Students receive «report cards» at least twice a year which indicate the grades they have received in each of the subjects. High schools maintain a school «transcript» which summarizes the courses taken and the grades obtained for each student.
Usually, the pupil has one teacher for all major subjects during his or her first six years of schooling. For the last six grades, however, they have a separate teacher for each discipline.
The US is committed to providing every youngster with a good, solid education, regardless of the economic background or even the inherent ability of the youngster.
In May 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education stirred considerable concern when it reported that the US was «at risk» from the «rising tide of mediocrity». It judged that standards were too low, the school day too short, teachers paid too little, and education was too far down on the list of national priorities. Among the Commission's recommendations were calls for higher standards, more time to be devoted to basic academic subjects and attracting a higher calibre of individual to the teaching profession. Besides, it was necessary to strengthen the bonds between federal, state and local authorities aimed at raising student achievements at all levels.
The American people have accepted the view that the quality of education is directly related to the quality of life. It is part of the American tradition to presume that they can improve.
British English vs. American English
Though British and American spelling is the same in most cases, it differs in a few details, which sometimes leads an inexperienced student to failures in his attempts to find some unknown words in the dictionary.
If a student looks for the word "reflexion" in a small dictionary he may be unable to identify the word, unless he recollects that there may be some difference in spelling, and that the American "exion" looks "ection" in the British usage.
A few other examples of different spelling are as follows:
British English American English
honour honor
colour color
theatre theater
centre center
catalogue catalog
programme program
The changes introduced into the American variety of English are to be found in grammar and structure as well, but they are especially evident in the vocabulary. Some English words have developed new meanings, and many of these are traceable to the development of American institutions and American ways of life. Yet the striking feature of American English innovations is their close correspondence to characteristics of the temperament and the ways of life of the people who developed them.
British English American English
minister secretary
secondary school high school
biscuits cookies
flat apartment
form (school) grade
lift elevator
post mail
pavement sidewalk
lorry truck
petrol gasoline (gas)
wash up do the dishes
wash your hands wash up
There are many lists of equivalent British and American words, but they must not be taken too seriously. Americans do not usually say "first floor" for "second floor", they do not call a "trillion" a "billion" (in British English a billion is a million millions, whereas in American English it is what the British call a "milliard" — a mere thousand millions). But most educated Americans are quite aware of the British equivalents. Valid differences in the use of words are not really very numerous or very significant.
It's Interesting To Know British and American English
British and American people speak the same language — right? Wrong. Although they both speak English, there is an increasing number of differences between the two varieties of English. For example, Trudi Burns and Eileen Unwin recently spent a very similar day. Here, they describe the day's events. How many differences can you spot?
Trudi (USA):
I got up at seven-thirty. I put on my bath robe, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath-tub faucets. After my bath I ate breakfast with my parents on the deck. Our apartment's on the fifteenth floor, so the view's terrific. At eight o'clock my mom and I took the elevator to the parking lot underneath our apartment block. First we stopped for gas, and then she drove me to school. The freeway was really busy — automobiles everywhere. When I got to school it was raining.
School was OK except that we had a math test before recess. I think I flunked it. Anyway, after school I took a bus downtown to meet my sister, Susan. She became a grade school teacher after she left college last year. We ate out at a Chinese restaurant. Personally I don't like rice, so I ordered french-fries instead. Susan disapproved. After dessert and coffee we paid the check and left. It had stopped raining, but the sidewalks were still wet. Susan gave me a ride home, then I did a history assignment for the next day, watched a movie on TV and went to bed around 11.30. I was pooped!