History UsefulNotes / AmericanEducationalSystem

** '''Alternative schools''' are those schools that specialize in providing an alternative to mainstream education styles. Many specialize in having smaller, more intimate classes and less focus on standardized testing, although there are some that go further and make fundamental changes to the curriculum, such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education Waldorf]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education Montessori]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach Reggio Emilia]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_school Sudbury]] schools. Increasingly, a number of public school districts have started experimenting with alternative methods.

** '''Alternative schools''' are those schools that specialize in providing an alternative to mainstream education styles. Many specialize in having smaller, more intimate classes and less focus on standardized testing, although there are some that go further and make fundamental changes to the curriculum, such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_education Waldorf]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education Montessori]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_school Sudbury]] schools. Increasingly, a number of public school districts have started experimenting with alternative methods.

** '''Other Christian schools''' aren't part of the Catholic education system and are run according to principles of other Christian denominations, often evangelical Protestant (although there are exceptions[[note]]Episcopal schools, for example, are nearly identical to Catholic schools in their structure, in keeping with the stereotype of the Episcopal Church as "Catholicism lite". Other "mainline" Protestant denominations likewise run schools with enough marked similarities to the Catholic education system that discussing the differences would be a matter of splitting hairs.[[/note]]). Unlike Catholic schools and their mainline Protestant counterparts[[notes]]as previously noted, the Episcopalians and other mainline Protestant denominations run schools which are more or less identical to Catholic schools in curriculum and quality, only wearing a slightly different theological hat[[/note]], these Christian schools are often marketed as TheMoralSubstitute to the public education system. Not only is there mandatory religious instruction, but the curriculum can be heavily modified in accordance with the school's mission -- creationism and Flood geology are part of science classes, sex education (if there even is any) is abstinence-only, and social studies classes teach that America was explicitly founded as a Christian nation. An excellent satire of Christian schools can be seen in the film ''Film/{{Saved}}''. The actual academic quality of these schools varies from school to school -- some of them aren't allowed to legally award diplomas, instead forcing their students to obtain [=GEDs=], while others are quite academically rigorous and are considered on par with some of the better prep schools.

** '''Other Christian schools''' aren't part of the Catholic education system and are run according to principles of other Christian denominations, often evangelical Protestant (although there are exceptions[[note]]Episcopal schools, for example, are nearly identical to Catholic schools in their structure, in keeping with the stereotype of the Episcopal Church as "Catholicism lite". Other "mainline" Protestant denominations likewise run schools with enough marked similarities to the Catholic education system that discussing the differences would be a matter of splitting hairs.[[/note]]). Unlike Catholic schools, Christian schools are often marketed as TheMoralSubstitute to the public education system. Not only is there mandatory religious instruction, but the curriculum can be heavily modified in accordance with the school's mission -- creationism and Flood geology are part of science classes, sex education (if there even is any) is abstinence-only, and social studies classes teach that America was explicitly founded as a Christian nation. An excellent satire of Christian schools can be seen in the film ''Film/{{Saved}}''. The actual academic quality of these schools varies from school to school -- some of them aren't allowed to legally award diplomas, instead forcing their students to obtain [=GEDs=], while others are quite academically rigorous and are considered on par with some of the better prep schools.

This can lead to amusing situations when a BrilliantButLazy student drops out at age 16, promptly gets their GED, and has a diploma equivalent 2 years before their peers. Theoretically they could get an Associate's Degree while everyone else is graduating, but this is much rarer, hence the "lazy" part. A real-life example of this is current [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Philadelphia Phillies]] star Bryce Harper, who took and passed his GED at 16 so he could enter junior college early, thus getting a head start on a professional baseball career.[[note]] Under MLB rules, U.S. players are eligible for the draft upon high school graduation. Harper chose junior college because of another draft rule—a player who enrolls in a four-year college is ineligible until three years after enrollment or turning 21, whichever is sooner. Junior college players, on the other hand, are always eligible. This meant that Harper could be drafted at age 17 with a year of college under his belt (and was, as the first overall pick).[[/note]] To prevent students from gaming the system in this manner, some states require a GED candidate to be at least 18 years of age.[[note]]Harper's home state of Nevada is obviously not one of them.[[/note]]

