The organization of higher education in the United States differs significantly from that in Russia. The higher education system in the United States is divided into three stages: undergraduate, graduate and graduate school.

Completing the first stage means obtaining a full-fledged higher education. A graduate with a bachelor's degree in the USA can apply for a job in his specialty. The next degree, Master of Science, is more focused on deepening or changing specialization, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is focused on teaching and research.

A similar system began to be implemented in Russia in the 2000s - after the country joined the Bologna Process, the goal of which is to unify the educational standards of European countries. Today, a Russian bachelor's degree formally means having a higher education, but stereotypes left over from the Soviet system still operate in society.

This is clearly visible in the standard fields in resumes or application forms filled out during employment. Not all large and serious companies will accept an applicant who has completed only a bachelor's degree for a position that requires higher education. In the USA, a bachelor's degree is a full-fledged higher education.

Bachelor's degree in the USA

About the curriculum of an American university student

Studying at American colleges requires students to be much more independent. In fact, training in American universities is carried out according to individual plans. To obtain a bachelor's degree, you must complete at least a certain number of hours of lectures and seminars - the so-called "credits". Find out how many credits a bachelor's degree requires here.

Grades and academic performance in US universities

Academic progress is assessed based on the results of semester exams, project defenses, etc. The grading system is five-point, letter (A, B, C, D, E), but the final indicator of academic performance - GPA (Grade Point Average) has a numerical value.

About American universities

US public and private universities

Another detail characteristic of the American higher education system is the division of universities into public and private. These two categories are quite different. State universities, as a rule, are large organizations, the number of students there is significantly larger, and the cost of education is lower. At the same time, most four-year colleges are private and much smaller in scale.

Public universities in the United States are run not by federal authorities, but by state authorities. This affects the cost of tuition even for US citizens - it is different for residents and non-residents of the state. It is curious that the level of the university is not directly related to the type of funding - among the highly ranked universities there are both public (University of California at Berkeley, University of Michigan) and private (Princeton, Harvard, Caltech, Stanford).

International students at US universities

American universities willingly accept foreign students; about a million people who come from abroad are constantly studying in the country. The desire of many people from all over the world to get an education in the United States is understandable - a diploma from an American university practically guarantees a well-paid job in their homeland. In addition, there is the prospect of remaining to work in the United States after graduating from college, if you can find a company willing to issue a work visa for the graduate.

About applying for a bachelor's degree in America

Cost of education in American universities

But the quality and prestige of American higher education also have a downside: studying in the USA is quite expensive, although the price can vary greatly depending on the university.

A year at a prestigious private university or state university from the top hundred in world rankings will cost $35,000 - $45,000; Tuition at a less-ranked public university can cost less than $20,000. This is tuition only, excluding the cost of living and other expenses, which will be approximately the same. Read about the cost of studying in the USA in this section.

How to reduce the cost of studying at an American university

There is a way to reduce the cost of studying at an American university - start your studies not at a bachelor's degree, but at a so-called community college in the USA. These two-year vocational educational institutions are not part of the higher education system, but after graduating from such an educational institution, you can immediately enter the third year of university - provided that you have completed the required number of hours in the relevant subjects and have good academic performance. The cost of training there is much lower, about 7-10 thousand dollars a year - as well as the requirements for admission.

Master's in the USA

The next step after a bachelor's degree is a master's degree, upon completion of which the student receives a master's degree. This is only possible at the university.

Completing a master's degree can take up to two years. The educational system is similar to a bachelor's degree, but the complexity and intensity of study is much higher. The degree of individuality and independence of learning also increases. To complete the master's degree, the student defends a thesis.

About the types of master's programs

There are two main types of master's programs: training masters in professional fields and “academic” masters, which are aimed at continuing education in graduate school and subsequent scientific activity. In the second case, participation in scientific research becomes of great importance.

About applying for a master's degree in America

About the cost of a master's degree at US universities

Master's studies in the USA are paid. The cost varies greatly depending on the university, but in general it is at the same level or slightly cheaper than the price of an undergraduate degree, and the chances of finding funding are much higher.

Postgraduate studies in the USA

The third and final stage of American postgraduate education is graduate school in the USA (doctorate). This choice is made by those who intend to engage in science or teaching. The training lasts from 4 to 6 years, upon completion the degree of Doctor of Philosophy - PhD (the name is historical, has nothing to do with philosophy as such) or Doctor of Science - ScD is awarded. This degree roughly corresponds to the Russian Ph.D.

Publications about educational problems in our country evoked a lively response from readers. Along with comments and questions, the editors received requests to talk in detail about how the Western school is structured, from which, it seems, our officials are copying the plan for remaking Russian education. It would be nice to talk about the American school. American films have taught us the idea that American school education is terrible. However, everywhere and always there is good and bad. And if we’re going to talk about it, let’s talk about a positive experience. A long-time author of our magazine, Valerian Matveevich Khutoretsky, who has been living in America for many years, prepared a detailed article for Chemistry and Life about how a good public school in the USA is structured and works. This year the twin granddaughters of Valerian Matveevich graduated from it, so the information is, as they say, first-hand. We hope that the article will be interesting and useful not only for teachers, but also for those who care about the fate of school education, that is, all our readers.

There is no need for illusions - in America there are a ton of schools where they re-teach how to read and calculate fractions in class, and girls get pregnant already in middle school. But this applies mainly to schools in large cities. Many of those who work in big cities try to live in neighboring small towns, where the quality of life is higher. We are not talking about an American school in general, but only about a good public school in a good suburban area. The middle class lives here, which includes licensed repairmen, small business owners, managers of various ranks, realtors, etc., and not only, as is commonly believed in Russia, doctors, lawyers and “programmers” of all kinds. Real estate (house and land) in places with good schools can be twice as expensive as housing that is the same in other respects, which serves as a barrier to the appearance of unwanted neighbors. Personally, I have never been able to understand what comes first - the increased price of real estate or the high level of the school, but they are undoubtedly connected. Note that good schools can be found in poor places, and bad schools can be found in rich ones. When choosing a place to live, smart people who have or are planning to have children look at the rating of the local school. And there are ratings for everything in the world.

What schools are there?

Schools in America are private (private; if boarding, then boarding) and state or public (public). In the 2009-2010 school year, 10% of the total number of US schoolchildren and preschoolers, or 5.5 million people, attended private schools and kindergartens. Some children do not attend school at all (home schooling) for some reason, for example for religious reasons or to finish school faster. Private schools provide a good education, but tuition fees start at $10,000 per year. The upper limit of payment is unknown, but 35 thousand is a real figure. Public ones are free.

