Education in America

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Lecture 11

• Education in America

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The Academic Levels

• Education is like a big window opening. Americans
  are proud of the fact that the window of
  knowledge is never slammed shut for any of the
  nations citizens.
• All American children are offered 12 years of
  free public education most good students can
  get financial help to continue their studies for
  many more years.
• Adults who wish to attend school also find many
  opportunities.

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Importance of Education in America

• In this nation of rapid change, there can be no
  age limit on learning.
• Everyone must study ---in classrooms or
  independently---to keep in touch with the
  changing life around him.

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About the American Educational System

• In the United States, education is the
  responsibility of individual states, not of the
  federal government, so requirements may vary from
  one state to another. The following is a
  generalization

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• Kindergarten Grade 0 5 years old
• Elementary school Grade 1-6 6-11 years old
• Junior high or middle school Grade 7-8
  12-13 years old
• (Senior) high school Grade 9-12
  14-17 years old
• College (4 years for a B.A or B.S. degree)
• University (2-3 years for M.A. or M.S 2-8
  years for a Ph.D)

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Structure of American Education
Early childhood education
Grammar school or elementary school (primary)
High school (secondary)
College and university (higher/tertiary education)
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Early Childhood Education(1)

• In most areas, free public school
  education begins with
  kindergarten classes for 4-year-olds.
• These are only half-day sessions the child
  becomes accustomed to being separated from Mommy,
  playing sharing with other children following
  the directions of a teacher.

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Early ChildhoodEducation(2)

• Early childhood education is considered so
  beneficial that some public school systems also
  offer pre-kindergarten programs for
  4-year-olds.(some tuition is usually charged.)
• Nearly 3 million American children attend
  kindergarten each year. For many, kindergarten is
  their first school experience.
• Some are introduced to the classroom situation at
  a much younger age, either through nursery
  schools or day care centers.

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What do children learn?

• They are introduced to skills
  information that will help them later with
  academic work. E.g. They learn the colors
  alphabet, how to write their names, to count to
  ten, to enjoy books.

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Nursery Schools(1)

• Nursery schools accept children from 3 to 5 years
  old for half-day sessions ranging from twice a
  week to 5 days a week.
• The typical nursery school classroom is equipped
  much like a kindergarten, with dolls, toy
  furniture, building blocks, books, puzzles, art
  supplies.

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Nursery Schools(2)

• Most nursery schools have an outdoor playground.
  A youngster who has no playmates his age living
  nearby may benefit greatly from attending nursery
  school.
• Nursery schools usually charge tuition, though
  some are subsidized some offer scholarships.

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Day Care Centers(1)

• Day care centers provide care for pre-school
  children of working mothers who need a place to
  leave their children all day, 5 days a week. Some
  day care centers accept pre-schoolers from
  infancy on.
• The children have lunch snacks at the center
  spend the entire day there.

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Day Care Centers(2)

• The womens Liberation movement which became
  extremely prominent in the 1960s has widely
  publicized the idea that free, high-quality day
  care is essential if women are to participate
  fully in society.
• At the present time, the need for day care
  centers is acute. For the 6 million pre-school
  children whose mothers are working, there are
  only 625,000 openings in certified day care
  centers.

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Day Care Centers(3)

• Existing day care centers are operated funded
  by many different organizations. Some are
  profit-making facilities supported by tuition
  fees. Others are non-profit centers run by
  philanthropic, religious, governmental, or
  industrial sponsors.
• Although the federal government is already
  spending more that a billion dollars a year on
  day care, there will certainly be continued
  pressure for increased public support.

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Grammar School High School

• In the United States, classes of students are
  divided into 12 academic levels called grades.
• Generally, one academic year(from September to
  June) is required to complete each grade.
• Academic work---learning to read, write do
  arithmetic---begins when the child enters first
  grade, at about age 6.

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2 school systems

• The first academic institution that a child
  attends is called grammar school or elementary
  school.
• In some school systems, elementary school
  includes grades 1 through 8. The next 4 years are
  called high school.
• In other school systems, there are 3 divisions
  elementary school(grades 1 through 6), junior
  high school(grades 7 through 9), senior high
  school(grades 10 through 12).

