The role of internet in our life

EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE USA.
Plan:

1. 
   Preschool education in the USA.
   
2. 
   Elementary school education in the USA.
   
3. 
   Secondary education in the USA.
   
4. 
   Higher education in the USA.
   

The educational history of the United States has certain peculiarities of its own which are closely connected with the specific conditions of life in the New World and the history of American society. The Constitution of the United States , ratified in 1789, contains no direct mention of education.

Thus education remains primarily a function of the states. Each state has a board of education, usually 3 to 9 members , serving mostly without pay. They are either elected by the public or appointed by the governor. The board has an executive officer, usually called the state school superintendent or commissioner. In some cases he is elected, in others he is appointed by the board.
In theory, responsibility for operating the public education system is local . Schools are under the jurisdiction of local school boards, composed of citizens elected by residents of the school district. In fact , however , much local control has been superseded. State laws determine the length of the school year, the way in which teachers shall be certified and many of the courses which must be taught.
Pre-school education . The majority of American educationalists consider that the aim of pre-school education is the child's’ individual development rather than the mastery of particular skills or academic subjects. Nursery schools and kindergartens are regarded as a means of helping children make the transition from home to school . Though kindergartens were first started as private enterprises, they have now become a part of the public schools in all but seven states. Also a large number of private nursery schools and kindergartens continue to function. It is estimated that at present only a little over half of all five-year-old American children are enrolled in nursery schools or kindergartens.
Elementary schools. The elementary school course is from six to nine years in length, the ordinary period being eight years.
The pupils enter at about six years of age. In the cities the elementary schools are usually in session for five hours daily, except Saturday and Sunday , beginning at 9 a.m. There is an intermission, usually of an hour at midday, and short recesses during the sessions. In the small rural schools the pupils are usually ungraded, and are taught singly or in varying groups. In the cities and towns in the majority of schools there is a careful gradation of pupils, and promotions from grade to grade are made at intervals of a year or a half –year. Classes are frequently divided into A, B and groups according to speed in learning
The program of studies in the elementary school includes English (reading, writing, spelling, grammar, composition), arithmetic ( sometimes elementary algebra also , or plane geometry in the upper grades), geography, history of the USA, and elementary natural science including human physiology and hygiene. Physical training, vocal music, drawing and manual training are often taught. Sometimes a foreign language (Latin, German, or French) and the study of general history are begun.
Religious Teaching is officially not permitted, although the exercises of the day are often opened with a reading from the Bible and the singing of a hymn.
Secondary education. The system of secondary school education in the United States is a conglomeration of many different kinds of institutions --- public and private, large and small , urban and rural, traditional and experimental, and academic , vocational , or comprehensive. The vast majority of these schools are the public high schools, which are expected to provide education for all the youth living in a given city, town, or school district. A student living in a school district organized according to the most usual educational pattern, would complete the first eight grades in an elementary school and then continue his education for four years more in a high school. There are , however, some variations of this 8-4 pattern.
A school system may be arranged according to a 6-3-3 pattern , that is, a six –year elementary school program, a three—year junior high or intermediate school program, and a three-year high school program. Some other variations in a three—level system might be 4-4-4 or 5-3-4, but no matter what the specific organizational structure of a particular school system may be grades 9 to 12 are considered the “ secondary “ or high school “ grades.
Compulsory attendance laws in most of the 50 states require that children attend school until the age of 16 , with some special provisions for those who have completed a certain level of education and have secured employment.
On the average students attend school approximately six hours a day. Ideally, the curriculum of a comprehensive high school would include at least four years of English and American literature and composition, three years of social studies ( history and economics), two years of mathematics, one year of science, four years of physical education and health instruction, and a program of art and music.
Most comprehensive high schools, which are generally located in the more rural and sparsely populated areas of the country, can offer only a limited selection of basic courses in English, mathematics , history , science , foreign language , and vocational subjects.
Higher Education. There is no national system of higher education in the United States. Basically, American higher education developed its own pattern by adaptation of two traditions: the collegiate tradition of England and the university tradition of the Continent.
In the USA there is no consistent distinction between the term “college” and “university”. The general tendency , however , is to call a college a higher educational institution offering mainly courses of instruction leading to the bachelor’s degree; a university is a college or group of colleges or departments under one control offering courses of instruction leading not only to the bachelor’s degree but also to the master’s and the doctor’s degrees. The term “college” is also sometimes loosely applied to institutions which are actually only secondary schools.
The oldest American universities of Harvard , Yale, Pennsylvania, Princeton , and Columbia were founded in the 17^th and 18^th centuries and were mostly ecclesiastic schools training clergymen.
Later on the network of higher education institutions spread from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. From the 19^th century natural sciences began to occupy more and more place in the curriculum.
Professors of different departments were often educated in Europe. A radical turn took place in the middle of the 20^th century . The scientific revolution had some effect on the secondary schools , but it was the American higher education institutions which were most seriously affected by it, both in quality , and in quantity. Now almost 10 million students study in American higher education institutions, i.e. relatively more than in other capitalist countries. American universities also became research centres in the 20^th century . Many of them surpass the West European higher education institutions in many respects. It is characteristic that the curricula have been expanded; for instance, psychology, sociology and other humanities are now being taught in technical and natural science higher education institutions and in humanitarian ones more attention is paid to mathematics.
The basic contradiction between what higher should be and what it actually is, is brought about by the control of higher education by monopoly capitalism. University governing boards never include black , brown , or working-class representatives. In this way capitalist control is achieved over higher education institutions.
American universities and colleges and also higher education institutions of different levels , which sometimes comprise a university, are only partially funded by the state government. To a much greater extent they are financially supported by philanthropic foundations and rich trustees.
That’s why the latter can exercise great influence over university affairs. Universities also obtain funds from federal state organization and large companies for research work (often in the military area ).
The tuition fee in American higher education institutions is high and still growing. To send young people to a university is a heavy burden even for a middle class family. Consequently many American students have to work part time , especially during holidays . This is a characteristic feature of the social life of the nation.
Today students make more than 30 per cent of American youth. The student movement was one of the most important features of the social crisis of the sixties. Student revolts were to a large extent directed against the “ dirty war “ in Vietnam and against the links of higher education institutions with the military industrial complex.