Education at school is divided into three levels: primary (from the first to the fifth grades, with a compulsory zero grade, kindergarten), secondary (grades 6-8) and higher, and there is no higher school in America (grades 9-12). should be confused with higher education in Russia, where universities are called that way. If translated exactly, then high or secondary school is a “high” school, and higher, tertiary or post-secondary (college) is “higher”, and none of them is the highest. Let's call her eldest or something. Each of the schools of all three levels is a completely independent institution, usually in a separate building and with its own teaching staff. If in a town there is, in addition to one or two secondary and several elementary schools, also a high school, then it also has an education department (Board of Education), which determines what, how and with what textbooks to teach in this district. In another town the program will be slightly different.

A really good school has many dozens of different courses, many of them taught at the university level. The choice of foreign languages ​​is something like this: Spanish, French, Latin, Chinese, German, Italian. The dropout rate at a good school is essentially zero, while in New York City, only 76% of white students and 56% of black students graduate from public high school. New Jersey has an average public school dropout rate of 1.7%.

There are also special schools for children with disabilities - in both directions. They are attended by either especially gifted children (admission by competition!) or children who require special attention - blind, deaf, or severely retarded in development. Disabled children and children with mild behavioral and developmental disabilities attend normal schools; The twins are separated into different classes. There are specialized schools, for example, the Stuyvesant physics and mathematics school, which is abbreviated as Stuy, in Manhattan (analogous to Moscow schools No. 2, 57, 179).

The most expensive back-to-school purchase is a computer, which lasts at least four to six years and costs about $800. In a year, office supplies are spent at most $100. Lunch costs $2-4, but you can bring food from home. To receive a free lunch, you just need to submit an application. Since "a good school in a good area" is a vague concept, let's put it this way: The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Blue Ribbon awards to 74 of the 490 high schools in New Jersey. Thus, we can assume that the share of “good” schools is approximately 15%.

Teachers and budgets

Teachers belong to a trade union, their salaries increase with experience and do not depend on personal achievements. To work as a teacher, you need a certificate from the state; without this, you can generally teach a lesson only in the presence of a “real” teacher. Most states will recognize a certificate issued by another state. According to a survey by the National Association of Science Teachers, in 2007, about half of high schools and one-third of middle schools had a shortage of science teachers (here called "Science"). In difficult situations, they hire a subject specialist (chemist, physicist, etc.), and he attends certification courses in the evenings for a year, while teaching classes at school. When studying at a four-year college, you can take the appropriate set of disciplines and receive a diploma and teaching certificate. About a third of the courses should be related to school work, the rest - general education and scientific specialization (mathematics, chemistry, etc.).

There are also special pedagogical colleges where teachers are trained, often for primary and secondary schools. Not everything is always smooth with them; many of them are not accredited by anyone. How graduates of unaccredited colleges find work, I don’t know. Maybe they are the ones who produce teachers for “bad” schools in large cities and remote villages? All teachers at the school go to a two-day professional development conference once a year, and classes are suspended during this time. Another day or so a year, a teacher undergoes additional retraining, but then someone replaces him in the classroom. In a good school, ten percent of teachers have a doctorate (candidate of sciences), 73% have a master's degree. The teacher's workload is five lessons per day, 25 per week.

In theory, schools should be maintained by municipalities, and in a good place, 87% of the funds actually come from the local budget, and only 11% from the state budget and 2% from the federal budget. In a bad school (usually in a poor area), the picture is different: only 13% comes from the local budget, 74% from the state budget and 12% from the federal budget. The average salary of a teacher (half receive more, the other half less) in a good school is 81 thousand a year, in a poor area - 59. The budget of a good high school with four hundred graduates, which will be discussed later, is almost 40 million dollars a year.

When the New Jersey government cut subsidies to good schools due to the crisis, residents of some districts with such schools voted for voluntary tax increases to maintain high quality teaching. It should be noted that not all of these residents have children, but a good school increases the price of real estate in its area. My point is that they are not necessarily altruists, they also vote to preserve the value of the property they own, even if it means paying extra in the form of a slightly higher tax. Both state and national governments are much more interested in preventing bad schools from becoming terrible than they are in maintaining the standard of good schools.

Textbooks, schedule and electives

An American elementary school differs from a Russian one not only in the presence of air conditioning, which is found in almost all US institutions, and in the shuffling of classes every year. There is no strict discipline here in primary school: children are not prevented from walking around the class, they can study while sitting in a circle on the floor, some can read on their own. They are taken to a clearing near the school, and then asked to write something about what they saw: about a piece of bark in the grass, a worm or a beetle, etc. However, by the fifth grade, everyone is already sitting at single desks and the lessons have an almost familiar look to us. .

In high school there are no classes at all as permanent groups: students move to different groups for different subjects, some of which they choose themselves. Basic subjects, including those included in “Science” - biology, chemistry, physics and earth sciences (geology, rocks and minerals, earth’s crust, etc.) - remain mandatory. To have the right to choose a more complex program in a subject, you need to get an excellent grade in it in the previous year. From the 7th grade you can take an increased level of complexity in mathematics and English. In the 8th grade, the choice of subjects of an increased level of complexity is expanded and freedom is given to choose some optional subjects: cooking, for example, there are a lot of applicants, including boys.

In high school, over the course of four years, you must take three more complex and varied (optional) “Science” courses and three in Mathematics. In the 9th grade, science is “Fundamentals of Chemistry and Physics”, in the 10th grade - biology. At least one of the science courses should include laboratory work; in a good school, that's all. The choice is that you can either take courses of varying complexity (see below), or choose narrower subjects, that is, it could be ecology, not biology, astrophysics, not physics, etc. Required in high school are four yearlong courses of English language and literature, physical education, social and historical sciences, and at least one art course. In what order what to go through is a matter of taste, so it’s normal for tenth graders and 12th graders to sit in the same class. Each year-long course taken is worth five credits. Some subjects are completed in one semester (2.5 credits). Another 15 credits (three annual courses) must be taken from a variety of additional courses, but you can simply take one more course per year from the required ones. The amount by graduation must be at least 120 credits. University education is structured similarly: the total amount of credits and a list of compulsory disciplines, the rest is optional.

All students are called students - why not? But when you first hear about kindergarten students, you, of course, have fun. Each year of both high school and college has its own ordinal name: freshman - first year, sophomore - second, junior - third, senior - fourth.

School textbooks are published on thick paper and are richly and usefully illustrated, although this makes them very heavy. They are handed in at the end of the school year, since they are also expensive (more than $100 if you want your own copy), then they are passed on to another student. To solve the problem of heavy backpacks, many states have already introduced laptops that combine all textbooks, diaries and homework. Each student has a locker in the hallway, which is emptied at the end of the year.

