 ELEMENTARY & SECONDARY SCHOOLS

 PUBLIC SCHOOLS

 Local authorities set up independent school districts, whose elected local boards of
education make most decisions regarding public elementary and secondary schools.

Kindergartens for 5 year olds

Elementary
Schools 6 to 12 year olds
System
Middle
Schools from 13 to 15 year olds
(junior highs)

High School from 16 to 18 year olds

The belief: Education should be designed by the people in the governments closest to
them.

 the federal government become involved when specific powers given by the
Constitution are involved, such as protection of rights guaranteed in the Bill of
Rights. The Federal government seldom interfere with local schools
 National government provided land for school sites, funds for special educational
projects and influenced local school policy by making federal grants for education
dependent on following non-discriminatory practices.

 Until 1950s almost State governments limited their involved in education to two
areas:
 Establishing state universities
 Setting general guidelines for public primary and secondary education

 The governor appoints a state board of Education which sets only general
minimum standards:
 Determines number of days in the school year
 The procedures for licensing teachers and administrators
 The school-leaving year
 Core curriculum
 Minimum requirements for academic progress at different levels
 Establish a degree of uniformity among the diverse schools districts

In recent decades, state boards have increasingly implemented testing programs

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There are three important kinds of localism encouraged by the delegation of state
authority to local school districts:

FINANCIAL POLITICAL SOCIAL

LOCALISM LOCALISM LOCALISM
 It refers to the  It is exercised through the  It refers to the
delegation of members of the local state distinctiveness of
responsibility for board of education. districts’
funding schools to educational
local districts.  They have more power over priorities and
the schools. goals that results
In 1980s state spending  The majority of those from differences
on education increased elected are parents, teachers in their
and federal contribution and local business people. populations' social
to public schools grew. attitudes.
The local board is powerful
BUT because it makes a range of These attitudes
important decisions: generally reflect the
Local real-estate taxes  The size and content of the local population’s
raise 46% of local school budget dominant socio-
school budgets.  Controls the hiring and firing economic class an mix
of teachers and of occupations,
State plans to administrators religions, races and
redistribute local  Choice of subjects, ethic groups.
property taxes in order programmes and educational
to reduce educational goals beyond the state  It is
inequality minimums significant
 Definition of school because
Redistribution plans disciplinary rules and local boards
routines make
They collect the real-  Approve the selection of important
estate taxes in the state library and textbooks policy
and place them in a fund  Make decisions on whether decisions. It
for public education. the district should pay to the has led to
This money is then sate or federal government public
redistributed to even out for aid under specific schools
the differences in school programmes. emphasizing
budgets across the state. agricultural
 PTA (the Parent- Teacher methods,
Association) is a voluntary industrial
organization that has certain arts,
influence over the board. commercial
studies or
college level
advanced
placement

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 courses.

Pluralism is
important

 PRIVATE ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS

 Parochial schools, which are run by religious groups. There is a wide variety:
 Catholic institutions
 Fundamentalist sects
 Protestant institutions
 Orthodox institutions
 Jewish Institutions
 Asian religious schools

 Non-sectarian private schools offer high standard of academic excellence,

adherence to a particular theory of education, ability to instil discipline and
maturity.

 Elite college-preparatory boarding schools (prep schools) gave well-qualified

faculties whose goal is to help children of the wealthy to gain admission to
prestigious universities.

 Military academies specialize in dealing with ‘problem children’ whose parents

can afford to reform their habits by subjecting them to the rigorous of
regimented life away from home

Private schools depend heavily on endowments (private donations), investments and

income from fee-paying students to meet their expense.

Some private educational institutions offer financial aid to attract students from a
variety of social backgrounds, while others follow a restrictive admissions policy to
maintain a more homogeneous student body.

 Reasons for choosing a private institution:

o The Supreme Court’s ban on group prayers and religious instructions in

the public schools
o Dissatisfaction with the public schools’ academic standards, lax
discipline, drug abuse or crime

 HIGHER EDUCATION

 High school graduates enter higher education through a process of mutual selection
in a system that is decentralized, diverse and competitive

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  Colleges and universities select a student body according to criteria set by the
individual institution

 The Federal government has only indirect influenced on these standards through
equal educational opportunity programmes, civil rights laws and constitutional
rights.
 State approval is only necessary for institutions of higher learning to operate and
grant degrees. After that, state involvement is minimal

 To provide a basis for comparing pupils’ skills, private agencies have developed
competitive college entrance examinations that are given all over the country on the
same day. Almost all colleges and universities require applicants to take:
 The Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT)

 Admissions departments: visit and evaluate secondary schools, interview

applicants and review pupils’ application forms
 Guidance departments in Secondary schools have counsellors who evaluate
colleges and universities for students and recommend programmes suited to their
abilities and test scores.
 Accrediting bodies: Regional organizations that monitor the quality of secondary
schools and institutions of higher education.

 Public Sector involves

 National military academies
 50 state university systems
 local technical or specialty schools
 community colleges
 city universities

 Private sector
 Thousands of institutions, ranging from specialty schools to small
church-related colleges to major universities with separate under-
graduate, graduate and professional schools.

 Post secondary technical or specialty schools: offer training for specific

occupations, such as accounting, computer programming, laboratory work or
business management.
 Community colleges give courses covering the usual requirements for the first two
years of college. After that students may graduate with an associate in arts (AA
degree) or transfer into the third year of a fill college or university programme and
continue towards a bachelor of arts or science (BA or BSc degree)
 Private higher Education : the majority of colleges and university are private
 Prestigious institutions offer some remedial courses for students well-
qualified poor, minority and foreign groups as a form of affirmative action,
because they believe studying with people of varied backgrounds is a vital
part of a good education.

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  Stipends, scholarships, low-interest loans, part-time work-study programmes
or a combination of these are available to people they institution wants.
 The ideal of community is often served by requiring students to live on
campus and by having relatively few students per teacher to encourage the
close contacts between students and faculty.
 A sense of community is also often established by bringing together staff
and students who share a religious or ethnic background or socio-political
orientation.

 The four-year liberal arts college: its purpose is provide basic courses in a broad
range of humanities and sciences. Liberal arts students usually do not specialize
until their third year.
 Goal: Make its graduates, so called well-rounded individuals, well
informed and cultured people. By requiring a core curriculum, these
colleges maintain a common culture in the US.

 Graduate Schools: a liberal arts degree is required before students enter to these
institutions. To be admitted, students must normally take a competitive
examination, either an entrance test for the professional school or graduate record
exams (GREs) in liberal arts subjects.
 Professional schools, such as law or medical schools
 Advanced liberal arts schools that offer masters degrees (the MA or MSc)
and doctorates (the PhD)

All American Institutions of higher education use the system called continuous
evaluation .
- it requires students to take mid-term and end-of-term examinations, write essays
and term papers and complete additional tasks the instructor chooses to give
- A minimum overall grade average is necessary to continue one's studies