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American School System

The American school system is diverse and decentralized. While educational standards are set by the federal government, each state has its own education department that sets its own curriculum, funding, and organization of schools. There are generally three levels of education - elementary/primary school, middle/junior high school, and high school. Students typically begin primary school at age 5 and complete high school around age 18. To graduate from high school, students must meet requirements set by their state, which may include earning a minimum number of credits and maintaining a certain grade point average. Many students also take Advanced Placement courses in high school to earn college credit and improve their chances of admission to selective universities.

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357 views6 pages

American School System

The American school system is diverse and decentralized. While educational standards are set by the federal government, each state has its own education department that sets its own curriculum, funding, and organization of schools. There are generally three levels of education - elementary/primary school, middle/junior high school, and high school. Students typically begin primary school at age 5 and complete high school around age 18. To graduate from high school, students must meet requirements set by their state, which may include earning a minimum number of credits and maintaining a certain grade point average. Many students also take Advanced Placement courses in high school to earn college credit and improve their chances of admission to selective universities.

Uploaded by

Ana
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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American School System

If you want to follow a school in the US, know that


diversity within US borders applies to the education system
as well. Differences in the structure and design of curricula
might arouse confusion in international students. Although
educational standards are set by the federal government,
the powers of the state governments incumbent public
education system. Therefore, each state has its own
education department that sets curriculum, hire staff
schools, establishes the funding of this sector etc. The latter
is, in many US states, divided into local school districts.
Each school district and even school schools, in some
cases, have a certain amount of freedom in terms of internal
organization.
Differences in curriculum, structure of education, offer
materials and extracurricular activities are generated by the
organizational structure of the education sector. For
example, in some states, schooling is compulsory up to age
16, while in other states students can not legally stop their
schooling until the age of 18.

Structure of the educational system


Besides the educational concept, another common
point of American States educational systems is their
structure. Education is of three types: elementary / primary,
secondary (which combines general education with high
school education) and postsecondary / higher.
Children start going to school from the age of 5 years
and completed high school at age 18 (K-12 education
covers the full cycle of primary and secondary schooling).
Depending on the state, the models after which education is
structured are:
 The 6 + 3 + 3: primary school (K-5), middle school (6-8),
High School (9-12);
 The 8 + 4: primary school (K-8), High School (9-12);
 The 6 + 6: primary school (K-6) combined school and
high school (junior & high school, 7-12).

Primary (Elementary School /


Primary School)
Kindergarten is the beginning of primary education, and
children begin to attend from the age of 5 years. During the
primary school, pupils foundations of general knowledge,
they learning to read and write. Students also learn basic
concepts of math, geography, civic culture, music, science,
health and physical education. Most often, foreign
languages are introduced beginning with the years of school
(middle school / junior high school).

General Education (Middle School /


Junior High School)
Once in school, students receive a little more flexible
curriculum, materials having both mandatory and optional.
The number of materials and combinations of courses
varies by district and type of diploma required. The
compulsory subjects, such as maths, English and science,
students can be placed in a group corresponding to their
level of academic study.
High school (High School)
Although there is no unified national curriculum,
secondary general content of the program has many points
in common, and necessary conditions that a student must
meet to graduation are similar.
Compulsory student's weekly timetable form together
with the optional subjects chosen. Some of the compulsory
subjects are English, mathematics, foreign languages,
physical education, arts and / or music, general science,
social studies (material that combines history, politics and
geography). In addition, students have the flexibility to
choose the level at which to study the compulsory and
optional, under the guidance counselor school and parents.

Evaluation forms
Upon completion of high school, students will not
support some public exams such as the baccalaureate
exams Romanian or A-Level exams in the British system,
but must meet a number of conditions graduation,
determined by each individual state. Students are evaluated
throughout the school year through tests, final exams at the
end of the semester, homework, group projects, active
participation in class etc. All forms of evaluation contribute
to the student's final mark in each subject separately.

Grading System
Notes are expressed either by the letters (A +, B + B, C
+, etc.), or by a percentage of up to 100%. Their average is
expressed using a scoring system called Grade Point
Average (GPA), where the maximum score is 4.
Diploma (American High School
Diploma)
Graduation Diploma for secondary education, students
must take into account the requirements imposed by the US
in studying and school district. Most often, the student must
have a minimum number of credits in the subjects.

US Honors Program
Selective and nationally recognized American Honors
is a program lasting two years, providing motivated students
distinguish who want to study at the most prestigious
institutions of higher education, including the Ivy League.

Advanced Placement (AP)


This is a course syllabus that follow the curriculum at
the college level that students can follow during high school,
the desired materials. Many US universities and colleges
require applicants to have completed APs to certain
materials, depending on the desired specialization. These
courses add value plus graduation diploma. Depending on
the results of final examinations APs, students can obtain
loans from the home higher education institution accepting.

SAT / ACT
The preparations for a US university applications
include SAT or ACT test support (depending on the
requirements of the institution you are applying). Both tests
are designed to measure different skills, but their
approaches are different. ACT put more emphasis on the
assimilation of knowledge in accordance with the
curriculum, while the SAT test language skills, verbal and
mathematical logic. The tests are composed of several
sections such as: math, reading, language skills and
grammar and essay writing (optional). ACT is distinguished
by the greater tendency towards science.

Preparation for university


Depending on the desired specialization and prestige
university or college in which students will apply, they must
take into account the admission requirements imposed by
their respective institutions of higher education. Applications
to university or college will be evaluated not only by the
value of GPA, but also the type of diploma obtained, the
Honors and AP sites, SAT or ACT score. Besides the
results obtained over the years, universities will pay
attention to reputation graduated high school, the academic
level of the class in which the student studied, and
extracurricular activities in which the student has taken part
over the years and its concerns. So for higher education
institutions not only matters as future student will excel
academically but also how it will actively take part in life
within campuslui.

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