Education in the United States is mainly provided by the
public sectorThe public sector is a part of the state that deals with the delivery of goods and services by and for the government, whether national, regional or local/municipal....
, with control and funding coming from three levels:
federalThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
,
stateA state government is the government of a subnational entity in a federal forms of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or be subject to the direct control of the federal government...
, and
localLocal governments are administrative office that are smaller than a state. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government....
.
Compulsory educationCompulsory education is a concept where children are required by the laws of a specific nation-state to receive an education. It is often closely associated with public education, that education which a state provides universally to its citizens. In some places homeschooling may be a legal...
is mandatory. A sub-type of compulsory education is
public educationPublic education is schooling mandated for or offered to all children by the government, whether national, regional, or local, provided by an institution of civil government, and paid for, in whole or in part, by taxes. The term is generally applied to basic education, including kindergarten to...
. Public education is universal at the
primaryA primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
and
secondarySecondary education is the stage of education following primary school. Secondary education is generally the final stage of compulsory education. However, secondary education in some countries includes a period of compulsory and a period of non-compulsory education. The next stage of education is...
levels (known inside the United States as the
elementaryAn elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
and
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
levels). At these levels, school curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected
school boardSchool Board may refer to the education arrangements in different parts of the United Kingdom:* School board * School board...
s with jurisdiction over
school district-United States:In the United States, public schools are either school districts, which are independent special-purpose governments, or dependent school systems, which are under the control of state or local government. A school district is a legally separate body corporate and politic...
s. 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 ages for compulsory education vary by state, beginning at ages five to eight and ending at the ages of fourteen to eighteen. A growing number of states are now requiring compulsory education until the age of 18.
Compulsory education requirements can generally be satisfied by educating children in
public schoolsIn most of the world, excluding England and Wales and some Commonwealth countries, a public school is an educational institution that is funded with tax revenue and most commonly administered by a local government or government agency...
, state-certified
private schoolPrivate schools, also known as independent schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition, rather than relying on public funds...
s, an approved
home schoolHomeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in a formal setting of public or private school...
program or in an
orphanageOrphanage is the name to describe a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable to care for them...
. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels:
elementary schoolAs part of a complete Education in the United States, the first 6 years of schooling are classified as primary. In 2001 there were 92,858 elementary schools in the United States, a figure which includes all schools that teach students from grades one through eight...
,
middle schoolMiddle school or junior high school serves as a "bridge" between elementary school and high school. The terms can be used in different ways in different countries, sometimes interchangeably...
(sometimes called junior high school), and
high schoolAs part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 through 12.-Historical Impact of Secondary Education in the United States:...
(sometimes referred to as secondary education). In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades, ranging from
kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
(followed by
first gradeFirst grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States, Canada and some other countries. It is the first school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 5 to 8 years old....
) for the youngest children in elementary school, up to
twelfth gradeTwelfth grade is the North American name for the final year of secondary school in most countries after which students usually graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a Thirteenth grade while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all....
, which is the final year of
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
. The exact age range of students in these grade levels varies slightly from area to area.
Post-secondary education, better known as "college" in the United States, is generally governed separately from the elementary and high school system, and is described in a separate section below.
In the year 2000, there were 76.6 million students enrolled in schools from
kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
through
graduate schoolA graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
s. Of these, 72 percent aged 12 to 17 were judged academically "on track" for their age (enrolled in school at or above grade level). Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country's adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school and 27 percent have received a
bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
or higher. The average salary for
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
or
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
graduates is greater than $51,000, exceeding the national average of those without a high school diploma by more than $23,000, according to a 2005 study by the U.S. Census Bureau. The United States school system includes over 5,000 Montessori schools.
The country has a reading
literacy rateIn economics, the literacy rate is the proportion of the population over age fifteen that can read and write.-See also:*Literacy*List of countries by literacy rate...
at 98% of the population over age 15, while ranking below average in science and mathematics understanding compared to other developed countries. In 2008, there was a 77% graduation rate from high school, below that of most developed countries.
The poor performance has pushed public and private efforts such as the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
. In addition, the ratio of college-educated adults entering the workforce to general population (33%) is slightly below the mean of other developed countries (35%) and rate of participation of the labor force in
continuing educationContinuing education is an all encompassing term within a broad spectrum of post-secondary learning activities and programs. The term is used mainly in the United States...
is high. A 2000s study by Jon Miller of
Michigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act. Its alumni include at least six winners of the...
concluded that "A slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European or Japanese adults".
School grades
In the U.S. public education begins with early childhood programs at the age of three or four . Children are then placed in year groups known as grades, beginning with
kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
and culminating in
twelfth gradeTwelfth grade is the North American name for the final year of secondary school in most countries after which students usually graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a Thirteenth grade while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all....
. The U.S. uses
ordinal numberIn set theory, an ordinal number, or just ordinal, is the order type of a well-ordered set. They are usually identified with hereditarily transitive sets. Ordinals are an extension of the natural numbers different from integers and from cardinals...
s for naming grades, unlike Canada and Australia where
cardinal numberIn mathematics, cardinal numbers, or cardinals for short, are a generalization of the natural numbers used to measure the cardinality of sets. The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number – the number of elements in the set. The transfinite cardinal numbers describe the sizes of infinite...
s are preferred. Thus, Americans are more likely to say "First Grade" rather than "Grade One". Typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools may be found through the U.S. Department of Education. Many different variations exist across the country.
| Level/Grade | Typical age (at end of the school year) |
|---|
PreschoolA nursery school is a school for children between the ages of three and five, staffed by qualified teachers and other professionals who encourage and supervise educational play rather than simply providing childcare. It is generally considered part of early childhood education...
|
| Various optional programs, such as Head Start Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families....
|
Under 6 |
| Pre-Kindergarten 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 in order to prepare for the more didactic and academically intensive kindergarten, the traditional "first" class...
|
4-5 |
Kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
|
5-6 |
| Elementary School An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
|
| 1st Grade First grade is a year of primary education in schools in the United States, Canada and some other countries. It is the first school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 5 to 8 years old....
|
6–7 |
| 2nd Grade In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 6–9 years old....
|
7–8 |
| 3rd Grade In the United States, third grade is a year of primary education. It is the third school after kindergarten. Students are usually 7 - 10 years old....
|
8–9 |
| 4th Grade Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually nine or ten years old, but sometimes they are eight. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth...
|
9–10 |
| 5th Grade Fifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 - 11 years old. Depending on the school district, in certain parts of the United States, it is the first year of junior high school...
|
10–11 |
6th GradeSixth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 - 12 years old...
>
11–12 |
| Middle School Middle school or junior high school serves as a "bridge" between elementary school and high school. The terms can be used in different ways in different countries, sometimes interchangeably...
|
| 6th Grade Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 - 12 years old...
|
11–12 |
| 7th Grade Seventh grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The seventh grade is the seventh school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 12-13 years old. Traditionally, seventh grade was the next-to-last year of elementary school...
|
12–13 |
| 8th Grade Eighth grade is a year of education in the United States, Canada, Australia and other nations. The eighth grade is typically the final grade before high school, and the ninth grade of public and private education, following kindergarten and subsequent grades...
|
13–14 |
High schoolAs part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 through 12.-Historical Impact of Secondary Education in the United States:...
|
| 9th Grade Ninth grade is the ninth post-kindergarten year of school/education. Usually, it is the first year of upper secondary school and the students are 13 to 15 years of age.-Australia:...
(Freshman) |
14-15 |
| 10th Grade Tenth grade is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten . Students are usually 14 to 16 years of age.-Australia:Tenth grade, for most Australian states is in the middle of a student's high school education. However, in the Northern Territory, it is the first year of high school, after middle school...
(Sophomore) |
15-16 |
| 11th Grade Eleventh grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Canada:...
(Junior) |
16-17 |
| 12th Grade Twelfth grade is the North American name for the final year of secondary school in most countries after which students usually graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a Thirteenth grade while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all....
(Senior) |
17–18 |
| Post-secondary education |
Tertiary educationTertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, or gymnasium...
(CollegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
or UniversityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
) |
Ages vary (usually four years,
referred to as Freshman,
Sophomore, Junior and
Senior years) |
Vocational educationVocational education or Vocational Education and Training , also called Career and Technical Education , prepares learners for jobs that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which...
|
Ages vary |
| Graduate education |
Adult educationAdult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. This often happens in the workplace, through 'extension' or 'continuing education' courses at secondary schools, at a college or university. Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning...
|
Preschool
There are no mandatory public prekindergarten or crèche programs in the United States. The federal government funds the
Head StartHead Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families....
preschool program for children of low-income families, but most families are on their own with regard to finding a preschool or childcare.
In the large cities, there are sometimes upper-class preschools catering to the children of the wealthy. Because some upper-class families see these schools as the first step toward the
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
, there are even counselors who specialize in assisting parents and their toddlers through the preschool admissions process.
Elementary and secondary education
Schooling is compulsory for all children in the United States, but the age range for which school attendance is required varies from state to state. Most children begin elementary education with
kindergartenis a form of education for young children which serves as a transition from home to the commencement of more formal schooling. Children are taught to develop basic skills through creative play and social interaction. In most countries kindergarten is part of the preschool system of early childhood...
(usually five to six years old) and finish secondary education with
twelfth gradeTwelfth grade is the North American name for the final year of secondary school in most countries after which students usually graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a Thirteenth grade while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all....
