【美国教育简述一】美国的教育结构

发布时间：2013-11-08     来源：美国留学

【转自美国驻华使馆的官方博客】

 USA Education In Brief

简述公立学校的发展史，从18世纪的“公学”(具有代表性的小红学舍)到赠地建校运动，一直到扩大了全体美国公民受教育机会的《退伍军人权利法》和民权运动。

A look at the development public schools, beginning with "common school," (the iconic little red schoolhouse) in the 18th century, through the Land-Grant university movement to the G.I. Bill of Rights and the civil rights movement, which expanded educational opportunity to all U.S. citizens.

前言

华盛顿州国际文凭项目(International Baccalaureate)的学生争相回答一道科学问题

各国社会都必须努力解决有关其教育制度的性质和宗旨的根本问题，而美国是第一个正视这些问题的民主国家。

美国人很早就明白，他们作为自由国民的未来有赖于他们自己的智慧和判断力，而不是高高在上的统治者。正因为如此，自建国以来，教育的质量、模式和费用始终是这个国家的核心重点考量。

从幼儿园到高级研究所，各种类型和规模的教育机构遍布美国各地。大家都说公立学校是美国最为人熟知的政府机构。无论是在贫困社区还是富裕社区，也不管是在市区还是乡村，公立学校是全美最常见的机构。

在一门职业技术课上，学生们正在学用液压装置。

从两个世纪前创办至今，美国的公立和私立学校都为界定美国的特性发挥了作用。 塑造美国国格的国家历程都一一在课堂上再现： 种族问题及少数族裔所受的待遇、移民与城市发展、西进扩展与经济增长、个人自由与社区的性质。

从19世纪初的“公学”(common school)运动到当今围绕学术标准与考试展开的各类争论，关于教育宗旨和方法的根本问题在美国公共辩论中一直产生着巨大反响。

学校是应该强调基础技能——阅读、写作和数学，还是应该提供文理和科学领域的广泛教育? 学校如何在为所有人提供平等的教育机会的同时保持高水平的学术水准? 学费应该由谁负担，是父母还是公众? 学校应该侧重于以就业为导向的实用技能，还是为所有学生提供顺利完成大学学业所需的学术课程? 教师应该如何向不同文化、种族和宗教背景的学生传输道德和精神方面的价值观? 应该使用什么样的标准来挑选被名牌高校录取的中学生?

要回答这些问题并非易事，事实上，在美国历史上的不同时期，美国的学校对这些问题的回答也极为不同。在今天，如同过去一样，教育始终是一个引起激烈争辩的、迅速变化的、具有持久价值的话题。

美国的教育结构

2013.10.07

内布拉斯加州(Nebraska)格兰德岛(Grand Island)一所中学的英语课堂

对于其他国家的人而言，美国的教育体系看似庞大多样，甚至杂乱无章，这都是可以理解的。 然而，在这种错综复杂之中，美国的教育反映了这个不断变化的国家的历史、文化和价值观。 广义而言，美国教育体系的特点是规模庞大、有组织的结构、分权鲜明以及多样化程度不断提高。

规模

在美国，各类学校(公立或私立、小学或中学、州立大学或私立学院)比比皆是;美国一直都是全世界最庞大的全民教育体系的所在国之一。 根据全国教育统计中心(National Center for Education Statistics)的统计，在2005-2006学年，美国有超过7500万儿童和成人在各类学校和大学注册就读， 还有680万人被聘为教师，在从幼儿园到大学的各类学校执教。

此外，超过100万来自低收入家庭、通常为三至四岁的学龄前儿童参加了“启智计划”(Head Start)，该计划旨在提供学习、社会发展和营养课程，以确保这些学龄前儿童在五六岁时能正常入学。

公立学校的入学人数在二战后的“婴儿潮”(baby boom，通常指1946到1964年出生的人)期间成指数倍增。 根据美国人口普查局(U.S. Census Bureau)的最新报告，入学人数在20世纪80年代有所下降之后再次有力地反弹，主要是由于西语裔人口的增加。

