БИЛЕТ 34 The System of Education in The USA

Preschool Education

     Preschooling is optional. There is a network of nursery schools and day-care centers where children are looked after while their parents are at work. In the US a kindergarten is usually the beginning of formal, state-controlled education. Most grade schools are kindergarten classes, where children (at the age of 5) attend for half a day.

Elementary and Secondary Education

     Elementary education gives the basic knowledge about the world around and people who live in it. The pupils are taught to count, to read and write, to draw, to sing and to dance. Secondary schools are usually named high schools and their pupils are called students.

     About 91% (about 43 million pupils) of American schools are free and public. Most of them are co-educational. The remaining 9% are fee-charging private schools. These schools are of three types:

1. schools for special children, i.e. physically handicapped, mentally retarded, or exceptionally bright children;
2. ‘prep schools’ and other, usually quite expensive schools, often providing students with intensive preparation for college;
3. the largest group, religious schools (usually called parochial schools)

     Of the parochial schools, about 10% are maintained by Protestant and Jewish groups, about 90% by the Roman Catholic Church. The organization and curricula of private schools are similar to those of the public schools. The question whether private schools should receive public money is still hotly debated in the U.S., with substantial arguments for and against. In general, most Protestants and Jewish groups are against government aid to church school, citing the First Amendment to the Constitution, which demands the separation of church and state. Catholics, on the other hand, are in favour of such aid. They point out that: 1) Catholic parent with children at parochial schools pay tuition in addition to taxes supporting public education; 2) the parochial schools relieve the public schools of a heavy financial burden and educational responsibility; 3) the parochial schools meet state standards and provide a moral education rooted in American values.

     The Supreme Court, however, has rejected state laws providing direct financial aid to parochial school as causing ‘excessive entanglement’ of church and state. But it has upheld indirect and limited government aid to parochial schools, such as bus transportation, school lunches, and secular textbooks.

     American education comprises three levels: elementary, secondary and higher education. In most states schooling is compulsory from the age of 5 or 6 to 16 (except in Maine, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, where it is compulsory to the age of 17 and in Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah where children must go to school until the age of 18). All lead to high school graduation at about 17 or 18. In making children of all social classes attend the same type of school as long as possible, the American high school shows best the egalitarian tendency of American education. It is a genuinely comprehensive school which mirrors the ideals of equal opportunity and equality of social status and serves, just like the elementary schools, as an integrating factor in the making of the nation.

     Under the US Constitution the federal government has no power to make laws in the field of education. Thus, education remains primarily a function of the states. Each state has a Board of Education (usually 3 to 9 members elected by the public or appointed by the governor), not subject of federal control. State laws determine the age of compulsory education, the length of the school year, the way in which teachers shall be certified and many of the courses that must be taught.

     All larger high schools offer an astounding variety of different programmes:

• the academic curriculum prepares children for college (the basic requirements for high school graduation are English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Computer science and a Foreign language, if students go on to college);
• commercial courses include typing, shorthand, bookkeeping;
• vocational programmes offer courses in auto mechanics, printing, agriculture, homemaking, cosmetology, marketing and sales skills.

     The general pattern of education is 8 years of elementary school, followed by a 4-year high school (it is called 8-4 plan organization). It is followed by a 4-year college and professional schools. There are, however, some variations of this educational pattern. The 6-3-3 plan consists of a 6-year elementary school, a 3-year junior high school and a 3-year senior high school. Another variation is a 6-6 plan organization.

    The junior high school is a sort of halfway between elementary and secondary school. It continues some elementary school subjects, but it also introduces courses in mathematics and science, and usually gives their students a chance to study a foreign language (French, Spanish or German). It usually comprises grades seven, eight and nine, though sometimes it is only seven and eight. The high school prepares young people either for work immediately after graduation or for more advanced study in a college or in university. Although there some technical, vocational and specialized high schools in the US the typical high school is comprehensive in nature. The subjects studied in elementary school are dealt with in greater detail and in more advanced form in high school. In addition one can specialize in Home Economics, Chemistry and physics, Music, Humanities, automobile mechanics, etc. high school students study 4-5 major subjects a year and classes in each of them meet for an hour a day five days a week. The US has the shortest school year in the world (an average of 180 days).

