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Unit 6

AMERICAN EDUCATION

CULTURAL POINTS

Americans don't specialize in a subject until fairly late, often
not until their last two years at a college or university. They figure,
if you want to specialize, get a master's degree. Therefore, a
bachelor's degree from an American institution does not generally
represent the same degree of specialized knowledge in a subject
area that bachelor's degrees from other countries represent.
Americans are very competitive in school, both in academics and
in sports.
The primary goal of the American high school and college
education is not mainly to produce brilliantly educated people with
narrow, specialized skills. Rather, it's to produce broadly educated
people who can contribute to society by getting a job. Anyone who
successfully completes the twelve years of required primary and
secondary education will receive a high school diploma. Although
in most states education is not required after the age of sixteen, not
having this qualification makes any further education or decently
paid employment almost impossible.
The American system of grading, known outside the United
States as "continuous assessment," looks at the whole of a student's
performance and encourages competitiveness, communication, and
individuality, all qualities that are highly valued by US society.

PUBLIC vs. PRIVATE

Primary and secondary education is free and available to
everyone in the United States, although there is also an extensive
system of private and parochial schools in the country. There is
also a growing number of families who, mostly for religious
reasons, choose to educate their children at home (a practice called
"home schooling"). The majority of American schoolchildren
attend free public schools, however.
It is the individual states, rather than the federal government,