目前，美国教育体系由大约96,000所公立中小学以及4,200多所高等教育机构组成，包括从小型的两年制社区大学到本科和研究生人数超过30,000人的大型州立大学。

美国每年的教育总开支大约为8,780亿美元。

K-12体制

美国大多数州要求16岁以下的人必须接受学校教育。 美国儿童通常5岁开始上小学，从学前班(K)开始，直到18岁完成中等学校(12年级)学业。一般而言，小学是从学前班直到5年级或6年级，还有一些学校则一直到8年级。 中等学校——美国称为高中——通常指9到12年级。

50年前，小学学生一般直接升入高中，或进入初中就读7-8年级或7-9年级。然而，在过去30年中，初中(junior high school)大部分已被包括6-8年级或与初中年级大体相同的中学(middle school)所取代。 据估计，美国目前大概有2,000万从10到15岁的青少年在中学就读。

正如明尼苏达州(Minnesota)的马克·齐巴思(Mark Ziebarth)校长所说，这两种安排的不同之处在于“初中课程是面向较年少的学生、与传统高中课程类似的设置。其课程安排与高中类似，划分成不同科目。 而中学是为了满足青少年的特殊需求而设置的一个平台”。

中学教育的特点是小组教学和灵活的时段安排，而不是固定的45或50分钟的课程。 这些学校也强调分小组、跨学科的课题探讨方式以及能让10-15岁孩子参与的专门项目。美国中学协会(National Middle School Association)指出，这些孩子“正在经历他们一生中最为迅速的智力和发育变化”。

为14到18岁学生提供种类广泛的学术以及选修课程的当代大型高中，到20世纪中叶已成为美国教育的一个固定环节。高中学生还能选择参加众多的社团、活动、体育运动、勤工俭学以及其他课外活动。 根据所在年级和考试成绩，学生可以学习高级学术课程或一般性课程及职业技术课程。

在20世纪大部分时期，高中被整合成更大的单位，以便向越来越多的学生提供更多的课程选择。 农村的乡村学校基本消失，取而代之的是分布于县内的各所高中。在城市中，人数多达5,000人的大型校园并不少见，不但有以升大学为导向的课程，还有职业技术课程，能吸引几乎所有人前来就读。

近些年，由于担心这些大型学校的教育水准，人们开始呼吁建立规模较小、学生和教师比例较低的学校。

密歇根州(Michigan)底特律(Detroit)的一所小学中的计算机房

长期以来，当代美国高中在公众文化中占有重要地位。热播音乐剧《火爆浪子》(Grease)、电视剧集《快乐时光》(Happy Days)以及《黑板丛林》(Blackboard Jungle)等电影描述了20世纪50年代的学校里的光明与黑暗面。最近以高中为背景的热播影视剧有《贱女孩》(Mean Girls)、《鸿孕当头》(Juno)、《校园风云》(Election)和《歌舞青春》(High School Musical)等电影以及《贝弗利山 90210》(Beverly Hills 90210)和《救命下课铃》(Saved by the Bell)等热播电视剧集。

私立学校

私立学校在美国蓬勃发展，其中很多由教会和其他宗教机构管理。在 2007-2008学年，大约有5,580万学生进入中小学就读，其中约有600万人(约合11%)进入私立学校。

美国私立学校中过半数的学生就读于天主教学校，这是美国最早的私立学校体系。 其他私立学校则反映了美国宗教的多样性，涵盖了几乎所有主要的新教派别(Protestant denominations)、贵格派(Quaker)、伊斯兰教(Islamic)、犹太教(Jewish)和希腊东正教(Greek Orthodox)。