School starts after the first Tuesday in September, Labor Day, and ends on June 24. The school year is divided into four quarters that do not involve holidays (the four Thanksgiving holidays in November, the Christmas holiday from December 24 to January 3, the second to last week of February, and the week in early April). Classes run five days a week. In high school, the day consists of eight lessons lasting 43 minutes. In four minutes between lessons, you need to have time to move to the desired subject room (the word “office” here means closet), and the school is long, because it only has two, rarely three, floors. So the traffic in the corridors after the bell is very, very busy. After the fourth lesson, 20 minutes are allotted for lunch.

At the end of the school year, each student makes a list of subjects, including their level of difficulty, that he wants to take for the next year. Since one of the eight lessons is physical education, these are seven subjects. So he puts together a program of seven courses and coordinates it with an advisor (see the chapter “Advisors”). The office arranges the schedules of all students and sends everyone a ready-made schedule for the next year. You can't change the teacher, whoever you get will be the one.

This schedule includes the room number where you will be staying all year. For example, the first lesson every day and all year will be physics (room 129), the second is always history (room 215), the third is geometry (room 117), etc. The exception is physical education, which is four days a week. Usually, double laboratory work is carried out at her expense once a week. Thus, five lessons per week are allocated for each subject.

Since there are no classes, then, in our understanding, there are no class teachers either. Each student is assigned to a Home Room, that is, a classroom. After the second lesson, the same teacher comes there for five minutes (therefore the second break is five minutes longer), conducts a roll call and makes sure that all students listen to the current announcements on the radio, if necessary, distributes educational materials or some forms to them, which need to be filled out and then submitted to the office or nurse (certificate from a doctor to participate in competitions, permission from parents for an excursion, etc.). If the teacher has nothing to add to the radio broadcast, then he dismisses the students for recess.

Typical lesson and homework

A typical lesson is a lively lecture. The teacher engages students in discussion of a topic proposed in advance or presented during the lesson. Those who want to raise their hand and speak, the teacher encourages, sharpens the questions. Participation in a discussion is not a survey; there are no oral tests of knowledge here. Some teachers do not evaluate it at all, others, especially in language and historical disciplines, take it into account at their own discretion. This form of “voluntary survey” is aimed at consolidating what has been learned and developing one’s own opinion, and not at maintaining fear: if they call you, they won’t call you. The lesson is often illustrated by showing slides through a projector from the teacher’s laptop, experiments and fragments of films in foreign languages.

Homework is all written and submitted in class or online - every day. You can be sick, grab a couple of days for the holiday (a note from your parents) - please, but homework must be submitted, and without delay, for all the days of absence. Occasionally, instead of, or even together with, homework, larger assignments - “projects” - occur. Usually they are humanitarian. For example, write a short play in French and perform it in class (and repeat it at a parent-teacher meeting). Or organize a discussion “Are you for or against the co-education of boys and girls?”: one group of students collects arguments “for”, another group “against”, and the rest of the class judges. Often they are asked to create presentations (Power Point), for example, on the topic “Periodic Table”. Each represents the element assigned to it: position in the periodic table, properties, applications.

Team work is seen here as an important skill acquired in school, so projects and class work are often carried out by two to four people. In computer science (fundamentals of computer science and computing), teamwork is the rule, not the exception. The task of the project there is stated in the most general form: to write any application for the iPhone or come up with a game. The guys themselves get together in groups of two or four and work together, sometimes all year long. If something doesn’t work out, they go ask questions to other groups, or the teacher tells them who to consult.

The total grade for the project varies among different teachers, but in general it is at the level of a major test. Everyone’s contribution to the project is usually not allocated, everyone gets an equal share. In addition to homework, there are tests (short, quiz, 5-20 minutes; more detailed, test, 40 minutes) and exams.

Grades and Difficulties

Exams appear at the end of middle school, and in high school they are held every six months. Cheating on exams and tests (but not cheating on homework, especially at the end of 12th grade!) is virtually unknown. In-school exams, which are compiled by teachers themselves, can be quite legitimately corrected if it turns out that the majority did not cope well with a particular task or the exam as a whole. Then scaling is carried out: those students who scored the highest percentage of correct solutions, say 95%, are given 100% credit, and the rest are given 5%.

The number of tasks or questions is measured in dozens; The time allotted for the exam is 90 minutes. Not all, but usually most of the tasks are tasks of choosing the correct solution from the proposed answers. There are no special days set aside to prepare for the exams, and the exams themselves take place four days in a row, or even two a day.

All grades are given in a letter system: A, B, C, D and F, with pluses and minuses added. For correctly solved 93% or more they get an A, 90-92% - an A with a minus, etc. Only 60% of correct answers (D-) will still be counted, but less is already an F (failed).

Grades are given at school, but they are not communicated in class, only to parents and the student. (Although many other cities in the country maintain a system of ranking students.) Now parents are simply given a password to a site with their child’s current grades.

Although other people's grades are unknown to those around them, closer to graduation, everyone's position in the educational hierarchy is not only known, but also accompanies the student's application for admission to the university. It is impersonal and represents the percentage of ten in terms of academic performance in which the student fell according to his average score: first ten, second ten. Getting into the top ten adds a diploma of “High Honors” to the certificate, in the second and third - “With Honors” (Honors). Each graduating class has the best student of the year (valedictorian), sometimes two, who are given the honor of making a speech to the graduates at the ceremony. Another category of awards consists of prizes from numerous scientific (Intel, Merck, Google, etc.) and artistic and humanitarian competitions and olympiads.

Submission of documents to universities ends on December 31, and by April 1, all universities send their decisions, and those accepted only need to ensure that they are not expelled from school before receiving a certificate. Therefore, in the second semester of the last, 12th grade, only enthusiasts or those who complete AP courses study (see below). Competition for admission to universities primarily takes into account the average score for the 10th-11th and the first semester of the 12th grade - the so-called GPA (Grade Point Average), which includes grades in all subjects except physical education and health, but including art subjects. Therefore, there are many people who want to improve it, and the main way to do this is no, not just to study well. To do this, you still need to increase the level of difficulty of the subjects you take.

Each subject in high school has four levels of difficulty. The names of these levels differ not only from state to state, but even from county to county. A fairly typical set: College Level or Advanced Placement (AP, AP); Accelerated or Honors; CPA or standard; and CPB or essential. The last two stand for “College Preparation” A and B. “A” means the usual, typical level, “B” is a little lower. In the certificate, these levels have different weights. If the maximum in CPA and CPB is estimated at 4 points, then the maximum in Accelerated (Honors) gives 4.33, and in AP - already 4.67 points. Selection for the Accelerated level is based on previous assessments; For AP, in addition, you must pass the entrance exam.