(usually eighteen years old). In some cases, pupils may be promoted beyond the next regular grade. Some states allow students to leave school between 14–17 with parental permission, before finishing high school; other states require students to stay in school until age 18.
Most parents send their children to either a public or private institution. According to government data, one-tenth of students are enrolled in private schools. Approximately 85% of students enter the public schools, largely because they are "free" (tax burdens by
school district-United States:In the United States, public schools are either school districts, which are independent special-purpose governments, or dependent school systems, which are under the control of state or local government. A school district is a legally separate body corporate and politic...
s vary from area to area). Most students attend school for around six hours per day, and usually anywhere from 175 to 185 days per year. Most schools have a summer break period for about two and half months from June through August. This break is much longer than in some other nations. The other option available and being taken up by some schools is
Year-round schoolYear-Round School is the scheduling of educational institutions so that students take class throughout the entire calendar year. A motivation is that higher student throughput is accomplished via more effective scheduling of school resources...
.
Parents may also choose to educate their own children
at homeHomeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in a formal setting of public or private school...
; 1.7% of children are educated in this manner.
Elementary school
Elementary schoolAn elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America...
is a school of kindergarten through
fifth gradeFifth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fifth grade is the fifth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 10 - 11 years old. Depending on the school district, in certain parts of the United States, it is the first year of junior high school...
(sometimes, the first eight grades or up to
fourth gradeFourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually nine or ten years old, but sometimes they are eight. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth...
or
sixth gradeSixth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 - 12 years old...
), where basic subjects are taught. Elementary school provides and often remain in one or two classrooms throughout the school day, with the exceptions of
physical educationPhysical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting...
("P.E." or "gym"),
libraryA library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. It can mean the collection,...
,
musicMusic is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, and
artArt is the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, sculpture, and paintings...
classes. There are (as of 2001) about 3.6 million children in each grade in the United States.
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. Learning Standards are the goals by which states and school districts must meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) as mandated by No Child Left Behind. This description of school governance is simplistic at best, however, and school systems vary widely not only in the way curricular decisions are made but also in how teaching and learning take place. Some states and/or school districts impose more top-down mandates than others. In many schools, teachers play a significant role in curriculum design and there are few top-down mandates. Curricular decisions within private schools are made differently than in public schools and in most cases without consideration for NCLB.
Public Elementary School teachers typically instruct between twenty and thirty students of diverse learning needs. A typical classroom will include children with identified special needs as listed in Individuals with Disabilities Act
IDEAThe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a United States federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities...
to those that are cognitively, athletically or artistically gifted. At times an individual school district identifies areas of need within the curriculum. Teachers and advisory administrators form committees to develop supplemental materials to support learning for diverse learners and identify enrichment for textbooks. Many school districts post information about the curriculum and supplemental materials on websites for public access. Teachers receive a book to give to the students for each subject and brief overviews of what they are expected to teach. In general, a student learns basic
arithmeticArithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division...
and sometimes rudimentary algebra in
mathematicsMathematics is the science and study of quantity, structure, space, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns, formulate new conjectures, and establish truth by rigorous deduction from appropriately chosen axioms and definitions....
, English proficiency (such as basic
grammarEnglish grammar is here understood as the body of rules describing the properties of the English language. A language is such that its elements must be combined according to certain patterns...
, spelling, and
vocabularyA person's vocabulary is the set of words they are familiar with in a language. A vocabulary usually grows and evolves with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge.- Knowing and using a word :...
), and fundamentals of other subjects. Learning standards are identified for all areas of curriculum by individual States, including those for math, social studies, science, physical development, the fine arts as well as reading. While the concept of State Learning standards has been around for some time, No Child Left Behind has mandated standards exist at the State level.
Elementary School teachers are trained with emphases on human cognitive and psychological development and the principles of curriculum development and instruction earning either a Bachelors or Masters Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. The teaching of
social studiesSocial studies is the "integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence," as defined by the National Council for the Social Studies...
and
scienceScience is in its broadest sense to any systematic knowledge-base or prescriptive practice that is capable of resulting in a prediction or predictable type of outcome...
are often underdeveloped in some elementary school programs and some attribute this to the fact that elementary school teachers are trained as generalists. However, teachers attribute this to the priority placed on developing reading, writing and math proficiency in the elementary grades and the amount of time needed to do so. Reading, writing and math proficiency greatly affect performance in social studies, science and other content areas. Certification standards for teachers are determined by individual States, with individual colleges and universities determining the rigor of the college education provided for future teachers. Some states require content area tests as well as instructional skills tests to be certified as a teacher within that state. Social studies may include key events, documents, understandings, and concepts in American
historyThe first known inhabitants of what is now the United States are believed to have arrived over a period of several thousand years beginning sometime prior to 15,000–50,000 years ago by crossing Beringia into Alaska...
and
geographyThe United States is a country in the Western Hemisphere. It consists of forty-eight contiguous states on the North American continent; Alaska, an enormous peninsula which forms the northwestern most part of North America, and Hawaii, an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. It also holds several...
, and in some programs, state or local history and geography; science varies widely.
Most States have predetermined the number of minutes that will be taught within a given content area. As No Child Left Behind focuses on reading and math as primary targets for improvement, other instructional areas have received less attention. There is much discussion within educational circles about the justification and impact of singularly focusing on reading and math as tested areas for improvement.
Secondary education
As part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 through 12.
Junior and senior high school
Middle schoolMiddle school or junior high school serves as a "bridge" between elementary school and high school. The terms can be used in different ways in different countries, sometimes interchangeably...
and Junior high school are any school intermediate between elementary school and senior high school. It usually includes sixth, seventh and eighth grade; for "Junior high", ninth grade. Middle school is often used instead of junior high school when demographic factors increase the number of younger students. At this time, students are given more independence as choosing their own classes. Usually, starting in ninth grade, grades become part of a student’s official transcript. Future employers or colleges may want to see steady improvement in grades and a good attendance record on the official transcript. Therefore, students are encouraged to take much more responsibility for their education.
Senior high schoolAs part of education in the United States, secondary education usually covers grades 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 through 12.-Historical Impact of Secondary Education in the United States:...
is a school attended after junior high school. High school is often used instead of senior high school and distinguished from junior high school.
Basic curricular structure
Generally, at the
high schoolHigh school is the name used in some parts of the world, particularly in Scotland, Northern America and Oceania, to describe an institution that provides all or part of secondary education...
level, students take a broad variety of classes without special emphasis in any particular subject. Curricula vary widely in quality and rigidity; for example, some states consider 65 (on a 100-point scale) to be a passing grade, while others consider it to be as low as 60 or as high as 75.
The following subjects are fairly universally required in the United States:
- Science (usually two years minimum, normally biology, chemistry and physics)
- Mathematics (usually two years minimum, normally including algebra, geometry, algebra II, and/or precalculus/trigonometry)
- English (usually four years minimum, including literature, humanities, etc)
- Social Science (usually three years minimum, including various history, government/economics courses)
- Physical education (at least one year)
Many states require a "health" course in which students learn about
anatomyAnatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy and plant anatomy...
,
nutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
,
first aidFirst aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by a lay person to a sick or injured casualty until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care past the first aid...
,
sexualityHuman sexuality is how people experience the erotic and express themselves as sexual beings. Frequently driven by the desire for sexual pleasure, human sexuality has biological, physical and emotional aspects...
, and
birth controlBirth control is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, sexual practices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of pregnancy or childbirth...
. Anti-drug use programs are also usually part of health courses. In many cases, however, options are provided for students to "test outnoor perform independent study in order to complete this requirement. Foreign language and some form of art education are also a mandatory part of the curriculum in some schools.
Electives
Many high schools offer a wide variety of
ElectiveElective used as a adjective means that it is optional and chosen, for example, by election. An elective, a noun, chosen by a student means that it is an optional subject or course in a curriculum....
courses, although the availability of such courses depends upon each particular school's financial resources and desired curriculum emphases.
Common types of electives include:
- Visual arts
The visual arts are art forms that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature, such as traditional plastic arts , modern visual arts , and design and crafts...
(drawingDrawing is a visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoals, chalk, pastels, markers, stylus, or various metals like silverpoint...
, sculptureSculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard and/or plastic material, sound, and/or text and or light, commonly stone , metal, glass, or wood. Some sculptures are created directly by finding or carving; others are assembled, built together and fired, welded, molded,...
, paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
, photographyPhotography is the process, activity and art of creating still or moving pictures by recording radiation on a sensitive medium, such as a photographic film, or an electronic sensor...
, filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
)
- Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms of art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...
(dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
, bandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band* Dansband* Fife and drum...
, chorusA choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together is called a choir or chorus...
, orchestraAn orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, danceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
)
- Technology education
Technology education is a study of technology, which provides an opportunity for students to learn about the processes and knowledge related to technology. As a study, it covers the human ability to shape and change the physical world to meet needs, by manipulating materials and tools with techniques...
("Shop"; woodworkingWoodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was certainly one of the first materials worked by primitive human beings. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many...
, metalworkingMetalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewellery. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
, automobile repair, roboticsRobotics is the engineering science and technology of robots, and their design, manufacture, and application. Robotics is related to electronics, mechanics, and software. The word robot was introduced to the public by Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R. , published in 1920...
