Education in the usa

The USA does not have a national system of education. 50 % of funds for education come from state sources, about 40% from local funds, and only 6 % from the federal government. There are two major types of schools in the USA:

• Public schools, which are free (supported by American taxpayers).

• Private or fee-paying schools. (4 of 5 private schools are run by churches and other religious groups. About 85 % of Americans attend public schools).

Elementary school

A merican students pass through several levels of schooling and thus, several curricula on their way to a high school diploma. They start first at pre-school stage of elementary school. The aim of pre-school education is the child’s individual development rather than mastery of particular skills or academic subjects. American children start elementary education at the age of 4, 5 or 6 and continue till 10-11 years. Elementary school provides instruction on the following subjects: mathematics, language, penmanship, natural science, history, geography, music and others.

Secondary school

Secondary school generally means grades 9-12. These grades are popularly called "senior high school".

A senior high school may be:

• Comprehensive school (offers a broad program of academic and vocational education);

• General school (offers a more limited program);

• Vocational school (focuses on vocational training with some general educational subjects)

All such programs — academic, technical, or practical are generally taught less than one roof. Nevertheless, many students of high school don't finish it. 1 % of American citizens at the age of 14 can neither read, nor write. So high school diploma is not a ticket that allows everyone to automatically enter a university. High school students who wish to attend a college or a university go through one of the two standard tests — SAT* (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and ACT** (American College Test). They are given by non-profit, non-governmental organizations. The ACT is more commonly used in the western part of US.

Higher education

There are several ways to continue in education: universities, colleges, community colleges, and technical and vocational schools.

A university in the USA usually consists of several colleges; each college specializes in a subject area. There are colleges of liberal arts, colleges of education and business colleges. A program for undergraduates usually takes four years and leads to the Bachelor of Arts or Science degree. After that, students may leave the university or go on for a graduate or professional degree. The university may be funded from several different sources. A publicly funded university gets some money from the state government. A privately funded university gets money from private sources only. A university may be funded by a religious group.

College students usually spend 4 years at the college, too, and get the Bachelor's degree. Most of the colleges are not part of university. Colleges in the USA differ greatly in size — they may include from 100 students to 5000 and more. Most of the larger colleges fall into the category of universities, the largest being the University of California, State university of New York, Columbia University and others.

Community colleges. The course of study lasts two years and doesn't lead to any degree. Community colleges may give courses in the regular academic subjects or subject like dental technology, sewing and other non-academic subjects. Not all students of community colleges have high school diplomas.

Technical, or vocational schools have no academic programs and provide only job training. Programs may take from six months to two years and more.

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* SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) measures aptitudes in verbal and mathematical fields necessary for college work.

** ACT (American College Test) measures skills in English, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences.

Task 3. Answer the following questions:

1. What kind of schools are there in the USA?

2. Who runs the private schools in USA?

3. When does the elementary education start?

4. What is the aim of pre-school education?

5. When does the secondary education start?

6. What program has the comprehensive school?

7. What is the difference between junior and senior school?

8. What tests should high school students take if they want to attend a college or university?

9. What institutions does the system of higher education comprise?

10. At what institutions do students learn technical skills?

11. What can you tell about the community colleges?

Task 4. Give English equivalents to the following Russian words and phrases:

частная школа, промежуточная школа, налогоплательщик, дошкольная ступень обучения, академические предметы, старшая школа, обязательный, предлагать, поступать в университет, тест академических способностей, негосударственный, некоммерческий, тест американского колледжа, общественный колледж, диплом высшей школы.

Task 5. Learn the following words and word combinations:

1.	peculiarity	особенность
2.	to pass	проходить
3.	arduous	трудный
4.	legal medicine	судебная медицина
5.	considerable	значительный, много
6.	to acquaint	познакомить
7.	internship	интернатура
8.	under the guidance	под руководством
9.	capable	одаренный, способный
10.	experienced	опытный
11.	on completion	по окончании
12.	field	область, поле
13.	postgraduate	последипломное
14.	provisionally	временно
15.	credentials	полномочия
16.	performance	исполнение, деятельность
17.	satisfactory	удовлетворительный
18.	to accommodate	вмещать
19.	verbal reasoning skills	устные навыки рассуждения
20.	sample	образец
21.	admissions committee	приемная комиссия
22.	intended	предполагаемый
23.	date of enrollment	дата зачисления
24.	in advance	заранее, вперед
25.	deadline	срок
26.	academic record	успеваемость
27.	commitment to medicine	приверженность к медицине
28.	calculus	исчисление
29.	annual tuition	годовое обучение
30.	fee	плата
31.	to seek	стремиться, желать
32.	entire cost	полная стоимость
33.	application	заявка, заявление

Task 6. Read the text and translate it.