In addition to the assessment, many advanced courses have prerequisites: to take Advanced Algebra 2, you must pass Algebra 1, and to enroll in AP Physics or AP Statistics, you must complete Algebra 2, so your choice must be planned well in advance. To stay at the Accelerated level for the next year, an average score of B minus is enough, but in order to move from it to the AP level, you need to have an annual A, and occasionally they can take an A with a minus. AP is the highest level, corresponding to the first year of university. The first three AP courses (European history, biology, art) are allowed to be taken in the 10th grade, then more, and some courses are available only in the last grade.

The most prestigious universities will not seriously consider certificates with a GPA below 4.25, and this is unattainable without honors and AP courses. But most universities and colleges in the United States count a high school AP course as a course taken at the university. Many schoolchildren use this opportunity to obtain a bachelor's degree not in four years, but faster, which, given the rapidly growing tuition fees (recently about 10% per year), can save tens of thousands of dollars. In addition, taking a lot of AP courses is a plus when considering an application for admission to universities, and the competition for the most prestigious colleges exceeds ten people per place.

They say that there was a girl at school who was able to take 16 AP courses. My granddaughter's friend passed 14, but not with maximum grades, which lowered her main indicator - GPA. Unfortunately, she was not accepted into any of the prestigious universities she chose. The adviser (see below) got her into a university of a lower rank, where she initially did not apply, although for full support (full ride): she pays nothing for tuition or living expenses.

Private exams

Grade point average (GPA) is important for admission to universities, it is evidence of the quality of mastering school material, an indicator of stable interest in studying. After this, the second most important indicator is the results of exams conducted by private organizations. Their purpose is to determine how ready a student is to continue studying in college, that is, to evaluate his abilities and work skills, and not the sum of his accumulated knowledge. For them, the school provides a place and teacher supervision on a free day.

These exams cost money and are only taken by college-bound students, but at a good school that's pretty much it. There are essentially two such exams: SAT (Sholastic Assessment Test) and ACT (American College Testing), although the more common SAT has additional varieties. You can take either or both of them and in any class. The SAT is administered by the same organization, the College Board, that tests and scores AP exams.

The regular SAT (there are also subject SATs or SAT II, ​​which assess knowledge in chemistry, physics, economics, language, etc.) consists of three parts, each of which has a maximum weight of 800 points: this is critical reading. , which includes testing the student’s ability to analyze texts, in particular, to compare two texts by different authors on a similar topic; writing - the ability to choose the right means to convey thoughts, in particular, in 25 minutes you need to write an essay, preferably five paragraphs with an introduction and conclusion; and basic mathematics. In addition to tasks for choosing from four possible options, the SAT also contains tasks that require a free-form answer, and the difficulty of the tasks varies. It's 3 hours and 45 minutes long, and time is rarely wasted.

Of course, testing agility using such a system is reminiscent of an exercise in solving speed problems and thus allows you to assess only the ability to solve problems that do not require deep thinking, but such problems, in fact, are to be solved in college. By the way, the ability to concentrate for four hours is also an important skill in college. This exam is good for ranking students for admission to decent, but not the most prestigious, universities. It is held many times a year, it can be retaken, however, since 2011 it costs 50 dollars (last year it was 25). In accordance with the future specialty, the university's SAT requirements vary depending on the specialty that the applicant has chosen: if you are a future artist, then you may not be interested in the mathematical section at all.

So, the graduate receives two important documents: a record of grades with GPA and SAT and/or ACT results. The third required component for admission success is recommendations, and the most important of these is the school reference. Guidance Counselors, who write this reference, play a prominent role in school life. They give students advice on behavior at school, choosing subjects for the year, changes in personal schedules, but, of course, their main job is admission to universities. Their task is to know the students, and there are 50-60 of them per advisor in the graduating class alone, so they distribute questionnaires to students, communicate with teachers about their students, and simply encourage them to come in more often. With the question “Why does my Vasya get a D in geometry?” You can go straight to the math teacher, but everything else goes to the counselor; there are no class teachers at school.

When applying for admission, social activities are taken into account - sounds familiar, doesn’t it? A system of recommendations is practiced from those places where the applicant has worked, as an employee or as a volunteer. Individual teachers, as well as extracurricular teachers and coaches of art, ballet, sports, religious schools, studios and clubs can give their recommendation - at the request of the student, of course. All recommendations are sent directly to the admissions office of the university; the recommended person does not see them.

Almost all universities upon admission require several recommendations and two or three short essays on a free or given topic: from the standard “Why our university?” to exotic things like “How could you use the ability to write backwards?” These essays are not entrance exams (although they are practiced in some places); they are additional, in addition to recommendations, material for studying the personality of the applicant.

When selecting students, achievements in any type of activity, especially competitive ones, are valued. A future chemist who has a diploma from a laureate of a piano competition has an advantage in admission. Why? Because this diploma shows that a person can achieve something, win, and we will teach chemistry. Sports achievements are welcomed, but to varying degrees in different universities. In some, promising athletes are searched for, invited and fully or partially exempted from tuition and living fees. In others this is a plus, but all other things being equal. A system of interviews (interviews) is widely practiced, which are often conducted by former graduates of this university who live or work near the applicant. There is another scheme: a representative of the admissions committee comes to places where there are many applicants and conducts interviews with them at one of the nearby schools.

At the end of the 11th (not the last!) grade, the student usually has a list of potential universities for admission, agreed with the adviser. It contains three approximate gradations: at the limit of the possible, your own level and reserve, where it seems that you should definitely take it. Typically the list consists of 10-15 titles. More would be nice, because many 2011 graduates received one or two offers in response, some received nothing, but everything has a price: in 2011, each application cost $75, plus sending out SATs to every college beyond the first five - more fifteen (results will only be accepted from the organization that conducted the exam).

Colleges are chosen not only by the Internet or the very informative printed Fiske Guide to Colleges, which includes only the top 300, less than 10% of the total. On holidays and weekends, many parents with children travel around the country, attending open days in prospective places of future study, in order to see for themselves where the child will live, what to eat, what and how he will be taught.