College is optional, if you want to shovel manure and harvest crops, or you have made enough money in the stock market already to buy colleges. While a college degree isn't necessary to find work, most white collar jobs require a degree of some sort, so ''not'' having one will severely limit one's career choices (although some professions prefer to use apprenticeships). Oddly enough, if your parents could buy a college, they probably ''did'', and attendance is mandatory if you want that trust fund.

At many high schools, particularly [[TeenGenius motivated]] or [[MeddlingParents pressured]] students are permitted to take a subset of college courses. These courses are dubbed "dual enrollment" as the student can apply the class towards both their high school and college diplomas. These courses are often taken remotely, but certain programs exist that may allow students to actually spend part of their day on a local college campus. More common, however, is cases of a college class being taught on the high school campus. Though rare, occasionally a student will end up receiving an Associate's Degree before their high school diploma.

This can lead to amusing situations when a BrilliantButLazy student drops out at age 16, promptly gets his/her GED, and has a diploma equivalent 2 years before their peers. Theoretically they could get an Associate's Degree while everyone else is graduating, but this is much rarer, hence the "lazy" part. A real-life example of this is current [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Philadelphia Phillies]] star Bryce Harper, who took and passed his GED at 16 so he could enter junior college early, thus getting a head start on a professional baseball career.[[note]] Under MLB rules, U.S. players are eligible for the draft upon high school graduation. Harper chose junior college because of another draft rule—a player who enrolls in a four-year college is ineligible until three years after enrollment or turning 21, whichever is sooner. Junior college players, on the other hand, are always eligible. This meant that Harper could be drafted at age 17 with a year of college under his belt (and was, as the first overall pick).[[/note]] To prevent students from gaming the system in this manner, some states require a GED candidate to be at least 18 years of age.[[note]]Harper's home state of Nevada is obviously not one of them.[[/note]]

Of course, this is all seen in the case of an Active Shooter situations (cases where the perpetrator is killing with no pattern or method to his or her victims). These are the most common to be featured in media, but it goes without saying that not all school shootings are Active Shooter events. Weapons are brought to school with intention to kill specific victims for any numerous reasons. In some cases, shootings at schools may be related to criminal activity, and while may occur on school grounds, may not occur in the school building (another critical part of an Active Shooter event). The reasons these are not covered as much are best discussed somewhere else. Many school systems have taken practice of employing a school officer, typically a fully deputized police officer of some kind, to assist in security matters. This is OlderThanTheyThink. The first police response in UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} were made by an on-duty school resource officer, who engaged in a brief firefight with the shooters before they retreated inside, less than 5 minutes after the shootings occurred.

Fraternities choose their new members once or twice a year, always in the fall and, more rarely, in the spring. The application process is called ''rushing''. An applicant will choose to rush anywhere from one to several frats, who will then accept or reject the applicant. Once selected, the new member is called a ''pledge''; he or she may be subject to a difficult, dangerous, and/or embarrassing InitiationCeremony. These ceremonies are another sticking point between frats and college administrations, as they have been known to devolve into hazing and outright abuse (as famously portrayed in ''Film/AnimalHouse'').[[note]]The aforementioned [=FarmHouse=] averts this trope; its rituals are open, and members' families are encouraged to attend initiations.[[/note]]

Colleges and universities are not regulated by a local school board, but have their own administration, [[UpToEleven often complex and confusing enough that it would leave a]] [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Vogon]] in tears.

