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Texas Education Agency Article
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Basic Mandatory Education
from: Kyle BesserThere are no mandatory public preschool or pre-kindergarten programs in the United States. The federal government funds the Head Start preschool program for children of low-income families, but most families are on their own with regard to preschool or childcare.
School is compulsory for all children in the United States, but the age range for required school attendance varies from state to state. Most children begin elementary education with kindergarten and finish secondary education with 12th grade. In some states, students may be promoted beyond the next regular grade. Some states allow students to leave school between the ages of 14 to 17 with parental permission while other states require students to stay in school until age 18.
Most parents send their children to either a public or private school. Approximately 85% of students attend public schools. Most students attend school for around 6 hours per day anywhere from 175 to 185 days per year. Most schools have a summer break for about two and half months from June through August. This break is much longer than in many other nations. Originally this summer break was to allow students to participate in the harvest period during the summer. This is now relatively unnecessary but remains largely by tradition.
Typically, the curriculum in public elementary education is determined by the individual school districts. The school districts select curriculum guides and textbooks that reflect the state's learning standards for each grade level. Learning standards are the goals states and school districts must meet as mandated by No Child Left Behind.
School systems vary widely in the way curriculum decisions are made and in how teaching and learning takes place. Some states and school districts impose more mandates than others while in many others teachers play a more significant role in curriculum design.
A typical classroom will have between 20 and 30 students with diverse learning needs, including children with identified special needs and children who are cognitively, athletically or artistically gifted.
In general, students learns basic arithmetic, English basics and fundamentals of other subjects. Learning standards are identified for all areas of curriculum by individual states, including those for math, social studies, science, physical development and reading. The concept of State Learning standards has been around for some time, but No Child Left Behind mandates that standards exist at the state level. No Child Left Behind focuses on reading and math as primary targets needing improvement, thus other instructional areas have been receiving less attention.
Junior high school usually includes seventh and eighth grade, and sometimes sixth or ninth grade. In some locations, junior high school includes ninth grade only, allowing students to adjust to a high school environment. Middle school is often used instead of junior high school when demographic factors increase the number of younger students.
Students are given more independence as choosing their own classes. Usually, starting in ninth grade, grades become part of a student's official transcript. Future employers or colleges may want to see steady improvement in grades and a good attendance record on the official transcript.
Senior high school is a school attended after junior high school. High school is often used instead of senior high school and distinguished from junior high school. Generally at the high school level students take a broad variety of classes without special emphasis in any particular subject.
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