美国最古老的私立学校是创办于18世纪的精英寄宿学校。这些学校为美国培养了许多知识界和政治界领袖。

根据最新人口统计数据，另有110万学生按照美国50个州分别订立的指导方针在家中由父母教授学业。

地方管理

美国教育最显著的特征或许是它的分权管理。 美国的学校基本上由州及地方负责，过去如此，现在仍然如此。与其他多数国家不同，美国没有全国性的教育体系，只有少数例外，主要是军事院校和印第安原住民学校。 联邦政府既不审批也不管理全国性的教纲。

公立教育几乎是美国每个城市和郡县的最大一项支出，主体资金来自当地的房地产税。 地方教育委员会多为选举产生，负责管理美国近15,500个学区，从堪萨斯州(Kansas)和内布拉斯加州的小型乡村学校到每年让100多万名儿童受教育的纽约市教育体系，规模不一。

州教育委员会以及一名州督学或专员负责管理当地的学区、制定学生和教师标准、批准课程教纲并经常性地审核教科书的选定。然而，州的主要权力越来越集中在财政方面：大多数州目前都为学校提供大笔资金，以补充地方税收的不足。

地方管理及资助公立学校带来的一个结果是富裕和贫困学区之间的差异。近年来，在州法院和公众倡导团体的压力下，许多州已经采取措施来确保学区无论收入水平高低都能获得更加均衡的经费。

联邦政府提供研究与支持来确保公平的受教育机会和优秀的教育质量，并资助学生贷款项目及帮助来自低收入家庭的学生。尽管如此，教育的责任主要由州和地方承担。 据美国教育部(Department of Education)统计，各级教育的年度支出大约有90%来自州、地方以及私人渠道。

多样性

历史上，美国学校经历了一波波移民潮;如今的美国学校和它们所服务的广大社会一样，在种族构成上比以往更为多样化。 20世纪早期，移民家庭的子女——大部分来自南欧和东欧——大批涌入美国东北部和中西部地区的公立学校。 如今，新移民继续改变着学生人口的种族构成，不过现在人数最多的是来自拉丁美洲和亚洲的学生。

非裔美国人在K-12年级学生中的比例约为17%，而拉美裔正在逐步成为公立学校中人数最多的单一少数族裔。在各地的学校中，尤其是在东海岸和西海岸地区，父母在国外出生的学生在家讲的语言多达十几种，从阿拉伯语到越南语不一而足，而且这种现象并不罕见。因此，英语作为第二外语的教学工作一直是美国教育最重要的职责之一。

尽管公立学校实行分权并具有多样性，但在运作方式上却仍然极为统一。 如果一名学生从加利福尼亚州(California)转学到宾夕法尼亚州(Pennsylvania)或佐治亚州(Georgia)，他无疑会发现不同州的学校之间的差异，但学科安排却大同小异，尽管联邦政府并未要求实行一套全国性的教纲。

Introduction: Education in Brief

Success of the educational system is fundamental to U.S. democracy

09 September 2008

International Baccalaureate students in Washington state respond to a science question.

(The following text is excerpted from the U.S. Department of State publication USA Education in Brief.)

All societies must wrestle with fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of their educational system, but the United States was the first nation to face these questions as a democracy.

Early on, Americans understood that their future as a free people rested upon their own wisdom and judgment, and not that of some distant ruler. For this reason, the quality, character, and costs of education have remained among the country’s central preoccupations since its founding.

Students experimenting with hydraulics in a vocational class.

Educational institutions of all types and sizes, from nursery schools to advanced research institutions, populate the American landscape. Public schools have been described as the nation’s most familiar government institutions. Whether communities are poor or affluent, urban or rural, public schools are a common denominator throughout the United States.

From their origins two centuries ago through today, America’s public and private schools have served to define the American identity. Every national experience shaping the American character has been played out in its classrooms: race and treatment of minorities, immigration and growth of cities, westward expansion and economic growth, individual freedom and the nature of community.

Fundamental questions about the purpose and methods of education have resonated in public debates in the United States from the “common school” movement of the early 19th century to debates over academic standards and testing today.

