美国教育制度英文

美国教育制度英文

集团档案编码：[YTTR-YTPT28-YTNTL98-UYTYNN08]

TheSystemofAmericanEducation

Abstract:Comparedwithotherbigpowersintheworld,theUnitedSatesofAmericaisaveryyoungcountryinthehistoryoftheworld.Itseducationstartedtoolate,butwhosedevelopmentisveryrapid.Infact,Americaneducationalsystemplaysanimportantroleinthis

situation.

Keyword:American;system;education

TheUnitedStatesisverystrongineducationandshouldershugetaskofeducation.TodiscusseducationintheUnitedStatesisaverycomplicatedproblem,becauseitisamulticulturalcountry.Americaneducationisalsodiversereflectingontheeducation,thereisnounifiednationaleducationsystemintheUnitedStatesandfiftystateshave50differenteducationsystem.ThereisnodoubtthatmangpeoplepaymuchattentiontothesystemofAmericaneducation.ThemajordifferenceineducationsystembetweenAmericanandmostothercountriesisthattheeducationoftheUnitedStatesisforeveryoneinsociety,notonlyforafewpeople.Americaneducationalsystemcanbebestunderstoodasakindofsocial

institutionsthatreflectthebasicbeliefsandfundamental

principlesofthenation,ratherthansimplyakindofskill-trainingplaceswherestudentsarepreparedtogetajob.[1]Allinall,thesystemofAmericaneducationhasitsownspecialfeaturesandattractalotof

countries’attention.

I.TheHistoryofAmericaneducation

Asoneofthebasiccontentsofsociallife,

educationhasacloserelationshipwithonenation’s

growth.ThereweremanypeoplegraduatedfromOxford

CollegeandCambridgeCollegebetweenthefirstEnglish

settlerstoAmericainthecolonialeraof17thcentury.It

isestimatedthatthereisacollegestudentoutofevery

40to50families.Thisimmigrationofhighereducation

backgroundmadethemattachgreatimportancetoeducation.

AndtheearlyimmigrantsfromEnglandneededakindof

culturetohelpthemunderstandTheBiblebythemselves

becauseoftheirdevotiontoreligion.ThesetwofactorsmadetheeducationofAmericastart.HarvardCollegewas

foundedasearlyas1636,onlyfifteenyearsafterthe

PilgrimFathershadlandedintheNewWorld.[2]William

Maryuniversitywasbuiltin1639andYaleuniversitywas

establishedin1701.Before1776whenAmericadeclared

independencefromGreatBritain,eightothercollegescameintoexistence.[3]AlltheseindicatethatAmericanshave

shownagreatconcernforeducationsinceearlycolonial

times.Between1825and1850,publiceducationwas

establishedinAmerica.Allstateswerebuiltbasic

educationsystemwhichwasopentoallchildrenStatesandwithoutreligiousdiscriminationandthebasisofeconomic

conditions.Manypublicuniversitiesandcollegesalso

appearedandtheyenrichedtheeducationofAmericaalong

withalargenumberofprivatecolleges.

II.TheStructureofSchoolSystem

TheAmericaneducationofalltypesandatall

levelsjoineachotherinstructureandcommunicatewith

eachotherupanddown.Atanyrate,fromelementaryschool

throughcollege,Americansholdthebeliefthateveryone

deservesafairandequalopportunitytogetagood

education,andthatpartoftheresponsibilityofthe

governmentistomakesurethatsuchanopportunityisnotdeniedtoanyoneofthem.[4]Oneofthestrikingfeatures,

differAmericaneducationsystemfromotherEuropean

countries’educationsystem,callamonorailsystem.It

formedinthesecondhalfofthe19thcenturyandcanbe

specificallydividedintothebottom-upstructure:primary

school,secondaryschool,andthenuniversity."Rail"is

thenumberofclassinonegrade.

ThecurrentschoolsystemofAmericaeducationalso

reflectsthefeatureofthecombinationofunityand

diversity.Duetoathoroughsystemofdecentralizationin

education,Americahasnounifiednationaleducational

system.ThecurrentsystemofAmericaeducationisbasically

fallenintofollowingparts:elementaryeducationand

secondaryeducationfor12years,4yearsofhigher

education,andgraduateschool,thetotalcourseof20

yearsorso.Therearemanydifferentkindsofpreschool

educationinstitutionsinAmerica.Nomatterpublicor

private,itcanberoughlydividedintonurseryschool(for

childrenaged3~5)andthekindergarten(recruitchildren

aged4~6);Elementaryeducationisdistributedinto

publiceducationandprivateeducation,whichpays

attentiontodevelopthepotentialofchildren;Thereare

mainlyfouryears,sixyearstoconstructandthreekinds

ofthree-thirdssysteminsecondaryschoolinAmerica.Its

mainpartisthecomprehensiveschoolanditsminorpart

arethegeneraleducationandvocationalandtechnical

education.Besides,therearealsoseparatesecondary

schools,vocationalandtechnicalschools,saysmiddle

schoolandotherhighschool;Thelessonsofhigher

educationcollegesanduniversitiesinAmericaaredivided

intofourcategories:atwo-yearcollege(communitycollege)