)
- Computer
A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a set of instructions.Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century . These were the size of a large room, consuming as...
s (word processingWord processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
, programming, graphic designThe term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation. Various methods are used to create and combine symbols, images and/or words to create a visual representation of ideas and messages. A graphic designer may...
)
- Athletics
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as...
(cross countryCross country running is a sport in which runners compete to complete a course over open or rough terrain. The courses used at these events may include grass, mud, woodlands, and water...
, footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
, baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The goal is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot square, or diamond...
, basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
, track and fieldTrack and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics...
, swimmingThe aquatic sport of swimming involves competition amongst participants to be the fastest over a given distance under self propulsion.The different events include 25, 50, 100, 200, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly, the 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 500, 800, 1000, 1500, and 1650 free and the 100,...
, tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
, gymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, balance and grace. Artistic gymnastics is the best known and most popular of the gymnastics sports governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique...
, water poloWater polo is a team water sport. It is the oldest continuous Olympic team sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper with a maximum of six substitutes. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Gameplay involves swimming, players passing the ball...
, soccerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
, wrestlingScholastic wrestling is the style of amateur wrestling practiced at the high school and middle school level in the United States. The wrestling style is essentially collegiate wrestling, with some slight modifications...
, cheerleadingCheerleading is a sport that uses organized routines that range from 1 minute to 3 minutes made from elements of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games and matches and/or compete at cheerleading competitions. Cheerleaders draw...
, Volleyball Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules...
, lacrosseLacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin that is played using a small solid rubber ball and a long-handled racquet called a crosse or lacrosse stick. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose netting that is designed to hold the lacrosse ball...
, ice hockeyIce Hockey is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a puck into the opposing team's goal. It is a fast-paced and physical sport...
, field hockeyField hockey is a team sport in which a team of players attempt to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking the ball with hockey sticks into the opposing team's goal. Its official name is simply hockey, and this is the common name for it in many countries...
, boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
, skiingSkiing is a group of sports using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
/snowboardingSnowboarding is a sport that involves descending a slope that is either partially or fully covered with snow on a snowboard attached to a rider's feet using a special boot set into a mounted binding. The development of snowboarding was inspired by skateboarding, surfing and skiing...
)
- Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information – the activity of making information available for public view...
(journalismJournalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone...
/student newspaperA student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....
, yearbookA yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
/annual, literary magazineA literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
)
- Foreign language
A foreign language is a language not spoken by the people of a certain place: for example, not only English but also Late Old Japanese is a foreign language in Japan. It is also a language not spoken in the native country of the person referred to, i.e. an English speaker living in Japan can say...
s (Spanish, French are common; Chinese, LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
, GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
, German, Italian, Arabic, and Japanese are less common)
- Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a Federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools across the United States...
Advanced courses
Many high schools provide
Advanced PlacementThe Advanced Placement program offers college level courses at high schools across the United States and Canada. According to the Good Schools Guide International, it is "usually much more rigorous than the general course offerings." The most taken AP exam in 2008 was AP United States History with...
(AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses. These are special forms of honors classes where the
curriculumIn formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
is more challenging and lessons more aggressively paced than standard courses. AP or IB courses are usually taken during the 11th or 12th grade of high school.
Most post-secondary institutions take AP or IB exam results into consideration in the admissions process. Because AP and IB courses are intended to be the equivalent of the first year of college courses, post-secondary institutions may grant unit credit which enables students to graduate early. Other institutions use examinations for placement purposes only: students are exempted from introductory course work but may not receive credit towards a concentration, degree, or core requirement. Institutions vary in the selection of examinations they accept and the scores they require to grant credit or placement, with more elite institutions tending to accept fewer examinations and requiring higher scoring. The lack of AP, IB, and other advanced courses in impoverished inner-city high schools is often seen as a major cause of the greatly differing levels of post-secondary education these graduates go on to receive, compared with both public and private schools in wealthier neighborhoods.
Also, in states with well-developed
community collegeA community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-United States:In the United States, community colleges, sometimes called junior colleges, technical colleges, or city colleges, are primarily two-year public institutions providing...
systems, there are often mechanisms by which gifted students may seek permission from their school district to attend community college courses full-time during the summer, and part-time during the school year. The units earned this way can often be transferred to one's university, and can facilitate early graduation.
Early college entrance programEarly college entrance programs are educational opportunities for groups of gifted students that allow them to be accelerated into college one or more years before the traditional age of college entrance...
s are a step further, with students enrolling as freshmen at a younger-than-traditional age.
Home schooling
There were 1.5 million children that were home schooled in 2007, up 74% from 1999 when the U.S. Department of Education first started keeping statistics. This was 2.9% of all children.
Many select moral or religious reasons for home schooling their children. The second main category is "unschooling," those who prefer a non-standard approach to education.
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, or who wish to add religious instruction to the educational curriculum (and who may be unable to afford a church-operated private school, or where the only available school may teach views contrary to those of the parents). 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, sex, 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.
Opposition to homeschooling comes from varied sources, including teachers' organizations and school districts. The
National Education AssociationThe National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...
, the largest
labor unionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
in the United States, has been particularly vocal in the past. Opponents' stated concerns fall into several broad categories, including fears of poor academic quality, loss of income for the schools, and religious or social extremism, or lack of socialization with others. At this time, over half of states have oversight into monitoring or measuring the academic progress of home schooled students, with all but ten requiring some form of notification to the state.
Grading scale
In schools in the United States children are continually assessed throughout the school year by their teachers, and
report cardA report card is a measure of a student's performance. In most places, the report card is issued by the school to the student or the student's parents twice or four times yearly. A typical report card uses a grading scale to determine the quality of a student's school work...
s are issued to parents at varying intervals. Generally the scores for individual assignments and tests are recorded for each student in a grade book, along with the maximum number of points for each assignment. At any time, the total number of points for a student when divided by the total number of possible points produces a percent grade which can be translated to a letter grade. Letter grades are often but not always used on report cards at the end of a marking period, although the current grade may be available at other times (particularly when an electronic grade book connected to an online service is in use). Although grading scales usually differ from school to school, the grade scale which seems to be most common is as follows. The grading is based on a scale of 0-100 or a percentile. Note that in some jurisdictions, Texas or Virginia as an example, the "D" grade (or that below 70) is considered a failing grade. In other jurisdictions, such as
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
, a "D" grade is considered passing in certain classes, and failing in others.
Example Grading Scale
| E, N, U or F |
| |
- |
|
+ |
- |
|
+ |
- |
|
+ |
- |
|
+ |
|---|
| Below 60 Percent |
60-62 |
63-66 |
67-69 |
70-72 |
73-76 |
77-79 |
80-82 |
83-86 |
87-89 |
90-92 |
93-96 |
97-100 |
Standardized testing
Under the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
, all American states must
testA test or an examination is an assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or respondents' knowledge, skills, aptitudes, or classification in many other topics...
students in public schools statewide to ensure that they are achieving the desired level of minimum education, such as on the
Regents ExaminationsRegents High School examinations, or simply The Regents, are exams catered to high-potential students. Students will receive high school Regents credit through the New York State Education Department, designed and administered under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the...
in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, or the
Florida Comprehensive Assessment TestThe Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, or the FCAT, is the standardized test used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida...
(FCAT), and the
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment SystemThe Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System commonly called the MCAS, is the Commonwealth's statewide standards-based assessment program developed in response to the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993...
(MCAS); students being educated at home or in private schools are not included. The ACT also requires that students and schools show "adequate yearly progress." This means they must show some improvement each year.
Although these tests may have revealed the results of student learning, they may have little value to help strengthen the students' academic weakness. For example, in most states, the results of the testing would not be known until six months later. At that time, the students may have been promoted to the next grade or might be entering a new school. The students are not given a chance to review the questions and their own answers but their percentile of the test results are compared with their own peers.
To address this situation many school districts have implemented MAP. Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests are state-aligned computerized adaptive assessments that measure the instructional level of each student's growth over time.
http://www.nwea.org/assessments/
This research based testing allows elementary school teachers to have ongoing access to student progress. Teachers using this system can identify strengths and weaknesses of individual students and remediate where necessary. When a student fails to make adequate yearly progress, No Child Left Behind mandates that remediation through summer school and/or tutoring be made available to a student in need of extra help.
During high school, students (usually in
11th gradeEleventh grade is the eleventh, and for some countries final, grade of secondary schools. Students are typically 16 or 17 years of age, depending on the country and the students' birthdays.-Canada:...
) may take one or more standardized
testsA test or an examination is an assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or respondents' knowledge, skills, aptitudes, or classification in many other topics...
depending on their postsecondary education preferences and their local graduation requirements. In theory, these tests evaluate the overall level of knowledge and learning aptitude of the students. The
SATThe SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States, and was once developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service...
and ACT are the most common standardized tests that students take when applying to
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
. A student may take the SAT, ACT, or both depending upon the
post-secondary institutionsHigher education refers to a level of education that is provided by universities, vocational universities, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, institutes of technology and other collegiate level institutions, such as vocational schools, trade schools and career colleges, that award academic...
the student plans to apply to for admission. Most competitive schools also require two or three
SAT Subject TestsSAT Subject Tests is the collective name for 20 multiple-choice standardized tests given on individual subjects. Students typically choose which tests to take depending upon college entrance requirements for the schools to which they are planning to apply...
