Education Discussion: The American Education System: An Overview
Statistics
According to the CIA World Factbook (http://tinyurl.com/2h2e3k), The following statistics are true about the United States of America.
- Literacy Rate: 99%
- Males are expected to have fifteen years of schooling in total, and Females are expected to have sixteen years of schooling in total.
- Annually, the Government of the United States of America has spent, on average, 972USD Billion, since 2005. (For disambiguation, that's $972,000,000,000)
- More than ten percent of the student population attend private, Non-Government Funded schools.
United States Department of Education
How it Works.
Average Age
| School
| Grade/Year of Study
| Category
| Mandatory?
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
3
| Nursery School
| Pre-Kindergarten
| Elementary Schools
| No
|
4
| Kindergarten / Nursery School
| Kindergarten
| Elementary Schools
| No
|
5
| Kindergarten
| Kindergarten
| Elementary Schools
| No
|
6-9
| Elementary School
| First through Fourth Grades
| Elementary Schools
| Yes
|
10
| Elementary School/Middle School
| Fifth Grade
| Elementary Schools
| Yes
|
11
| Elementary School / Middle School / Junior High School
| Sixth Grade
| Elementary Schools
| Yes
|
12 - 13
| Elementary School / Middle School / Junior High School / Junior-Senior Combined High School
| Seventh and Eighth Grades
| Secondary Education
| Yes
|
14
| 4-Year High Schools / Junior High Schools / Junior-Senior Combined High Schools
| Ninth Grade
| Secondary Education
| Yes
|
15-17
| 4-Year High Schools / Senior High-Schools / Junior-Senior Combined High Schools
| Tenth through Twelfth Grades
| Secondary Education
| Yes
|
N/A
| Vocational Technical Institutions / Junior of Community Colleges / Undergraduate Programs
| Years 1 and 2 of Post-Secondary Education Studies
| Post-Secondary Education
| No
|
N/A
| Undergraduate Programs
| Years 3 and 4 of Post-Secondary Education
| Post-Secondary Education
| No
|
N/A
| Master's Degree Studies / Professional Schools (Medicine, Law, Theology, et cetera)
| Year 5 of Post-Secondary Education
| Post-Secondary Education
| No
|
N/A
| Doctoral Studies / Professional Schools (Medicine, Law, Theology, et cetera)
| Years 6 and 7 of Post-Secondary Education
| Post-Secondary Education
| No
|
N/A
| Postdoctoral Study and Research
| -
| Postdoctoral Research
| No
|
Understanding the above.
From Elementary school, depending on the area of the country, students either leave for Middle School at grade 4, Junior High at grade 5, A Junior-Senior High School at grade 6, or to a 4-Year High School at grade 8.
Middle School students move to a 4-Year High School after grade 8.
Junior High students move to Senior High Schools after grade 9.
Each state has different laws regarding home-schooling, but in many states, parents are allowed to educate their children at home rather than sending them to public school for the entire twelve years. The parents have the option of home-schooling as many years as they like, and the student can then reenter the public schooling program at any time. In the majority of cases, the students perform better on tests and have an overwhelming wealth of knowledge about a plethora of subjects in comparison to their public-schooled cohort.
Vocational Technical Institutions are only 2-year programs.
Junior/Community Colleges are 2-year programs after which, the student usually enrolls in an Undergraduate program to finish off the final two years. Students have the option of skipping Junior or Community colleges altogether and enroll in an Undergraduate Program for the full four years, after which they have the option to move into Master's Degree Studies or a Professional School program.
After Master's Degree Studies, the individual has the opportunity to participate in Doctoral Studies.
After Professional School Programs have been completed, the individual has the option to spend usually less than a year in Doctoral Studies before receiving his doctorate.
The Basic Curriculum
By the end of 12th grade, all students are required to have taken courses in the following areas of study:
Science
- Typically a minimum of Two Years (At least two of the following):
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Physics
Mathematics
- Typically a minimum of two years (At least two of the following):
- Algebra
- Algebra II
- Geometry
- Trigonometry
- Pre-calculus
English
- Typically a four-year minimum.
- English classes vary wildly.
Social Sciences
- Typically a three-year minimum.
- Usually a Civics Class
- Usually a World History Class
- Usually an American History Class
Physical education
- One year minimum mandated by the government, but other schools may require physical education every year.
