Education in the United States of America

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Education in the United States of America
United States of America
Gao Guangyan, Daniel Lo, Ong Woo Han4L July 2005
Raffles Institution
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Motto E Pluribus Unum (1789present) (Latin
"Out of Many, One") In God We Trust
(1956present) Anthem The Star-Spangled Banner
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Introduction

• Democratic constitutional federal republic of
  fifty states
• 296,600,000 Population est. (2005)
• GDP per capita 41,557
• Largest Religion Christianity
• Main Language English

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Education In the USA

• A highly decentralized system
• Funding, curriculum decisions at the local
  level through school boards.
• Standards generally set by state agencies.
• The federal government, through Department of
  Education, involved with funding of some programs
• Also have nonprofit private schools.
• Schools teach primarily in English

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Goals and Purposes

• Satisfy the demand for highly skilled workers
• The key to maintaining competitiveness and
  prosperity in the global economy.
• Evident in recent reports showing that raising
  student achievement --gt national economic
  growth.
• Reports estimate significant improvements in
  education over a 20 year period can lead to as
  much as a 4 GDP growth, or over US400b.

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Literacy Rate

• Total 97 Literacy Rate
• Male 97 Literacy Rate
• Female 97 Literacy Rate

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Investment

• Correlation between education and economic
  growth --gt prompted government to increase
  spending in education.
• US501.3b, 4.27 of GDP in 2004
• US482.0b in 2003
• US462.7b in 2002

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School Grades
Pre-School, Nursery School Under 5 Elementary
School Kindergarten 56 1st Grade 67 2nd
Grade 78 3rd Grade 89 4th Grade 910 5th
Grade 1011 Middle school (also Junior High)
6th Grade 1112 7th Grade 1213 8th Grade
1314
High school 9th Grade (Freshman) 1415 10th
Grade (Sophomore) 1516 11th Grade (Junior)
1617 12th Grade (Senior) 1718 College or
University (usually four years) Freshman 1819
Sophomore 1920 Junior 2021 Senior 2122
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Elementary School

• Students cannot choose their course structure
• Remain in a single classroom
• One teacher for the entire school day
• Education is hardly standardized
• Student learns basic algebra, grammar and
  spelling, and a year of state, national and
  world history.
• Teaching of science varies greatly - one of
  the most undertaught subjects,
• Most teachers only have a degree in English or
  education

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Middle School

• Students enroll in class schedules
• Classes from several teachers
• Classes include science, mathematics, english,
  social science courses, interspersed with a
  reading and/or technology class.
• PE is compulsory from kindergarten to 9th grade.
  
• Electives are generally limited to only one or
  two classes.

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High School

• Students have more control
• Can choose their core classes.
• Most students take a broad variety of classes
• Curriculum varies widely in quality and rigidity
  
• Students take one or more standardized tests
  - based on postsecondary education preferences
  - and local graduation requirements
• The SAT and ACT are the most common

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Elective Courses

• Some school offer elective courses such as
• ? Visual arts (drawing, sculpture, painting,
  photography, film)
• ? Performing Arts (drama, band, orchestra, dance)
• ? Shop (woodworking, metalworking, automobile)
• ? Computers (word processing, programming,
  graphics)
• ? Athletics (football, baseball, basketball,
  track and field, swimming, gymnastics, water
  polo, soccer)
• ? Publishing (journalism, yearbook)
• ? Foreign languages (French, German, Spanish)

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Gifted Programmes

• Honors classes for motivated and gifted
  students
• Quality of education is higher and tougher
• If funds are available, AP or IB courses
  available
• Most tertiary institutions consider AP or IB
  results
• AP and IB courses equivalent to freshman year
  courses
• Therefore, postsecondary institutions allow
  students to graduate early.

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Tertiary Education

• College or university.
• Public schools more lenient Private schools
  rigorous
• ECAs considered for admission
• Community college (2 yr) AA degree
• Undergraduate study for 4 yrs bachelors
  degree
• Postgraduate study 1-3 yrs masters degree.
• 3 or more yrs after the completion of a masters
  degree, students may earn a doctoral degree.

