A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

The Educational Structure of the United States School System

Roberta Nerison-Low

Introduction

The United States education system is divided into three levels: elementary (or primary), secondary, and higher education:

• Elementary schools are those schools enrolling students in the first through sixth grades. (In some statistical literature, elementary school encompasses students through the eighth grade.) They may also include kindergarten and pre-kindergarten classes.

• Secondary schools enroll students in the 7th through the 12th grades. Successful completion of the 12th grade results in the awarding of a high school diploma, which represents a significant achievement in an adolescent's life. The high school diploma is a prerequisite step for entrance into an institution of higher education and is becoming increasingly important for employment.

• Higher education includes all students enrolled in postsecondary educational institutions.

Although the United States education system is distinguished by the three main levels of elementary, secondary, and higher education, some school districts further subdivide their elementary and secondary student populations to create separate schools at the middle school or junior high level. Middle schools generally encompass the fifth through the eighth grades and junior high schools generally encompass the seventh through the ninth grades (U.S. Department of Education [USED] 1993b). The structure of a school system is the result of decisions made at the community level, and is often influenced by factors such as population growth, funding sources, and availability of appropriate structural facilities. As a result, the use of middle schools or junior highs as an intermediate step from the elementary level to the secondary level varies from school district to school district.

Enrollment

All children in the United States have access to public schools and are required to be enrolled in school, either public or private, by the time they have reached the age of 6. Enrollment rates among children 6 through 15 years old are essentially 100 percent (USED 1993a). Enrollment in school is mandatory until the age of 16 in the majority of states. The remaining states require enrollment until age 17 or 18. At the elementary levels, enrollment rates for both male and female students of all races are consistently near 100 percent.

Public and Private Schools

Although the majority of students in the United States attend public schools, private schools provide an alternative to the public school system for families who want and can afford an alternative. Many private schools have religious affiliations, although private nonsectarian schools also exist in many communities. Because private schools do not receive funding from state or local tax revenues, students who enroll in private schools pay tuition directly to the school. Table 1 demonstrates the distribution of public and private schools in the United States.

Table 1—Distribution of public versus private schools in the United States during 1993-94, and enrollment numbers at each school type

SOURCE: United States Department of Education, 1995.

A majority of schools provide kindergarten classes, and in the 1992-93 school year, 97 percent of these classes met 5 days a week (USED 1993e). A survey of schools in the United States by the U.S. Department of Education shows that in the 1990-91 academic year, 77 percent of public schools and 79 percent of private schools offered kindergarten programs.

Prekindergarten programs such as daycare centers and nursery schools are not widely available within the public education system, being offered in only 17 percent of public elementary and combined schools (USED 1993f). Instead, such programs are typically limited to privately operated preschools.

While most children attend kindergarten before starting first grade, access to prekindergarten classes is often determined by the families' socioeconomic status. In 1991, 53 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds from high-income families were enrolled in prekindergarten programs compared with 22 percent of those from low-income families (USED 1993a). Of those children from low-income families attending prekindergarten programs in 1992, 621,000 were attending federally funded Head Start programs (USED 1993b).

Another study conducted in 1991, The National Household Education Survey (USED 1992), found that children's attendance at prekindergarten programs was clearly related to parental education level. Children whose parents had a high school education or less, and particularly those whose parents did not complete high school, were more likely to enter first grade without attending a prekindergarten program.

Ethnic and Racial Compositions

Since access to elementary and secondary education is both free and mandatory, the ethnic and racial composition of student populations in U.S. public schools reflects the ethnic and racial diversity of the country's overall population. However, the ethnic and racial composition of individual schools can vary greatly depending on location. Urban schools have a higher proportion of minorities than suburban or rural schools. In 1990, 16 percent of public school children were black, 12 percent were Hispanic, and 3 percent were Asian. However, 33 percent of students enrolled in public urban schools were black and 20.6 percent were Hispanic (USED 1993a). The relevance of the disproportionately larger numbers of minorities living in urban areas is evident when issues of inner-city poverty rates and local funding of schools are examined. Historically, free access to public education has not always meant equal quality of education resources.

Participation Levels

As students reach age 16 (approximately the 10th grade), when enrollment is no longer mandatory, participation levels begin to change. Dropout rates in high school are strongly associated with family income, type of community, race and ethnicity, and sex:

• In 1991, only 3 percent of 19- to 20-year-olds in high-income families were high school dropouts, compared to 14 percent of those in middle-income families and 30 percent of those in low-income families (USED 1993a).

• Differences in retention can be seen between rural and urban communities. Within the public sector, the percent who graduated (in 1990-91) was somewhat lower in central cities (87 percent) than in urban fringe/large town or rural/small town communities (91 percent and 96 percent, respectively) (USED 1993a).

• Dropout rates among all persons 16 to 24 years old in 1991 reflect an overall rate of 12.5 percent for the United States. However, by race 8.9 percent of dropouts were white, non-Hispanic; 13.6 percent were black, non-Hispanic; and 35.3 percent were Hispanic (USED 1993b). In addition, ethnic differences in retention become notable in the 16-17-year-old age range. Enrollment rates in 1992 for 16-17-year-old students were 95.3 percent for white, non-Hispanic students; 93.0 percent for black, non-Hispanic students; and 87.2 percent for Hispanic-origin students (USED 1993a).