Mathematicians, chemists, humanities

The problem with the American school is mathematics. Intimidated by her bogey, teachers introduced “connected math” in high schools, which “intelligibly,” that is, using ready-made formulas, teaches how to calculate the area of ​​a barn or the perimeter of a fence. Although middle school would be a good time to hone your abstract thinking abilities. As a result, children develop not understanding, but fear of the very discipline that is designed to create a simplified, idealized image of complex phenomena in the natural sciences. If at home they understand what is happening and help the child, then you can go a year ahead: get an “excellent” in the seventh grade and in the eighth take a simple, but at least reasonable algebra 1 instead of Connected math. Rigorous mathematics appears only in geometry after 10 years. th grade or AP courses in mathematical analysis (Calculus).

The computer classes at the school are quite well equipped, but not luxurious. There are two of them in the mathematics department (for geometry and computer science) and two in the art department, where lessons in architecture and computer graphics and design are taught. Computer science classes teach the programming languages ​​Visual Basic and Java and relational databases.

Natural science subjects are taught at a quite decent level. Compulsory chemistry in high school is the Periodic Law, atomic structure, valency and bonds, molar ratios, expression of concentrations. Biochemistry is taught in a biology course and includes metabolic cycles, the structure of carbohydrates, proteins and DNA. A one-year AP chemistry course in high school includes gas laws, the structure of crystals and solutions, acidity and basicity, redox reactions, molecular structure (s- and p-bonds, hybridization, basic orbital theory, chirality, isomerism), equilibria, Arrhenius equation and kinetics, the beginnings of organic and analytical chemistry. Mastering such a course at school is serious work, however, the same applies to biology and physics courses.

In laboratory work, they use both simple instruments such as electronic scales, burners, pipettes, burettes, and the old reliable Spectronic 20 spectrophotometer, developed back in the late 50s and modified many times. If anyone remembers the Soviet SF-4, then the Spec is even more compact and simpler. The results are averaged: “one experience is not experience.”

However, the majority of school graduates choose humanities for their future: politics, business, art, psychology, languages, so the humanitarian component of American education is at a very high level. World literature, cinema and society, the Middle East, Russian history, macroeconomics, US government, six levels of Chinese, four Spanish - these are just examples offhand from the humanities courses offered. From a very early age, students learn the structure of not only sentences, but also the entire composition. A school essay in high school in any subject consists of more than just an introduction, discussion and conclusion. The location, purpose and volume of each phrase in it are defined and reinforced by repeated practical repetition. In high school creative writing classes (there is an elective), children write one page of free text every day or a story once a week.

Although only two years of foreign language are required in high school, colleges usually require at least three years, and those intending to enroll are forced to follow this.

The children started learning French in the 6th grade (in elementary school they studied Spanish quite uselessly), well enough to calmly read The Little Prince in the original and ask about the road in Paris. The subjects of aesthetic education (painting, drawing, cinema, dancing, music, drama, etc.) are all right here, but we won’t talk about them in more detail. Working part-time in a movie theater in the summer, my granddaughter now doesn’t so much tear off ticket stubs or sell popcorn as she paints the glass of the entrance panel with scenes from new films - she was well taught drawing and painting, therefore.

Not just lessons

At the end of the school year, in elementary, and in some places in secondary schools, they organize a Strawberry Festival - a celebration in the schoolyard with many attractions, lotteries, competitions (what a squeal there is during a tug of war!), prizes, ice cream, hot Great Danes. At this time, strawberries really ripen, but these days this has nothing to do with the holiday. The police take part in the general entertainment: they measure the speed of throwing a baseball with their radars. One of the teachers is sacrificed: they are seated above a transparent box with a target filled with water, and if someone hits the target, the hatch opens and... the victim has fun with everyone else - it’s hot.

In middle school and especially in high school, where there are no permanent study groups, social life separates children into groups, “cliques.” The school has a parent committee; parents are invited to almost all events, except discos. Entertainment does not overshadow studies, but creates a favorable background. School magazines publish literary works and drawings by students, usually from advanced homework assignments. The school library subscribes to 140 journals, including some scientific ones. In the halls and corridors there are exhibitions of schoolchildren's works, popular concerts of school orchestras, sports competitions with other towns, but the central event of the year is the production of a musical, to which the whole school gathers; Even a basketball game between teachers and students does not attract such an influx of spectators.

As you know, dates in the USA begin with a month, so October 23 is celebrated as Mole Day (don’t forget - 6.02x1023, Avogadro’s number). On this day, pyrotechnic outrages are staged in chemistry, and the fire alarm in the school has to be turned off. The number pi is equal to 3.14 with kopecks, so March 14 is Pi Day, recommended by the US Congress for celebration throughout the country. Since the word “pie” sounds exactly the same, on this day pies are brought to mathematics, naturally in the shape of a circle, preferably homemade. There they are carefully cut, and then there is no more mathematics. Every student studying physics in high school must build a bridge (for a toy car) using wooden toothpicks and PVA glue, 25 cm long and weighing no more than 60 grams. Then, in an atmosphere of general excitement, bridges that previously passed the qualification minimum strength are broken according to strict rules. For the strongest bridge, and good ones can withstand 50 or even 70 kg, they give an award, which is mentioned in the application for admission to college.

It's impossible not to admire the typical suburban school stadiums, with full-size football and baseball fields, tennis courts, running tracks, lighting and bleachers for hundreds of spectators. It is equally impossible to list all the clubs (circles): debating, cinema, chess, philosophical, botanical, ethnic, etc., etc. To create a new club, it is enough to find a teacher who is ready to attend its meetings (this is included in duties of teachers), and, if necessary, raise or earn money for its operation. It’s not uncommon to see notices near schools like “We wash cars for $5 to raise funds for the fencing team.”

Children under 12 years of age are prohibited from being left alone - they can easily be deprived of parental rights, but from the age of 13 a child has the right to work, and many begin to earn extra money as tutors or looking after small children. It should be noted that the work of older schoolchildren is more the rule than the exception. This is both an opportunity to get acquainted with different sides of life (how do you like to spend a month tending the paths in a national park in Alaska, then a week-long excursion around this state?), and a way to earn pocket money. Even millionaires don’t just give them away: it’s not pedagogical.

In religious and even sanctimonious America, both religion and the promotion of atheism are not allowed in public schools. In general, district intervention in the educational process is rare. But here's an example: a provincial school district in Pennsylvania voted to introduce in school, in addition to evolutionary theory, also creationism (more precisely, the so-called intelligent design theory). The violent protest of educated teachers and parents led to the second “monkey trial” - a trial that had to be decided by the US Supreme Court in 2005.

But at school they teach a tolerant attitude towards various kinds of “otherness”, from race to sexual orientation. Asian children in a good school make up about 10-15 percent, African-American - about two. Racial tensions in a good school are usually not serious. At any rate, my granddaughters' friends include all races.

