A brief, cursory history of education in the USA:
For the sake of completeness, it may be worth mentioning a few words about the 'education system' in the americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492 (ignoring the short term residence of the Norse Vikings around 1000 AD). The native Americans, or American Indians, whose ancestors had migrated from Siberia, North East Asia, across the Bering Straits some 20,000 yeas ago, had congregated into well defined tribes by the time Christopher Columbus arrived. Thus, the training of their children would not be an archeological mystery a la 'ancient Sumeria', but would have been well known to the early European settlers, analogous to the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa. And this 'education' would have similarly consisted of learning basic survival skills such as hunting, horse riding, archery.
Unsurprisingly, early European education would not have differed greatly, compelled to focus on survival on the new continent, and any form of education would have been inparted informally within the family.
The Europeans who arrived immediately following Columbus' landing in 1492 consisted of the Spanish, the Portuguese, the English, the French and the Dutch - all maritime nations. The Spanish and Portuguese were the most active. The active explorers, conquistadores, settlers, up to 1600 were: John Cabot (I,V,E, 1497 Newfoundland); João Fernandes Lavrador (P, 1499 - maps Labrador and Newfoundland, giving his name to the former); Pedro Álvares Cabral (P, 1500 - Brazil); the Corte-Reals (S, 1501 - explore coast of Newfoundland & Labrador); Juan Ponce de León (S, 1508 - Florida); Vasco Núñez de Balboa (S, 1513 - Pacific Ocean); Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (S, 1517); Alonso Álvarez de Pineda (S, 1519 - explores the Gulf Coast); Pedro Arias Dávila (S, 1519 - founds Panama City); Hernán Cortés (S, 1521 -conquest of Aztec Empire); Pedro de Alvarado (S, 1524 -conquistador); Giovanni da Verrazzano (I, 1524 -sails east coast.); Estêvão Gomes (P, 1525 -enters Upper New York Bay & reaches Nova Scotia); Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (S, 1526 - failed settlement in South Carolina); Jacques Cartier (F, 1535 -reaches Quebec); Cabeza de Vaca (S, 1536 -wanders North America); Hernando de Soto (S, 1539 -explores Florida to Arkansas); Francisco de Ulloa (S, 1539 -explores Baja California); Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (S, 1540 -travels to eastern Kansas); García López de Cárdenas (S, 1540 -reaches the Grand Canyon); Cartier and Roberval (F, 1541 -Failed settlement Quebec City); Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (P,S, 1542 -reaches California coast); Gaspard de Coligny & Jean Ribault (F, 1562 -Failed Huguenot settlement Charlesfort in South Carolina); René Goulaine de Laudonnière (F, 1564 -Fort Caroline, Florida); Pedro Menéndez de Avilés (S, 1565 -slaughters French 'heretics' from Fort Caroline, founds Saint Augustine in Florida, explored Chesapeake Bay Virginia 1573); Ajacán Mission (S, 1570 -failed Jesuit Mission in Chesapeake Bay Virginia); Sir Martin Frobisher(E, 1576 -reaches coast of Labrador & Baffin Island.); Sir Francis Drake (E, 1579 -lands in Northern California on Pacific coast & names area as New Albion); Juan de Oñate (S, 1598 -founded settlement in Northern New Mexico, led expeditions to the Great Plains and Lower Colorado River Valley, 1599 Ácoma Massacre.). As can be seen, up to 1600 Spain and Portugal were still the only significant colonial powers. Santo Domingo was the first European permanent settlement built in 1496 by the Spanish. Later in the 1600s Sweden and Norway-Denmark also joined. [Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_European_colonization_of_North_America]
Spanish, and certainly Portuguese, activities were restricted mainly to Mexico, Central and South America, areas which remained almost the exclusive preserves of these two Iberian nations. However, the Spaniards also explored and claimed parts of North America although were never able to establish permanent settlements apart from Saint Augustine in Florida, the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the contiguous United States.
To trace the historical start of what would become education in the US we will need to look to the arrival and settlement of the English.
