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How does the US school system work?

How does the American educational system work (after elementary school)?

  • Hey, I'm form the Netherlands, but I'm curious about the American educational system, because sometimes I see people showing their results, but I have no Idea what they mean. Here in the Netherlands when you finish elementary school, your grades determine on what level you're going to study in High School(or middle school? Don't really know the difference...), we have 6 levels, the smartest people go to the highest level, the dumbest to the lowest etc.. But I've never heard of this in America? Is there something similar there, or does everyone study at the same level? In the Netherlands you get your diploma after finishing High School, and if you get your diploma for the highest level, you can go to the university, others can get into university too, but they have to do other studies first(which almost no one does). I think there must be levels of intelligence(intelligence based on grades only of couse) in america too? Are there? And which ones are that? I also have a question about the grades. Here in the Netherlands we get grades between 1 and 10, and we can also get grades like 7.3 or 4.9 or whatever. But in america Between F- and A+, does that mean the grading system isn't that precise? Also, what is GPA? Thanks in advance for answering.

  • Answer:

    Your grades determine...your level? Can you please explain? Elementary School : Kindergarten to 6th Grade (7 Years) Graded mostly on behavior. In Elementary School, my school didn't have F- to A+, but instead, it ranged from WB (Well Below), AP (Approaching Proficiency), MP (Meets Proficiency), and ME (Meets Excellence). You need to have good behavior that meets the 6 GLOs (http://doe.k12.hi.us/curriculum/GLO_rubric.htm) I'm not sure if that's how it works in the main part of America, because I live in Hawaii. If you have lots of WBs, then you have to repeat. Middle School : 7th to 8th Grade (2 Years) Everyone goes to the grade-levels in order, but there are regular classes, SPED classes, and GT classes that teach smarter kids. For example, 8th grade regular math is Pre-Algebra. GT 8th grade math teaches Algebra instead. SPED classes also teach Pre-Algebra, but in a different way. Middle School uses letter grades. Report cards usually only have F, D, C, B, and A, but it can have pluses and minuses to be more accurate. GPA is calculated from your letter grades. Some GPAs range from 1 to 10, while others range from 0 to 4. GPA = Grade Point Average. Seen here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28education%29 See how Middle School is different in other places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_school High School : 9th to 12th Grade (4 Years) I'm not yet in High School. I'm still in 8th grade. I imagine it's graded very similarly to how Middle School is graded, according to the information our teachers have given us. See how High School is different in other places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_school College : (I'm sorry. XD) See how college is different in other places: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College GPA = Grade Point Average. Seen here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grade_%28education%29

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Things sounds really awesome in the Netherlands! In America, in order to graduate high school, you have to complete 12 grades or school. Each grade takes about a year, when you're about five, you start in 1st grade, go on to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th..etc. Typically people graduate around age 18. The twelve grades are divided up into three separate schools Called Elementary (Grades 1-5) Middle School (grades 6-8) and High School (grades 9-12) Our grading system is a big different than yours. Depending on how well you do in a class, you receive an A, A-, B+, B, B-, C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-, or F. The teachers determine what grade you get by giving you assignments, tests, and quizzes and then putting in the score you get into a computer, which calculates what the overall average score on your work is. Typically to get an A, you have get between 100-95%, A- is 94-90%, and so on. (I know that's a bit confusing, but think of it as you get an 100 out of 100 on one of your tests, that grade goes into the computer as a 100/100 and you have an A, but then you have another assignment and you get seven questions wrong, that score will go into the computer and bring your overall average down, however you can still get an A by doing well on other assignments and raking up more points.) GPA stands for Grade Point Average. Your GPA is calculated depending on the grades that you get. Each grade has it's own mathematical value to determine how high your GPA is. An A=4.0 an A-=3.6 a B+=3.2 B=3.0, B-=2.7, and so on. You typically have a total of 8 classes, and in each class you receive a different grade. So to calculate your GPA they add up the mathematical value of all of the letter grades you got, divide it by 8, and get your overall average grade. The Highest GPA you can have in America is a 4.0, because the highest letter grade you can get is an A, which equals a 4.0. Think about it this way, if you got a A in each of your eight classes, they would add up 4.0 eight times, and divide it by eight, you you'd get a 4.0 GPA. If you got all A's and one B, they would add 4.0 seven times, and then add a 3.0 for the B, divide it by 8, and you'd have a lower GPA. People in American can get into a University no matter how bad your grades are for the most part, so long as you actually graduate from High School. The only difference is the higher your grades are, the better of a university you can get into. If I have a 4.0 GPA, I can get into an Ivy League School (the best universities), and I can probably get a scholarship, whereas if I only have a 2.5 GPA I probably can only get into a local community college (the ones who accept pretty much anybody with a high school diploma) I hope this helps! Any further questions just edit your post and I'd be happy to answer!

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