, no one institution can be singled out as typical or representative. Yet there are enough basic similarities in structure among various schools and systems to permit some general comments.
Most schools start at the kindergarten level. There are some school districts that do not have this beginning phase, and others which have an additional "pre-school" one.
Elementary (Primary) and secondary (high) schools are organized on one or two bases: eight years of elementary school and four years of secondary school, or six years of elementary, three years of junior high school and three years of senior high school. p> Although there is no national curriculum there are almost always required subjects at each level. Primary school children in the United States learn much the same things as do children of the same age in other countries. p> Almost every elementary school instructs children in penmanship, science, mathematics, music, art, physical education, language arts (which include reading, writing and grammar), and social studies (which include geography, history, and citizenship).
Most secondary schools require students to take English, mathematics, science, social studies, and physical education. In addition to this "core" curriculum, students choose "Elective" courses in their areas of interest. p> What makes curriculum offerings more similar is a growing trend to adopt certain types of educational programs and competencies by state legislatures across the country. For instance, since 1985 nineteen states have passed legislation requiring students from schools throughout the state to pass a minimum competency test before they receive their high school diplomas. This, plus the fact that an additional twenty-three states have some form of minimum competency testing, creates strong pressure for curricular uniformity. Course content is also similar because expressed social goals are quite uniform throughout the United States. Additionally, much of what is taught in schools is influenced by the books and materials that are used. Because the large textbook companies sell books and series of books from state to state and from coast to coast, commonalities are further emphasized. p> Another reason for similarity is the general uniformity of schooling procedures. For instance the number of hours of instruction and days in the school year is practically the same throughout the United States. Other similarities in schooling procedures include the length of classes, the time between classes, the use of bells, the number of pupils in each class, the awarding of credits (Carnegie units) for the completion of courses, the requirement of a fixed number of Carnegie units for graduation, the bureaucratic structure within the school systems. Also similar are the school rituals, such as book fairs, pep rallies, and graduation ceremonies.
In addition to curricular offerings and schooling procedures, actual teaching methods provide another element of uniformity in schools today. Verbal explanations, presentations and questioning, and assigning seatwork and drill on new material are among the main tools of the teaching trade.
2.3 Standards
Those who believe that American schools are more play than work overlook an important fact: a high school diploma is not a ticket that allows someone to automatically enter a university. Standardized examinations play a decisive role at almost every level of education, especially in the admission to colleges and universities. Students, who wish to go to a good university but only took high school courses that were a "snap", or who spent too much time on extracurricular activities, will have to compete with those who worked hard and took demanding courses.
There are two widely used and nationally-administered standardized tests for high school students who wish to attend a college or university. One is the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test), which attempts to measure aptitudes in verbal and mathematical fields necessary for college work. The other is the ACT (American College Testing program), which attempts to measure skills in English, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences. Both tests are given at specific dates and locations throughout the US by non-profit, nongovernmental organizations. The tests are used by universities as standards for comparison, but are not in any way "official".
2.4 American School from the Point of View of Russian Teenagers
Since the objective of our research is to view American system of education from different angles. Firstly we tried to find out what Russian teenagers, in our case senior students of Lyceum 37, know about their peers overseas. We made up a questionnaire containing a number of questions to conduct a survey among the students of the 10 th and 11 th grades. The results gave us ...