The Original 13 British Colonies, which would become the original 13 United States after independence.
British colonization began in North America almost a century after Spain. However, the history of formal education in the US would be synonymous with the arrival of the English in North America as they would eventually supplant rival European powers - the French, the Dutch, the Swedes, Norway-Denmark and the Spanish. Therefore for the sake of the overall picture, it would be worth tracing the 4 phases of arrival of the English, even though the earlier phases did not contribute to the development of education.
King Henry VII commissioned the first English expedition to the Americas in 1497, when John Cabot, a Venetian captain sailing under an English flag with english crews from Bristol landed in Newfoundland but stayed only for a brief period. The next phase during the rule of King James I was a commercial expedition sent by the Virginia Company which set sail from london and landed in 1607 in the Chesapeake Bay area in a region they named Viginia and founded a permanent settlement which they called Jamestown, after the King. The third emigration was that of the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed from Plymouth in the Mayflower escaping religious persecution and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The fourth and much larger wave, that of the Puritans, who were related to the Pilgrims in religious terms, began in 1630 and led to the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This incorporated the earlier Plymouth Colony and eventually became known as the Massachusetts Colony.
These 2 core colonies then expanded to form the 13 Colonies divided into 3 groupings or regions. From north to south these were: New England, Middle and Southern colonies. The New England colonies were primarily founded for religious reasons, the southerm colonies for commercial reasons.
The New England Colonies: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut.
The Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware.
The Southern Colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia.
Education in the Thirteen British Colonies varied significantly based on region, social class, and gender, with a general lack of organized public schooling compared to modern standards, though institutions of higher learning like the colonial colleges did exist.
Regional Differences:
The northern colonies generally had higher literacy rates and more established schools, particularly in areas with stronger Puritan influence who believed in literacy for religious reasons. The Southern colonies, being largely rural, had fewer formal schools, with wealthy children often educated by private tutors and many others receiving little to no schooling.
Curriculum and Instruction:
Secondary schools, mainly in larger towns, typically focused on classical subjects like Latin grammar and advanced arithmetic to prepare boys for college. For younger children, informal "dame schools" run by women in their homes taught the three Rs (reading, writing, and arithmetic). Boys were generally prioritized for formal education, while girls often received instruction in domestic skills.
Higher Education and Professions:
The colonies had a handful of "colonial colleges," which were the precursors to present-day universities, with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton among the most well-known, and many of the Founding Fathers attended these institutions. Professional education was limited; for instance, aspiring lawyers typically served apprenticeships or "read the law" with established attorneys.
Exclusions and Inequality:
While literacy was valued, especially in the North, large segments of the population, including virtually all enslaved Black children and many poor and middle-class white children, remained unschooled. The educational system was not designed for widespread access or equal opportunity
The Puritans established the first known formal school, the Latin School, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1635 shortly after their arrival in the New World.
The Boston Latin School was so named because it emphasised the teaching of Latin and Greek to enable its pupils to read, study and interpret the scriptures and find positions as ministers in the church. This tradition carried forward almost universally in the USA until almost the 21st Century.
Fast forward to today, when all the emphasis is on academic excellence, league tables, and the creation of a cohort to produce the artificial intelligence of tomorrow.
For a more detailed account of the history of education in the USA, a good source is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Thirteen_Colonies.
Education Structure in the USA:
The US education structure can be highly confusing, particulary because US Structure is decentralised with each of the 50 states, along with Bureau of Indian Education and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools, having independent control. The federal government's power over education is primarily exercised through the Department of Education, which focuses on funding, administering federal aid programs, collecting data, identifying educational issues, and enforcing federal laws related to education and civil rights in education, though direct control over educational systems remains largely with state and local governments.
In the US the term 'K-12' stands for 'Kindergarten to Grade12'. Education is compulsory in all 50 states but the years of compulsory attendance varies by states.
Some examples are ages 6 to 16 for Arizona and ages 5 to 18 for Arkansas.