School funding is both complicated and politically sensitive. According to OECD figures, the US has long had one of the highest rates of per-pupil spending for schooling in the world. A large part of funding of schools is based on property taxes for the area where the school is located. If you guess that means school districts in poor areas have a lot less money than those in rich areas, you'd be absolutely correct. Even worse, the gap is self-creating: the quality of local public schools is by ''far'' the most influential criteria on the cost of housing and real estate, and thus property tax, in any given area. In fact, many rich suburbs and gated communities were created partly because parents wanted their kids to have the best free education money could buy, and bought it. To help keep things in balance, some courts have ordered various corrective remedies, such as taking all the money in the state and averaging it out. In some places, the state will add money, taken from the general fund or from other taxes. Some states use whatever funds come from the state lottery. And some will use federal grants based on other criteria. A few states use alternate taxes, such as income taxes (in Ohio, using property taxes to fund schools has been ruled illegal per the state constitution.) State aid allows school systems in some poorer areas, notably some in Maryland and New Jersey, to spend far more per pupil than school systems in some wealthier areas; however, the promised improvement in school outcomes has not occurred.

Each school district will have its own School Board. The ''number'' of boards is set at the state level -- some have one per county, some have one per city, some major cities have one for the whole metro area, UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}} has one school district and board for the entire state, and [[HollywoodNewEngland Vermont]] has (depending on how you count two schools of different grade levels that share a campus and part or all of their identity) more school boards than public schools [[note]]Vermont's public schools, incidentally, are some of the most highly-rated in the country, perhaps due to the fact that community oversight is on them around the clock.[[/note]]

Some states, notably Texas, have school districts that are organized and act independent of municipal governments. This is done to prevent conflicts of interest between schools and cities and also for demographic reasons. It often leads to Gerrymandering, either for political, demographic, or (usually) for [[SeriousBusiness varsity sports]] reasons. On the other hand, Virginia has no "school districts" as such—public K–12 education is operated by a subdivision of a local government (city, town, or county) known as a "school division" (though, like the rest of the country, Virginia has local school boards).[[note]]The main difference between a Virginia school division and a school district in the rest of the country is tax-related. In the rest of the country, school districts have the authority to levy taxes. Virginia law gives no taxing power to its school divisions—any school-related taxes are levied by the local government, with the funds then provided to its school division.[[/note]]

Four-year colleges almost always refer to incoming students as freshmen, second-year students as sophomores, third year as juniors, and fourth year as seniors.[[note]]Notable exceptions include the University of Virginia and the US federal service academies. UVA uses "first-year" to "fourth-year", in order of number of years attended. All of the academies except for Air Force officially use "fourth class" to "first class", in ''reverse order'' of years attended. The USAFA follows the numbering order of the other academies, but uses the word "degree" instead of "class".[[/note]] Anybody on their last year before graduating can also be referred to as a senior, although students may teasingly refer to those who have been there for 5+ years as "Super Seniors". This is not the same as being "kept back" in primary or secondary school and does not carry much of a stigma; a student may abort a half-completed major to start over on a new one, may take a sabbatical,[[note]]Until fairly recently, this was especially true at [[UsefulNotes/{{Mormonism}} BYU]] and its branch campuses, since young male LDS Church members are strongly encouraged to go on church missions during the traditional college years. Young women can and do go on missions, but in considerably smaller numbers. Because the minimum age for American missionaries was 19 for men and 21 for women until 2012, this meant that most missionaries had to interrupt their college education to go into the field. Today, the minimum age is 18 for men and 19 for women, meaning that male missionaries can now go into the field straight from high school.[[/note]] or may suffer other impediments to their progress, such as money problems or illness. For instance, California's San Jose State University has an Animation department which is so under-staffed and so over-attended (due to its proximity to Creator/{{Pixar}} and Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic) that its students are only allowed to take ''one animation course a semester'', resulting in a ''seven-year'' program whose graduates take longer to obtain their Bachelor's degree than their contemporaries take for their Master's. Similarly, not finishing college at all has nowhere near the stigma that dropping out of high school does. Bill Gates, one of the world's richest people, dropped out of Harvard at 19 to found Microsoft. In fact, open disdain for college degrees has become fashionable in some corners of Silicon Valley.