Should schools emphasize basic skills – reading, writing, and mathematics – or provide a broad education in the liberal arts and sciences? How can schools provide equal access to all yet maintain high academic standards? Who should pay for schools – parents or the public? Should schools focus on practical, job-oriented skills, or give all children the academic courses necessary to succeed in college? How should teachers impart moral and spiritual values to the children of different cultural, ethnic, and religious backgrounds? What criteria should be used for selecting secondary school students for admission to prestigious colleges and universities?

The answers to these questions are not easy, and, in fact, schools in the United States have answered them in very different ways at different times in the nation’s history. Today, as in the past, education remains a topic of vigorous debate, rapid change, and enduring values.

Structure of U.S. Education

U.S. educational system understandably appears large and varied, even chaotic

09 September 2008

English language learners in a middle-school in Grand Island, Nebraska

(The following text is excerpted from the U.S. Department of State publication USA Education in Brief.)

For someone from another country, the U.S. educational system understandably appears large and varied, even chaotic. Within this complexity, however, American education reflects the history, culture, and values of the changing country itself. From a broad perspective, the American educational system can be characterized by its large size, organizational structure, marked decentralization, and increasing diversity.

Size

Schools in the United States – public and private, elementary and secondary, state universities and private colleges – can be found everywhere, and the United States continues to operate one of the largest universal education systems in the world. More than 75 million children and adults were enrolled in U.S. schools and colleges in the 2005-2006 academic year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Another 6.8 million were employed as teachers, teaching kindergarten through college.

In addition, more than a million preschool children from low-income families, usually ages three and four, attend Head Start programs designed to provide learning, social development, and nutrition programs to ensure that these preschoolers will be ready for school at age five or six.

Public school enrollments grew exponentially during the post-World War II “baby boom” generation (usually defined as those born from 1946 to 1964). After a drop-off in the 1980s, enrollments have rebounded strongly, largely as a result of growing Hispanic populations, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau reports.

The U.S. educational system today comprises almost 96,000 public elementary and secondary schools, plus more than 4,200 institutions of higher learning, ranging from small, two-year community colleges to massive state universities with undergraduate and graduate programs in excess of 30,000 students.

The nation’s total expenditures for education stand at approximately $878 billion a year.

K-12 Organization

School attendance is compulsory for students through age 16 in most states. Children generally begin elementary school with kindergarten (K) at age five and continue through secondary school (grade 12) to age 18. Typically, the elementary school years include kindergarten through grades five or six, and at some schools through grade eight. Secondary schools – known as high schools in the United States – generally include grades nine through 12.

Fifty years ago, elementary school students typically moved immediately to high school, or they attended junior high school for grades seven and eight or grades seven, eight, and nine. During the past 30 years, however, junior high schools have been largely replaced with middle schools configured for grades six through eight, or roughly for the same grades as junior high. Estimates are that 20 million young people, ages 10 to 15, attend middle schools today.

As Minnesota principal Mark Ziebarth described the difference between the two approaches, “A junior high school program is designed to mirror a traditional high school program for students at a younger age. It has a similar schedule to the high school and classes are arranged by departments. Middle schools are designed to provide a forum to meet the special needs of adolescents.”

Team teaching and flexible block scheduling, rather than set 45- or 50-minute classes, are characteristic of middle schools. These schools also place emphasis on small groups, on an interdisciplinary approach to subject matter, and on special projects that can engage 10- to 15-year-olds, who, says the National Middle School Association, “are undergoing the most rapid intellectual and developmental changes of their lives.”

The large contemporary high school, offering a broad menu of academic and elective courses for students ages 14 to 18, became a fixture in American education by the mid-20th century. High school students also can choose from a host of clubs, activities, athletics, work-study arrangements, and other extracurricular activities. Based on grades and tests, students can take advanced academic courses or more general or vocational classwork.

