Education system in US

•Inmostpublicandprivateschools,educationisdivi-dedintothreelevels:

o ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

oMIDDLESCHOOL(sometimescalledJuniorH.school)

oHIGHSCHOOL(sometimesreferredtoasSe-condaryeducation).

•Thecountryhasareadingliteracyrateat99%ofthepopulationoverage15.

•Childrenaredividedbyagegroupsintogrades,rangingfromkindergarten(followedbyfirstgrade)fortheyoungestchildreninelementaryschool,uptotwelfthgrade,thefinalyearofhighschool.

•Post-secondaryeducation,betterknownas“college”intheUnitedStates,isgenerallygovernedseparatelyfromtheelementaryandhighschoolsystem.

•TheAmericaneducationalsystemcomprises12gradesofstudyover12calendaryearsofprimaryandsecondaryeducationbeforegraduating.

•Afterpre-kindergartenandkindergarten,therearefiveyearsinprimaryschool(normallyknownasele-mentaryschool).Aftercompletingfivegrades,thestudentwillenterjuniorhighormiddleschoolandthenhighschooltogetthehighschooldiploma.

•TheU.S.usesordinalnumbers(e.g.,firstgrade)foridentifyinggrades,forexample:elementaryschool(k-5),middleschool(6-8),andhighschool(9-12).

•Studentscompletinghighschoolmaychoosetoa-ttendacollegeoruniversity.Undergraduatedegreesmaybeeitherassociate’sdegreesorbachelor’sde-grees(baccalaureate)

•Mostpublicinstitutionsarestateuniversities,whicharesponsoredbystategovernmentsandtypicallyre-ceivefundingthroughsomecombinationoftaxpayerfunds,tuition,privatedonations,federalgrants,andproceedsfromendowments.

•Typicallythosewithabachelor’sdegree,maychosetocontinueontograduateorprofessionalschool.Graduatedegreesmaybeeithermaster’sdegreesordoctorates.Academia-focusedgraduateschooltypi-callyincludessomecombinationofcourseworkandresearch(oftenrequiringathesisordissertation),whileprofessionalschool(e.g.,medical,law,business)grantsafirstprofessionaldegreeandaimstopreparestudentstoenteralearnedprofession.

Kindergarten, Elementary and High school

•Childeducationiscompulsory.Educationalstan-dardsandstandardizedtestingdecisionsareusuallymadebystategovernments.

•Itbeginsfromagesfivetoeightandendsfromagesfourteentoeighteen.

•Mostchildrenenterthepubliceducationsystemaroundagesfiveorsix.TheAmericanschoolyeartra-ditionallybeginsattheendofAugustorthedayafterLaborDayinSeptember,afterthetraditionalsummerrecess.Childrenareassignedintoyeargroupsknownasgrades,beginningwithpreschool,followedbykindergartenandculminatingintwelfthgrade,uponreachingtheendofeachschoolyearinlateMayorearlyJune.

•Teachersworkedfromabout35to46hoursaweek.

•Elementaryschoolsstartat7:30,middleschools/ju-niorhighschoolstartat8:15andseniorhighschoolsat9:00.Whileelementaryschoolsstartearlier,theyalsofinishearlier,at2:25,middleschoolsat3:10andseniorhighschoolsat3:55.Allschooldistrictsesta-blishtheirowntimesandmeansoftransportationwithinguidelinessetbytheirownstate.

•ElementarySchoolSchedule/8am-3pm

•Cafeteriaservice/$64(semester)E.g:

-BreakfastandLunch:Egg&CheeseOmlet/Toast/FruitJuice/MandarinChicken/BrownRice/StirFryVeggiesApples(allday)

•Childrendon´twearuniforms(withtheexceptionofPrivateschools)

•Lockersservice(JuniorHighSchool)/$5(semester)

•“Middleschool”usuallyincludessixth,seventhandeighthgrade;“Juniorhigh”typicallyincludesseventh,eighth,andninthgrades.

•Atthistime,studentsaregivenmoreindependence,movingtodifferentclassroomsfordifferentsubjects,andbeingallowedtochoosesomeoftheirclasssubjects(electives).Usually,startinginninthgrade,gradesbecomepartofastudent’sofficialtranscript.