(tertiary),liberalartscollege(four-yearcollege),

universitiesandprofessionalschools.[5]

III.TheEducationManagement

Americaneducationmanagementimplementsthehighdegreeofdecentralization.InAmerica,theeducationmanagementistheresponsibilityofthestateorlocalgovernment,ratherthanthefederalgovernment.Asearlyasin1791,the10thamendmentoftheconstitutionofAmericahasbeendefined,thefederalgovernmentdoesnothavethepermissiontomanageeducationandeducationischargedbythestates.ThepowersoftheministryofeducationinAmericanfederalgovernmentareverylimited,whosemainresponsibilityistodistributeeducationgrantstothestatesaccordingtotheintentionsofcongress,aswellasofferscholarshipstoAmericandomesticstudents.ThestatesofAmericaareequippedwiththeeducationminister

whoareinchargeofdrawingupthestate'seducation

policyandleadthesubordinateorganizationstoimplementthesepolicies.Whileaccordingtothestatelaw,allstatesmostlygivethemanagementrightofpublicschooltothelocalschooldistricts,inadditiontosetupthestateboardofeducationandmakethebasicpolicyofeducation’sdevelopment.Therefore,themanagementrightofelementaryeducationandsecondaryeducationactuallybelongstothelocalschooldistrictsandthelocalpublicschoolmanagementsysteminwhichtheschooldistrictplaystheleadingrolehabeenestablished.[6]Americanuniversitiesallhavetheirowncharacteristicsandtheyaredifferentfromtheteachingguidelines,professionalSettings,testprojecttosmallproblemssuchasadmission

totheTOEFLscoresandapplicationfeeandsoon.

IV.TheGoalsandPurposesofEducation

Historically,thechiefaimofeducationinearlytimeswasliteracyinorderthatpeoplemightbeabletoreadandwritetheBibleandlaws.Whentherepublicwasfounded,literacywasstillaprimaryobjective,butforthenewpurposeoffulfillingtheobligationsofcitizenshipinthenewcountry.Underthenewsystem,each

individualcitizenwasobligatedtovoteaccordingtohis

ownopinionsandconscience,andtotakepartinthediscussionanddecisionmakingatlocal,state,andnationallevels.Asthenationgrewinpopulationandinterritory,asitseconomyexpanded,andparticularlyastheindustrialrevolutionchangedthecomplexityoflifeandcitizenship,educationgrewinimportanceanditsgoalsandpurposesbecamemorediverseandcomprehensive.IftheobjectivesofeducationinAmericaweretobereducedtoasinglesentence,itmightbesummarizedasfollows:tofacilitatethedevelopmentofeachindividualtothemaximumextentofhisorhercapabilityforhisorherown

benefitandthatofsociety.[7]

TheeducationmethodsofWesterncountriesareclosetonatureandmoreclosertothesociety.InChina,thepurposeofeducationistopassschoolexamsandhaveathoroughunderstandingofknowledgewhilethewesternstudentspaymoreattentiontoabilityofpracticeandexercise.ThestudyofAmericanstudentsismainlytoexploreanddevelopstudents'innovativethinking.TheadvantageofAmericaneducationistopaymoreattentiontothestudents'abilityofindependentthinking,theirwayof

thinkingtotheproblemandcultivatestudents'abilityof

dialecticalthinking.Thiscanpreparewellforenteringthesocietywhichattachesimportancetotheinnovativethinking.Itseducationgoalisadaptedtotherequirements

ofcreatingasocietywithtalentintensive.

ThereisnodoubtthattheeductionsystemofChinaandAmericaisdifferent.Thedifferencesareasfollows:Firstly,theteachinggoalofthesetwocountries’elementaryeducationisdifferent.China'sprimaryeducationwilldevelopchildren’sintelligenceandthechildrentakeshighmarksasaprimarygoal,whileinAmerica,itsonlypurposeistocultivatechildren’screativity;Secondly,theattitudestowardsperformancearedifferent.ForChinesechildren,abadreportcardwillmakehimorherreceivepressurefromallsides.However,theyear-endreportcardsofstudentsinAmericaaretheirownprivategoods.Parentsalsowon'tgivetoomuchpressuretotheirchildrenandabilitiesintheirheartaremoreimportantthanscores;Lastly,therearedifferencesbetweenthetwocountriesinknowledgeview.China'seducationpaysattentiontotheaccumulationofknowledge,