Elementary and Secondary Education

Because of the great variety of schools and colleges, and the many differences among them, no one institution can be singled out as typical or even representative. Yet there are enough basic similarities in structure among the various schools and systems to permit some general comments.

Most schools start at the kindergarten level. There are some school districts that do not have this beginning phase and others which have an additional "pre-school" one. There are almost always required subjects at each level. In some areas and at more advanced levels, students can choose some subjects. Pupils who do not do well often have to repeat courses, or have to have special tutoring, usually done in and by the schools. Many schools also support summer classes, where students can make up for failed courses or even take extra courses.

In addition to bilingual and bicultural education programs, many schools have special programs for those with learning and reading difficulties. These and other programs repeat the emphasis of American education on trying to increase equality of opportunity. They also attempt to integrate students with varying abilities and backgrounds into an educational system shared by all. At the same time, many high school students are given special advanced coursework in mathematics and the sciences. Nation-wide talent searches for minority group children with special abilities and academic promise began on a large scale in the 1960s. These programs have helped to bring more minority children into advanced levels of university education and into the professions.

Like schools in Britain and other English-speaking countries, those in the U.S. have also always stressed "character" or "social skills" through extracurricular activities, including organised sports. Because most schools start at around 8 o'clock every morning and classes often do not finish until 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, such activities mean that many students do not return home until the early evening. There is usually a very broad range of extracurricular activities available. Most schools, for instance, publish their own student newspapers, and some have their own radio stations. Almost all have student orchestras, bands, and choirs, which give public performances. There are theater and drama groups, chess and debating clubs, Latin, French, Spanish, or German clubs, groups which meet after school to discuss computers, or chemistry, or amateur radio, or the raising of prize horses and cows. Students can learn flying, skin-diving, and mountain climbing. They can act as volunteers in hospitals and homes for the aged and do other public-service work.

Many different sports are also available, and most schools share their facilities - swimming pools, tennis courts, tracks, and stadiums - with the public. Many sports that in other countries are normally offered by private clubs are available to students at no cost in American schools. Often the students themselves organise and support school activities and raise money through car washes, baby-sitting, bake sales, or by mowing lawns. Parents and local businesses often also help a group that, for example, has a chance to go to a state music competition, to compete in some sports championship, or take a camping trip. Such activities not only give pupils a chance to be together outside of normal classes, they also help develop a feeling of "school spirit" among the students and in the community.