Most colleges have [[CollegeRadio their own radio stations]]. The prominence of college radio on a particular campus or town may vary wildly. At some colleges, only the communications students care about it, and the signal may not even cover the entire campus. At others, the radio station is one of their most cherished institutions, and may be one of the most popular stations in the area. In TheEighties, college radio was a major outlet for alternative rock (sometimes still known by the old name of "college rock"), and while the internet has largely taken up their role of introducing people to new music, many college stations still possess significant cultural clout, playing the kind of music that would not normally see airplay on commercial radio. Seton Hall's WSOU, for example, is one of the premier stations for metal, hardcore, and punk in America, and the only station in the New York area that plays {{death metal}} or modern punk rock — ironic, given the fact that Seton Hall is a Catholic institution (a fact that, at various points, has led to censorship controversies).

Most schools offer both boys' and girls' sports. This is due to Title IX, a law passed in 1972 which mandates that schools offer sufficient athletic opportunities to female students. Controversy arises from the fact that schools with limited budgets are often forced to cut boys' sports in order to establish and maintain equivalent girls' sports programs (the general perception, more often than not, is that boys' sports are more worthy of attention). The benefit is that programs and opportunities for girls (and for women in college) have become dramatically better, and the results play out on the international stage — the United States is a powerhouse in international women's sports. For example, while the US men's national soccer team has long been viewed as a joke by the rest of the world (although nowadays, it's seen as a middle-tier team), the women's soccer team has won three FIFA Women's World Cups and four Olympic gold medals in the last twenty years. It's saying something when there aren't that many well-known male American soccer players but also few big-name female footballers from outside the U.S. The main sports for female athletes tend to be basketball, soccer, softball, track, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse (again, especially in the eastern US), ice hockey (again, mostly in its US heartland of the northern tier of states) and, of course, [[TheCheerleader cheerleading]].

American media often show students of widely varying abilities in the same classes. This depiction is [[TruthInTelevision largely accurate]] below the college/university level, with remedial and advanced classes often being found only in high schools. The sort of recognition of differing abilities that is commonplace elsewhere in the world is [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad hugely controversial]] in large parts of the U.S. -- while it means that the brightest kids in a class are not necessarily learning as much as they could it also means that children who are still developing aren't tracked into lower level classes so early that they don't have the opportunity to reach the higher level classes that are offered at the middle and high school level.

At least two schools in the United States eschew the Greek system in favor of a residential college system: (1) Rice University, in Houston, Texas. The college system randomly places students in one of several colleges (in Rice's case, 11, though Rice students and alums will {{insist|entTerminology}} that it's 10 since by their count, Martel is not a "college"); like fraternities, students are members for life. Each college has its own commons and living quarters, where members can live for up to four years. Despite their random demographics, colleges tend to develop personalities, based on student behavior and aptitude toward intercollegiate competition. The week before classes begin is spent orienting students to their colleges, much like pledging for fraternities. (2) University of California, San Diego. Its system is similar to that of Rice (or rather, Oxbridge, from which both stole the idea), except there are 6 colleges, housing is only guaranteed for 2 years, and your choice of college affects your general education requirements (though not your major; but some are obviously easier for certain majors). Not nearly as cool as the Houses of Literature/HarryPotter.

At least two schools in the United States eschew the Greek system in favor of a residential college system: (1) Rice University, in Houston, Texas. The college system randomly places students in one of several (in Rice's case, 10 (Martel is not a college)) colleges; like fraternities, students are members for life. Each college has its own commons and living quarters, where members can live for up to four years. Despite their random demographics, colleges tend to develop personalities, based on student behavior and aptitude toward intercollegiate competition. The week before classes begin is spent orienting students to their colleges, much like pledging for fraternities. (2) University of California, San Diego. Its system is similar to that of Rice (or rather, Oxbridge, from which both stole the idea), except there are 6 colleges, housing is only guaranteed for 2 years, and your choice of college affects your general education requirements (though not your major; but some are obviously easier for certain majors). Not nearly as cool as the Houses of Literature/HarryPotter.

