Unit 15 part I the system of education
Introduction
Most historians agree that a great deal of the economic, political, scientific, and cultural progress America has made in its relatively short history is due to its commitment to the ideal of equal opportunity. This is the ideal of educating as many Americans as possible, to the best of their abilities. From the early times on, especially in the northern and western states, the public policy was to produce educated people. In these states, the large majority of adults were literate at a time when education was still denied to most Europeans. There can be little doubt that American education in its aim to provide equality of opportunity as well as excellence has raised the overall level of education of Americans. It has encouraged more Americans than ever before to study for advanced degrees and to become involved in specialized research. The belief that the future of society depends on the quantity and quality of its educated citizens is widely held. It explains why a great many Americans are still willing to give more money to education, even during times of economic difficulties. Besides there is a widespread belief that the more schooling a person has, the more money he or she will earn on college graduation.
The US has the most diversified education system in the world, with public and private schools (“school” usually refers to everything from kindergarten to university) at all levels flourishing alongside each other. Americans of all ages have an insatiable appetite for education and self-improvement, and no society in history has educated its young more persistently or at greater expense than the US.
There is no federal education system in the US, where education is the responsibility of individual states and districts. Consequently, education standards and requirements vary considerably from state to state and district to district. School attendance is compulsory and comprises three levels: elementary, secondary and high. At these levels, school curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction over school districts. School districts are usually separate from other local jurisdictions, with independent officials and budgets. Educational standards and standardized testing decisions are usually made by state governments.
The age for beginning school is mandated by state law and therefore varies slightly from state to state, but in general children are required to begin school with a one-year Kindergarten class when they are 4 or 5. They are required to continue attending school until the age of 16 to 18, depending on the state, with a growing number of states now requiring school attendance until the age of 18.
Students may attend public schools, private schools, or homeschool. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels: elementary school, junior high school (also often called middle school), and senior high school. In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades, ranging from Kindergarten (followed by first grade) for the youngest children in elementary school, up to twelfth grade, which is the final year of high school. The exact age range of students in these grade levels varies slightly from area to area.
Vocational training, adult education, and special schools or classes also form a part of education program in most states. Many states and communities provide schools or special classes for children with special educational needs, including those with emotional and behavioural problems, moderate and severe learning difficulties, communication problems, or physical disabilities.
A unique aspect of the US education system is the high degree of parental involvement. “Parent power” isn’t only accepted but is welcomed and encouraged through local Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Home and School Associations (HSAs) attached to every school. They meet regularly and concern themselves with many aspects of a school’s affairs including the curriculum, facilities, school hours, and after-school activities and programs. Parents are encouraged to attend meetings and show an interest in the school and their children’s education. Schools organize parent days and parent-teacher conferences, where parents can meet teachers and examine their child’s school time-table.
Pre-school education
Pre-school education embraces all formal and informal education before the age of six. It includes tots and toddler programs, play school, nursery school, and kindergarten. Attendance at school for children under six is not compulsory, and the provision of these schools varies according to the finances and circumstances of local communities. Most public elementary schools provide a pre-school kindergarten (K) year for five-year-olds, which is usually the first year of elementary school.
There are various types of pre-schools, including non-profit co-operative schools, church affiliated schools, local community schools, private schools and Montessori schools. A co-operative school is usually the least expensive, as parents work voluntarily as teachers’ aides alongside professional teachers. Church-affiliated schools are usually attached to religious centers and may include religious education.
A number of private nursery schools use the Montessori method of teaching, developed by Dr Maria Montessori in the early 1900s. Montessori is more a philosophy of life than a teaching method and is based on the belief that is a child is an individual with unique needs, interests and patterns of growth.
Many areas also have what are termed “toddler” or “tot” programs, which usually accept children from two to four years of age. Activities generally include arts and crafts, music, educational games, perceptual motor activities and listening skills. Most communities also have informal community schools or learning centers, playgroups, morning programs and other inexpensive alternatives to private schools.
Many children attend private nursery schools for two to six-year-olds. Fees for private nursery schools range from $5000 to $15000 per year for full-time schooling, depending on the school and area. School hours vary, but children usually attend for a few hours in the morning, or in the afternoon. Many day care centers are designed for working parents and combine nursery school and extended day care, with centers open from 6.30am to 6pm.
Pre-school education programs are intended to introduce children to the social environment and concentrate on their basic skills of co-ordination. Research in a number of countries has shown that children who attend pre-school usually progress at a faster rate than those who don’t. In some areas (e.g. New York City), nursery schools are in short supply and it’s necessary to put your child’s name on a waiting list as soon as possible.