•Highschoolusuallyrunseitherfrom9ththrough12th,or10ththrough12thgrade.Thestudentsinthesegradesarecommonlyreferredtoasfreshmen(grade9),sophomores(grade10),juniors(grade11)andseniors(grade12).

•Thefollowingminimumcoursesofstudyinman-datorysubjectsarerequiredinnearlyallU.S.highschools:

o Science (usuallythreeyearsminimum,normallybiology,chemistryandphysics)o Mathematics(usuallyfouryearsminimum,nor-mallyincludingalgebra,geometry,pre-calculus,statistics,andevencalculus)o English (usuallyfouryearsminimum,includingliterature,humanities,composition,orallan-guages,etc.)

o Social sciences (usuallythreeyearsminimum,includingvarioushistory,governmentandeco-nomicscourses)o Physical education (atleasttwoyears)o Foreign language and some form of art education arealsoamandatorypartofthecurriculuminsomeschools.

Electives

Commontypesofelectivesinclude:

o Computers (programming,graphicdesign)o Athletics(football,baseball,basketball,track&field,swimming,tennis,gymnastics,waterpolo,soc-cer,softball,wrestling,cheerleading,volleyball,fieldhockey,icehockey,crew,boxing,snowboarding,golf,mountainbiking,marchingband)o Career and Technical Education(Agriculture/Agri-science,Business/Marketing,FamilyandConsumerScience,HealthOccupations,andTechnologyEduca-tion,includingPublishing(journalism/studentnews-paper,yearbook/annual,literarymagazine))o Performing Arts/Visual Arts,(choir,band,orchestra,drama,art,ceramics,photography,anddance)o Foreign languages(SpanishandFrencharecommon;Chinese,Latin,AncientGreek,German,Italian,Arabic,andJapanesearelesscommon)

Private Schools

•PrivateschoolsintheUnitedStatesincludeparo-chialschools(affiliatedwithreligiousdenominations),non-profitindependentschools,andfor-profitprivateschools.

College and University.

•Post-secondaryeducationintheUnitedStatesisknownas“college”or“university”andcommonlycon-sistsoffouryearsofstudyataninstitutionofhigherlearning.

•Mostcollegesalsoconsidermoresubjectivefactorssuchasacommitmenttoextracurricularactivities,apersonalessay,andaninterview.

•Thedifferencebetweenacollegeandauniversityisthatacollegejustoffersacollectionofdegreesinonespecificareawhileauniversityisacollectionofcolleges.Whenyougotoauniversityyouaregoingtobegraduatingfromoneoftheircolleges,suchasthebusinesscollege.Astowhichisbetter,itdependsonwhatyouwant.Singlecollegestendtobesmallerwhileuniversitiesarebigger,butuniversitiesarebe-tterknown.

•Onceadmitted,studentsengageinundergraduatestudy,whichconsistsofsatisfyinguniversityandclassrequirementstoachieveabachelor’sdegreeinafieldofconcentrationknownasamajor.

•Graduatestudy,conductedafterobtaininganinitialdegreeandsometimesafterseveralyearsofprofe-ssionalwork,leadstoamoreadvanceddegreesuchasamaster’sdegree,whichcouldbeaMasterofArts(MA),MasterofScience(MS),MasterofBusinessAdministration(MBA),orotherlesscommonmas-ter’sdegreessuchasMasterofEducation(MEd),andMasterofFineArts(MFA).Somestudentspursueagraduatedegreethatisinbetweenamaster’sdegreeandadoctoraldegreecalledaSpecialistinEducation(Ed.S.).

•Afteradditionalyearsofstudyandsometimesinconjunctionwiththecompletionofamaster’sdegreeand/orEd.S.degree,studentsmayearnaDoctorofPhilosophy(Ph.D.)

CostsoPublicUniversity(4years):$27,967(peryear)oPrivateUniversity(4years):$40,476(peryear)

Total,fouryearschooling:oPublicUniversity:$111,868oPrivateUniversity:$161,904