, (formerly known as SAT IIs), which are shorter exams that focus strictly on a particular subject matter. However, all these tests serve little to no purpose for students who do not move on to post-secondary education, so they can usually be skipped without affecting one's ability to graduate.
Extracurricular activities
A major characteristic of American schools is the high priority given to sports, clubs and activities by the community, the parents, the schools and the students themselves. Extracurricular activities are educational activities not falling within the scope of the regular curriculum but under the supervision of the school. These activities can extend to large amounts of time outside the normal school day; home-schooled students, however, are not normally allowed to participate. Student participation in
sportSport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome , but the term is also used to include activities such as...
s programs,
drill teamA drill team can be one of four different entities:# A Military Drill Team is marching unit that performs routines based on military drill. Military drill teams perform either armed or unarmed....
s,
bandIn music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band* Dansband* Fife and drum...
s, and spirit groups can amount to hours of practices and performances. Most
stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
s have organizations which develop rules for competition between groups. These organizations are usually forced to implement time limits on hours practiced as a prerequisite for participation. Many schools also have non-varsity sports teams, however these are usually afforded less resources and attention. The idea of having sports teams associated with high schools is relatively unique to the United States in comparison with other countries.
Sports programs and their related games, especially
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
and/or
basketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
, are major events for American students and for larger schools can be a major source of funds for
school district-United States:In the United States, public schools are either school districts, which are independent special-purpose governments, or dependent school systems, which are under the control of state or local government. A school district is a legally separate body corporate and politic...
s. Schools may sell "spirit" shirts to wear to games; school stadiums and gymnasiums are often filled to capacity, even for non-sporting competitions.
High school athletic competitions often generate intense interest in the community. Inner city schools serving poor students are heavily scouted by college and even professional coaches, with national attention given to which colleges outstanding high school students choose to attend. State high school championship tournaments football and basketball attract high levels of public interest.
In addition to sports, numerous non-athletic extracurricular activities are available in American schools, both public and private. Activities include
QuizbowlQuiz bowl is a family of games of questions and answers on all topics of human knowledge that is commonly played by students enrolled in high school or college, although some participants begin in middle or even elementary school...
, musical groups, marching bands, student government, school newspapers, science fairs, debate teams, and clubs focused on an academic area (such as the Spanish Club) or cultural interests (such as Key Club).
Education of students with special needs
In the United States, education for students with special needs is structured to adhere as closely as possible to the same experience received by typically developing peers. This concept was developed with the passing of IDEA (see below). This law directed states to develop opportunities for children with special needs to be educated within the public education system.
Students with special needs must have the opportunity to be with typically developing peers in the mainstream school. For example: recess, cafeteria, assemblies, hallways, regular classes, etc. This process is known as
mainstreamingMainstreaming in the context of education is a term that refers to the practice of educating students with special needs in regular classes during specific time periods based on their skills. This means regular education classes are combined with special education classes...
. Special education (educational programs required to assist special needs students) must be provided for these students in order for mainstreaming to be possible. Students with special needs attend
special schoolA special school is a school catering to students who have special educational needs due to severe learning difficulties or physical disabilities. An alternative is a special classroom, also called a self-contained classroom, which is a separate room dedicated solely to the education of students...
s only if their need for very specialized services makes mainstreaming impossible. The level of mainstreaming that is provided varies greatly within different school districts. For example, larger school districts are often able to provide more adequate and quality care for those with special needs rather than smaller school districts.
Students with special needs are required to attend the same amount of time as typically developing peers. Students receiving special education services are entitled by law to an annual review of yearly progress as well as an evaluation every three years to determine the needs for continued services. Parents who have specific desires for their child's education must act as advocates to assure their child's best interests are being met.
In order to more clearly identify special needs students, the federal government defined thirteen categories of special needs. These included
autismAutism is a disorder of neural development that is characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism involves many parts of the brain; how this occurs is not well understood...
, deaf-blindness, deafness,
hearing impairmentA hearing impairment or deafness is a full or partial decrease in the ability to detect or understand sounds. Caused by a wide range of biological and environmental factors, loss of hearing can happen to any organism that perceives sound...
,
mental retardationMental retardation is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18...
, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, and
visual impairmentVisual impairment or vision impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as a handicap through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as...
. The key to overcoming special needs in the mainstream school for students is:
- Attending sessions (i.e. resource room) during the day to supplement regular or special classroom instruction. The goal of these programs is for students to learn compensatory strategies and study skills
Study skills and study strategies are abilities and approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, are considered essential for acquiring good grades, and they are useful for learning throughout one's life, in support of career and personal interests.They include...
to enable them to succeed in mainstream classes. These sessions are generally for students who are fully included into the general educational environment.
- Students with similar needs are placed together in a self-contained classroom if their education cannot be satisfactorily achieved in the general educational environment. In other words, these classrooms are provided for students who do not benefit educationally, socially or emotionally from a standard classroom placement. These classrooms, commonly known as special classes, are taught by teachers with training in adapting curricula to meet the needs of students with special needs.
According to the National Association of School Nurses, 5% students in 2009 have a seizure disorder, another 5% have ADHD and 10% have mental or emotional problems. 17% of students are considered obese and 32% are overweight.
Educating children with disabilities
IDEAThe Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a United States federal law that governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities...
is a federal law that requires states to ensure that all school districts provide services to meet the individual needs of students with special needs. Students must be placed in the
Least Restrictive EnvironmentAs part of the U.S. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the least restrictive environment is identified as one of the six principles that govern the education of students with disabilities...
(LRE). This means that school districts must meet with the parents to develop an
Individualized Education ProgramIn the United States an Individualized Education Plan, commonly referred to as an IEP, is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act...
that determines best placement for their child. School districts that fail to provide an appropriate placement for students with special needs can be taken to due process wherein parents may legally and formally submit their grievances and demand appropriate services for their child. All special needs students are entitled to a
free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
The federal government supports the standards developed in the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 helps to ensure equity, accountability and excellence in education for children with disabilities. There are approximately 6.7 million children and youth with disabilities in public schools across the United States. It was...
. The law mandates that schools must accommodate students with special needs as defined by the act, and specifies methods for funding the (sometimes large) costs of providing them with the necessary facilities.
Criticism
At-risk students (those with educational needs that aren't associated with a disability) are often placed in classes with students with minor disabilities. Critics assert that placing at-risk students in the same classes as disabled students may impede the educational progress of both the at-risk and the disabled students.
Public and private schools
The United States has an education system decentralized by state. There are no national schools.
K-12K–12 is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education...
students in most areas have a choice between free tax-funded
public schoolsIn most of the world, excluding England and Wales and some Commonwealth countries, a public school is an educational institution that is funded with tax revenue and most commonly administered by a local government or government agency...
, or privately-funded
private schoolPrivate schools, also known as independent schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students tuition, rather than relying on public funds...
s.
Public school systems are supported by a combination of local, state, and federal government funding. Because a large portion of school revenues come from local property taxes, public schools vary widely in the resources they have available per student. Class size also varies significantly from one district to another. Curriculum decisions in public schools are made largely at the local and state levels; the federal government has limited influence. In most districts, a locally elected school board runs schools. The school board appoints an official called the superintendent of schools to manage the schools in the district. The largest public school system in the United States is in
New York CityEducation in New York City is provided by a vast number of public and private institutions. The city's public school system, the New York City Department of Education, is the largest in the United States, and New York is home to some of the most important libraries, universities, and research...
, where more than one million students are taught in 1,200 separate public schools. Because of its immense size - there are more students in the system than residents in eight US states - the New York City public school system is nationally influential in determining standards and materials, such as textbooks.
Admission to individual public schools is usually based on residency. To compensate for differences in school quality based on geography, school systems serving large cities and portions of large cities often have "
magnet schoolIn education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities as school zones that feed into certain schools.There are magnet schools at the...
s" that provide enrollment to a specified number of non-resident students in addition to serving all resident students. This special enrollment is usually decided by lottery with equal numbers of males and females chosen. Some magnet schools
cater to gifted students or to students with special interests, such as the sciences or performing arts. Admission to some of these schools is highly competitive and based on an application process.
Private schools in the United States include parochial schools (affiliated with religious denominations), non-profit independent schools, and for-profit private schools. Private schools charge varying rates depending on geographic location, the school's expenses, and the availability of funding from sources, other than tuition. For example, some churches partially subsidize private schools for their members. Some people have argued that when their child attends a private school, they should be able to take the funds that the public school no longer needs and apply that money towards private school tuition in the form of vouchers; this is the basis of the
school choiceSchool choice is a term used to describe a wide array of programs aimed at giving families the opportunity to choose the school their children will attend. As a matter of form, school choice does not give preference to one form of schooling or another, rather manifests itself whenever a student...
movement.
Private schools have various missions: most of them take sports very seriously and recruit athletes heavily, some cater to college-bound students seeking a competitive edge in the college admissions process; others are for gifted students, students with learning disabilities or other special needs, or students with specific religious affiliations. Some cater to families seeking a small school, with a nurturing, supportive environment. Unlike public school systems, private schools have no legal obligation to accept any interested student. Admission to some private schools is highly selective. Private schools also have the ability to permanently expel persistently unruly students, a disciplinary option not always legally available to public school systems. Private schools offer the advantages of smaller classes, under twenty students in a typical elementary classroom, for example; a higher teacher/student ratio across the school day, greater individualized attention and in the more competitive schools,
expertAn expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific well-distinguished domain...
college placement services. Unless specifically designed to do so, private schools usually cannot offer the services required by students with serious or multiple learning, emotional, or behavioral issues. Although reputed to pay lower salaries than public school systems, private schools often attract teachers by offering high-quality professional development opportunities, including tuition grants for advanced degrees. According to elite private schools themselves, this investment in faculty development helps maintain the high quality program that they offer.
