American Curriculum K-12 and pupil assessment
The K-12
system stands for ‘from kindergarten to 12th grade’. This equates
roughly to a school starting age of around five through to Grade 12 at
around the age of 18. The system is broken down into three stages:
elementary school (Grades K–5), middle school (Grades 6–8) and high
school (Grades 9–12).
| Year in England | Age of student | Grade in the US | ||
| Nursery | 3–4 | Preschool | ||
| Reception | 4–5 | Preschool | ||
| Year 1 | 5–6 | Kindergarten | ||
| Year 2 | 6–7 | Grade 1 | ||
| Year 3 | 7–8 | Grade 2 | ||
| Year 4 | 8–9 | Grade 3 | ||
| Year 5 | 9–10 | Grade 4 | ||
| Year 6 | 10–11 | Grade 5 | ||
| Year 7 | 11–12 | Grade 6 | ||
| Year 8 | 12–13 | Grade 7 | ||
| Year 9 | 13–14 | Grade 8 | ||
| Year 10 | 14–15 | Grade 9 | ||
| Year 11 | 15–16 | Grade 10 | ||
| Year 12 | 16–17 | Grade 11 | ||
| Year 13 | 17–18 | Grade 12 |
In
the United States, education is primarily the responsibility of state
and local government. Every state has its own department of education
and laws regarding finance, the hiring of school personnel, student
attendance and curriculum. States also determine the number of years of
compulsory education – in some states, education is only compulsory
until the age of 16.
However, with the
layering of tests issued by mandates from Congress, the US Department of
Education, and state and local governments, the system is becoming
confusing and unwieldy. Standardised testing in schools has become a
controversial issue, with a recent study from the Council of the Great
City Schools suggesting that students would sit around 112 standardised
tests between kindergarten and 12th grade.In
December 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act,
which pledged to offer the same standard of education to every child in
the US “regardless of race, income, background, the zip code, or where
they live”.
The act replaced the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2002 and, among other things, is an attempt to bring back
some element of control with the recommendation for having fewer tests,
of higher quality. States are required to test students in reading and
maths in Grades 3 to 8, and then once during their high-school years.Unlike other countries’ end-of-school examination systems, such as the A Level in the UK or the globally recognised International Baccalaureate Diploma, US students leave school with a collection of assessments that demonstrate their readiness for either college or work.
Although
some schools issue a high-school diploma on satisfactory completion of
Grade 12, this is not a standardised qualification and the requirements
are set by individual states. At the end of high school, pupils are also
provided with a Grade Point Average (GPA), which can help to determine
their next step either into work or college.The
GPA is an average score taken from a student’s high school career as a
result of tests, mid-term/final exams, essays, quizzes, homework
assignments, classroom participation, group work, projects and
attendance. Students can also receive a class rank, placing his/her GPA
among other members of his/her grade.
Common Core standardised testing in the US
Even
though every state is in charge of its own education laws and
initiatives, the US federal government has made attempts to standardise
the curriculum across US schools through the introduction of the Common Core.According
to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the Common Core is a set
of “high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language
arts/literacy” and outlines what a student should know, and be able to
do, at the end of each grade.The standards
were created to “ensure that all students graduate from high school with
the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and
life”. Some 42 states, the District of Columbia, four territories and
the Department of Defense Education Activity voluntarily adopted the
Common Core, although a handful of states have now withdrawn from the
Common Core and adopted their own sets of standards.
However,
the introduction of the Common Core tests to measure pupils’
performance against these academic standards, layered on top of existing
state-run academic tests, college entrance tests and Advanced Placement
tests, has caused confusion and accusations of duplication of
assessment. Even President Obama has been forced to accept that the
pressure of over-assessment in schools has become unbearable.“I
hear from parents who, rightly, worry about too much testing,” he said
in a statement, “and from teachers who feel so much pressure to teach to
a test that it takes the joy out of teaching and learning, both for
them and for the students.
I want to fix that.”Once
pupils and teachers have had time to adjust to the new system, one
clear advantage is that the standards are internationally benchmarked,
which means that the US standards can be compared with the standards of
other countries around the world. And the tests are also standardised so
that results can be compared across states, whereas previously it was
impossible to compare standards nationally as each state had their own
system of testing.While states will no longer
have to incur the cost of developing their own testing methods, many
believe that the new Common Core system will also increase teaching
standards and better prepare students for life after high school
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