In US the government mainly provides public education. However, the funding and control do not come from federal government. It differs from state to state and the control and funding can come from federal, State and local bodies. The school boards determine the curriculum, teaching and other educational policies and it differs from state to state. In US public education competes with private education and the private education system in most cases is superior in educational quality in terms of curriculum and in terms of student's academic performance, teaching quality, extra curricula activities in elementary and secondary level.
The cost per student is less in private educational institutions than public education in elementary and in secondary level. In a higher education the cost is very high and the private universities have more elitist status than the public universities in general. It is not accessible to most student groups. There are charter schools, which are parochial in nature in secondary and in elementary level and they are also superior in terms of educational quality in general compared to public schools. In some state it has home schooling system, but not in all states. In US the age of entry in to school system and exist from the school system differs and the grading system also varies from state to state. The standardized test and educational standards are mostly administered by the State government.
US Public Education system Performance statistics compared to other advanced Industrial Countries
In an article Education in United States in the Wikipedia
Encyclopedia the following statistics have been documented:
- United Nations assigned an Education Index of 99.9 for United States ranking it number 1 in the world.
- 76.6 million students enrolled according to K16 study and 72% aged 12 to 17 were judged academically on track. Of these, 5.2 million attending private schools.
- Among the adult population, over 85% completed High school and 27% received bachelor degree or higher.
- Literacy rate of 98% of the population over age 15, while ranking below average in mathematics and Science understanding.
- A recent study showed, that a slightly higher proportion of American adults qualify as scientifically literate than European and Japanese adults. The participation in continuing education is high for United States.
These statistics shows, that the American public education system perform in some measures well and not in others, particularly in mathematics and science education
compared to other advanced industrial countries. As Science and mathematics, is crucial for future technical potential of US compared to other advanced countries, if US lags behind other advanced industrialized countries, it lose its competitive edge in this crucial field. This hamper it's economic and social development in the future.
The above statistics shows, a substantial proportion of students aged 12 to 17 are not academically on track and they may become unemployable or unemployed due to lack of skills and may become burden to society as a whole. Based on the statistics above, even though overall the US public education system is performing well it has serious weaknesses compared to other advanced industrial countries.
In light of the above statistics, the US public education system in terms of its development of appropriate skills, for the majority of the students and maintaining a high standard of science skills, in a practical manner in a real world context is vital. As well, the statistics shows the speed of change in its structure and curriculum, funding and teaching strategies is inadequate. It also indicates, the education system must be flexible to adept to the special needs of students.
There exists some groups of disadvantage students created by segregation policies in education within the Public education system. This is the product of American social development and denied access to education to these groups.
As mentioned above the US public education system the curriculum is diverse and has differing quality in different districts also differs from one state to the next. The quality of curriculum is a fundamental factor in the determining what is taught is class, who is teaching, resources used, options given interms of students, assessment methods, who controls the curriculum and for who's benefit. If the curriculum in quality differs then it will create more differences than if the curriculum is to some degree centralized in some European countries than in America. Public education in these countries has to follow basic curriculum in all states and provinces but adept to local conditions depending on the student profile, parents and teachers with some guidance and principles enunciated by a central educational authority. The educational reform must take in to consideration the educational structural factors of the degree of decentralization and centralization in to account if it wants to resolve and improve the performance of US Public education system.
Segregation and inequality and the US Public education system