Elementary and secondary education
Most parents send their children to public schools. Public education is tax-supported, no tuition is required (tax burdens by school districts vary from area to area). Approximately 85% of American students attend public schools, the other 15 percent choose to pay tuition to attend private schools. Most private schools are run by religious organizations and generally include religious instruction along with a general curriculum similar to that of the public schools, presented from the religious group's perspective. In 2000 there were about 27,000 private elementary and secondary schools in the United States, enrolling more than 5 million students.
Students go to school five to seven hours a day, five days a week for nine months each year, from September to June. Most schools have a summer break period for about two and half months from June through August.
P
rivate
schools are the most expensive and vary considerably from small
home-run set-ups to large custom-built schools. Private schools
include single-sex schools, schools sponsored by religious groups,
schools for students with learning and physical disabilities, schools
for gifted children. Some private schools place an emphasis on
sports, art, drama, dance or music. Religious instruction isn’t
permitted in public schools so many private schools are based on
religious principles (church-run schools are usually collectively
referred to as “parochial” schools).
Private schools are organized like public schools although the curricular and approach differ considerably, and are usually aimed at securing admission to a top university. School work in private schools is usually rigorous and demanding, and students often have a great deal of homework and pressure.
Parents may also choose to educate their own children at home; 1.7% of children are educated in this manner. Most homeschooling advocates are wary of the established educational institutions for various reasons. Some are religious conservatives who see nonreligious education as contrary to their moral or religious systems. Others feel that they can more effectively tailor a curriculum to suit an individual student's academic strengths and weaknesses, especially those with singular needs or disabilities. Still others feel that the negative social pressures of schools (such as bullying, drugs, crime, and other school-related problems) are detrimental to a child's proper development. Parents often form groups to help each other in the homeschooling process, and may even assign classes to different parents, similar to public and private schools.
Another alternative to traditional public schools are charter schools, which were conceived as a way to inspire educators to develop new and more successful methods of teaching and running schools. These tuition-free, publicly funded schools pledge to deliver better student academic performance in exchange for freedom from many of the regulations governing other public schools. They are so named because their operators sign a contract, or charter, with a local school board or other public agency specifying the conditions under which the schools will be run and the standards of achievement they are to meet. The first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991. By some 10 years later, most states had passed charter laws, and the United States had some 2,500 charter schools, serving more than 500,000 students.
The
first years of compulsory schooling are called elementary or primary
school. Elementary school starts at the age of five or six and is
usually attended until eleven (grades K to six), when students go on
to a middle or junior high school. In some districts, students attend
elementary school until 13 (up to grade 8) before attending a senior
high school.
Elementary schools provide instruction on the fundamental skills of reading, writing and maths, as well as history and geography (taught together as social studies), crafts, music, science, art and physical education (P.E. or gym). Elementary students are usually given regular home work, though in many schools few children complete it. Students do not choose a course structure and often remain in one or two classrooms throughout the school day, with the exceptions of physical education, music, and/or art classes.
The elementary school curriculum varies with the organization and educational aims of individual schools and local communities. Typically, the curriculum within public elementary education is determined by individual school districts. The school district selects curriculum guides and textbooks that are reflective of a state's learning standards and benchmarks for a given grade level.
Secondary education is for children aged 12 to 18 (grades 7 to 12). It generally takes place in a high school, which is often divided into junior and senior high (housed in separate buildings or even separate locations). Junior high school (or middle school) is for those aged 12 to 14 (grades 7 to 9) and senior high is for students aged 15 to 17 (grades 10 to 12).
Junior high school is intermediate between elementary school and senior high school. It usually includes grades seven and eight, and sometimes six or nine. In some locations, junior high school includes grade nine only, allowing students to adjust to a high school environment. In some districts, students attend a combined junior/senior high school or attend a middle school until 13 (grade 8) before transferring to a four-year senior high school. Like elementary education, secondary education is co-educational. American high schools are often much larger than secondary schools in other countries, and regional high schools with over 2,000 students are common in some rural areas and city suburbs.
Secondary school students must take certain 'core' curriculum courses for a prescribed number of years or terms, as determined by each state. These generally include English, maths, general science, health, physical education and social studies (which may include American history and government, geography, world history and social problems). Students are streamed (tracked) in some high schools for academic subjects, where the brightest students are put on a 'fast track'. In addition to mandatory subjects, students choose “electives” (optional subjects), which supplement their future education and career plans. Electives usually comprise around half of a student's work in grades 9 to 12. Students concentrate on four subjects each quarter and are seldom “pushed” beyond their capability.
High schools offer a wide range of subjects from which students can choose a program leading to college/university entrance or a career in business or industry. The courses offered vary from school to school and are listed in school curriculum guides. Around the ninth grade, students receive counseling as they begin to plan their careers and select subjects that are useful in their chosen fields. Counseling continues throughout the senior high school years and into college, particularly in junior college or the first two years of a four-year college program. Larger schools may offer a selection of elective courses aimed at three or more tracks: academic, vocational and general. Students planning to go on to college or university elect courses with an emphasis on academic sciences (biology, chemistry, physics), higher mathematics (algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus), advanced English literature, composition, social sciences and foreign languages.
