Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, and Dr. Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician who is his wife, said Wednesday that they had hired James H. Shelton III, a former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Education, to oversee¹ their efforts in education, in the latest example of former federal officials who are taking up jobs in Silicon² Valley.

Facebook的首席执行官马克·扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)与他的妻子，儿科医生普莉希拉·陈(Priscilla Chan)医生周三宣布，他们已雇用美国教育部前副部长詹姆斯·H·谢尔顿三世(James H. Shelton III)，负责监督他们在教育方面所做的工作，这是前联邦官员在硅谷出任职务的最新例子。

Mr. Shelton will lead the education component³ of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which Mr. Zuckerberg and Dr. Chan announced they were creating last year for their philanthropic and social entrepreneurship endeavors. The education work is focused on customizing learning for students and addressing disparities.

谢尔顿将领导“陈-扎克伯格行动”(Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)中针对教育的部分。“陈-扎克伯格行动”是扎克伯格与陈医生去年宣布，为慈善目的、以及履行社会企业家责任而成立的组织。该组织的教育工作关注学生的个性化学习与教育中的不平等问题。

“When you think about philanthropy, the question is, ‘How can you be catalytic?’” Mr. Shelton said in a phone interview. “It’s a huge opportunity for transformational work.”

“关于慈善，我们的问题是：‘该怎样发挥催化剂的作用？’”谢尔顿在电话采访中说。“这是促成工作向实际转换的巨大机会。”

Mr. Shelton’s hiring is part of a stream of Washington officials going to work for tech titans. Among them are Jay Carney, a former White House press secretary, who is now senior vice⁴ president for corporate⁵ affairs at Amazon, and David Plouffe, a former senior adviser⁶ to President Obama who is chief adviser and a board member at Uber.

谢尔顿此次受雇是华盛顿官员为技术巨头效力的潮流中的一例。他们当中还有前白宫新闻发言人杰伊·卡尼(Jay Carney)，如今充当亚马逊全球企业事务高级副总裁；以及给奥巴马当过高级顾问的戴维·普洛夫(David Plouffe)，如今在Uber担任首席顾问和董事会成员。

The trend is more recent in education. Former federal education officials often used to enter politics or take up positions at universities and research groups.

这股潮流最近集中在教育方面。以往，联邦教育官员们卸任后，经常从政或者在大学和研究机构任职。

But in March, the Emerson Collective, an organization set up by Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, said it had tapped Arne Duncan, the former education secretary, to lead an effort focused on young people in Chicago.

但是，今年3月，苹果公司的联合创始人史蒂夫·乔布斯(Steve Jobs)的遗孀劳伦·鲍威尔·乔布斯(Laurene Powell Jobs)成立的Emerson Collective机构宣布，它聘用了前教育部长阿恩·邓肯(Arne Duncan)领导一项针对芝加哥年轻人的项目。

The advent⁷ of nontraditional philanthropic vehicles seems to be drawing new interest from veteran education officials. Both the Emerson Collective and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative are limited liability companies, an organizational structure that enables investing and advocacy, as well as philanthropy.

这些非传统的慈善项目的出现似乎引起了资深教育官员们的新兴趣。Emerson Collective和陈-扎克伯格行动都是有限责任公司，这种组织结构可以做投资，可以做倡议性工作，也可以做慈善。

“Silicon Valley traditionally has not played a huge role in education reform,” said Richard Culatta, a former director of the Office of Education Technology at the Department of Education and now chief innovation officer of the state of Rhode Island.

“传统上，硅谷并不在教育改革中扮演重要角色，”教育部教育技术办公室前主任理查德·卡拉塔(Richard Culatta)说，他如今担任罗德岛州的首席创新官。

He said the hiring of prominent education officials like Mr. Shelton, who is also a former executive at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Mr. Duncan could herald⁸ new approaches to learning.

谢尔顿曾经也是比尔与梅琳达·盖茨基金会(Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)的执行官，卡拉塔说，聘用谢尔顿和邓肯这样的著名教育官员，可能会开创学习的新方式。

“There could be huge impact from nontraditional organizations in really innovating⁹ in the field,” he said.

“非传统组织可以对这个领域的真正创新带来巨大影响，”他说。

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Mr. Zuckerberg said the couple’s education initiative would focus on “personalized learning” — the idea of using various technologies to help students customize their educational pathways — and on addressing barriers to education like poverty and illness.

扎克伯格周三在Facebook发表的帖子上说，他们夫妻二人的教育行动计划将关注“个性化学习”——采用不同的技术，来帮助学生定制自己的教育方案——以及应对贫穷和疾病等阻挠教育的障碍。

“We set up the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative with the flexibility¹⁰ to support nonprofits, invest in companies and advocate for policies that will advance this mission,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. “We’ll build technology where it can help, and we believe in listening to and working closely with parents, teachers and students to understand the specific needs of the communities we’re working in.”

“我们成立的陈-扎克伯格行动是非常灵活的，可以支持非盈利机构、对公司进行投资，或游说制定对这项任务有利的政策，”扎克伯格写道。“在需要技术的地方，我们会研发新技术，我们也相信，通过聆听父母、教师与学生们的声音，与他们密切合作，可以了解我们所工作的社区的具体需求。”

The couple are already involved in a variety of education endeavors. They donated $100 million to schools in Newark, and they have pledged $120 million to schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.

扎克伯格夫妇已经参与了一系列教育行动。他们曾向纽瓦克的若干学校捐赠过1亿美元，还承诺向旧金山湾区的学校捐款1.2亿美元。

They have donated $23 million to EducationSuperHighway, a nonprofit group dedicated¹¹ to increasing broadband access for schools nationwide. They have also invested $15 million in AltSchool, a network of private schools.

他们为“教育高速公路”(EducationSuperHighway)捐赠了2300万美元，这个非盈利组织致力于增加全国学校的宽带接入。他们还向私立学校网络AltSchool投资了1500万美元。

Dr. Chan is also working on The Primary School, which takes a new approach to elementary schools. Scheduled to open this fall in East Palo Alto, Calif., it is a free private school that will provide health care and education for students and their families.

普莉希拉·陈目前在“小学”(The Primary School)工作，它采用新方式进行小学教育。这所免费私立学校将于今年秋天在加利福尼亚东帕罗奥图开放，向学生与他们的家庭提供健康卫生服务及教育。

In a Facebook Live video on Wednesday, Dr. Chan said that she recognized the role that teachers could play in shaping students’ futures¹².

在周三的Facebook线上直播中，陈医生说，她明白教师在塑造学生的未来中扮演了怎样的角色。

“Teachers were the first people who opened my eyes to what was possible in the world, and what was possible to me,” Dr. Chan said.

“教师最早打开了我的眼界，让我认识到世界和自我的可能性，”她说。