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Education in America

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Title: Education in America


1
Lecture 11
  • Education in America

2
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.

3
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.

4
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

5
  • 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)

6
Structure of American Education
Early childhood education
Grammar school or elementary school (primary)
High school (secondary)
College and university (higher/tertiary education)
7
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.

8
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.

9
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.

10
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.

11
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.

12
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.

13
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.

14
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.

15
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.

16
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).

17
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.

18
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.

19
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.

20
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.

21
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.

22
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.

23
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
24
College Life(Campus Life/Life on Campus)
Interesting lively
Rich colorful
Meaningful attractive
25
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.

26
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.

27
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.

28
  • Most coeducational mens schools
    belong to an athletic league. The
    teams within the league play against
    each other, aiming for the league
    championship.

29
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.

30
  • Other sports---particularly
    basketball, swimming,
    track---are also pursued with enthusiasm.
    Some schools have competitive
    tennis, skiing, sailing, wrestling,
    soccer baseball.

31
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.

32
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.

33
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.

34
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.

35
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.

36
  • 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.

37
  • 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.

38
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

39
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.

40
1.Public education should be free.
  • There should be no hidden charges to prevent any
    citizen from receiving a good education at public
    expenses.

41
2. Schooling should be equal and open to all.
  • No one should be discriminated against because of
    race, religion, or financial status.

42
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.

43
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.

44
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.

45
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.

46
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?

47
2.Who should make decisions about the schools?
  • Parents?
  • Professional educators?
  • Elected officials?
  • Religious leaders?
  • Specially appointed experts?
  • The children themselves?

48
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.

49
  • 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.

50
  • 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?
51
???? 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?

52
????????
  • 2000?1?How I Finance My College Education
  • 1.??????(tuition and fees)??????????
  • 2.???????(????)
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