The educational system in the USA today

by svv (student)

University Degree Education and Teaching

Education in the USA

Introduction

It is not a secret that to serve their citizens and to help the country prosper all countries in the world without exception provide public education to children and teenagers. One of its main goals is to prepare students for productive citizenship, work and adult life. All this makes the notion of education universal; however, 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. In the first part of my research paper I am going to represent the historical outline and the structure of education in the USA in brief. In the second part I will point out and describe the main strong and weak points of the education in the United States. 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. In addition, since my dream has always been to study in the United Stated, I decided to do some research on this topic in order to get more knowledge about it and to learn the system’s strong and weak sides.

Part 1

In this part of my paper I will represent in brief the origin and the history of education in the United States and the common structure of the educational system in the USA today.

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 an important means for the preservation of liberty and religion. Later, public schools also got an important function in the Americanization of vast numbers of immigrants. It is important to know, that African-Americans were facing discrimination and were unable to enjoy the right of education in many areas until the 1960s. Up until then many states maintained segregated schools, i.e. separate schools for blacks and whites. The decentralized system of education in the USA today is explained by the fact, that in 1789 the US Constitution left the administering of public education to the individual states.

Education in the USA today

The American system of school education differs from the systems in other countries. The United States Federal Government 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 is common. Thus, it consists of several levels: pre-school education, primary education, 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.

Primary education

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, skills 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 ...

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Nursery schools and kindergartens are regarded as a means of helping children make the transition from home to school.

Primary education

An elementary school is the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Part 2

As almost every phenomenon in the world, US Education System also has some advantages and disadvantages. So, in the second part of my research paper I would like to show the strong and weak points of this system.

US Education System strong points

Inclusiveness: The American system of education provides education to all pupils summing up primary and secondary education irrespective of their performance levels. The system does not encourage drop outs of children on any basis. This has made it possible to maintain high retention rates when compared to other countries.

Flexibility: Degree programs in the United States are very flexible for the student. A student can choose his own classes out of a pool of different subjects. One can work towards two separate degree programs at the same time. Local flexibility ensures that students can take up subjects which coincide with their talents and interest rather than being burdened with subjects that they find difficult to learn.

Quality of education, global acceptance and great career opportunities: The colleges and universities in the United States, provide the best quality of education anywhere else in the world. Appropriate technologies are used to further enhance and support this quality standard. For this reason, a degree from an American college or university is highly respected and accepted. Thus, it will open doors to a lot of opportunities around the world.

Student advisers: Every college or university offers student advisers, who help, guide, and support the students at every stage of their academic life in the United States. For example, they help you decide what career choices would be best for you. They spend enough time to understand and clarify any doubts that you might have. They help you direct your interests towards a particular career that might be best for you.

Multi-cultural experience: Unites States of America is a very diverse country. People from all over the world come here to live and study. Here you will meet scholars from across the globe and will learn about their cultures. Studying in the United States of America can be a very exciting experience along with being a great learning opportunity. Every day you learn something new about your friends from different parts of the world, belonging to different cultures. Thus, while studying, people here gain multi-cultural experience.

Modern technologies: Nowadays education in the USA is aided with a variety of technology, computers, projectors, internet, and many more. Diverse knowledge is being spread among the people and everything that can be simplified has been made simpler.

Developing of freedom and creativity: Developing of freedom and creativity is the strongest point in the American system of education, thus making it unique and different from all the other systems in the world. It is known, that America is the land of opportunity. People in America like to be free, to do whatever they want to without any restrictions and this belief is reflected in the American educational system. In American schools, teachers and students are at the same social level. Students are encouraged to exchange their own opinions with the teacher. Students receive very little pressure in school, so whatever they do in school is totally based on their personal beliefs. The advantage of this kind of educational system is that, it really develops student's individual thinking skills; they are encouraged to try out different options to achieve their goal. For example Bill Gates, who dropped out of college, started his own company, now he is one of the richest man in the world. They are allowed to do much free thinking in school and be as creative as possible.

According to this system, children can learn effectively only when they are allowed to explore freely with their ideas, «without this they will not really be able to think or believe in themselves». When children are forced to memorize some materials, they will remember the materials for a few days. However, they would have forgotten everything after a summer vacation. On the other hand, when children are allowed to think of their own ways of learning the concepts, they will tend to remember them longer and apply them appropriately since they are their own ideas. Because the American educational system allows and encourages free thinking in school, U. S is still the #1 in scientific research.

In addition to promoting freedom, the American educational system also fosters creativity among its students. An example of how different systems teach the plays of Shakespeare demonstrates the point. The traditional system would require students to memorize Hamlet's «To be or not to be» soliloquy without any mistakes. Under the influence of the American system, however, students are assigned to write a love letter to Juliet instead of straight memorization. In this way, students are encouraged to express their ideas with creativity and hence promote the atmosphere that learning is indeed a fun activity.

US Education System weak points

Absence of religious education: The teaching of religion is a ground for shifting opinions and contradictions. Thus the absence of religious education in the USA results in valuable loss of moral education, violence, disruptive student behavior in schools and a lack of seriousness about life and hard work.

Teacher education: Teacher training requires improvement to deal with current and global issues. Teacher training, in-service training and teacher education do not get sufficient attention.

Cost of tuition: US citizens often complain that the tuition cost is really high in their country. Many families often have to go into "debt" in order to pay their kids through college to receive the education they need. As a result, the rising cost of tuition in higher education has lead to a decline in American students pursuing college studies.

Differing standards among students: It is known that the system of education in the USA is decentralized and each State follows its own curriculum and standards. This often leads to differing standards among students of the same country. Hence, very often in case of working or continuing one’s education in another state people are likely to face difficulties because of these essential differences.

High concentrations of crime: It is not uncommon to find schools in the USA with more than 1,000 students enrolled. One of the results of high enrollment is that schools become areas with high concentrations of crime. Theft, assault and drugs are commonplace in many schools today. Rape and murder, along with gang violence and intimidation often occur in some schools. Behavior problems such as defiance, rudeness and bullying take on huge proportions in a classroom where a teacher is attempting to instruct 30 or more students. Effective academic learning simply cannot occur in such an environment.

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 the first part of my research paper I tried to represent the historical outline and the general pattern of education in the USA, describing the several levels of education and the types of schools existing in there. Andin the second part I tried to show the features peculiar to it, the system’s strengths and weaknesses. The material of the second part is based my researches from different American websites, where both American and foreign students (who have studied there) have expressed their opinion on the education system of the USA. I have always dreamed to study in the United States and even after learning all the disadvantages of this system I still think that it is one of the strongest and well-developed systems of education in the world.