Education in the United__ States

EducationintheUnitedStatesAmericanEducationSystemIntroductionThePresentEducationSystemHigherEducatinHistoryIntroductionPurpose---istoachieveuniversalliteracyandprovideindividualswithknowledgeandskillnecessarytopromotethewelfareforindividualsandthegeneralpublic.Education---ALocalMatterEachofthe50statesintheUnitedStateshasitsownregulatingeducation.Somelawsaresimilar.Othersarenot.---agelimitsvary---instructionalmaterial---majorpublicconcerns(environmentalpollution,nuclearissues,neighborhoodcrimeanddrugs)ThePresentEducationSystemCompulsoryEverychildinAmericaisguaranteedupto13yearsofeducationregardlessofachild’srace,religion,sex,learningproblems,physicalhandicapoeinabilitytospeakEnglish.FreeChoicesPublicschools---supportedbyAmericantaxpayers.90%ofAmericanstudentsattendpublicschools.(Religiousinstructionisnotgiven.)Privateschools---runbychurches,synagoguesorotherreligiousgroups.Theother10%attendprivateschoolsandpayspecialattendancefee.Religiousteachingisapartofthecurriculum.boardsofeducatin---refertogroupsofpeoplewhomakepoliciesforschoolsatthestateand/ordistrictlevel.Theyalsomakedecisionsabouttheschoolcurriculum,teacherstandardsandcertificationandtheoverallmeasurementofstudentprogress.Americanstudentspassthroughseverallevelsofschooling---12systemsElementarySchool(grammarschool)---meansgradeskindergarten(K)through8.Butinsomeplaces,itincludesonlyK-6.Itteachesmathematics,language,art,socialstudies,science,penmanship,music,physicaleducationandsomeothersubjects.SecondarySchool(highschool)---meansgrades9-12.Itteachesmathematics,language,socialstudies,science,physicaleducationandsomeothersubjects.Studentscanchooseelectivesguidedbyschoolcounselors.Electivecoursesvaryfromschooltoschool.TheyincludeEuropeanhistory,politicalissues,business,industrialtrades,foreignlanguagesandsoon.HigherEducatinHigherEducatin--includesfourcategoriesofinstitutions.Theyaretheuniversity,thefour-yearundergraduateinstitution(thecollege),thetechnicaltraininginstitutionandthetwo-yearorcommunitycollege.Somearesupportedbypublicfundsandsomebyprivatefunds.Manyuniversitiesandcollegeshavewonreputationsforofferingparticularlychalle-ngingcoursesandprovidingtheirstudentswithahigherqualityofeducation.Thegreatmajorityaregenerallyregardedasquitesatisfactory.thefeaturesofthecollegesTheUnitedStatesdoesnothaveanational(federal)schoolsystem,eachofthe50statesoperatesitsownuniversities,andsodosomelargecitygovernment.About25%ofallschoolsofhighereducationareprivatelyoperatedbyreligiousorganizations.Bothpublicandprivatecollegesdependedonthreesourcesofincome:studentstuition,endowmentsandgovernmentfunding.HistoryAmericanstracetheoriginsoftheirnationtotheEnglishcolonists.Afewyearsaftertheirarrival,theysetupasystemofeducationintheircolony.In1634,theyopeneda“Latingrammar”school.In1636,HarvardCollegewasfoundedfortrainingofreligiousministers.HarvardCollegeIn1634and1638,thePuritanspassedlawsthatallpropertycouldbetaxedforthecommongood,whichincludedthesupportofschools.In1642and1647,theBayColonypassedLawsrequiringallparentstoprovidereadingeducationfortheirchildren.Attheendofthe18thcentury,elementaryeducationthroughouttheUSwasinlocalhands.After1920,theKto12educationinAmericaRemainedverymuchthesameuntilWorldWarII.In1954,theSupremeCourtruledthatthepracticeofsegregatingblacksintoseparateschoolswasunconstitutional.SecondaryeducationwasnolongerenoughformanyAmericans,universitieswereestablishedthen.TheServicemen’sReadjustmentActPassedin1944,Itwassoonpopularlycalledthe“GIBillofRights”.GIwasanicknamefortheAmericansoldier,whichcamefromtheabbreviationfor“GovernmentIssue”—theuniformsandotherarticles”issued”toaSoldier.TheActpromisedfinancialaid,IncludingaidforhighereducationtomembersofthearmedforcesAffirmativeActionProgramsAdvocatedbysomecollegesin1960.Thepurposeoftheprogramswastoequalizeeducationalopportunitiesforallgroupsandtomakeupforpastinequalitybygivingspecialpreferencetomembersofminoritiesseekingjobsoradmissiontocollege.SomefamousUniversitiesintheUnitedStatesHarvardUniversityStanfordUniversityUniversityCalifornia-BerkeleyMassachusettsInstituteTechnologyColumbiaUniversityPrincetonUnivUnivChicagoYaleUnivCornellUnivJohnsHopkinsUniv哈佛大学HarvardUniv成立于1636年，哈佛大学是全美最古老的大学之一，先有哈佛，后有美国，这说明了哈佛大学在美国历史上的地位。迄今哈佛己培育出6位美国总统、29位诺贝尔奖得主和27名普利策奖得主。不论从学校的名气、设备、教授阵容、还是学生素质方面，哈佛大学都堪称世界一流斯坦福大学StanfordUniv,有着“西部哈佛”之称的斯坦福创办于1891年，学校位于富庶的加利福尼亚州，与美国文化底蕴丰富的旧金山(SanFrancisco)和有“高科技圣地”之称的硅谷(SiliconValley)为邻，培育了不少顶尖级的科学家、企业家和学术界名人，在科研和学术领域双双取得骄人的成绩。斯坦福的过人之处在于它与工商业界和各政府部门有着密切关系，使它在天时、地利、人和方面取得优势，而跻身世界级大学•伯克利加州大学UnivCalifornia-Berkeley作为加州大学九所分校之一，伯克利加大是其中最著名的一所。这所占地1232英亩、在读学生3.5万左右的巨型大学有22位教授、校友获得过诺贝尔奖,有8位教授、校友获得过图灵奖有8位（其中5位是校友）。23位教授荣获过美国国家科学奖.坚持学术本位，充分尊重教授会决定的学术方针是伯克利加州大学成功的关键。伯克利以多元文化著称,华裔教授田长霖曾任伯克利加州大学校长麻省理工学院MassachusettsInstTech1865年创建于波士顿，1961年迁到坎布里奇，麻省理工学院（MIT）是美国培养高级科技人才和管理人才、从事科学与技术教育与研究的一所私立大学，已被公认为世界一流的大学•加州理工学院CaliforniaInstTech创办于1891年,加州理工学院是一所私立，专门性院校。学校位于加州南部风光迷人的巴萨迪那市，下设生物学、化学及化学工程系、工程与应用科学、地质学及行星学、人类学和社会科学、物理数学和天文学六大系。学院是美国乃至全世界最“牛”的研究型大学之一，2004年《美国新闻与世界报道》的“全美最佳综合大学”中名列第五位，并在多个工程学科分支中名列