An August 17, 2000 article by the
Chicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by the Sun-Times Media Group, which filed for bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2009.-History:...
refers to the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of ChicagoThe Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. The Archdiocese of Chicago is one of the largest dioceses in the nation by population and comprises Cook and Lake counties, covering of Illinois...
Office of Catholic Schools as the largest private school system in the United States
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000817/ai_n13867054.
College and university
Post-secondary education in the United States is known as
collegeCollege is a term most often used today to denote degree awarding tertiary educational institution. More broadly, it can be the name of any group of colleagues, for example, an electoral college, a College of Arms or the College of Cardinals...
or
universityA university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and commonly consists of four years of study at an institution of higher learning. There are 4,352 colleges, universities, and junior colleges in the country.
Like high school, the four undergraduate grades are commonly called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years (alternatively called first year, second year, etc.). Students traditionally apply to receive admission into college, with varying difficulties of entrance. Schools differ in their competitiveness and reputation; generally, the most prestigious schools are private, rather than public. Admissions criteria involve the rigor and grades earned in high school courses taken, the students' GPA, class ranking, and standardized
testA test or an examination is an assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or respondents' knowledge, skills, aptitudes, or classification in many other topics...
scores (Such as the SAT or the ACT tests). Most colleges also consider more subjective factors such as a commitment to extracurricular activities, a personal essay, and an interview. While numerical factors rarely ever are absolute required values, each college usually has a rough threshold below which admission is unlikely.
Once admitted, students engage in
undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and class requirements to achieve a
bachelor's degreeA bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for four years, but can range from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in a field of concentration known as a
majorAn academic major, major concentration, concentration, or simply major is mainly a U.S. and Canadian term for a college or university student's main field of specialization during his or her undergraduate studies which would be in addition to, and may incorporate portions of, a core curriculum...
. (Some students enroll in
double majorsA double degree program, sometimes called a conjoint degree, dual degree, or simultaneous degree program, involves a student working for two different university degrees in parallel, either at the same institution or at different institutions , completing them in less time than it would take to...
or "minor" in another field of study.) The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a
Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
(B.A.), a
Bachelor of ScienceA Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years ....
(B.S.), or sometimes another bachelor's degree such as
Bachelor of Fine ArtsIn the United States, the Bachelor of Fine Arts, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. It is also named in some countries the Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
(B.F.A.), Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.),
Bachelor of EngineeringBachelor of Engineering is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at universities in Australia, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan,...
(B.Eng.,) or
Bachelor of PhilosophyBachelor of Philosophy is the title of an academic degree. The degree usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects...
(B.Phil.) Five-Year Professional Architecture programs offer the
Bachelor of ArchitectureThe Bachelor of Architecture is an undergraduate academic degree designed to satisfy the academic component of professional accreditation bodies, to be followed by a period of practical training prior to professional examination and registration. It is awarded for a course of study that lasts up...
Degree (B.Arch.)
Professional degrees such as law, medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry, are offered as graduate study after earning at least three years of undergraduate schooling or after earning a bachelor's degree depending on the program. These professional fields do not require a specific undergraduate major, though medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry have set prerequisite courses that must be taken before enrollment.
Some students choose to attend a community college for two years prior to further study at another college or university. In most states, community colleges are operated either by a division of the state university or by local special districts subject to guidance from a state agency. Community colleges may award Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree after two years. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution, see
articulationIn Australia and the United States education, articulation or more specifically course articulation, refers to the process of comparing the content of courses that are transferred between postsecondary institutions such as TAFE institutes, colleges or universities...
). Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus. The community college awards the associate's degree, and the university awards the bachelor's and master's degrees.
Graduate study, conducted after obtaining an initial degree and sometimes after several years of professional work, leads to a more advanced degree such as a
master's degreeA master's degree is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, which could be a
Master of ArtsA Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
(MA),
Master of ScienceA Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries...
(MS),
Master of Business AdministrationThe Master of Business Administration is a master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
(MBA), or other less common master's degrees such as
Master of EducationThe Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration...
(MEd), and
Master of Fine ArtsIn the United States, a Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring two to three years of study. In the United Kingdom, a typically requires two years, whereas a is usually one year of study....
(MFA). After additional years of study and sometimes in conjunction with the completion of a master's degree, students may earn a Doctor of Philosophy (
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
) or other doctoral degree, such as
Doctor of ArtsThe Doctor of Arts is a discipline-based terminal doctoral degree that was originally conceived and designed to be an alternative to the traditional research-based Doctor of Philosophy and the education-based Doctor of Education . Like other doctorates, the D.A. is an academic degree of the...
, Doctor of Education,
Doctor of TheologyDoctor of Theology is a terminal academic degree in theology. It is a research degree, involving the publication of an original contribution to scholarship in the form of a dissertation, that is for most purposes the equivalent of a Doctor of Philosophy in Theology or a similar discipline...
,
Doctor of MedicineThe Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians...
,
Doctor of PharmacyA Doctor of Pharmacy is a professional doctorate degree given to a person who has completed the highest level of academic study in the field of pharmacy. In some countries, including the US, it is a first professional degree, and a prerequisite for licensing...
,
Doctor of Physical TherapyThe Doctor of Physical Therapy is a postbaccalaureate degree conferred upon successful completion of a doctoral level professional or postprofessional physical therapy education program...
, or
Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
. Some programs, such as medicine, have formal apprenticeship procedures post-graduation like residency and internship which must be completed after graduation and before one is considered to be fully trained. Other professional programs like law and business have no formal apprenticeship requirements after graduation (although law school graduates must take the bar exam in order to legally practice law in nearly all states).
Entrance into graduate programs usually depends upon a student's undergraduate academic performance or professional experience as well as their score on a standardized entrance exam like the
Graduate Record ExaminationGraduate Record Examination or GRE is a commercially run standardized test that is an admission requirement for many graduate schools principally in the United States, but also in other English speaking countries...
(GRE-graduate schools in general), the
Medical College Admission TestThe Medical College Admission Test, commonly known as the MCAT, is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective medical students in the United States and Canada. It is designed to assess problem solving, critical thinking, written analysis, and writing skills in addition to knowledge...
(MCAT), or the
Law School Admission TestThe Law School Admission Test is an examination in the United States, Canada, and Australia administered by the Law School Admission Council for prospective law school candidates. It is designed to assess logical and verbal reasoning skills...
(LSAT). Many graduate and law schools do not require experience after earning a bachelor's degree to enter their programs; however, business school candidates are usually required to gain a few years of professional work experience before applying. Only 8.9 percent of students ever receive postgraduate degrees, and most, after obtaining their bachelor's degree, proceed directly into the workforce.
Cost
The vast majority of students (up to 70 percent) lack the financial resources to pay tuition up front and must rely on
student loanStudent loans are loans offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of professional education. These loans usually carry a lower interest rate than other loans and are usually issued by the government...
s and scholarships from their university, the federal government, or a private lender. All but a few charity institutions charge all students tuition, although scholarships (both merit-based and need-based) are widely available. Generally, private universities charge much higher tuition than their public counterparts, which rely on state funds to make up the difference. Because each state supports its own university system with state taxes, most public universities charge much higher rates for out-of-state students.
Annual undergraduate tuition varies widely from state to state, and many additional fees apply. A typical year's tuition at a public university (for residents of the state) is about $5,000. Tuition for public school students from outside the state is generally comparable to private school prices, although students can generally get state residency after their first year. Private schools are typically much higher, although prices vary widely from "no-frills" private schools to highly specialized technical institutes. Depending upon the type of school and program, annual graduate program tuition can vary from $15,000 to as high as $50,000. Note that these prices do not include living expenses (rent, room/board, etc.) or additional fees that schools add on such as "activities fees" or
health insuranceHealth insurance is insurance that pays for medical expenses. It is sometimes used more broadly to include insurance covering disability or long-term nursing or custodial care needs. It may be provided through a government-sponsored social insurance program, or from private insurance companies...
. These fees, especially room and board, can range from $6,000 to $12,000 per academic year (assuming a single student without children).
The mean annual Total Cost (including all costs associated with a full-time post-secondary schooling, such as tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board), as reported by the Census Bureau for the school year 2001/2, according to the various college years was as follows:
- College years 1 to 2: $9489 (per year)
- College years 3 to 4: $11901 (per year)
Total, four year schooling: $42780
- College years 5 or plus: $13669 (per year)
- Vocational, technical, business or other: $7401 (per year)
College costs are rising at the same time that state appropriations for aid are shrinking. This has led to debate over funding at both the state and local levels. From 2002 to 2004 alone, tuition rates at public schools increased by just over 14 percent, largely due to dwindling state funding. A more moderate increase of 6 percent occurred over the same period for private schools. Between 1982 and 2007, college tuition and fees rose three times as fast as median family income, in constant dollars.