The vocational program may provide training in four fields: agricultural education, which prepares students for farm management and operation; business education, which trains students for the commercial field; home economics, which prepares students for home management, child care and care of the sick; and trade and industrial education, which provides training for jobs in mechanical, manufacturing, building and other trades. Students interested in entering business from high school may take typing, shorthand, book-keeping or “business” English.
The third program is a general or comprehensive program providing features of the academic and vocational programs. Those who don't want to go to college or enter a particular trade immediately but want the benefits of schooling and a high school diploma often follow the general program.
Upon satisfactory completion of 12th grade, a student graduates and receives a high school diploma. (In the US, students graduate from high school, junior high school, elementary school and even nursery school.) At high schools (as at colleges and universities) there are ceremonies to celebrate graduation complete with caps, gowns, diplomas, and speeches by staff and students.
With the exception of physical education classes, school sport is usually extra-curricular, i.e. takes place outside school hours. Team sports have a high profile at many high schools and being 'on the school team' is more important to many students than being top of the class. In addition to sports, many other school-sponsored activities take place outside school hours, including science and nature clubs, musical organizations, art and drama groups, language clubs and student-run newspapers. Colleges and universities place considerable value in the achievements of students in high school extra-curricular activities. High schools are also important social centers, and participation in school-organized social events such as homecoming parades (with homecoming queens) and school dances is widespread.
Problems
In the last decades, there has been extensive debate over the declining standards and low achievements of American students, particularly when compared with students in other leading industrialized countries. American high school students score particularly badly in mathematics and science, many can barely read or write, and most know virtually nothing of the wider world or even their own history.
DISCUSSION
What are the goals of American education?
How can you characterize the system of education in the USA?
What is the attitude of most Americans towards education?
Education standards and requirements are the same all over the country, aren’t they?
How many levels does school comprise?
What decisions do school district authorities take?
At what age do American children start school?
What is the school leaving age? Can it vary from state to state?
What is PTA? HSA?
What is the degree of parental involvement in school life in America?
What does pre-school education include? What types of pre-schools exist in the USA?
What age groups are accepted by toddler programs? What kind of activities do these programs offer to children?
Can every American family afford sending their children to a private nursery school?
Do parents whose children attend public schools have to pay tuition?
What types of private schools are there in the USA?
Is religion taught in American public schools?
Why do some parents prefer to educate their children at home? What reasons are given by homeschooling advocates?
How do charter schools differ from public and private schools?
What is American elementary education like?
What factors determine the school curriculum?
What grades does secondary education comprise?
What is junior high (middle) school?
What subjects do secondary school students take?
Why do some high schools stream (track) their students for academic subjects?
Do American high school students only take mandatory subjects?
What is counseling aimed for?
What courses are usually taken by college-bound students?
What types of vocational programs are provided for high school students?
What types of extra-curricular activities are available for high school students?
What is American education criticized for?
GUIDED TALK
Speak on the following topics using the words given below.
Goals of education
equal opportunity, to the best of one’s abilities, to be literate, to raise the overall level education
Education standards
federal education system, standards and requirements, school attendance, to be compulsory, school curriculum, school district, school board
Types of schools
public schools, homeschooling, special schools, special educational needs, learning difficulties, physical disabilities, private schools, charter schools
Pre-school education
toddler programs, play schools, nursery schools, kindergarten, pre-schools, teaching methods, full-time schooling, working parents, day care center, social environment, basic skills, to be in short supply
Private schools
to pay tuition, single-sex schools, church-run schools, learning and physical disabilities, gifted children, curriculum, to be rigorous, to be demanding
Homeschooling
parental responsibility, personal freedom, to tailor a curriculum to suit smth., strengths and weaknesses, negative social pressure, school-related problems, proper development, lack of socialization
Elementary education
to be compulsory, to provide instruction, basic (fundamental) skills, to give regular homework, school curriculum, local community, school district, learning standards
Secondary education
junior /senior high school, intermediate, grade, to adjust to the environment, to attend, “core” curriculum course, to be streamed (tracked), academic subject, mandatory subject, elective subject, capacity for learning
High school
to be located in a separate building, to offer a wide range of subjects, college entrance, to receive counseling, to offer a selection of elective courses, to be aimed at, academic science, vocational program, to provide training, general (comprehensive) program, high school diploma ,ceremony to celebrate graduation
extra-curricular activities
to take place outside school hours, team sports, science and nature clubs, student-run newspaper, to place considerable value in smth., social center, participation in school-organized events, to be widespread