2. Academic School Life
The academic year lasts 9 months
(August/September-May/June) and is divided into 2 or 3 terms. A high school day
usually starts around 8 am and ends around 3 pm, Monday through Friday.
Every day, students typically attend around 6
classes, each 45-60 min with a 5 min break between classes. In these breaks,
students often go to their personal locker to get the material needed for the
next class. The class schedule usually remains consistent throughout the week,
with students attending the same classes in the same sequence each day for a
term. The school day sometimes starts with an advisory period, a time when
official announcements can be made or certain information can be given. Around
12 pm there is a lunch break, which is normally no longer than 30 min. After
classes are finished, students usually do other activities, such as sports,
clubs, etc. (non-academic school life), work in their part-time job, or go
home.
This could be a typical schedule for a
freshman:
|
8:00–8:20 |
Advisory
Period |
|
9:15–10:00 |
English |
|
10:05–10:50 |
Algebra or
Prealgebra |
|
10:55–11:40 |
Elective class
(foreign language, art, gym, shop, computer, chorus, band, orchestra) |
|
11:45–12:05 |
Lunch |
|
12:10–12:55 |
Science |
|
1:00–1:45 |
Elective
class (foreign language, art, gym, shop, computers, chorus, band, orchestra) |
|
1:50–2:35 |
U.S. History
(or other social studies class) |
Most students across the country are enrolled
in similar classes that cover the 4 standard fundamentals of the curriculum
(English, math, social studies, science). In addition, there are many other
elective classes to choose from, such as journalism, psychology, typing,
computers, foreign languages, driver’s education, and so on. In larger,
well-funded high school there are sometimes more than 50 different elective classes.
The student has to select his classes prior to the beginning of the term with
the help of a Guidance Counselor. In contrast to other school systems, there
can be different difficulty levels of the same subject (for more information
see: tracking).
It is difficult to
determine the time students spend on doing their homework. Many students say it
differs from 30 minutes to an hour and a little more before a test or exam.
The amount of
homework is different in the different types of classes a student is taking.
Students in higher-level courses heading for college might have more homework
to do than on in the lower-level ones, maybe 3 to 4 hours on the weekend.
Homework is often
done in class. It is work the teacher wants the students to do alone. Very
often teachers leave time during class to do the homework or at least start
it. Students also do homework in the
study halls during the school day, in advisory periods or at lunch time. Often
homework consists of what wasn’t finished in class.
Many students say
they finish most of their homework in school so they don’t have a lot left to
do at home.
Students usually do
their homework better when parents don’t “force” them to. If parents support
them and offer help, then this is the best way for the student to voluntarily
do the assigned homework. In general, most students do their homework.
To many students
studying and doing homework are synonyms. They think when they don’t have to do
any homework because they already finished it in class or because they didn’t
get any homework then they don’t have to study. This is the reason why many
teachers leave time in their classes to do the actual homework there or at
least do part of it so that they do something and study a little while doing
homework.
Quizzes are often given on a weekly basis to
keep students focused and up-to-date on the material in the week's lesson.
In-class tests at high schools seem to be administered less frequently than at
middle and elementary schools and sometimes consist of only a midterm and a
final test at the end of the semester. A popular kind of test in U.S. high
schools is the multiple choice test (for information on multiple choice tests: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_choice)
. There are also standardized examinations that might be administered at
schools once or twice a year. Most standardized exams in use in the United
States have been created by a state department of education or a professional
testing organization. They are used widely in U.S. schools to assess
achievement levels.
|
Click here to test your own knowledge! ;-)
Algebra, biology, geometry... This is part of the official high school
assessment of the Maryland State Department of
Education in multiple choice style: |
The educational system in the U.S. does not
usually use the numerical grading system which is used widely across the world,
but still, there are various kinds of grading systems in U.S. education. It is
the responsibility of the individual educational institution to decide which
system should be used. For more information on U.S. grading systems, click http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-grading.html
.
The following could be a grading scale for the
evaluation of a written exam (students get a grade according to their
percentage of the perfect score) :
|
Percentage |
Letter
Equivalent |
Rating |
|
90-100 |
A |
Excellent |
|
80-89 |
B |
Good |
|
70-79 |
C |
Average |
|
60-69 |
D |
Pass |
|
Below 60 |
F |
Fail |
Sometimes there are even more detailed grades,
e.g. A+: >
97%, A: 94-96%, A-: 90-93%, and so on. After each term, students receive a
report card with their grades and personal assessment.
Here is a definition
of tracking. It is taken from the site below the text.