To combat costs colleges have hired adjunct professors to teach. In 2008 these teachers cost about $1,800 per 3-credit class as opposed to $8,000 per class for a tenured professor. Two-thirds of college instructors were adjuncts. There are differences of opinion whether these adjuncts teach better or worse than regular professors. There is a suspicion that student evaluation of adjuncts, along with their subsequent continued employment, can lead to grade inflation.
The status ladder
American college and university faculty, staff, alumni, students, and applicants monitor
rankingsIn higher education, college and university rankings are listings of universities and liberal arts colleges in an order determined by any combination of factors. Rankings can be based on subjectively perceived "quality," on some combination of empirical statistics, or on surveys of educators,...
produced by magazines such as
U.S. News and World Report,
Academic Ranking of World UniversitiesThe Academic Ranking of World Universities is compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The ranking compared 1200 higher education institutions worldwide according to a formula that took into account alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals , staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals ,...
, test preparation services such as
The Princeton ReviewThe Princeton Review is an American educational preparation company. It offers test preparation for standardized aptitude tests such as the SAT and advice regarding college admissions. Approximately 70% of the company's revenue comes from test preparation. The company was founded in 1981 by John...
or another university itself such as the Top American Research Universities by the University of Florida's TheCenter. These rankings are based on factors like brand recognition, selectivity in admissions, generosity of alumni donors, and volume of faculty research. Fifty-five US universities are listed in the top 200 in the world in the
THES - QS World University RankingsTimes Higher Education-QS World University Rankings is an annual publication that ranks the "Top 200 World Universities", and is published by Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds . The full listings feature on the Times Higher Education website and appear later on the QS website...
. A small percentage of students who apply to these schools gain admission.
Many Americans would also recognize the "top tier" to include the so-called "
Little IviesLittle Ivies is a colloquialism referring to a group of small, selective American colleges and universities; however, it does not denote any official organization....
"; a handful of
liberal arts collegeLiberal arts colleges are primarily colleges with an emphasis upon undergraduate study in the liberal arts. The Encyclopædia Britannica Concise defines "liberal arts" as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in...
s known for their high-quality instruction and academic rigor.
Certain public universities (sometimes referred to as "Public Ivies") are also recognized for their outstanding record in scholarship. Some of these institutions currently place among the elite in certain measurements of graduate education and research, especially among engineering and medical schools.
Each state in the United States maintains its own
public universityA public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities...
system, which is always non-profit. The
State University of New YorkThe State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the world, with a total enrollment of 438,361 students, plus 1.1 million...
and the
California State UniversityThe California State University is one of three public higher education systems in the state of California, the other two being the University of California system and the California Community College system. It is incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University...
are the largest public higher education systems in the United States; SUNY is the largest system that includes community colleges, while CSU is the largest without. Most areas also have
private institutionsPrivate universities are not operated by governments though they may or may not receive funding . Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation...
which may be for-profit or non-profit. Unlike many other nations, there are no public universities at the national level outside of the military
service academiesThe United States Service academies, also known as the United States Military Academies, are federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States armed forces.-United States Service academies:...
.
Prospective students applying to attend one of the five
military academiesThe United States Service academies, also known as the United States Military Academies, are federal academies for the undergraduate education and training of commissioned officers for the United States armed forces.-United States Service academies:...
require, with limited exceptions, nomination by a member of
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
. Like acceptance to "top tier" universities, competition for these limited nominations is intense and must be accompanied by superior scholastic achievement and evidence of "leadership potential."
Aside from these aforementioned schools, academic reputations vary widely among the 'middle-tier' of American schools, (and even among academic departments within each of these schools.) Most public and private institutions fall into this 'middle' range. Some institutions feature honors colleges or other rigorous programs that challenge academically exceptional students, who might otherwise attend a 'top-tier' college. Aware of the status attached to the perception of the college that they attend, students often apply to a range of schools. Some apply to a relatively prestigious school with a low acceptance rate, gambling on the chance of acceptance, and also apply to a "safety school," to which they will (almost) certainly gain admission.
Lower status institutions include
community collegeA community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-United States:In the United States, community colleges, sometimes called junior colleges, technical colleges, or city colleges, are primarily two-year public institutions providing...
s. These are primarily two-year public institutions, which individual states usually require to accept all local residents who seek admission, and offer
associate's degreeAn associate degree is an academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, four-year universities, business colleges and some bachelor's degree-granting colleges/universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years....
s or vocational certificate programs. Many community colleges have relationships with four-year state universities and colleges or even private universities which enable their students to transfer relatively smoothly to these universities for a four-year degree after completing a two-year program at the community college.
Regardless of perceived prestige, many institutions feature at least one distinguished academic department, and most post-secondary American students attend one of the 2,400 four-year colleges and universities or 1,700 two-year colleges not included among the twenty-five or so 'top-tier' institutions. For this reason (among others), America's higher education status ladder remains highly controversial, and certainly not beyond reproach. For example,
Reed CollegeReed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a four-year residential college with a campus located in Portland's residential Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a...
refuses to participate in institutional rankings, insisting that one cannot quantify the qualitative. Similarly,
Bard CollegeBard College, founded in 1860, is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:Bard has a 600-acre campus in Annandale-on-Hudson, near the town of Red Hook, overlooking the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, within the Hudson River Historic District,...
president Leon Botstein said of U.S. News annual rankings; "it is the most successful journalistic scam I have seen in my entire adult lifetime -- corrupt, intellectually bankrupt and revolting."
Contemporary education issues
Major educational issues in the United States center on curriculum, funding, and control. Of critical importance, because of its enormous implications on education and funding, is the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
.
Curriculum issues
Curricula in the United States vary widely from district to district. Not only do schools offer a range of topics and quality, but private schools may include religious classes as mandatory for attendance (raising the question of government funding vouchers; see below). This has produced camps of argument over the standardization of curricula and to what degree. These same groups often are advocates of standardized testing, which is mandated by the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
.
There is constant debate over which subjects should receive the most focus, with astronomy and geography among those cited as not being taught enough in schools.
English in the classroom
A large issue facing curricula today is the use of the English language in teaching. English is spoken by over 95% of the nation, and there is a strong national tradition of upholding English as the
de factoDe facto is a Latin expression that means "by [the] fact". In law, it is meant to mean "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but without being officially established"...
official language. Some 9.7 million children aged 5 to 17 primarily speak a language other than English at home. Of those, about 1.3 million children do not speak English well or at all. While a few, mostly Hispanic, groups want bilingual education, the majority of school districts are attempting to use English as a Second Language (ESL) course to teach Spanish-speaking students English. In addition, many feel there are threats to the "integrity" of the language itself.
Attainment
Forty-four percent of college faculty believe that incoming students aren't ready for writing at the college level. Ninety percent of high school teachers believe exiting students are well-prepared.
Intelligent design or creationism
In 1999 the School Board of the
stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
caused controversy when it decided to eliminate teaching of
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
in its state assessment tests. This caused outrage among
scientistA scientist, in the broadest sense, is any person who engages in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices and traditions that are linked to schools of thought or philosophy. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the...
s and average citizens alike, and intense media coverage and the national spotlight persuaded the board to eventually overturn the decision. As of 2005, such controversies have not abated. Not surprisingly, scientists stress the importance of
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
in the curriculum and most do not support the teaching of
intelligent designIntelligent design is the assertion that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a modern form of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, but one which...
or
creationismCreationism refers to the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings, commonly a single deity...
in public school biology courses.. Many
fundamentalistFundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles , sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life....
religious and "
family valuesFamily values are political and social beliefs that hold the Nuclear family to be the essential ethical and moral unit of society. The phrase has different meanings in different cultures...
" groups, on the other hand, claim that evolution is simply a "theory" (thereby misunderstanding this scientific term), and as such creationist ideas should therefore be taught alongside it as an "alternative viewpoint". While a majority of United States citizens approve of teaching
evolutionIn biology, evolution is change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next. Though changes produced in any one generation are normally small, differences accumulate with each generation and can, over time, cause substantial changes in the population, a...
, many also support teaching
intelligent designIntelligent design is the assertion that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a modern form of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, but one which...
and/or
creationismCreationism refers to the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings, commonly a single deity...
in public schools. Support for evolution was found to be greater among the better educated. US courts have ruled it is a violation of the
separation of church and stateSeparation of church and state is a political and legal doctrine that government and religious institutions are to be kept separate and independent from each other...
to present
creationismCreationism refers to the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in some form by a supernatural being or beings, commonly a single deity...
and
intelligent designIntelligent design is the assertion that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a modern form of the traditional teleological argument for the existence of God, but one which...
(declared to be the same thing under different names) as science or fact in public schools.
Sex education
Today,
sex educationSex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, contraception, and other aspects of human sexual behavior...
("sex ed") in the United States is highly controversial. Many schools attempt to avoid the study as much as possible, confining it to a unit in
healthAt the of the creation of the World Health Organization , in 1948, Health was defined as being "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity"....
classes. There are few specifically sex education classes in existence. Also, because former President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
called for
abstinenceAbstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or...
-only sex education and had the power to withhold funding, many schools backed away from instructing students in the use of
birth controlBirth control is a regimen of one or more actions, devices, sexual practices, or medications followed in order to deliberately prevent or reduce the likelihood of pregnancy or childbirth...
or contraceptives.