Motivation of schoolchildren

My smart granddaughter, back in the sixth grade, asked her Chinese friend, an excellent student: “Why bother for an A (A), what’s the difference if it’s an A with a minus?” “The difference will be in the college you can go to,” was the immediate answer.

There is internal motivation when a person cannot live without knowledge and understanding, even in conditions completely unsuitable for study, like Socrates, Lomonosov, our late contemporary, mathematician (and not only, he did a lot for biology) I.M. Gelfand. A similar, albeit not so large-scale, phenomenon is the students of special schools in Russia and America.

External motivation is, first of all, family attitudes and the desire to enter a more prestigious college. Teachers, peers, and friends also play a big role in the development of such motivation: “Who will you get along with…”. This is the external motivation that creates the environment in which students of good schools find themselves. A young, middle-income American family has a choice: buy (in installments, of course) a luxury home in an area with a mediocre school, or a modest house in an area with a good school. Those who choose the second option find themselves in a circle of like-minded neighbors: people who value the education of their children above personal convenience. In this environment there will be the best teachers who receive higher salaries in a good school and work in a normal human atmosphere, there will be peers who have been selected for motivation, if not internal, then at least under the pressure of their families. I don’t see much difference here with Russian good schools, lyceums, gymnasiums, etc.

There are plenty of people who don’t want to study everywhere, it’s a matter of the degree of reluctance. I don't have quantitative data. I’ll say this: in a good school, not everyone is eager for knowledge, but there is no such thing as someone trying to disrupt a lesson. When half wants to study, and the other does not know what she wants, then the study goes quite successfully. If half of the class actively does not want to do anything, then the few who want to learn have a hard time. It is difficult to expect a child to be highly motivated to study if he eats only once a day - at a free lunch at school, since his parents spend everything on drugs or drink. There are cities where children who receive a free lunch make up the vast majority, even if it is not their only meal of the day.

Conclusion with an afterword

I am only talking about my experience and am not trying to convince you that the American school is the best in the world. I started the story by saying that there are absolutely terrifying schools and there are probably no fewer of them than good ones. But I emphasize that next to my granddaughters’ school, there are some bad schools and schools of the same level as theirs. I visited them, talked to parents, read reviews about them, looked at their ratings. Ours is not exceptional.

The American school system is not perfect, but at its best it meets the needs of modern post-industrial American society. Essentially, the choice of training options in it is free only in one direction - where it is more difficult. Whatever is easier is a must. Although, perhaps, there is another choice: if you don’t want to study, don’t study (after your 16th birthday). Not all students can fully use the opportunities provided to them; they need a natural minimum of abilities and constant attention from, yes, “family and school.” The best American schools are good, but there is no system that would provide everyone with equal opportunities for development. And where is it, or at least was it?

Having roughly finished these tales, I sat down to read “Chemistry and Life” for June 2011 and discovered the article “What to teach in chemistry lessons?” It seems to me that my notes are quite consistent with some of the thoughts expressed in it. The humanitarian bias in American school education has already led to the fact that specialists in computer and even some natural sciences and technologies have to be imported. This is easily feasible in the US due to higher wages and better work organization. Even in the future, Russia does not have such an opportunity to retain the remaining ones, so it needs a school education system that is self-sufficient, much more scientifically oriented than in the United States. After all, it’s possible to retrain from a techie to a humanities specialist, but it’s not possible to go the other way.

Khutoretsky M.V.
“Chemistry and Life” No. 10, 2011

Screenwriter and author Liliya Kim lives in California with her teenage daughter and experiences first-hand the American education system. At the request of ChTD, she explains how the different stages of education are structured, how this system differs from ours, where it is better to study and why.

In addition to a different measurement system (miles, pounds, ounces), different sockets and different voltages in them, an insane health insurance system, after moving to America, my daughter and I had to adapt to a completely different education system. In its most general form, it works like this:

• Preschool education
• Primary school: from 1st to 5th grade
• Secondary school: grades 6-8 (Middle school) and grade 9 (Junior High school)
• High school: grades 10-12
• Higher education - colleges and universities.

Types of schools

All educational institutions can be state (maintained with public funds), municipal (public schools, community colleges - maintained with funds from the local municipality; schools are financed by property taxes - therefore, the more expensive the area, the better the public school there), or private.

Immediately after the move, all my friends advised me to save money on something else, but to send my child to an inexpensive, but still private school, so that she could adapt in a gentle way: there are fewer students in the class, and the teachers pay more attention to them. When she got used to the language and environment, and I had the funds to move to a good area, I transferred her to a public school.

Public schools are free, but you need to prove that you really live in the area. Some of our friends went to charter schools and magnet schools. Charters are also free schools, but you don't have to live in the area to attend them. Let’s say that people cannot rent or buy housing in an expensive area, and where they can, there are very bad schools.

In bad areas, real estate is cheap and there are few taxes on it, so they can spend 6 thousand per student per year, and in good areas - 36.

Of course, this will be very noticeable in the quality of teachers and management, classroom equipment and, ultimately, student performance. To avoid creating ghettos of “vicious cycles of poverty,” charter schools were created. They have mixed funding - state, municipal, and private donations. They have a good standard of education, but a place can only be won by winning an annual lottery in which all applicants participate. Magnet are free schools with some focus: science, art, sports. They are also not tied to the area.

Private schools are paid. They can be anything. The price range is very wide. Accommodation (boarding school) and regular. Some provide financial aid - this is not a scholarship, but a significant discount on education. The council examines each case individually. Let's say school costs 47 thousand per year, but the board may decide that two adopted African children of the same family can study for 20 thousand per year for two. Or a woman who has lost her husband and who can no longer pay the full price can receive an individual discount so that her children can finish their studies at the school they are used to, say, for 50% of the full price. There are no uniform criteria.

Rating system

Americans have a letter system where five is “A” and count is “F”. In school rankings you can see the mysterious abbreviation GPA. This is the average score, grade point average. Unfortunately, I did not understand at the time of admission how important it is to correctly recalculate grades when transferring from a Russian school to an American one. Because if in Russia only the current year’s grades matter, in America it’s the average score accumulated over the entire period of study.

The average GPA in America is considered to be 3.5 - therefore, to enter prestigious high schools you need to have a 4.0. For graduating from middle school with a GPA of 4.0 or higher, you are given a medal. Although my daughter graduated from high school as an A+ student, her GPA was 3.5 due to incorrect recalculation of points received at a Moscow school.

Universities calculate average scores using completely different criteria.