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Changes / Reforms

• No Child Left Behind Act
• Increasing Education Budget

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No Child Left Behind Act
President Bush
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No Child Left Behind Act 2001

• Reauthorization of some federal programs
• Strive to improve performance of America's
  schools
• Improved teacher quality (higher standards, e.g.
  bac. Degree
• Scientifically based research strategies in
  classroom
• Increase standards of accountability for all
  schools
• Provide parents more flexibility in choosing
  schools for child
• Increased focus on reading

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CASE STUDY
Case study (example) of an individual from
Arcadia, California USA Student is in 9th
Grade Arcadia, California ? One of the best
districts in USA School system Split into
districts that cover the city
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CASE STUDY

• Elementary School (Grade 1 5)
• Mostly 1 teacher who teaches everything
• History, Basic Math, Basic Science, English
• Physical Education (mostly play time but later
  progressed to exercise time)
• Music Sing, learned recorder in Grade 3
  (similar to us)
• Teacher would sit down with students for 20 mins
  after lunch to read books to them.

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CASE STUDY

• Middle School
• Schedule with 6 periods
• 20 mins of free reading after lunch
• Some interesting lessons
• Robotics (played with lego mindstorms for 1
  semester)
• Exploratory choose 2 classes, like
  art/music/video production/ industrial tech
  (make stuff out of wood) / journalism/etc
• English More writing, Reading Romeo and Juliet,
  Do an act from a scene, read To Kill a
  Mockingbird
• Run 1 mile for every PE lesson

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CASE STUDY

• School Life
• School days and holidays
• 6 hr long days
• Slowly get longer as the years passed
• 5 days a week, few Mondays off, 2 weeks for
  Xmas and New Year
• 1 Week spring break
• 2.5 month summer break
• Starts at 8am
• Students love holidays (esp. summer break)

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Singapore Education

• Governed by Ministry of Education
• Begins at Nursery / Kindergarten
• First 6 years in primary school (compulsory),
  PSLE conducted on last year.
• Heavily Subsidized School Fees
• Pass gt secondary school
• 4 or 5 years in secondary school. CCAs
  compulsory
• O Levels held on final year unless
• Through-train programmes skip O Levels

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Singapore Education

• Sec school If pass Junior College (2
  years) or Polytechnic (3/4
  years)
• A levels at the end of 2nd year, to university if
  pass
• For polytechnics, students can join universities
  on the last year.
• Very exam-oriented
• Very stressful

STRESS
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Similarities and Differences

• Similarities
• Emphasis on Education for Economy
• Semestral Assessments of students
• Fitness and Health emphasised
• Meritocracy IB, AP, Honours classes v.s GEP
• Differences
• US has K-12 system, different
• Mandatory education 16-18 vs. 12
• Singapore is more centralised (MOE)
• Free education in USA
• Os and As in Singapore, SAT and ACT in USA

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Good Points

• United States of America
• Investment in Education Students have equal
  opportunities
• Decentralized system, allows automation
• Recognizes gifted students, provides for them
• More creative (slightly) than Singapore (too
  rigid)
• Republic of Singapore
• Efficient MOE
• Constant updating of syllabus
• Competitive environment stimulates learning
• Top international quizzes regularly

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Bad Points

• United States of America
• One teacher for Elementary School No good
• Decentralization causes large variations
• Republic of Singapore
• STRESSFUL life
• Too Rigid, no creativity

STRESS
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Learning Areas

• More decentralized system - Schools more
  autonomy
• Generate schools which cater to the needs of
  different students. - Establish specialised
  schools, similar to magnet schools - E.g.
  Sport schools
• Increase the number of years of mandatory
  education. - To develop a larger pool of
  talents - Contribute to a larger skilled
  workforce - Maintain competitive economy
• Less Stressful Education - Students work
  smarter, not harder - Increase life-span,
  standard of living

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The EndThank you for your attention.
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The EndThank you for your attention.
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