However, according to a 2004 survey, a majority of the 1001 parent groups polled wants complete sex education in the schools. The American people are heavily divided over the issue. Many agreed with the statement "Sex education in school makes it easier for me to talk to my child about sexual issues," while a proportion disagreed with the statement that their children were being exposed to "subjects I don't think my child should be discussing." Also, 10 percent believed that their children's sexual education class forced them to discuss sexual issues "too early." On the other hand, 49 percent of the respondents (the largest group) were "somewhat confident" that the values taught in their children's sex ed classes were similar to those taught at home, and 23 percent were less confident still. (The
margin of errorThe margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population.- Explanation :The...
was plus or minus 4.7 percent.)
Funding for K-12 schools
According to a 2005 report from the OECD, the United States is tied for first place with Switzerland when it comes to annual spending per student on its public schools, with each of those two countries spending more than $11,000 (in U.S. currency). Despite this high level of funding, according to the OECD, U.S. public schools lag behind the schools of other developed countries in the areas of reading, math, and science.
According to a 2007 article in
The Washington PostThe Washington Post is the newspaper with the largest circulation in Washington, D.C. and is the city's oldest paper, founded in 1877. Being located in the nation's capital, it has a particular emphasis on national politics and international affairs...
, the Washington D.C. public school district spends $12,979 per student per year. This is the third highest level of funding per student out of the 100 biggest school districts in the U.S. Despite this high level of funding, the school district has produced outcomes that are lower than the national average. In reading and math, the district's students score the lowest among 11 major school districts - even when poor children are compared with other poor children. 33% of poor fourth graders in the U.S. lack basic skills in math, but in Washington D.C., it's 62%. In 2004, the U.S. Congress set up a voucher program for low income minority students in Washington D.C. to attend private schools. The vouchers were $7,500 per student per year. The parents said their children were receiving a much better education from the private schools. In 2007, Washington D.C. non-voting delegate
Eleanor Holmes NortonEleanor Holmes Norton is a Delegate to Congress representing the District of Columbia. In her position she is able to serve on and vote with committees, as well as speak from the House floor...
said she wanted the voucher program to be eliminated, and that the public schools needed more money. Secretary of Education
Arne DuncanArne Duncan is an American education administrator and currently United States Secretary of Education. Duncan had previously served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools.-Early life:...
supports retaining vouchers for the district only, as do some DC parent groups.
According to a 2006 study by the
Goldwater InstituteThe Goldwater Institute is a Phoenix, Arizona-based public policy think-tank established in 1988. The president is Darcy A. Olsen. The Goldwater Institute advances public policies with emphasis on lower taxes, limited government spending, school choice, and a reduction in government management of...
, Arizona's public schools spend 50% more per student than Arizona's private schools. The study also says that while teachers constitute 72% of the employees at private schools, they make up less than half of the staff at public schools. According to the study, if Arizona's public schools wanted to be like private schools, they would have to hire approximately 25,000 more teachers, and eliminate 21,210 administration employees.
During the 2006-2007 school year, a private school in Chicago founded by
Marva CollinsMarva Collins, born August 31, 1936, to Henry and Bessie Knight, Jr. in Atmore, Alabama, is an educator who in 1975 started Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. She ran the school for more than 30 years until it closed in 2008, due to lack...
to teach low income minority students charged $5,500 for tuition, and parents said that the school did a much better job than the Chicago public school system. Meanwhile, during the 2007-2008 year, Chicago public school officials claimed that their budget of $11,300 per student was not enough.
In 1985 in Kansas City, Missouri, a judge ordered the school district to raise taxes and spend more money on public education. Spending was increased so much, that the school district was spending more money per student than any of the country's other 280 largest school districts. Although this very high level of spending continued for more than a decade, there was no improvement in the school district's academic performance.
Public school defenders answer that both of these examples are misleading, as the task of educating students is easier in private schools, which can expel or refuse to accept students who lag behind their peers in academic achievement or behavior, while public schools have no such recourse and must continue to attempt to educate these students. For this reason, comparisons of the cost of education in public schools to that of private schools is misleading; private school education can be accomplished with less funding because in most cases they only educate those students who are easiest to teach.
But not in all cases. For example,
Marva CollinsMarva Collins, born August 31, 1936, to Henry and Bessie Knight, Jr. in Atmore, Alabama, is an educator who in 1975 started Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. She ran the school for more than 30 years until it closed in 2008, due to lack...
created her low cost private school specifically for the purpose of teaching low income African American children whom the public school system had labeled as being "learning disabled." One article about Marva Collins' school stated, "Working with students having the worst of backgrounds, those who were working far below grade level, and even those who had been labeled as 'unteachable,' Marva was able to overcome the obstacles. News of third grade students reading at ninth grade level, four-year-olds learning to read in a few months, outstanding test scores, disappearance of behavioral problems, second-graders studying Shakespeare, and other incredible reports, astounded the public."
According to a 1999 article by William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, increased levels of spending on public education have not made the schools better. Among many other things, the article cites the following statistics:
- Between 1960 and 1995, U.S. public school spending per student, adjusted for inflation, increased by 212%.
- In 1994, less than half of all U.S. public school employees were teachers.
- Out of 21 industrialized countries, U.S. 12th graders ranked 19th in math, 16th in science, and last in advanced physics.
Other commentators have suggested that the public school system has exhibited signs of success.
SATThe SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a non-profit organization in the United States, and was once developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service...
scores have risen consistently over the past decades, despite the fact that the pool of students taking the test has increased from an academic elite to a much more representative sampling of the population. Commentators have suggested that this increase in scores, coming as it does at a time when more students have started to take the test and the public schooling system has faced ever-increasing challenge, suggests that the US educational system is much more effective than is commonly believed, and that the negative cast common in public perception is due to negative propaganda disseminated by elements with a personal interest in discrediting or weakening public education.
Funding for schools in the United States is complex. One current controversy stems much from the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 , often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nicklebee", is a United States Act of Congress that was originally proposed by President George W. Bush immediately after taking office...
. The Act gives the
Department of EducationThe United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
the right to withhold funding if it believes a school, district, or even a state is not complying and is making no effort to comply. However, federal funding accounts for little of the overall funding schools receive. The vast majority comes from the state government and in some cases from local property taxes. Various groups, many of whom are teachers, constantly push for more funding. They point to many different situations, such as the fact that in many schools funding for classroom supplies is so inadequate that teachers, especially those at the elementary level, must supplement their supplies with purchases of their own.
Property taxes as a primary source of funding for public education have become highly controversial, for a number of reasons. First, if a state's population and land values escalate rapidly, many longtime residents may find themselves paying property taxes much higher than anticipated. In response to this phenomenon, California's citizens passed
Proposition 13Proposition 13, officially titled the "People's Initiative to Limit Property Taxation," was a ballot initiative to amend the constitution of the state of California. The initiative was enacted by the voters of California on June 6, 1978. It was upheld as constitutional by the United States Supreme...
in 1978, which severely restricted the ability of the Legislature to expand the state's educational system to keep up with growth. Some states, such as Michigan, have investigated or implemented alternate schemes for funding education that may sidestep the problems of funding based mainly on property taxes by providing funding based on sales or income tax. These schemes also have failings, negatively impacting funding in a slow economy.
Another issue is that many parents of private school and homeschooled children have taken issue with the idea of paying for an education their children are not receiving. However, tax proponents point out that every person pays property taxes for public education, not just parents of school-age children. Indeed, without it schools would not have enough money to remain open. Still, parents of students who go to private schools want to use this money instead to fund their children's private education. This is the foundation of the school voucher movement. School voucher programs were proposed by free-market advocates seeking competition in education, led by economist
Milton FriedmanMilton Friedman was an American economist, statistician and public intellectual, and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics...
, but have been criticized for damaging public schools, both in funding and diversity.
One of the biggest debates in funding public schools is funding by local taxes or state taxes. The federal government supplies around 8.5% of the public school system funds, according to a 2005 report by the
National Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
. The remaining split between state and local governments averages 48.7 percent from states and 42.8 percent from local sources. However, the division varies widely. In
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
local funds make up only 1.7 percent, while state sources account for nearly 90.1 percent.
Funding for college
At the college and university level student loan funding is split in half; half is managed by the Department of Education directly, called the Federal Direct Student Loan Program (FDSLP). The other half is managed by commercial entities such as banks, credit unions, and financial services firms such as Sallie Mae, under the
Federal Family Education Loan ProgramThe Federal Family Education Loan Program is the largest of the U.S. higher education loan programs. FFEL was initiated by the Higher Education Act of 1965 and is funded through a public/private partnership administered at the state and local level...
(FFELP). Some schools accept only FFELP loans; others accept only FDSLP. Still others accept both, and a few schools will not accept either, in which case students must seek out private alternatives for student loans.
Charter schools
The charter-school movement was born in 1990. Charter schools have spread rapidly in the United States, members, parents, teachers, and students" to allow for the "expression of diverse teaching philosophies and cultural and social life styles." Some scholars say that there is no statistically significant improvement in charter schools over public schools. 24 of the 25 studies on charter schools or voucher programs that feed charter and private schools show that there is significant improvement and 14 out of 15 studies show that charter schools even improve public education outcomes because of competition.
Control
There is some debate about where control for education actually lies. Education is not mentioned in the
constitution of the United StatesThe Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America and the federal government of the United States...