Academic year

All vacations in the USA are much shorter than in Russia, which creates problems with planning trips to visit family in Russia. The American school year runs from August to May-June. Opinions are often heard that the long summer holidays should be canceled because they were introduced due to the heat, which did not allow students to be in classes. Now an air conditioner can solve this issue, so that children do not hang around for several months without anything to do, wasting time and forgetting everything that happened.

The year is divided into trimesters. Long holidays fall on Thanksgiving and Easter. The Christmas holidays are usually short, about a week from December 24th to January 1st. School starts on the second.

All this can be different, since schools have very great autonomy in terms of developing curricula, rules, and schedules. Therefore, so much depends on the quality of teachers and management.

Inclusion

In California, all schools are inclusive. This means that students with special needs study together with everyone else if their health conditions allow them. However, not all schools may have a special worker accompanying such students. There may simply not be enough of them, or there may be no means to pay them a salary. Schools in good areas can afford enough staff and equipment to create a safe environment for everyone.

In the first year after moving, my daughter asked me: “Mom, why are there so many disabled people in America? In Russia there are none at all.” It wasn't easy to explain why she didn't see people with special needs.

Onboarding process

The most difficult thing was to follow the requirement “not to interfere with children’s studies.” The imperative here is that the parent must give the child the opportunity to make mistakes and correct them in the safe learning environment that is school. They are encouraged to submit important work in each subject as early as possible - and then go to correct it, bring it to perfection for at least the entire trimester. Anything submitted at the last moment is rated lower - a penalty for delaying.

It is not customary to help children. When I first came to the school “science fair”, where children presented their projects, I was amazed at how clumsy everything was. Then I realized that this is what the children’s work looks like, for which their parents had just purchased materials.

My daughter adapted easily and quickly. Over the course of a year, she completely switched to English, found friends, and got used to the incredible variety of names and appearances. In many ways, we moved because since her first long stay in America, when she was 7-8 years old, she constantly asked when we would move.

I remember how she once came from a Russian school in tears, shouting: “I’m not stupid, I’m just small! Why do they treat us like we're fools?" This was the key difference for her: while there were very strict rules for everyone in an American school, she was treated with unconditional respect, as if she were a little person for whom information needed to be adapted precisely because she was still small and not stupid.

Providing children with a good education in America is quite difficult. Because parents need to pay not only for university, but in some cases also for internships (in a number of prestigious professions).

Yes - you need to pay companies so that children work there for free after graduating from a prestigious, incredibly expensive university. Buy access to experience and connections. Not in every area - but increasingly.

Community college

This is a transitional stage between school and higher education. Closest to the Soviet concept of “technical school”. As a rule, they provide two-year programs, after which students can either go to work or transfer to complete their studies in a regular four-year program.

Higher education

The first stage is general specialization. As a result, you can obtain a bachelor's degree in some field. With this degree you can already start working.

For those who apply for higher and more prestigious positions, a master’s degree and then a “doctor” - PhD are needed.

Types of higher education institutions

A public college or university is supported by public money and offers free education if certain conditions are met. They will be different for each establishment.

Private colleges or universities provide a higher level of education. Gifted students can receive a grant to study there, or, having scored a very high number of points in the school in total (studies, sports, leadership, volunteering, scientific projects), receive government support for education at private colleges and universities.

After serving in the army, veterans have the right to receive education at state expense in any higher educational institution for which the credits received during their service are sufficient for them. Those who excel can earn enough to study at the most prestigious private universities.

The US education system is characterized by flexibility and democracy: with a high variety of programs, students - both schoolchildren and students - have the opportunity to independently choose the disciplines they study, as well as change their specialization. Even at a university, you can move from one faculty to another, study additional subjects and create your own educational program.

Preschool education in the USA

Preschool education in the United States begins almost from the cradle. IN nursery or kindergarten The child can be given away as early as 6 months. He can be there from six in the morning until six in the evening. Unlike Russian kindergartens, a child can be brought to kindergarten after school, since by law he cannot be at home alone until he is 12 years old. All kindergartens in America are paid, the average monthly fee is about $1,200.

For children from three to five years old, schools have "preparatory groups". At this stage, much attention will be paid to general development, socialization, as well as literature, since the preschool education system sets itself the task, first of all, to teach the child reading skills.

However, kindergarten and preschool classes are still an optional level. Compulsory education in America begins at school and lasts 12 years.

US school system

Unlike many countries, there is no single educational plan in America: in general terms, the plan is formed by the board of education under the state administration; a more precise plan is determined by the board of a particular school.

School education in the United States is divided into three stages:

• initial(grades 1-5) - children study basic compulsory subjects, engage in sports and creativity.
• average: Middle School (grades 6-8) or Junior High School (grades 7-9) - in addition to compulsory subjects, elective disciplines appear.
• senior classes: High School (9-12) or Senior High School (11-12) - reduction in the number of compulsory subjects, maximum freedom in choosing the disciplines studied. For the last 2 years, gifted students can study Advanced Placement programs. At the end of High School, an American student will have to take SAT exam(Scholastic Aptitude Test).

Depending on the state, children begin school between the ages of five and eight. As a rule, each level of an American school has its own building and is a completely separate educational institution.

The academic year in an American school is divided into two semesters. The duration of training sessions is 5-6 hours a day with a lunch break. The afternoon is most often devoted to sports, interest clubs and other socially useful work, which are a mandatory component of American school education. Grades are given in letter form: A, B, C, D, F will be equivalent to Russian grades from five to two.

In contrast to the US higher education system, which is a world leader, the school sector is rated controversially. On the one hand, a set compulsory subjects small: among them are mathematics, English, science, history, art, physical education.

On the other hand, students have a huge choice specialized studies: from theater to ecology. This list also includes foreign languages. Many schools offer high school students advanced programs(Advanced Placement): the most motivated and capable students can additionally study a particular subject at the university level. Thus, the school education system in the United States is good for those who want to learn, but is not aimed at improving the overall education of the country.

Public and private schools in the USA

By type of funding, schools in the United States are divided into state(public schools) and private(private schools). The level of teaching in public schools varies greatly not only from state to state, but even within the same city. The fact is that funding for public schools comes from the district budget (most often from property taxes). As a result, schools in “expensive” areas have good support, and as a result, material equipment, a strong teaching staff and overall high academic performance. Since, according to US law, a child can only attend the school to which he belongs in his place of residence, this system leads to an increase in the value of real estate in areas with “strong” schools. Taxes increase, the school receives even more funding. The situation is the opposite in “cheap” areas: lack of funding leads to the fact that schools remain weak.

