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To serve their citizens and help the country prosper all countries in the world without exception provide public education to children and teenagers as one of its main goals is to prepare students for productive citizenship, work and adult life. All this makes the notion of education universal while each country has its own system of education determined by its history, political system, culture, traditions and so on. So, in this work I want to represent the educational system of the USA and its peculiarities. I would like to mention that I chose this topic, because education has always been a focus of intense debate in the USA and continues to be of utmost importance to the citizens of America.
Education in the USA
Introduction
To serve their citizens and help the country prosper all countries in the world without exception provide public education to children and teenagers as one of its main goals is to prepare students for productive citizenship, work and adult life. All this makes the notion of education universal while each country has its own system of education determined by its history, political system, culture, traditions and so on. So, in this work I want to represent the educational system of the USA and its peculiarities. I would like to mention that I chose this topic, because education has always been a focus of intense debate in the USA and continues to be of utmost importance to the citizens of America.
Historical outline
The first steps towards public education in North America were taken by the
Puritan settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who believed that everyone
should be able to read the Bible. They established the Boston Latin School,
colonial America's first secondary school, in 1635 and founded Harvard College in
1636. Other colonies followed this example in one form or another. Free education
was seen as important for the preservation of liberty and religious freedom and,
after the colonies achieved independence from Britain, a democratic republic. The
US Constitution (1789) left the administering of public education to the individual
states, a fact that explains the decentralized system of education in the USA today.
Apart from preparing young Americans for higher education and working life,
public schools have also had an important function in the Americanization of
vast numbers of immigrants. Although education is held to be the inalienable right
of every US citizen, African-Americans, facing discrimination, were unable to enjoy
this right in many areas until the 1960s. Up until then many states maintained
segregated schools, i.e. separate schools for blacks and whites, a practice which
the US Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in 1954, but which carried on
into the next decade. 1
Education in the USA today
The American system of school education differs from the systems in other countries. The United States Federal system of governance ensures that each State is responsible for its own education system. There is no nationwide common curriculum or system of education although the structure of the education system though is common. Thus, it consists of several levels: pre-school education, elementary school, intermediate education – the Junior High School, secondary education, higher education and graduate education. Now, I would like to present each level in brief.
Pre-school education
In the United States there are a variety of pre-school, nursery school and kindergarten programs.
Pre-kindergarten refers to the first formal academic classroom-based learning environment that a child customarily attends in the United States. It begins around the age of four or five and acts as a way to prepare children to better succeed in a kindergarten.
As pre-kindergarten is not compulsory in the USA, most children begin elementary education with kindergarten (usually five to six years old). Here children are taught to develop basic skills and knowledge through creative play and social interaction.
Nursery schools and kindergartens are regarded as a means of helping children make the transition from home to school.2
Elementary school
An elementary school is the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education.
Primary education still tends to focus on basic academic learning and socialization skills, introducing children to the broad range of knowledge, skill and behavioral adjustment they need to succeed in life - and, particularly, in secondary school. The elementary school course is from six to nine years in length, the ordinary period being eight years.
Classes are frequently divided into A, B and C groups according to speed of learning. The program studies in the elementary schools include English, arithmetic, geography, history of the USA, and elementary natural science including human physiology and hygiene. Physical training, vocal music, drawing and manual training are often taught. Sometimes a foreign language and the study of general history are begun. Religious teaching is officially not permitted, although the exercises of the day are often opened with a reading from the Bible and the singing of a hymn.
Intermediate education – the Junior High School
A new kind of school, the junior high school appeared at about the turn of the century. Usually it comprises grades seven, eight and nine, although sometimes it only grades seven and eight. The junior high school is a sort of halfway point between elementary and secondary school. It continues some elementary school subjects, but it also introduces courses in mathematics and science, and usually gives students their first chance to study a foreign language.3
Secondary education
Although there are some technical, vocational, and specialized high schools in the United States the typical high school is comprehensive in nature.
The objectives of the comprehensive high school are to provide: 1) general education for all students; 2) subjects useful to those who will leave high school for employment, and 3) necessary preparatory education for those planning to enter colleges and universities.
There is a great variety of American high schools. No one high school is exactly like another. Both public and private schools possess a high degree of autonomy in organizing and developing their educational programs.
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at academies, universities, colleges, seminaries and institutes of technology. High-school graduates enter higher education through a process of mutual selection in a system that is decentralized, diverse and competitive. Colleges and universities select a student according to criteria set by the individual institution rather than by a central authority. The federal government has only an indirect influence on these standards through equal educational-opportunity programs, civil rights laws and constitutional rights. This large degree of institutional diversity has brought to enormous diversity.4
Colleges and universities in the U.S. vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering, or technical curriculum while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Many combine some or all of the above.
Graduate education
Postgraduate education (or graduate education in North America) involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education.
Graduate students often declare their intended degree (master's or doctorate) in their applications. In some cases, master's programs allow successful students to continue toward the doctorate degree. Most graduate students perform teaching duties, often serving as graders and tutors.
Private schools
Private schools, also known as independent schools or non-state schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments. They retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition 5
Homeschooling
Homeschooling in the United States constitutes the education for about 2.9% of USA students.. Some are religious conservatives who see nonreligious education as contrary to their moral or religious systems, or who wish to add religious instruction to the educational curriculum
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..6
Boarding schools
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and administrators
Parochial school
Parochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education, i.e. schools run by parishes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, education is one of the most important issues that the American nation faces. Americans have shown a great concern for education since early colonial times, and it is gradually becoming one of the most important aspects of the American lifestyle. The government of the United States is doing much to raise the prestige of their institutions and the educational system. Though the system of education varies from state to state, they share many common features. So, in this report I tried to represent the general pattern of education in the USA and the features peculiar to it. Thus, education has always been a focus of intense debate in the USA and continues to be of utmost importance to the citizens’ of America.
Bibliography
1
http://www.theusaonline.com/
2
http://www.stud24.ru/foreign-
3
http://www.alleng.ru/engl-top/
4 Mauk, D and Oakland, J (2005) American Civilization London and New York: Routlege
5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
6 http://con-toons.wix.com/