Who can attend can be controversial. Generally speaking, it's automatically considered open to anyone from the school of the proper age/class, but it gets complicated when they want to bring a date who's not in the same class (a Junior wanting to bring a Sophomore) or, even more problematically, someone who doesn't go to that school (an out of town boyfriend/girlfriend), or, worst of all, someone of the same sex (regardless of what class they're in or where they're from). Legally schools aren't allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples, but in practice, they may [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Itawamba_County_School_District_prom_controversy try to do it anyway]].

Here's the bit that non-Americans often wonder about: Most kids in a grade, from first grade to twelfth grade, are the age of (number of grade+5 or 6). That is, most first graders are six or seven years old (and most kindergarteners are five or six) and most twelfth graders are 17 or 18, ([[DawsonCasting even if they look 30]]). Students are grouped into grades by age, generally with a cutoff of the beginning of September of a given birth year (i.e., students starting kindergarten in fall 2021 will be those born between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016), although this may vary by state. This means that some of the students will have almost a year's worth of physical and mental development over others; this can make a huge difference in performance in the early grades, though differences typically disappear by high school.

Here's the bit that non-Americans often wonder about: Most kids in a grade, from first grade to twelfth grade, are the age of (number of grade+5 or 6). That is, most first graders are six or seven years old (and most kindergarteners are five or six) and most twelfth graders are 17 or 18, ([[DawsonCasting even if they look 27]]). Students are grouped into grades by age, generally with a cutoff of the beginning of September of a given birth year (i.e., students starting kindergarten in fall 2021 will be those born between September 1, 2015 and August 31, 2016), although this may vary by state. This means that some of the students will have almost a year's worth of physical and mental development over others; this can make a huge difference in performance in the early grades, though differences typically disappear by high school.

Here's the bit that non-Americans often wonder about: Most kids in a grade, from first grade to twelfth grade, are the age of (number of grade+5). That is, most first graders are six years old (and most kindergarteners are five) and most twelfth graders are 17 ([[DawsonCasting even if they look 27]]). Students are grouped into grades by age, generally with a cutoff of the beginning of August of a given birth year (i.e., students starting first grade in fall 2011 will be those born from August 1, 2005 to July 31, 2006), although this may vary by state. This means that some of the students will have almost a year's worth of physical and mental development over others; this can make a huge difference in performance in the early grades, though differences typically disappear by high school.

Of course, this is all seen in the case of an Active Shooter situations (cases where the perpetrator is killing with no pattern or method to his or her victims). These are the most common to be featured in media, but it goes without saying that not all school shootings are Active Shooter events. Weapons are brought to school with intention to kill specific victims for any numerous reasons. In some cases, shootings at schools may be related to criminal activity, and while may occur on school grounds, may not occur in the school building (another critical part of an Active Shooter event). [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment The reasons these are not covered as much are best discussed someplace else.]] Many school systems have taken practice of employing a school officer, typically a fully deputized police officer of some kind, to assist in security matters. This is OlderThanTheyThink. The first police response in UsefulNotes/{{Columbine}} were made by an on-duty school resource officer, who engaged in a brief firefight with the shooters before they retreated inside, less than 5 minutes after the shootings occurred.