Private schools are financially independent organizations that receive subsidies from sponsors and also charge tuition fees. The presence of a high level of funding makes it possible to maintain a high level of academic performance: excellent material and technical equipment, strong teaching staff and small class sizes make these institutions the “cradles” of future diplomats, politicians and top managers. The education received here opens the door to most top universities in the world. It is worth saying that the number of US citizens in private schools is often less than 50%: they are of greater interest to foreign students. This is partly due to the country's immigration laws: a foreigner can study in a public school only if the family moves to America and has a residence permit or if the student participates in a year-long exchange program.

Significant differences between elite private schools and “average” public schools also add to the overall heterogeneity in American secondary education.

Higher education in the USA

The US higher education system includes colleges and universities - private and public. According to international rankings, most of them are among the best educational institutions in the world. It is worth replacing that, unlike the European education system, in America there is no qualitative difference between college and university. For example, even Harvard, number one in the 2016 rankings, is actually divided into schools, colleges and institutes. The only difference is that colleges offer only undergraduate programs, while universities and institutes provide the opportunity to engage in scientific research and continue an academic career in master's (1-2 years), graduate school (3 to 6 years) and engage in research after defending a doctoral dissertation. . If the student's specialization is related to medicine, legal or theological education, the training scheme is slightly different: upon completion of the bachelor's program, the student can enter a higher vocational school. Similar educational institutions exist at large universities; the duration of study there is 3 years.

Technical institutes and community colleges belong to vocational education (analogous to Russian vocational schools), but can serve as the first stage of higher education if, after studying there, the student transfers to a university for a bachelor's degree program. As a rule, transfer is carried out to the 2nd or 3rd year.

The US higher education system is characterized by even greater freedom compared to schools. Most universities do not admit students to a specific faculty, but simply to the university. However, applicants most often choose the university that is strongest in the field they plan to study. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is famous for its developments in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence, but if plans change, you can study history, theater, and literature there. This is due to the fact that during the first two years the student can take almost any course offered within the educational institution. The only requirement is a sufficient number of earned “credits” ( credits), which the student receives for successfully mastered disciplines. In the 3rd year you need to decide on your specialization and choose major- main area of ​​professional interests. It is on this basis that the diploma will be obtained. However, due to the fact that the student is free to formulate his own curriculum, in the USA it is possible to obtain the rarest specialties at the intersection of various professions.

Democracy in the formation of the curriculum, however, presupposes a fairly disciplined attitude to learning: this includes attending classes and completing all tests and research papers on time. The latter is given special attention in the US higher education system: in addition to the lectures and seminars familiar to Russians, students at American universities have to spend a lot of time on research or projects. Often they are carried out not individually, but by a group of students: in the USA they are confident that training can be built not only according to the “teacher to student” scheme, but also “from student to student”. Also, such work develops the ability to work in a team, which is highly valued not only in the educational environment, but also subsequently by employers.

Finally, not the least factor that has made the American higher education system so revered throughout the world is financial and material support. It allows not only to maintain excellent equipment at universities, but also to maintain a staff of truly strong teachers, who often come to the United States from other countries.

All together - strong academic preparation, the ability to choose disciplines based on one’s own professional plans, the focus of education on real sectors of the economy - allows the higher education system in the United States to remain the strongest in the world.

The education system in America is heterogeneous. US primary and secondary public schools do not always inspire confidence. They offer a set of basic subjects that a gifted student will most likely find insufficient. Parents who expect their children to have a successful career prefer to send them to private schools. However, American universities and colleges, both private and public, top the world rankings year after year. They combine a democratic educational process and a high level of education, so a motivated student can be sure that he will get exactly what he needs from his studies.

Getting an education in schools in this country is a pleasure, because the pedagogy here is based not only on modern trends in American culture, but also on the history of the country. The lessons here will be especially interesting for incoming immigrants.

Different specialized institutions have their own tuition fees. For example, medical schools in the United States are considered one of the most expensive. The cost of classes in them can reach 55 thousand dollars.

Regardless of the profile of the institution, each of them has its own name.

American charter schools

It is worth noting that the ranking of US schools where foreigners study includes quite a few Russian educational institutions. There is even a school at the Russian Embassy in Washington. Representatives of the Russian Consulate will definitely intervene in the educational process if any difficult or controversial situations arise.

Higher education in the USA does not yet exist for Russians.

Thus, high-quality school education in the United States is available to Russian students.

Primary education

Primary education classes: from 1 to 5. Children during these years are often taught by 1 teacher. However, there are a number of subjects taught by other teachers, for example, we are talking about music, drawing, physical education, and so on. What children learn:

• Arithmetic.
• Natural sciences.
• Letter.
• Social science.
• Reading.

Elementary school in the USA has its own specific feature, which is the division of children by ability. How does division occur? Children must pass a test that determines their level of intellectual ability. Based on this testing, separation occurs.

When a child enters 3rd grade, he is asked to undergo such testing annually. If his level of intelligence has changed, then the child will be transferred to those children who are on the same level as him.

In gifted classes, more homework is assigned, learning covers more aspects, children are given an abundance of information, and so on. But in classes for slow-growing children, there is almost no homework assigned. And studying in such a class is much easier.

Secondary education

High school in the United States aims to educate children from grades 6 to 8. At this stage, all subjects are taught by different teachers. Students study both general disciplines and those they have chosen themselves. Common items include:

• English language.
• Mathematics.
• Social Sciences.
• Physical culture.
• Natural science, etc.

As for the subjects to choose from, the list is quite large, especially in private educational institutions. In some of them, specialized courses are not much different from those taught in colleges and higher education institutions.

The best American schools offer elective language courses. Students can study French, Chinese, German, Latin, etc.

A feature of this educational period is that schoolchildren change their team every year, as classes are reorganized.

Senior education

High school in the United States is the last stage of children's education. You can enroll in it from the 9th grade and study until the 12th grade. This educational period is very specific, since all schoolchildren study according to an individual program that they choose themselves.

The list of schools in the USA for older students is quite wide. Every student planning to enter the 9th grade must decide in advance what he wants to do in life. If he loves sports, then he should choose a sports institution; if he loves exact sciences, then he should choose an institution with a mathematical bias.

Every morning, a school employee checks for absentees, after which the students go to their classes. It can be said that in such educational institutions, children have almost no control over themselves, since they are given freedom to choose disciplines and attend them. However, there is a list of subjects that every high school student must pass to receive a certificate.

The advantage of high school curricula is that if a student scores high in a specialized course, he or she may not have to take it in college.

This is beneficial because in colleges, students pay for each course they take.

Such institutions have a school council whose main purpose is to develop the curriculum. The school council is also looking for investors to finance the institution and searching for personnel.