Here in Russia many people (mostly old people) say that American educational system is very inefficent and so American teenagers are "quite uneducated". I tend to think that these people are not really aware of the way it works and just like to critisize others. Thus, I'm wondering what it's really like, do you like it or would you prefer a change? Would be great to hear opinions of people who live in the US.
I think the American educations system often gets portrayed only by the negative aspects of it. We are a very large country with a very diverse population and some areas the schools struggle. In some areas the schools are outright dangerous for students and teachers, this is true. But that is not the entire educational system.
My personal experience is even the 'worst' school in my area can still produce outstanding, well education students. Does the student from a tiny rural school have access to 3 foreign languages, a robotics team and have the latest computer equipment? No, probably not. But the good students from that school know how to study, learn, and behave as any 18 year-old should know and they will be well prepared for the next step, whether it is unveristy or vocational.
And really, when you get down to it, a kid who comes from a caring family will become a great adult regardless of the school.
GregS, I absolutely agree with you. The one thing that was kind of bothering me is that some Russians critisize American schools, but most of public schools here are of quite poor quality. For example, it's really hard to find a descent English teacher in here... I guess there is a weak link in every educational system :)
Good question. I went to school in both France and the United States. The French system was much more disciplined. The American system was much more creative and collaborative. That was years ago but I think it still holds true.
Thanks a lot for all your answers and opinions!
It is an important question for me as I'm still a student. During breaks in school I and my classmates often discuss this and I thought it would be great to hear about it "from the inside".
I came to a conclusion that it's no use to generalize the quality of education in particular countries, poor schools exist alongside with the richer ones in every country. Basically, every person's education depends on their own willingness to learn and study hard no matter what part of the world they are from.
It's pretty hard to generalize, because in the United States education is extremely decentralized. In the phrase "the U.S. educational system" the words the and system are completely misleading!
When it comes to control of local schooling, the local school board has the greatest influence; the individual state, second; the Federal department of education is a distant third.
Furthermore, education in the United States is a political football, so people who want to make changes are apt to make loud public comments that exaggerate problems.
The biggest source of public school funding is the property tax (real estate tax, assessed on the value of your house and property). Although there are laws and court rules that minimize it, there is a strong tendency for wealthier communities to have better public schools. But by no means all students attend public schools. About 1/4 attend private schools, most of which are "parochial schools" operated by the Catholic Church.
In Massachusetts, 48% of all 8th-grade students were judged "proficient" in reading on the national NAEP tests; in Louisiana, 24%. That's a big difference.
According to the United Nations, http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/education-index , their "education index" is 0.890 for the United States, which ranks the U.S. as #5. It's lower than Australia (0.926), New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands, but higher than the UK (#13 at 0.860), France (#22 at 0.816), Japan (0.808), Russian Federation (0.780). I have no idea what that means, but it doesn't sound too bad for the US.
