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  • Remember that nervous feeling on report card day as a kid? You spend all day with a racing

  • mind wondering what grades you got. Straight As? Some Bs sprinkled in there? Ooohwill

  • Mom and Dad be mad about Cs and Ds? Orheaven forbiddid I get any Fs?? Hold onwhy

  • isn’t there a grade E?? Well, the short answer is that F simply stands

  • forfailureon the grading scale sincefailurebegins with the letter F. Teachers

  • didn’t want E to be interpreted asexcellentbeyond primary school, as percentages come

  • in when youre in middle school, high school, and college. Poor lonely E!

  • The other letters in the grading scale are generally considered passing grades, although

  • D is also a failing grade in some schools. Every district is different. But, in general,

  • the logic is that by skipping the E, F is set apart as a failing grade. So, in most

  • schools, if you get an A, B, C, or D, you pass. An F means you failed that class.

  • But the poor E wasn’t always excluded! The first school to use a grading scale model

  • similar to our modern one was a school in Massachusetts called Mount Holyoke College,

  • an all-women’s university. In 1887, their scale went from A to E, with E as the failing

  • grade. A year later, the F was added, (what? to kick you while youre down?) A student

  • received an “F” if their overall performance was below a 75%. Before the F was added, it

  • was the E that stood for this lowest performance. The college made this change to their grading

  • scale to allow a little wiggle roomto give students one more passing letter grade.

  • Once the F was added, E meant that the student’s performance was between 75 and 79%, which

  • was still considered passing. As this grading scale grew in popularity across

  • the U.S., the E was eventually removed to simplify the scale, as F intuitively stood

  • forfailure.” The percentages that signify each letter grade differ between school districts

  • in the U.S., but F is still that failing grade. Differences in the grading scale has become

  • a hot topic recently, because now grade point average, or GPA, comes into play; there’s

  • a question in some districts whether a 90% is an A or a B; parents are concerned whether

  • their school’s grading scale is fair and comparable to the College Boardbut that’s

  • another video! How about some other fun facts about U.S.

  • schools? 1. Our Measurement System

  • Yes, yes, it has to be addressed. The Standard Measurement System is still taught in schools,

  • while the rest of the world uses the Metric System, which many believe is much easier

  • to understand. In the USA, it is taught that there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a

  • yard, et cetera. Maybe the U.S. will catch up with the rest of the world one day. Or

  • vice versa! 2. Dress Codes and Uniforms

  • Only about 20% of U.S. primary, junior, and high schools require uniforms; besides at

  • these few, American students can generally wear what they want to school, although each

  • school will have their own dress codes. Requiring the midriff and most of the shoulders to be

  • covered, and for shorts and skirts to be a certain length, are two pretty standard examples

  • of common American school dress codes. Clothing that displays anything inappropriate in the

  • design, such as offensive language, is of course not allowed. In college, though, there

  • is much more freedom, and all bets are off as far as clothing goes!

  • 3. The Structure of the U.S. School System The U.S. school system starts with preschool,

  • which is actually somewhat optional, then kindergarten, which a student would ideally

  • start at about age 5. Then comes grades 1-5 and sometimes 6 (akaelementary school”);

  • next comes junior high, aka middle school, which is grades 7 and 8 – sometimes middle

  • school is grades 6-8; it all depends on your school district. Then finally comes high school,

  • which is generally grades 9-12, with the goal of finishing 12th grade at age 17 or 18. In

  • the U.S., there are a variety of ways that you can complete your high school education

  • you can go to school online nowadays, or attend public or private school, even home-school

  • but each of these grade levels must be completed before you can attend college.

  • 4. The American Academic Year American students spend about 180 days a year

  • in school. This is in the middle of the road; there are countries where students attend

  • more days of school, and countries where students attend less. As far as breaks go, summer break

  • is the longest break that American students have, usually lasting 9-10 weeks starting

  • in June, depending on the district. American students also get a Fall break, a winter break,

  • and a Spring break. That sounds like a lot of breaks, but the American school day itself

  • is longer than in some other countries. School is typically from 8am-3pm, or some small variation

  • of that timeframe, attending Monday-Friday. The point is, the American school day is almost

  • as long as the standard 8-to-5 American work day!

