Education in the United States of America

Education in the United States is provided mainly by the government, with control and funding coming from all three levels: federal, state, and local. Curricula, funding, teaching, and other policies are set through locally elected school boards with jurisdiction over school districts. School districts can be (but are not always) coextensive with counties or municipalities. Educational standards and standardized testing decisions are usually made by the U.S. states though acts of the state legislature and governor, and decisions of the state departments of education.

The U.S. federal government, through the U.S. Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. School accreditation decisions are made by voluntary regional associations.

Schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia teach in English, while schools in the territory of Puerto Rico teach in Spanish. Non-profit private schools are widespread, are largely independent of the government, and include secular as well as parochial schools.

The United States has a relatively educated population. Literacy is estimated at 97 percent. As of 2003, 76.6 million students were enrolled in nursery through undergraduate study. Of these, 72 percent aged 12 to 17 were judged academically “on track” for their age (enrolled in school at or above grade level).

Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country’s adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school, and 27 percent have received a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average salary for college graduates is USD 45,400, exceeding the national average by more than USD 10,000.[1

School grades

The U.S. uses a grade notation and year naming system that is not well understood in other countries. Unlike other nations, Americans prefer to use ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers for grades in ordinary speech. Thus, when asked what grade they are in, a typical American child is more likely to say “fourth grade” rather than “Grade 4.” The following is the typical ages and grade groupings in public and private schools. Many different, though rare, variations exist across the country. In many parts of the country elementary school includes Kindergarten through 8th Grade.