What are the differences between the Australian and American education systems?

I can only speak in generalities here as, while I am experienced with the details of the Australian education system, I am not nearly as familiar with the American one.  That being said - there seem to be a few notable differences. Firstly - Australian Public Schools appear to be run using a far more centralised system than American schools.  Australian public schools are funded and run by the Department of Education within each State.  Decisions about how much funding each school recieves, it's staffing allocation and the curriculum it teaches are all made at a State Government level and then implimented within each school.  There are moves currently to decentralise the structure of schools within each State but the teachers unions are (rightly) resisting this as a close look at the financing suggests this is merely an attempt by the Government to withdraw funding from education under the guise of giving schools more 'autonomy'.  American schools from my understanding are funded and run from a local board level. Secondly - Australian Public Schools have much less focus on mandatory testing than American schools appear to.  Indeed in recent years in New South Wales (my State) the trend has been to reduce the amount of external testing students undertake.  As mentioned in another answers, students sit National Literacy and Numeracy tests in Year 3,5,7 and 9.  These tests are used by Government to determine how much extra funding schools need in order to improve their students literacy and numeracy scores.  However these tests are voluntary and within the teaching profession the idea of actually spending weeks or months "revising" or "practicing" these tests is frowned upon.  And certainly there is no sense that students or teachers might face harsh consequences based on the results of these tests - indeed they are designed to assist in students learning.   There is also a national science exam in Year 8 designed to see where students are achieving against national benchmarks.  Otherwise (in my State at least) the only other external exam students sit is the Higher School Certificate at the end of Year 12 (HSC).  This series of exams is the culmination of the Year 12 course and is used in conjunction with internal assessment marks to determine a final year 12 mark for each student. Thirdly - there is no equivilent of busing or forced integration within Australian schools.  Most students tend to attend their local High School unless they have gained entry to a selective school (students sit a test in Year 5 to determine whether they have the academic strength to attend selective public high schools.  There are also specialist sports and performing arts schools which require similar demonstration of exceptional ability within their focus area for entry).   Schools tend to have "zones" within each city.  Within those zones the local school must enroll all students (unless they fail a risk assessment and are deemed a risk to fellow students).  Outside of that zone you can apply to attend those schools but the school has the option to decline if it has reached it's enrolment limit.  Fourth - Schools don't tend to be as large in Australia.  Schools which have over 1,000 students are less common than in America and the average is probably 500 - 600 students enrolled. Fifth - I've never seen an Australian school with either metal detectors or security guards (and I've taught at some fairly rough schools).  Students bringing weapons to school is extremely rare.  Major assaults are highly unusual and usually rate headlines on the national news when they happen.  School shootings in Australia are non-existent and will hopefully remain so. Sixth - Australian students only attend two schools.  Primary School (Kinder/ Prep to Year 6) and High School (Year 7 - 12).  There are very few Middle Schools in Australia. Seventh - Uniforms are compulsary from Primary School right to the end of High School.  Schools have the power to enforce students follow the uniform code.  Uniforms are essentially a non-issue in Australia.

There is no national curriculum in the US, but most answers here discount the role of US state governments, which are the arbiters of curricular standards, and which set their own testing regimes.  All school districts ultimately answer to state education departments. Also, besides busing, which goes back decades, the other "features of American education" only date from the late 1990s.