     Like schools in Britain, those in the U.S. have always emphasized character building and ‘social skills’ through a lot of extra-curricula activities, including sports, student newspapers, radio stations, orchestras, bands, choir, etc. Students can also act as volunteers in hospitals and homes for the aged and do other public-service work. Such activities not only give pupils a chance to be together outside of normal classes, they also help develop a feeling of community spirit.

Examinations

     In the US school examinations are not as important as they are in the UK. There is no national public examination system. In public elementary and secondary schooling, local districts determine and maintain standards. Students in high schools do have their exams at the end of their last two years, but the final exams are considered along with the work that the students have done during the school years. A high school diploma does not automatically allow pupils to enter a university. There are two widely used and nationally administered standardized tests for high school students who wish to attend a college or university:

1. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), is a two-part exam which must be taken by all senior high school students who wish to attend the US universities and which tries to measure aptitude in the verbal and mathematical areas considered necessary for college work. [*During the students junior years they take the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) which prepares them for the SAT. students who do well on the PSAT may win a National Merit Scholarship. The PSAT results are available to colleges and universities. The SAT results are sent to colleges the students hope to attend the universities consider the results of the tests (SAT scores or SATs) to help them decide which student will be offered a place. A perfect result is 1600, or 800 for the verbal test, 800 for the mathematics test.
2. The ACT (American College Testing), which measures skills in English, mathematics and the social and natural sciences.

     Both tests are given at specific dates and locations throughout the U.S. by non-governmental organizations. The tests are used by universities as standards for comparison, but are in no way ‘official’.

Higher Education

Three out of four students from high school, and more than half of high school graduates go on to college or university. There is no national system of higher education in the US. The post-secondary education system in America is complex, as many different types of programmes are offered by more than 3,000 colleges and universities. It consists of four basic types of institutions:

1. the two-year Junior or Community College – a college which is generally attended by students who live at home rather than at the college (and which is usually cheaper than other colleges because it is usually partly paid for by the local government). Working people often attend community colleges to improve their qualifications, as well as students who are not accepted to the college of their choice because of poor examination results (after achieving better exam results there, they may transfer to a better college where they can graduate with Bachelor’s degree);
2. the two-year Technical College/Institute – a college providing courses (usually not to degree level) in practical subjects, art, social studies, etc. for students who have left school;
3. the four-year undergraduate institution (e.g. Liberal Arts College) leading to the Bachelor’s Degree;
4. the University, which normally comprises a college for undergraduate students (Bachelor’s Degree) and one or more graduate schools or professional schools (Master’s or Doctoral Degree).

          All higher educational establishments charge fees. The ideal of ‘equal’ education for all is matched by awareness that America also needs highly trained specialists, a kind of elite. In higher education, therefore, the U.S. has a rather competitive and selective system, which has made the American university one of the most reputed and widely imitated examples in the world. Acceptance to most colleges depends on a number of possible factors: high school record, recommendations from high school teachers, scores on the SAT or ACT and sometimes interviews at the college or university.

     The methods of instruction in the universities are lectures, discussions and work in laboratory. The academic year is usually of nine months duration, or two semesters of four and a half months each. Students are classified as freshmen (first year), sophomores (2nd year), juniors (3rd year) and seniors (4th year). A peculiar feature of American college and university life is numerous students’ unions, fraternities and sororities. The Greek alphabet is used in their names.

The US Universities

     Some of the private universities like Harvard, Yale, or Princeton (1746), which belong to the exclusive ‘Ivy League’* group of eight universities (*belonging to or typical of a groups of old and respected universities of the eastern US. These are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities, as well as Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania), are among the oldest and most highly regarded institutions in the country. They are considered elitist not only because of their high academic standards and their prestige, but also because tuition fees can be extremely high.

     Harvard University is the oldest institution of higher learning in the US. It is situated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the eastern coast of the US. Founded 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the university has grown from nine students with a single master to an enrollment of more than 18,000 degree candidates, including undergraduates and students in 10 principal academic units. An additional 13,000 students are enrolled in one or more courses in the Harvard Extension School. Over 14,000 people work at Harvard.