. In the current situation, the state and
national governmentA national government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir Robert Borden invited the Liberal opposition to join the...
s have a power-sharing arrangement, with the states exercising most of the control. Like other arrangements between the two, the federal government uses the threat of decreased funding to enforce laws pertaining to education. Furthermore, within each state there are different types of control. Some states have a statewide school system, while others delegate power to
countyA county is a land area of local government within a country. A county may have cities and towns within its area. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count .Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain, Ireland and France—the term is from Old...
,
cityA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement. Although there is no agreement on technical definitions distinguishing a city from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status...
or
townshipA township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with 36 square miles being the norm.The term is used in two ways....
-level
school boardSchool Board may refer to the education arrangements in different parts of the United Kingdom:* School board * School board...
s. However, under the Bush administration, initiatives such as the No Child Left Behind Act have attempted to assert more central control in a heavily decentralized system.
The U.S. federal government exercises its control through the
U.S. Department of EducationThe United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
. Educational accreditation decisions are made by
voluntary regional associationsRegional accreditation is a term used in the United States to refer to the process by which one of several accrediting bodies, each serving one of six defined geographic areas of the country, accredits schools, colleges, and universities...
. Schools in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
GuamGuam is an island in the western Pacific Ocean and is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. The island's capital is Hagåtña...
, and the
Northern Mariana IslandsThe Northern Mariana Islands , officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of fifteen islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the...
, teach in English, while schools in the commonwealth of
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
teach in Spanish. Nonprofit private schools are widespread, are largely independent of the government, and include secular as well as
parochial schoolParochial school is one term used to describe a school that engages in religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrow sense, parochial schools are Christian grammar schools or high schools run by parishes, but this distinction is not universally made.-United Kingdom:In...
s.
Competitiveness
The national results in international comparisons have often been far below the average of developed countries. In OECD's
Programme for International Student AssessmentThe Programme for International Student Assessment is a triennial world-wide test of 15-year-old school children's scholastic performance, the implementation of which is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ....
2003, 15 year olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem solving. In the 2006 assessment, the U.S. ranked 35th out of 57 in mathematics and 29th out of 57 in science. Reading scores could not be reported due to printing errors in the instructions of the U.S. test booklets. U.S. scores were far behind those of most other developed nations. While US teens perform poorly on these
Programme for International Student AssessmentThe Programme for International Student Assessment is a triennial world-wide test of 15-year-old school children's scholastic performance, the implementation of which is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ....
tests, which emphasizes problem solving, US fourth and eighth graders tested above average on the
Trends in International Mathematics and Science StudyThe Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth- and eighth-grade students around the world. TIMSS was developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement to allow...
tests, which emphasizes traditional learning.
Bill GatesWilliam Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen.He is ranked consistently one of the world's wealthiest people...
believes that the American high school is "obsolete".
Educational attainment
The rise of the high school movement in the beginning of the 20th century was unique in the United States, such that, high schools were implemented with virtues like: property-tax funded tuition, openness, non-exclusivity, and were decentralized. For the countries of Europe the educational system in the middle of the 20th century still lacked many of these virtues, and were more apprentice-type and very exclusive. The educational system was different in the United States. The academic curriculum was designed to provide the students with a terminal degree. The students obtained general knowledge (such as mathematics, chemistry,composition, etc.) best applicable to the high geographic and social mobility in the United States. The provision of the high schools accelerated with the rise of second industrial revolution industry. The increase in office white collar and skilled blue-collar work in manufacturing reflected in the high demand for high schools. It was not until after WWII that European and other industrialized nations began to follow the United States' efforts. Now the educational attainment of the US population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a whole the population of the United States is becoming increasingly more educated. Post-secondary education is valued very highly by American society and is one of the main determinants of
classThe American middle class is an ambiguously defined social class in the United States. While the concept remains largely ambiguous in popular opinion and common language use, contemporary sociologists have put forward several, more or less congruent, theories on the American middle class...
and status. As with
incomeHousehold income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions. That measure counts all the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments,...
, however, there are significant discrepancies in terms of race, age, household configuration and geography. Overall the households and demographics featuring the highest educational attainment in the United States are also among those with the highest
household incomeHousehold income is a measure commonly used by the United States government and private institutions. That measure counts all the income of all residents over the age of 18 in each household, including not only all wages and salaries, but such items as unemployment insurance, disability payments,...
and
wealthWealth in the United States is commonly measured in terms of net worth which is the sum of all assets, including home equity minus all liabilities. For example, a household in possession of an $800,000 home, $5,000 in mutual funds, a $45,000 IRA would have assets totaling $850,000...
. Thus, while the population of the US is becoming increasingly educated on all levels, a direct link between income and educational attainment remains.
In 2007, Americans stood second only to Canada in the percentage of 35 to 64 year olds holding at least two-year degrees. Among 25 to 34 year olds, the country stands tenth. The nation stands 15 out of 29 rated nations for college completion rates, slightly above Mexico and Turkey.
Health and safety
Many schools have nursesSchool nursing is a specialized practice of professional nursing that advances the well being, academic success, and life-long achievement of students...
either full-time or part time to administer to students and to ensure that medication is taken as directed by their physician.
For nearly all high school grades and many elementary school as well, a police officer, titled a "resource officer", is on site to screen students for firearms and to help avoid disruptions.
See also
- Education in Canada
Education in Canada is provided, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. Education in Canada is generally divided into Elementary , followed by Secondary and Post Secondary...
- US education and the welfare state
- Education in Colonial America
- Outcome-based education
Outcome-based education is a recurring education reform model. It is a student-centered learning philosophy that focuses on empirically measuring student performance, which are called outcomes. OBE contrasts with traditional education, which primarily focuses on the resources that are available...
- Universities in the United States
Higher education in the United States refers to a variety of institutions of higher education in the United States. Strong research and funding have helped make American colleges and universities among the world's most prestigious, which is particularly attractive to international students,...
- Lists of school districts in the United States
- College Board examinations
The College Board is an examination board in the United States that was formed in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board . It manages many different standardized tests used by academically oriented post-secondary education institutions to measure a student's ability...
- ACT examination
- Academic grading in the United States
Academic grading in the United States most commonly takes on the form of five letter grades. Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest. In the mid-twentieth century, many American educational institutions—especially in the Midwest —began...
History
for more detailed bibliography see
History of Education in the United States: BibliographyThis bibliography of the History of education in the United States is vast, comprising tens of thousands of books, articles and dissertations. This is a highly selected guide to the most useful studies.-Surveys:...
The Education of Blacks in the South, 1860-1935
(University of North Carolina Press, 1988).
Axtell, J. The school upon a hill: Education and society in colonial New England.
Yale University Press. (1974).
Maurice R. Berube; American School Reform: Progressive, Equity, and Excellence Movements, 1883-1993.
1994. online version
Brint, S., & Karabel, J. The Diverted Dream: Community colleges and the promise of educational opportunity in America, 1900–1985.
Oxford University Press. (1989).
Button, H. Warren and Provenzo, Eugene F., Jr. History of Education and Culture in America.
Prentice-Hall, 1983. 379 pp.
Cremin, Lawrence A. The transformation of the school: Progressivism in American education, 1876–1957.
(1961).
Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607–1783.
(1970); American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876.
(1980); American Education: The Metropolitan Experience, 1876-1980
(1990); standard 3 vol detailed scholarly history
Curti, M. E. The social ideas of American educators, with new chapter on the last twenty-five years.
(1959).
Dorn, Sherman. Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure.
Praeger, 1996. 167 pp.
Gatto, John Taylor. The Underground History of American Education: An Intimate Investigation into the Prison of Modern Schooling. Oxford Village Press, 2001, 412 pp. online version http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm
Herbst, Juergen. The once and future school: Three hundred and fifty years of American secondary education.
(1996).
Herbst, Juergen. School Choice and School Governance: A Historical Study of the United States and Germany
2006. ISBN 1-4039-7302-4.
Krug, Edward A. The shaping of the American high school, 1880–1920.
(1964); The American high school, 1920–1940.
(1972). standard 2 vol scholarly history
Lucas, C. J. American higher education: A history.
(1994).
pp.; reprinted essays from History of Education Quarterly
- Parkerson, Donald H. and Parkerson, Jo Ann.
Transitions in American Education: A Social History of Teaching.
Routledge, 2001. 242 pp.
Parkerson, Donald H. and Parkerson, Jo Ann. The Emergence of the Common School in the U.S. Countryside.
Edwin Mellen, 1998. 192 pp.
Peterson, Paul E. The politics of school reform, 1870–1940.
(1985).
Ravitch, Diane. Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms.
Simon & Schuster, 2000. 555 pp.
John L. Rury; Education and Social Change: Themes in the History of American Schooling.'; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 2002.
online version
Sanders, James W The education of an urban minority: Catholics in Chicago, 1833–1965. (1977).
Solomon, Barbara M. In the company of educated women: A history of women and higher education in America. (1985).
Theobald, Paul. Call School: Rural Education in the Midwest to 1918. Southern Illinois U. Pr., 1995. 246 pp.
David B. Tyack. The One Best System: A History of American Urban Education (1974),
Tyack, David and Cuban, Larry. Tinkering toward Utopia: A Century of Public School Reform. Harvard U. Pr., 1995. 184 pp.
Tyack, David B., & Hansot, E. Managers of virtue: Public school leadership in America, 1820–1980. (1982).
Veysey Lawrence R. The emergence of the American university. (1965).
External links