Grades denote age ranges with Kindergarten being the first compulsory year and Grade 1 being the next year after Kindergarten. Grade 12 is the final year but where compulsory education ends at 16 pupils may not reach Grade 12.
Alaska requires that students attend until they are 16 or complete 12th grade.
In Arizona, students must attend until they are 16 or complete 10th grade.
So, it's important to check the requirements of one's home state.
Refer to https://nces.ed.gov/programs/statereform/tab5_1.asp for a full list and details.
Compulsory attendance requirements can be satisfied in public-funded or state-certified private schools, or an approved home school program.
There is also an optional non-compulsory Nursery or Pre-Kindergarten stage (Ages birth to 5).
Compulsory education is divided into three levels: elementary school, middle or junior high school, and high school.
Elementary school: Kindergarten to Grade 5
Middle school: Grade 6 to Grade 8
High school: Grade 9 to Grade 12. (Students in the last 4 years of High school are designated as Freshman in Grade 9, Sophomore in Grade 10, Junior in Grade 11 and Senior in Grade 12)
Unlike most countries, the United States does not have either a federal or even state exam, such as GCSE/A'levels in the UK, the Baccalauréat in France, or the Abitur in Germany, which all students must sit in order to assess their capabilities against a common national standard.
Instead, to obtain a US high school diploma, students generally need to earn a specific number of credits in core subjects like English, math, science, and social studies, along with elective courses. These credits are earned by passing courses, and each state or school district sets the specific requirements. Flexibility exists within the system, allowing students to tailor their education to their interests and future goals. The downside is that the quality of education and the standards achieved by individual students varies greatly by state and district.
To proceed to college or university, students generally need to pass SAT (Scholastic Aptitude/Assessment Test) or ACT (American College Testing) with required scores for the
applied college or university. Thus, these are the only common assessments applied to all students wishing to enter any particular institution of higher education.
The Public State-funded Sector:
These schools are free for all pupils in the given age range.
There are 3 types of Public Schools: Traditional Public Schools and the more recent Public Charter Schools and Public Magnet Schools.
Traditional Public Schools
The Private Sector:
The defining characteristics are that they receive no state or federal funding.
Types of private schools: The main types are Independent schools, Proprietary schools, Parochial schools. Within these there are sub categories such as Military schools (academies), boarding schools, day schools, gender-specific schools
Nonprofit Independent schools
For profit Proprietary schools
Parochial schools:
These have religious affiliations, eg Catholic, Protestant, Episcopal, Jewish, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Seventh-Day Adventist, Hindu, Muslim schools, among others. This is not surprising considering what we have earlier seen about the origins of formal education in the colonial era traced back to the Puritans.
Listung of private schools in the USA:
Home School:
Home schooling is permitted in the USA:
States regulate home schools and set requirements. But state oversight varies widely. Some states don't even require notification that a child is being educated at home, while others require homeschooled students to take tests or have their progress evaluated in some way. In a few states, homeschooling parents must use curricula approved by the state, obtain teaching credentials, or undergo home visits by state officials.
International Students:
There are restrictions as to which types of schools international students can enroll in. This is stipulated by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS):
International students at the kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) level must attend a school certified by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP). In addition to this certification, there are other rules a school must comply with to enroll international K-12 students.
K-12 Private Schools
A private school at the elementary and secondary grade levels (i.e., K-12) is eligible for SEVP certification. There is no limit on the length of time an F-1 student may attend a private, SEVP-certified K-12 school. Read these resources for more information about K-12 private schools:
Grade 9-12 Public Schools
A public school at the secondary level (i.e., grades 9-12) is eligible for SEVP certification and may enroll an international student for a maximum period of 12 months. Public elementary schools (i.e., grades K-8) are not eligible for SEVP certification and therefore cannot enroll international students. Read these resources for more information about grade 9-12 public schools:
USA Universities:
Listung of universities in the USA:
MAGIC CIRCLE TUTORS