     Seven presidents of the US – John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush – were graduates from Harvard. Its faculty have produced 40 Nobel Laureates.

     Harvard College was established in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was named for its first benefactor, John Harvard of Charlestown, a young minister who, upon his death in 1638, left his library and half his estate to the new institution. Harvard’s first scholarship fund was created in 1643 with a gift from Ann Radcliffe, Lady Mowlson. During its early years the College offered a classic academic course based on the English university model but consistent with the prevailing Puritan philosophy of the first colonists. Although many of its first graduates became ministers in Puritan congregations throughout New England, the College was never formally affiliated with a specific religious denomination. The Harvard Corporation, known formally as the President and Fellows of Harvard College, is the University’s executive board.

     Harvard students represent an array of ethnic groups, religious traditions and political persuasions. They come from every region of the USA and more than 100 other countries.

     Columbia University was founded in 1754 as King’s College by royal charter of King George II of England. It is the oldest intuition of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the USA. In July 1754 Samuel Johnson held the first classes in a new school house adjoining Trinity Church, located on what is now lower Broadway in Manhattan. There were 8 students in the class and trustees of King’s College were John Jay (the first chief justice of the US), Alexander Hamilton (the first secretary of the Treasury), G. Morris (the author of the final draft of the US Constitution. The college reopened in 1784 with a new name – Columbia – in recognition of its colonial ancestor.

     During the last half the 19th century Columbia rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Some new schools and colleges were added: the Columbia School of Law (1858), Barnard College for women (1889), the medical school (1891), followed by Teachers College (1893). The development of graduate faculties in political science, philosophy and pure science established Columbia as one of the nation’s earliest centers for graduate education. Since 1896 the institution has officially been known as Columbia University in the City if New York. The School of Journalism was established by bequest of Joseph Pulitzer in 1912 and a course on war and peace studies organized the College’s influential Core Curriculum. The study of sciences flourished along with the liberal arts. Franz Boas founded the modern science of anthropology there in the early 20th century, and Thomas Morgan set the Medical Center, the first such center to combine teaching, research and patient care, was officially opened as a joint project between the medical school and the Presbyterian Hospital.

Research into the atom by faculty members I.I.Rabi, Enrico Fermi and Polykarp Kush brought Columbia’s Department of Physics to international prominence in the 1940s. The founding of the School of International and Public Affairs in 1946 marked the beginning of intensive growth in international relations as the major scholarly focus of the University.

     The University continues to set the highest standards for the creation and dissemination of knowledge, both in the USA and around the word. Columbia was proud to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2004.

     The founding of the University of San Francisco is connected with the establishment of the Jesuit Order in California, European immigration to the western US, and the population growth of California and San Francisco as a result of the California Gold Rush. The University of San Francisco began as a one-room schoolhouse named Saint Ignatius Academy. The institution’s founding president was Anthony Maraschi, a Jesuit from northern Italy, who was teaching ‘mental philosophy’ and received permission from Archbishop to build a Jesuit church and school. On October 15, 1855 the school opened its doors to its first class of three students. In 1859, Maraschi incorporated the institution under California state law, obtained a charter to issue college degrees, formed a board of trustees and renamed the institution Saint Ignatius College.

     Now the University of San Francisco’s main campus occupies more than 55 acres near Golden Gate Park. The University offers classes at five Northern California regional campuses, at Southern California regional campus in the city of Orange, and at a site in Phoenix, Arizona. USF has sponsored cooperative study-abroad programmes throughout the world, including programmes in Mexico, Chile, Japan, China, the Philippines, England, Spain, Italy, Hungary, El Salvador and South Africa. On October 15, 2005 the University celebrated its 150th anniversary.

     Yale University was founded in 1701 as the school in the home of Abraham Pierson, its first rector, in Connecticut. In 1718 the school was renamed Yale College. As the years passed the College established the Medical Institution, Divinity School, Law School, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, School of Fine Arts, and School of Music. In 1887 Yale College became Yale University. It continued to add to its academic offerings with the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, School of Drama, School of Architecture, and School of Management. Today Yale University comprises some major academic components: Yale College (the undergraduate programme), the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and ten professional schools. In addition, Yale encompasses a wide array of research organizations, libraries and museums, and administrative and support offices.