US EDUCATION


W


ith key-stage examinations and, eventually, the two- year GCSE programme followed by the two-year A-Level programme, the UK schooling system leads


students towards increased specialisation and can be interpreted as a ‘winnowing’ system. In contrast, the US system places less emphasis on examinations,


and students remain generalists all the way through to the end of secondary school, when they graduate with a high-school diploma at the end of Grade 12, the equivalent of Year 13. In the US, most children attend some kind of part-time preschool,


but state-provided education does not begin until kindergarten, and, in many school districts, kindergarten is still a part-time offering. In the early years, children are eased into academic studies, and


there is a heavy emphasis on socialisation as well as developing basic English and maths skills. Indeed, it is generally agreed that, from kindergarten to Grade 3, children lay an academic foundation that will be applied and developed more rigorously during Grade 4. The US system is divided into three levels: elementary (Grade


K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8) and high school (Grades 9–12). Some districts vary this, occasionally including Grade 6 in the elementary level and offering a junior high school for Grade 7 and Grade 8, for example. Some districts may separate kindergarten from the rest of the


elementary school. Generally, however, the three divisions are acknowledged in the different configurations offered by districts.


Curriculum content In its content, the US curriculum is typically quite broad, and


students are expected to study a range of subjects – English, maths, sciences, foreign languages, history, art, music and physical education – all the way to Grade 12. In the final two years of high school, students will typically have


room in their schedules to take more than the required number of courses in areas that particularly interest them. They are assessed at the end of each grade as they move to the next, but the examinations used for these assessments are not national and have traditionally had relatively little bearing on their progression from year to year. This is changing of late, with the advent of the Core Standards


Program, but there are still no exams such as GCSEs or A Levels. A notable difference for relocating students at secondary level is


Year in the UK Nursery


Reception Year 1 Year 2 Year 3


Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9


Year 10 Year 11 Year 12 Year 13


Age of Student 3–4 4–5 5–6 6–7 7–8


8–9 9–10


10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18


Grade in the US Preschool Preschool


Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2


Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12


that the strands of maths and science are taught sequentially, instead of simultaneously, in the US. A Grade 9 student might study only physics that year, for example, followed by a year of chemistry at Grade 10. Likewise, students progress from algebra to geometry to


trigonometry to pre-calculus, and so on. This difference in structure can present challenges to students moving between the two systems, since the material covered in one system during the secondary-school years will not necessarily align with material covered in the other system. At the end of high school, US students apply to college or university


(both can be four-year programmes) with a composite of qualifications: their grades of all four years of high school averaged into a GPA (Grade Point Average), results of various optional but benchmarked examinations, teacher recommendations, and a transcript of personal achievements and activities. US institutions of higher learning have traditionally looked for


students who are academically accomplished but have something additional to add to their community. In this way, musicians, athletes, and activists have been granted a means by which to describe and showcase their achievements and interests. This has made for a complicated and time-consuming process


whereby students apply to university. Like all systems, it has both strengths and weaknesses. Many students attending university in the US remain generalists


throughout their four years of study, after which they receive a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. Although they choose a ‘major’, study of this field accounts for


only a fraction of their coursework, and they are often required to continue to study across all areas – humanities, sciences, and so on. With the cost of higher education on the rise and becoming


increasingly daunting, many students are now opting for more specialised programmes – in business or engineering, for example – so that they can join the workforce with more focused training. Despite the differences in the two education systems, it should be


noted that it is very common for relocating students to move from one to the other with ease and success. Careful planning is often the key to a smooth transition.


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