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More Information

• The typical elementary school day starts at 9 am
  ends at about 330 pm.
• Junior high high school students usually attend
  classes from 830 am until 330 pm.
• For all levels, schools are in session 5 days a
  week, Monday through Friday.
• Traditional vacation periods of 1 to 2 weeks are
  scheduled at Christmas in the spring, the
  schools also close for certain holidays.

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What do Grammar Schools Teach?

• Grammar schools teach reading, arithmetic,
  language arts such as creative writing, spelling
  handwriting.
• Social studies, science, music, art P.E
  (athletics) are also part of the program.

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What do High Schools Teach?(1)

• In high school, subject matter becomes more
  specialized.
• English classes stress grammar literature.
• Social studies is split into separate courses in
  American history, American government, European
  history.
• Algebra, geometry, trigonometry are offered.

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What do High Schools Teach?(2)

• High school students usually take a one-year
  general science course, then more detailed
  courses in biology, chemistry, physics.
• Most high school students study a foreign
  language---usually Latin, French, Spanish, or
  German.
• Courses in music, art P.E are often required.
• Some high schools specialize in vocational
  education train students for various technical
  careers.

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Colleges Universities

• When a student
  graduates from
  high school, he
  may attend college if his high school record
  test scores are good enough to gain him
  admittance.

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Subjects offered

• College university offer a vast array of
  subjects. A student usually majors in one field
  during the last 2 years of college.
• If he wishes, he may obtain professional training
  at the undergraduate level, for example, in
  accounting, teaching, journalism, or dramatics.
• Certain state colleges specialize in training
  agricultural experts engineers.

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Grades Degrees

• College grades, from highest to lowest, run
  ABCDF. An F is a failing grade.
• American universities offer 3 main categories of
  graduate degrees.

Bachelors degree Masters degree A Ph. D degree
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College Life(Campus Life/Life on Campus)
Interesting lively
Rich colorful
Meaningful attractive
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Different activities(1)

• College students become involved in many
  different activities---extracurricular,
  religious, social, athletic.
• Among the extra-curricular activities are college
  newspapers, musical organizations, dramatic
  clubs, political groups. Some of these have
  faculty advisers.

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Different activities(2)

• Many religious groups have their own meeting
  places where services social activities can be
  held.
• Student groups run parties of all types---from
  formal dances to picnics.
• Most colleges have a student union where students
  can get together for lunch, study sessions, club
  meetings socializing.

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Athletics(1)

• Athletics is an important phase of life on
  campus. In addition to required physical
  education courses, voluntary programs are
  provided for health,
  recreation
  the
  development
  of teams for
  intercollegiate competition.

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• Most coeducational mens schools
  belong to an athletic league. The
  teams within the league play against
  each other, aiming for the league
  championship.

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Athletics(2)

• Football is the college sport which stirs up the
  most national interest. At large schools,
  promoting football, developing a team, playing
  before huge crowds have become a big business.
  Season tickets are sold for substantial prices.

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• Other sports---particularly
  basketball, swimming,
  track---are also pursued with enthusiasm.
  Some schools have competitive
  tennis, skiing, sailing, wrestling,
  soccer baseball.

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Cost of a higher education(1)

• The cost of a college education has doubled
  within the last 15 years tripled within the
  last 30.
• A typical college now charges about 3,000 a year
  for room, board, tuition.
• A student attending a private Eastern college
  spends at least 3,500 probably closer to
  5,000 a year, including tuition, housing, food,
  books, personal expenses.

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Cost of a higher education(2)

• At the other end of the scale, a student
  attending a state college in a rural area may get
  by on 1,500 a year.
• State colleges universities have rather low
  tuition fees (ranging from about 60 to about
  450) for state residents.
• In some communities, low-cost public education is
  available at city colleges or junior colleges.

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Sources of Financial Help

• Fortunately for students with limited funds,
  financial help is available from many sources.
• Every year college students receive more than
  300 million in monetary assistance, including
  scholarships, loans part-time jobs.
• More than 200,000 scholarships are offered by
  industries, alumni groups, individual donors, the
  federal government, colleges universities.

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How students finance their education

• A student may cut costs by living at home,
  attending a state or community school, or
  combining part-time work with a part-time college
  program.
• Many students use their summer earnings to help
  finance their education.
• Some pursue undergraduate or graduate degrees in
  night school while working full time during the
  day.
• Some college courses are offered on TV, are
  inexpensive.

