Lecture 3

The educational system of the USA

The American system of education differs somewhat from the systems of the other countries. It has certain peculiarities of its own which are closely connected with the specific conditions of life in the New World and the history of the American society. There are free, state – supported, public schools which the majority of American children attend. There are also a number of private elementary and secondary schools where a fee is charged for admission and children are accepted or rejected on the basis of an examination. These include many church–supported schools, usually Catholic, which also charge a fee. Most public schools are co–educational, that is, girls and boys studied together, but a lot of the church–supported schools are for boys or girls only.

Under the United States Constitution the federal government has no power to make laws in the field of education. Thus, education remains primarily a function of the states. Each state has a Board of Education (usually 3 to 9 members elected by the public or appointed by the governor), not subject to federal control. State laws determine the age of compulsory education, the length of the school year, the way in which teachers shall be certified and many of the courses which must be taught. With so much local control there is some degree of uniformity of education provided in the different parts of the USA, because state and national accrediting agencies insist that certain standards be maintained and certain things be taught.

Education is compulsory for every child from the age of 6 up to the age of 16 except in Maine, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania where it compulsory to the age of 17 and in Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah where children must go to school until the age of 18.

Elementary (primary) and secondary (high) schools are organized on one or two bases: eight years of elementary school and four years of secondary school, or six years of elementary, three years of junior high school and three years of senior high school.

Elementary school children in the US learn much the same things as do children of the same age in other countries. The programme of studies includes English (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, composition), arithmetic (sometimes elementary algebra or plane geometry in upper grades), geography, history of the USA, and elementary natural science. Physical training, music, drawing are also taught. Some schools teach a modern language, such as French, Spanish, or German.

The junior high school is a sort of halfway 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. It usually comprises grade seven, eight and nine, although sometimes it is only grades seven and eight.

The high school prepares young people either for work immediately after graduation or for more advanced study in a college or university. Although there are some technical, vocational and specialized high schools in the United States the typical high school is comprehensive in nature. The subjects studied in elementary school are dealt with in greater details and in more advanced form in a high school. In addition one can specialize in home economics, chemistry and physics, music, humanities, automobile mechanics, etc. High school students study 4 – 5 major subjects a year and classes in each of them meet for an hour a day, five days a week.

The United States have the shortest school year in the world, and average of 180 days.

An important part of high school life is what called extra – curricular activities. The student is free to join a chorus, band or school orchestra; enter the debating team, or participate in sports of all kinds as well as a variety of social activities.

The fundamental task the US faces today is the modernization of the entire school system. It is not only to provide more and better schools, but also to re – examine the contents of the education and to bring it into line with modern requirements.

There is no national system of higher education in the United States. Instead, there are about 3,300 separate institutions. The system comprises three categories of institutions: 1) the university, which may contain: a) several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor’s (four-year) degree and b) one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor’s degree to obtain a master’s or a doctoral degree, 2) the technical training institutions at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming; and 3) the two-year, or community college, from which students may enter many professions or may transfer to four-year colleges. They may be small or large, rural or urban, private or public, religious or secular; highly selective or open to all.

Basically, American higher education developed its own pat­tern by the adaptation of two traditions: the collegiate tradition of England and the university tradition of the Continent.

The first universities were developed by private charitable or­ganizations, many of which were religious bodies. The private universities are still very important. Of the nation's nearly 1,900 four-year institutions of higher learning, 1,200 are privately con­trolled.

All higher educational establishments charge fees. It costs a lot of money to study there. Today three out of every four American families expect to send their children to college. How many actually do so? One out of four. Most of the rest simply can't afford it. The unhappy truth is that, like almost everything else, a college education is getting more expensive every year. In 1990s, the average public-university student spent about 5 thousand dollars for tuition fees, room, board and books. At private colleges the total came to around 12-17,000. Grants are rare, that is why two out of three college students take part-time jobs during the school year, during summer vaca­tions, or both to pay for their studies.

The American college is an institution which has no counter­part in Europe. It offers courses of instruction over a four-year period, grants a Bachelor's degree and prepares the student for a job. As part of university a college leads to a master's or doctor's degree. There are also many Junior Colleges to which students may be admitted at the end of their high school career, providing only the first two years of university work. They usually offer courses related to local industry, agriculture or crafts.

Obviously, with a total of 156 universities and more than two thousand colleges, there must be great differences in quality and reputation among them. The main universities are: California University, Catholic University of America, Cornell University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia Univer­sity, Stanford University, Chicago University, Wisconsin Univer­sity, Yale University. The best-known of all is Harvard, Massa­chusetts, which was founded in 1636. There is much in common between Harvard and Yale, Connecticut, and together they occupy a position in American university life rather like Oxbridge in England.

The methods of instruction in the universities are lectures, discussions and work in laboratory. The academic year is usually of nine months duration, or two semesters of four and a half months each. At the undergraduate level, there may be some courses that every student has to take (e.g. classes in world history, math, writing or research). But students select their “major” (the field in which they want their degree) plus a number of “electives” (courses they do not have to take, but may choose). Typically, an undergraduate student has to earn a certain number of “credits” (about 120) in order to receive a degree at the end of four years of college. Credits are earned by attending lectures (or lab classes) and by successfully completing assignments and examinations. One credit usually equals one hour of class per week in a single course. A three-credit course in biology could involve two hours of lectures plus one hour in a science lab every week. A course may last 10 to 16 weeks - the length of a “semester”.

Students are classified as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. A peculiar feature of American college and univer­sity life is numerous students' unions, fraternities and sorori­ties. The Greek alphabet is generally used in their names. These organizations, Greek letter societies, are descendants of the eight­eenth century literary and social clubs which flourished in the early American colleges. It has become quite the practice for stu­dents of a particular fraternity to reside together during their college course in one house.

A great deal of cultural and recreational life at a university is created by different kinds of students' clubs.

Check yourself

1. Who controls education in the USA?

2. What are the levels of American educational system?

3. What categories of institutions does the system of higher education comprise?

4. What does one have to do in order to receive a degree at the end of four years of college?