. She still has trouble saying and reading some words. But by the end of the school year, she was able to read a text and write four sentences based on its meaning. She is also performing at her grade level in math.
Cruz Freeman considers Aaliyah a success story in part because of her mother's support. “She was an advocate for her children, which is all that we can ever ask for,” Cruz Freeman said.
I’m Dan Novak.
参考译文：
在冠状病毒大流行期间，许多学校难以统计出家庭陷入无家可归困境的学生人数。
联邦数据发现，从2018-2019学年到2020-2021学年，全国范围内被学校确认为无家可归的儿童数量下降了21%，这个减少代表着超过28.8万名学生。
但很可能有很多学生的学校并不知道他们是无家可归的。
当阿里娅·伊巴拉（Aaliyah Ibarra）开始上二年级时，她的家庭已经在四年内搬了五次家，为了寻找住房。当她即将开始新学校时，她的母亲布里奇特·伊巴拉（Bridget Ibarra）看到这对阿里娅的教育产生了多大影响。
8岁时，阿里娅不认识字母。她的家庭困境发生在COVID-19大流行期间，迫使阿里娅在线上开始上学。
对于阿里娅来说，网络学校尤其艰难，因为她是无家可归的。而且，与全国各地成千上万名其他学生一样，她的学校并不知道。
由于未被确认为无家可归，这些学生失去了交通、清洁衣物服务和其他帮助等重要支持。
两年后，影响进一步恶化。全国范围内的学生努力弥补了错过的学习机会。而教育工作者已经失去了识别谁需要最多帮助的重要时间。
学校提供辅导和咨询等服务。但学校现在的时间有限，需要花费联邦疫情援助资金来支持无家可归的学生，巴巴拉·达菲尔德（Barbara Duffield）表示。她是国家无家可归组织SchoolHouse Connection的主任。
达菲尔德表示，许多教育领导人甚至不知道旨在支持无家可归学生的联邦资金。联邦的支持将于明年结束。
在布里奇特·伊巴拉的案例中，她选择不告诉学校她的孩子们无家可归。她表示老师从未询问过。她担心如果官员知道这个家庭住在收容所，这个家庭将面临去一个离收容所更近的学校就读的压力。
无家可归所带来的污名也可能导致家庭不会告诉任何人他们没有住房，达菲尔德说。
如果学校无法确认无家可归的孩子，“我们无法确保他们在学校获得了一切所需，甚至能够上学”，达菲尔德补充道。
阿里娅的学校位于亚利桑那州的凤凰城。在整个幼儿园年级，她们继续进行在线学习。阿里娅和她的哥哥大部分时间都在收容所的临时教室里用电脑上课。
虽然收容所帮助这个家庭满足了他们的基本需求，但伊巴拉表示，她经常向学校寻求额外的帮助来照顾女儿。她觉得学校更关注阿里娅的哥哥，因为他是特殊教育生。这意味着他被确认需要额外的教育支持。
学校校长肖恩·汉纳芬（Sean Hannafin）表示，学校官员经常与孩子的妈妈会面。他说他们提供了他们可用的支持。但他说，在线上很难知道哪些学生需要更多的帮助。
有一项联邦法律旨在确保无家可归的学生平等获得教育机会。该法律为那些没有“固定、常规和充足夜间住所”的孩子提供权利和服务。
很多学生在注册学校时并未被确认为无家可归。在学校，老师或其他学校工作人员常常会注意到可能在家里遇到困难的学生。但在孩子们在线学习的情况下，老师通常无法看到问题的迹象。
总体而言，学生无家可归人数的下降开始于大流行之前。但在大流行开始后，这个问题变得更为严重。
美国的学生中，被确认为无家可归的入学学生百分比从2018-2019学年的2.7%下降到2020-2021学年的2.2%。在此期间，亚利桑那州被确认为无家可归学生数量下降幅度较大。
最终，布里奇特·伊巴拉不得不在搬家后将阿里娅送到另一所学校。在阿里娅的新学校Frye Elementary，校长亚历克西
斯·克鲁兹·弗里曼（Alexis Cruz Freeman）看到，当孩子们不在教室时，与家庭沟通是多么困难。
克鲁兹·弗里曼说，阿里娅在新学校有所进步。她仍然有些困难说和阅读一些单词。但在学年结束时，她能够阅读一篇文章，并根据其含义写出四句话。她在数学方面也达到了她所在年级的水平。
克鲁兹·弗里曼认为，阿里娅的成功部分归功于她母亲的支持。“她是她孩子的倡导者，这就是我们能够期望的一切，”克鲁兹·弗里曼表示。
我是丹·诺瓦克（Dan Novak）。
Words in This Story
tutor — n. a teacher who works with one student
stigma — n. a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that a society or group of people have about something
kindergarten — n. a school or class for very young children
adequate — adj. enough for some need or requirement
text — n. the original words of a piece of writing or a speech
residence — n. the state of living in a particular place
ensure — n. to make sure, certain, or safe
access — adj. a way of getting near, at, or to something or someone
advocate — n. a person who argues for or supports a cause or policy
