In Russia and other post-Soviet countries, there is a very mixed attitude to the American system of secondary education. Some believe that it is in many ways superior to the Russian one, while others are sure that schools in the United States have many shortcomings, so they criticize the American grading system, the lack of school uniforms and other distinguishing features.
In the USA there are no strict uniform standards for all educational institutions, and it all depends on the local government. A school in California may be different from a school in Virginia or Illinois. Nevertheless, the general aspects are the same everywhere.
As for the Russian and American education systems, there are quite a few differences between them.
American ratings
If in Russia a five-point scale is adopted (actually a four-point scale, since in practice the unit is usually not exposed) for assessing knowledge, where the highest result is “5”, then in the USA everything is somewhat different. Grades in American schools are the first letters of the Latin alphabet from "A" to "F".
The letter “A” is considered to be an excellent result, and the worst, respectively, is “F”. According to statistics, most students are in time for "B" and "C", that is, "above average" and "average".
Also sometimes three more letters are used: "P" - offset, "S" - satisfactory, "N" - "non-offset".
Lack of school uniform
In addition to American estimates, another difference is the lack of school uniforms and any formal style of clothing in most educational institutions.
In Russia, the first thing that comes to mind when the word “school” is a form: the traditional “black top, white bottom”, magnificent bows of girls and other attributes. This is not accepted in the USA, and even on the first day of the school year, students come in whatever they want. All that is required of schoolchildren is compliance with some rules: not very short skirts, the absence of obscene inscriptions and prints on clothes, closed shoulders. Most students dress simply and comfortably: jeans, T-shirts, loose sweaters and sports shoes.
Ability to select items
For the Russian school, this sounds unrealistic, because each student must visit all the subjects set by the program. But America has a different system. At the beginning of the year, students have the right to choose what subjects they want to study. Of course, there are also compulsory disciplines - these are mathematics, English, natural sciences. The student chooses the remaining subjects and their level of difficulty on their own and, based on this, forms his own lesson schedule.