  • 5. America’s First School is Almost 400 Years Old!

  • The original 13 American colonies opened The Boston Latin School, America’s first public

  • school, in 1635. It’s still standing and functional today! The school has prestigious

  • admission requirements, and it regularly performs better than other elite schools in Boston.

  • But not every student that has passed through this historic school’s doors has been a

  • successone of its most famous dropout is Benjamin Franklin! Their motto is Latin

  • forWe are first.” Talk aboutold school”…haha!

  • 6. Early U.S. “AcademicsEarly American schools didn’t teach subjects

  • like reading or science; the early colonists wanted to teach their children more about

  • family and community values so that they could be productive members of society. I mean,

  • in 1635, the colonies were a pretty young society, so it makes sense that teaching their

  • children about the foundations of community was a very integral part of their education.

  • 7. Pre-School Earlier I mentioned pre-school being part

  • of the American educational system. If U.S. parents want their child toget ahead,”

  • or just to acclimate them to a social learning situation, enrolling their child in pre-school

  • at about 3 or 4 years old is considered ideal. It prepares the child for kindergarten, and

  • gets them in a school routine. A choice of a full day or a half day is usually offered.

  • But in the last few years, fewer and fewer 3-year-olds are being enrolled in pre-school.

  • In 2016, only about half of 3-5 year-olds were enrolled in some kind of full-day preschool

  • program. This percentage is much higher in European countries.

  • 8. The U.S. Workplace and Higher Education About 85% of current jobs in the U.S., and

  • 90% of new ones, require some college or post-secondary education. It used to be that college was

  • the only smart option for high school graduates in the U.S., but now the demand for technical

  • schools and skilled tradesmen and womenand by that I mean automotive workers, welders,

  • plumbers, and members of similar necessary fieldsare on the rise.

  • 9. Field Trips Most experienced U.S. teachers agree that

  • field trips can and should be an integral part of a student’s education. Students

  • get many benefits from educational field trips. Museums, a theater to see a play or concert,

  • and art galleries are all good examples of fun and educational field trips. Most teachers

  • agree that field trips like these is one of the best ways to apply what students have

  • learned in the classroom setting to the real world. Field trips encourage creative and

  • critical thinking, observation skills, and promotes cultural understanding. Plus, students

  • are making fun memories with their friends! Do you have a story about a particularly memorable

  • field trip? Let’s hear about it down below. 10. School Sports

  • American schools offer a variety of after-school activities, but joining a sport team is probably

  • the most popular. Most schools offer football (the American kind), basketball, wresting,

  • tennis, volleyball, softball, and baseball. Where possible, there is a boysand girls

  • team. These sports are a big deal, especially football and basketball; the whole community

  • comes to watch their school’s team compete against other schools in the district. It’s

  • exciting and promotes school spirit! The football and basketball teams will have cheerleaders

  • too – a squad of mostly girls who dress in a uniform with pompoms and do routines

  • to music to cheer their team on. 11. Relaxed Classroom Environment

  • The American classroom is a pretty relaxed place to learn! Students are still expected

  • to raise their hands when they want to talk or ask a question, but generally, open discussion

  • is encouraged. Students and teachers often joke with each other, and exchange high-fives

  • in the hallways. Teachers also make a big effort to work with those students who need

  • extra help, like staying after school, or coming in early if a student has a question

  • about homework, a paper they wrote, or something discussed in class. Teachers will also offer

  • extra credittoo, if students are really struggling.

  • 12. Each State is Different The most unique thing about U.S. education

  • is that each state is going to be a little different. That’s 50 different states who

  • all have multiple cities and counties that are homes to our schools. There will be differences

  • in grading scales, testing requirements, class structure, rulespretty much everything!

  • No school is in the U.S. is the same! And that’s the beauty of it: since the U.S.

  • has that separation of state, each state can appoint its own panel of educational rule

  • makers.

  • Ah yes, high school memories. I remember I was in that half of the class, that made the

  • upper half possible. I’m so proud!

  • Hey, if you learned something today, give this video a like and share it with a friend!

  • And here some other videos I think youll enjoy; just click to the left or right. And

  • remember: stay on the Bright Side of life!

Remember that nervous feeling on report card day as a kid? You spend all day with a racing

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