Through most of the 20th century, high schools were consolidated into larger units to offer wider class choices to more and more students. The rural country school almost disappeared, replaced by countywide high schools. In cities, it was not uncommon for large school campuses to hold as many as 5,000 students with both college-oriented and vocational courses that could appeal to just about everyone.

Working in the computer labs in a Detroit, Michigan, elementary school

More recently, concerns over the caliber of education in such large schools has led to a call for the establishment of smaller schools with lower student-teacher ratios.

The contemporary American high school has long loomed large in the public culture. The popular musical Grease, the television series Happy Days, and movies like Blackboard Jungle depicted the light and dark sides of schools in the 1950s. Recent popular entertainments with high school settings range from films like Mean Girls, Juno, Election, and High School Musical to such hit TV shows as Beverly Hills 90210 and Saved by the Bell.

Private Schools

Private schools flourish in the United States; many of these schools are run by churches and other religious organizations. Of the estimated 55.8 million children attending elementary and secondary schools during the 2007-2008 academic year, about 6 million, or 11 percent, were enrolled in private schools.

More than half of the nation’s private school students attend Catholic schools, the nation’s oldest private school system. Other private schools reflect America’s religious diversity, encompassing nearly all major Protestant denominations and the Quaker, Islamic, Jewish, and Greek Orthodox faiths.

The country’s oldest private schools, however, are elite boarding schools, founded in the 18th century, which have had a record of educating many of the country’s intellectual and political leaders.

Another 1.1 million students are home-schooled by their parents under guidelines established by each of the 50 states, according to recent census figures.

Local Control

Perhaps the most remarkable characteristic of American education is its decentralization. Schools in the United States have been, and remain, overwhelmingly a state and local responsibility. Unlike most other nations, the United States does not operate a national education system – with only a few exceptions, notably the nation’s military academies and Native American schools. Neither does the federal government approve nor administer a national curriculum.

Public education constitutes the single largest expenditure for almost every U.S. city and county, which receive the bulk of their funding from local property taxes. Local boards of education, most of which are elected, administer the nation’s nearly 15,500 school districts, ranging from small rural schools in states like Kansas and Nebraska to the New York City system, which educates more than a million children annually.

State boards of education, along with a state superintendent or commissioner, oversee local education districts, set student and teacher standards, approve the classroom curriculum, and often review textbook selections. The state’s chief power, however, is increasingly financial: Most states now provide substantial aid to schools to supplement local tax revenues.

One consequence of local control and financing of public schools has been disparities between affluent and poor school districts. In recent years, under pressure from state courts and public advocacy groups, many states have taken steps to ensure more equitable funding of school districts regardless of income levels.

The federal government provides research and support to ensure equal access and excellence in education, along with funding student loan programs and assistance to lower- income students. Nevertheless, responsibility for education remains primarily a state and local enterprise. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 90 percent of the annual expenditures for education at all levels comes from state, local, and private sources.

Diversity

Schools in the United States have experienced waves of immigration throughout their history, and today American schools, like the larger society they serve, are more ethnically diverse than ever. In the early 20th century, children of immigrant families – most from southern and eastern Europe – flooded public school systems in the Northeast and Midwest. Today new immigrants continue to change the ethnic composition of student populations, although the largest numbers now come from Latin America and Asia.

African Americans constitute about 17 percent of the K-12 student population; Hispanics, however, are becoming the largest single minority group in public schools. It is not uncommon to find schools, especially along the East and West Coasts, where more than a dozen different languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese, are spoken at home by students of foreign-born parents. As a result, the teaching of English as a second language remains one of education’s most important responsibilities.

Despite their decentralization and diversity, public schools remain remarkably cohesive in the ways they are run. A student transferring from a school in California to one in Pennsylvania or Georgia will find differences no doubt, but the mix of academic subjects will be largely familiar, despite the fact that the federal government does not mandate a national curriculum.

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