The Educational System In The United States

This volume reports on the Case Study Project, an initiative that evaluates the experiences of math and science teachers across the United States and includes levels of schooling and achievement levels. The report focuses on typical public schools in the United States at three levels: elementary, junior high, and senior high with the intent of creating a composite profile of typical schools. The volume is divided into five chapters: "Rationale for the Study,""The Development and Implementation of Education Standards in the United States,""Individual Differences and the United States Education System,""The Role of School in United States Adolescents' Lives," and "Teachers and the Teaching Profession in the United States." Results show that the typical school had adopted curriculum standards or guidelines proposed by state departments of education, rather than by a national body. One exception to this was the influential set of national guidelines developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Despite the general interest in standards, the choices made by parents, teachers, and students reflected many values, of which the desire for independence was one of the strongest. Students who were surveyed exhibited high optimism, especially those students from middle- class families. (RJM)

This handbook focuses on the education systems in the three Americas, North, Central and South America, and includes a chapter on most countries in the region. The chapters follow a common structure and include information on the development, organization, and current trends in mainstream education from pre-primary to tertiary level for each country. Chapter contributions are organized along three parts: Each chapter starts with a description of the historical and social foundations of the education system from their founding period up to today, including discussions of political, economic and cultural contexts and conditions. This first part closes with a description of how transitions from education to the labor market are organized. The second part consists of an overview of the institutional and organizational principles as well as of the structure of education from pre-primary to tertiary level. It includes a focus on legislative bases and financial provisions for the education system and a description of the structure by using the ISCED-classification. It further includes information of the supply of human resources such as teachers and other educators. The third and final part of the chapters discusses selected educational trends and aspects of particular interest: dealing with inequality, ICT and digitization activities, and STEM-related policies and programs. The Handbook delivers a fundamental description of the educational systems, including information about how they were shaped, how they are organized and respectively cared for by national stakeholders. It provides both to students and scholars who seek concise and systematic knowledge about education in a particular country. Also, comparative researchers will find a basis for better understanding of various educational questions about the foundations and development of the national education systems.

This volume reports on the Case Study Project, an initiative that evaluates the experiences of math and science teachers across the United States and includes levels of schooling and achievement levels. The report focuses on typical public schools in the United States at three levels: elementary, junior high, and senior high with the intent of creating a composite profile of typical schools. The volume is divided into five chapters: "Rationale for the Study,""The Development and Implementation of Education Standards in the United States,""Individual Differences and the United States Education System,""The Role of School in United States Adolescents' Lives," and "Teachers and the Teaching Profession in the United States." Results show that the typical school had adopted curriculum standards or guidelines proposed by state departments of education, rather than by a national body. One exception to this was the influential set of national guidelines developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Despite the general interest in standards, the choices made by parents, teachers, and students reflected many values, of which the desire for independence was one of the strongest. Students who were surveyed exhibited high optimism, especially those students from middle- class families. (RJM)

This book offers a smart and tightly reasoned critique of the educational status quo.

“Profound, vital and correct. Hirsch highlights the essence of our American being and the radical changes in education necessary to sustain that essence. Concerned citizens, teachers, and parents take note! We ignore this book at our peril."— Joel Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Public Schools In this powerful manifesto, the bestselling author of Cultural Literacy addresses the failures of America’s early education system and its impact on our current national malaise, advocating for a shared knowledge curriculum students everywhere can be taught—an educational foundation that can help improve and strengthen America’s unity, identity, and democracy. In How to Educate a Citizen, E.D. Hirsch continues the conversation he began thirty years ago with his classic bestseller Cultural Literacy, urging America’s public schools, particularly at the elementary level, to educate our children more effectively to help heal and preserve the nation. Since the 1960s, our schools have been relying on “child-centered learning.” History, geography, science, civics, and other essential knowledge have been dumbed down by vacuous learning “techniques” and “values-based” curricula; indoctrinated by graduate schools of education, administrators and educators have believed they are teaching reading and critical thinking skills. Yet these cannot be taught in the absence of strong content, Hirsch argues. The consequence is a loss of shared knowledge that would enable us to work together, understand one another, and make coherent, informed decisions. A broken approach to school not only leaves our children under-prepared and erodes the American dream but also loosens the spiritual bonds and unity that hold the nation together. Drawing on early schoolmasters and educational reformers such as Noah Webster and Horace Mann, Hirsch charts the rise and fall of the American early education system and provides a blueprint for closing the national gap in knowledge, communications, and allegiance. Critical and compelling, How to Educate a Citizen galvanizes our schools to equip children with the power of shared knowledge.

An indictment of the American educational system criticizes the fact that the system has discarded the traditional goals of transmitting knowledge and fostering cognitive skills in favor of building self-esteem and promoting social harmony.