The SAT score currently consists of 800 points for math and 800 for reading, making a [[HundredPercentCompletion perfect]] score 1600. From 2005 to 2021, a writing portion was also included. Initially, it was scored on the same scale as the other sections, making the possible perfect score 2400. In 2016, the perfect score again became 1600, with the writing score reported separately from the main test and using a completely different scoring scale (0 to 24, in one-point increments). Effective in March 2021, the writing section was eliminated from the standard test format. This section is now only offered in states that require said section as part of the SAT School Day program, in which the test is administered [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin during a regular school day]]. The test is frequently retuned so that the national average score falls around 500 points per section. Most colleges, however, still use the old system for admissions, and the minimum score for admission tends to fall between 1100 and 1300 for the math and reading sections combined[[note]]Nearly all colleges say they don't have a minimum score requirement, and technically this is true, but you're not going to find many incoming freshmen with an SAT much under 1100 unless the school's policy is to admit everyone who applies, and if by chance you do find someone with an 800 at an Ivy League school, then that student wowed the admissions committee in some other way... probably by being Chip Buffington IV, who will be residing in Buffington Hall[[/note]]. Some colleges include minimums in math or reading as well as the total score. In areas where the SAT is popular (generally the East Coast), students might also take a PSAT (Pre-SAT) as a practice in the 10th Grade (and possibly again in the spring). This test is also used as a qualification test for the National Merit Scholarship.

Colleges in the United States may be public or private, as with primary and secondary schools, but these terms are used slightly differently at the tertiary educational level. A "public" university derives ''some'' of its funding from the state (about 20-25%, in the case of the University of California system), and scrapes up the rest through tuition/patents/hitting up alums for money/etc. Private universities rely solely on tuition/patents/hitting up alums for money/etc. Public universities (also called state universities[[note]]The general rule is, if it has "University of [STATE]" or "State University" as part of its name, it's probably public. However, the University of Pennsylvania is a tricky exception, as it is a prestigious UsefulNotes/IvyLeague school that's not funded by the state of Pennsylvania. In the other direction, the same is true for Rutgers University, which was once a private college but is now the main public university system of UsefulNotes/NewJersey; its full, formal name is "Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey", but that's in the fine print.[[/note]]) generally tend to be less expensive than private universities, though this is not always the case. Neither public nor private universities are required to take everyone (with the exception of community colleges; see below) — you must apply, and admission can be very competitive indeed. However, public universities are usually easier to get into than private universities, if for no other reason than they are usually larger and can therefore afford to accept a larger number of students. Students are also much more likely to go to their home state's university for various reasons — they may have grown up cheering for the sports team, their parents are often alumni, and tuition is often drastically reduced for in-state students (even if the students themselves aren't taxpayers, their parents are, after all). The ease of gaining entry to a private university is variable, as the tuition is often drastically higher, and the minimum standards are usually stricter (even, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections oddly enough]], [[{{Nepotism}} if your parents own it]]).

The SAT score currently consists of 800 points for math and 800 for reading, making a [[HundredPercentCompletion perfect]] score 1600. A writing portion was added in 2005, with another 800 points possible. During this time, when the writing portion was used, the possible perfect score was 2400 points. In 2016, the perfect score again became 1600; the writing score is now reported separately from the main test, and uses a completely different scoring scale (0 to 24, in one-point increments). The test is frequently retuned so that the national average score falls around 500 points per section. Most colleges, however, still use the old system for admissions, and the minimum score for admission tends to fall between 1100 and 1300 for the math and reading sections combined[[note]]Nearly all colleges say they don't have a minimum score requirement, and technically this is true, but you're not going to find many incoming freshmen with an SAT much under 1100 unless the school's policy is to admit everyone who applies, and if by chance you do find someone with an 800 at an Ivy League school, then that student wowed the admissions committee in some other way... probably by being Chip Buffington IV, who will be residing in Buffington Hall[[/note]]. Some colleges include minimums in math or reading as well as the total score. In areas where the SAT is popular (generally the East Coast), students might also take a PSAT (Pre-SAT) as a practice in the 10th Grade (and possibly again in the spring). This test is also used as a qualification test for the National Merit Scholarship.