What is Tracking? Tracking can
be defined as the placement of students into courses based on their performance
in standardized achievement tests and/or IQ tests and in previous courses in
the same discipline. In simpler terms according to the Applied Research
Center: "Tracking is the practice of placing students in different
classes based on perceived differences in their abilities. It takes a
variety of forms, including remedial and special education programs, as well as
programs for gifted and talented students. At the high school level, many
school systems distinguish between college preparatory and vocational
tracks." Consequently, within public school systems nationwide, students
are placed into separate curricular programs based on some expected outcome.
Tracks can be identified by ability (high, average, or low), or by the kind of
preparation they provide (academic, general, vocational).
(http://www.psparents.net/Academic%20Tracking.htm)
Tracking starts very early:
In elementary schools they don’t have the different course levels but they
already create groups of people with the same grade of ability within one
class. This creating of ability groups leads to the tracking in high schools.
In middle school this
tracking already exists in a fashion. Students are grouped together in several
classes across academic subjects with differing levels of academic
content/rigor.
The actual tracking
is completed in high school. There are the Advanced Placement courses, Honors,
College Preparation, Remedial and General courses.
Students get put into
classes depending on their previous grades and test scores. The problem is that
it often happens that a student who is in the low-level courses can’t go into
the advanced courses later on because he has been tracked already. Even if his
grades get better, he often doesn’t have the possibility of changing. On the
other hand, students who are in high-level courses mostly stay there. Although
it might happen that the grades become worse and he would do a lot better in
the regular courses, he usually stays in the high-level. There is a strong
tendency that students stay in the same tracking group throughout their high
school time and even later on.
This differs from
school to school. Some schools offer that you have e.g. an honor course in math
and a regular or low-level course in English.
|
“When schools offer honors classes to
qualified students, however, this is not considered tracking. As long as all
students can apply, there is equal access. Entrance into these classes is
then measured by skill level and performance and is not based on potential or
intelligence.”
|
|
A big problem of this tracking of students is seen in the segregation of minorities from white students. Some studies have shown that you can find mostly minorities in the low-level courses and the white middle or upper- middle class is the advanced or honor courses.
The article “Tracking
is an unwise policy” is – as the title already says- not necessarily objective.
Nevertheless, it has evidence from various studies. It states that “Tracking
discriminates on race and leads to racial stereotyping”. Many studies can prove
that minorities like African-Americans and Hispanics are missing in the honor
and AP courses, whereas the white middle and upper- middle class are for the most
part in these upper-level courses. The article claims that “students from
different racial groups are not offered equal opportunities to learn.” There is
a strong connection between race, social class and track placement.
Teacher, as well as
parents, have been asked about the tracking system and many believe that
students learn better in an environment with students of the same ability.
“The resulting groups
or tracks are not merely a collection of different but equally valued
instructional groups; instead, they form a hierarchy within schools with the
most academic or the most advanced tracks considered to be the ‘top’.”
(http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/chapter3.html)
Here is another interesting
quote comes from this site:
“Few
restrictions were placed on whether tracking or ability grouping could be
practiced at any grade level; consequently, most school districts that we
visited were practicing some form of ability grouping and tracking, whether at
the elementary, junior, or senior high level. As the student moves up in
grades, tracking and ability grouping practices of schools become more
numerous. However, these tracks were not widely perceived as limiting students'
opportunities to attend college or to enter high status occupations.”
The
opinions about tracking differ just as much as the varieties of tracking.
Useful links:
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/chapter3.html
(information about tracking)
http://www.ipsd.org/documents/HS_User-Guide_04-05.pdf#search='tracking%20honors%20advanced
(User Guide)
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/thetimesleader/news/local/10195648.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
(Arguing the
merits of tracking, honors courses)
http://debate.uvm.edu/eesample/101.html
(Tracking of students is an unwise policy)
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/chapter4a.html
(Time use in adolescents’ lives)
2.5. Differences at
Different Schools
There are big
differences between schools. This difference usually occurs because of
financial considerations. Schools have a certain budget they get from the
state. This budget is normally based on property taxes.
The budget a school
has can vary widely within a small area. Schools in higher-income districts
have more money to spend than schools in lower-income ones. Here is an example:
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/USCaseStudy/chapter4a.html:
“For example, within
the Metro City area, the amount of money spent per student was reported as
approximately $6,600 at the inner city Uptown High School, $ 10,300 at
Springdale High School, and $13,400 at suburban Hamilton High School.”
Schools with less
money can provide fewer activities, textbooks, computer resources, student
organizations etc.
Some parents support
schools financially, but this is usually the case in the higher-income school
districts.
This difference in the budget causes big differences in the schools in all kinds of fields.