• Further differences in enrollment rates are also evident for male and female students in the 16-17-year-old range. In 1992, 95.4 percent of all males were still enrolled in school, compared to 92.7 percent of all females of the same age. And, among enrolled female students, ethnic origin also plays a role in retention. In 1992, enrollment rates for 16- and 17-year-old females were 94.1 percent for white, non-Hispanic students; 91.4 percent for black, non-Hispanic students; and 85 percent for Hispanic students (USED 1993a).

Curricular Structure

Although minimum requirements exist for each level of the educational system, the curriculum is most structured at the elementary school level and becomes less structured as students progress into junior high and high school. Throughout all levels, programs exist in varying degrees to meet the needs of all students: those planning to attend college, those needing vocational education, and those needing some form of special education.

Elementary Level

At the elementary level, academic subject courses generally consist of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. However, a significant portion of the school day is often spent in required nonacademic courses such as art, music, drama, dance, and physical education. One study of 38 schools found that only 54 percent of the weekly instructional time at the elementary level was devoted to reading, language arts, and mathematics (Goodlad 1984).

Secondary Level

Academic courses continue to maintain a strong presence in the curriculum through junior and senior high. However, there is a definite decline in the emphasis on academic courses, since the curricular and noncurricular options are so numerous at this level. Although a basic set of classes is required for graduation, students are able to supplement these with a variety of elective classes (Hallinan 1987). A recent study by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (1994) showed that in 42 states, only 41 percent of secondary school time must be spent on academic subjects. The number and type of elective classes available to particular students will depend almost entirely on the school in which they are enrolled. Funding often plays a determining role in a school's ability to provide elective courses, and therefore the poorer school districts are able to offer fewer educational opportunities in the form of elective courses.

Public schools, particularly at the secondary level, accommodate students with diverse interests and ability levels by providing curricular tracks. The U.S. Department of Education's Statistical Profile of Schools and Staffing in the United States for 1990-91 (1993f), states that 80 percent of all schools with 12th grade offered a college preparatory program with an average enrollment of 60 percent of their 10th- to 12th-grade students. Also, 78 percent of public schools that served 12th-graders offered a general program for students who did not plan to attend college, and in these programs had an average enrollment of 45 percent of 10th- to 12th-graders.

Vocational Education

Vocational education classes are provided within the public secondary schools. In most cases, students interested in vocational courses do not attend a separate secondary school or follow a predetermined series of courses toward mastery of a particular trade. Instead, students integrate one or more vocational courses of their choosing into their course schedule, and in many junior and senior high schools, vocational education emerges as a subject nearly paralleling social studies and science in emphasis. However, the delivery of secondary vocational education can vary from state to state and even within states and school districts. Many states rely on area vocational schools to provide vocational classes that supplement the local high schools' curricular offerings, and in some large city school districts, full-time vocational high schools offer a complete program of academic and vocational studies. These vocational high schools differ only in that their focus is vocational rather than academic, and despite their vocational focus, graduates are permitted to progress to postsecondary educational institutions (Hoachlander, Kaufman, Levesque, and Houser 1992).

Special Education

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, passed in 1975, provides for a "free and appropriate education" for all children with handicapping conditions and provides the federal financial assistance for schools to achieve this goal. Special education classes are provided both at the elementary and secondary level in the public school system but are less available in private schools, where enrollment numbers are generally lower. Statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Education show that approximately 16 percent of all private schools provide programs for children with handicaps versus nearly 87 percent of all public schools (USED 1993a).

In 1990-91, of the total number of students enrolled in public schools (kindergarten through 12th grade), 11.6 percent were served by federally supported programs for people with disabilities (USED 1993b). The largest number of students were in programs targeting specific learning disabilities (5.2 percent), speech or language impairments (2.4 percent), and mental retardation (1.3 percent) (USED 1993b). Of those students with disabilities between the ages of 6 and 21 who received special education services,

• 31.7 percent received these services within their regular class,

• 37.5 percent received assistance through resource rooms in their schools,

• 24.8 percent were taught in separate classes within their schools, and

• 3.2 percent were sent to separate public school facilities for education.

Much smaller numbers were educated through private separate school facilities, public residential facilities, private residential facilities, and homebound/hospital environments (USED 1993b). As can be seen by these statistics, the great majority of students with special education needs are provided special education services within their local public school system.

Programs for the Gifted and Talented

Programs for gifted children, although not mandated by federal law, have been encouraged from the federal level downward and are increasingly available within public school systems. Most states and localities have developed definitions of gifted and talented students in order to identify such students for special programs (USED 1993d). However, the content and extent of these programs can vary greatly from state to state and even school district to school district, and the number of students identified as gifted and talented varies due to differences in state law and local practices.

In 1989-90, approximately half of the states had state-mandated gifted and talented programs serving students in their public elementary and secondary schools, and half had discretionary state-supported gifted and talented programs. States reporting statistics on the percentage of students participating in gifted and talented programs show that in 1989-90 between 1.9 percent and 11.6 percent of enrolled students in their state were participating in gifted and talented programs in their public school systems (USED 1993b).

Most programs for gifted and talented students are available only a few hours a week at the elementary school level. Elementary schools typically offer enrichment classes through pull-out programs or a resource room approach. At the secondary level, students identified as gifted and talented are sometimes provided special learning opportunities through specialized schools, magnet schools, or intensive summer programs.

Continued

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[The Educational Structure of the United States School System - Part 2]