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The American Dream

• In the United States there is a belief. It goes
  that people are rewarded for working, producing,
  achieving. Many people believe that there is
  equality of opportunity. It allows anyone to
  become successful.
• This belief is illustrated by stories written by
  a 19th-century American novelist, Horatio Alger.
  He wrote about the American Dream. In his
  stories he described poor people. They became
  rich because of their hard work, honesty luck.

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• The stories reinforced the idea. The idea is that
  all individuals, no matter how poor, were capable
  of becoming wealthy as long as they were honest
  hard-working.
• For many Americans, however, Horatio Algers
  rags-to-riches stories do not represent the
  reality of opportunity. Many poor immigrants were
  able to become rich. They came to the U.S. in the
  19th 20th centuries. Today, however, the poor
  generally do not rise to the middle upper
  classes. That is why the American Dream is now
  described as a myth.

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• Many young people from poor families struggle
  along on limited budgets in order to stay in
  school because they know that a college degree
  brings higher income, greater job security, more
  prestige, a more significant career.
• Every son must rise above his father is a major
  aspect of the American Dream--- one that is most
  often realized through higher education.

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American values in education

• American school system has developed as it has
  because the American people value education
  highly. Some of the traditional values which have
  developed over the years are

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6 Traditional Values

• 1.Public education should be free.
• 2. Schooling should be equal and open to all.
• 3. The public schools should be free of any creed
  or religion.
• 4. Public schools are controlled by the state and
  the local governments within which they are
  located.
• 5. Attendance at school is compulsory.
• 6. Schooling should be enriched and not just
  confined to the fundamentals.

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1.Public education should be free.

• There should be no hidden charges to prevent any
  citizen from receiving a good education at public
  expenses.

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2. Schooling should be equal and open to all.

• No one should be discriminated against because of
  race, religion, or financial status.

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3. The public schools should be free of any creed
or religion.

• The schools of the United States are open to all
  Americans regardless of their religious beliefs.
  The Supreme Court has held that no special prayer
  or Bible reading should be required. However,
  religious schools (sometimes called parochial
  schools) are permitted outside of the public
  school system.

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4. Public schools are controlled by the state and
the local governments within which they are
located.

• Local school boards run the public schools under
  laws passed by the state legislature. The State
  Board of Education assists the local schools, but
  does not give orders to the district board. The
  United States Office of Education also assists
  with advice and information, but the actual
  control is located in the local school district,
  where the people know the local situation.

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5. Attendance at school is compulsory.

• Parents cannot decide to keep their children out
  of school. Each state compels the attendance of
  young people, usually between the ages of 7 and
  16.

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6. Schooling should be enriched and not just
confined to the fundamentals.

• Most Americans believe that schools should be
  places where young people can grow in body, mind,
  and spirit. Athletics, clubs, social events, and
  creative arts are a part of each persons
  education. Schools should be lively places where
  individuals are encouraged to develop to their
  greatest potential.

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Discussion questions

• 1. Using the six traditional values of American
  education described above, summarize the
  educational philosophy of our country. Where do
  you find similarities? What are the differences?

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2.Who should make decisions about the schools?

• Parents?
• Professional educators?
• Elected officials?
• Religious leaders?
• Specially appointed experts?
• The children themselves?

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Read the statements below and discuss the pros
and cons of each.

• A. Parents They are our kids. We know what is
  best for them. We should decide what they learn
  and how they are taught.
• B. Teachers What do parents know? We have been
  to college. We are the ones with the special
  training. We should make the decisions.

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• C. Government officials We have the best view
  of the issues. We know the budget and we
  understand the laws and how the apply. Only we
  can make the best decisions.
• D. Religious authorities Schools that teach
  facts but no values weaken the moral strength of
  the country. We can provide the wisdom and
  insight on which all teaching should be based.

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• E. University experts We have studied the
  problems and done the research. We should be
  consulted before any decisions are made.
• F. Children It is our lives and education that
  are at stake. No decisions should be made without
  our advice and agreement.

With whom do you agree?
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???? CET-4 Writing

• College Life (Life on Campus)
• How I Finance My College Education?
• Discussion What are the different ways of
  financing our college education? which is a
  better way?

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????????

• 2000?1?How I Finance My College Education
• 1.??????(tuition and fees)??????????
• 2.???????(????)