Is American Education as good as British Education?

Question

My family and I are moving to California later this year, everything has been finalized except where my children will be going to school, and I never really stopped to think about whether american education if seen through all the way is better than a UK education. Can someone please tell me whether american education is better than a british education.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Though  I am sure students are taught different subjects, and by differing techniques, I believe the education provided in both countries are about equal. Barring your children being placed in a ghetto-centered public school with very poor student performance levels (which is probably not the case), they will most likely finish a successful education if they apply themselves.

Answer 2

There is no easy answer to your question.  It's a matter of opinion.  I'm sure you can get a great or lousy education on either side of the Atlantic.  I think other factors fall into play far more than the quality of the school.  

Emigration can be overwhelming, there are so many details, I'm glad you are stopping to think about your kids education.  My experience immigrating in the 80's was that most of what I needed to know to graduate US high school, I already had by age 13 when I left England.  However, there is a far greater emphasis on book grammar/sentence diagramming in the US, possibly due to the many non-standard English variants spoken in US homes.  The other exception is of course American history as tought in school, will make it appear as if America is the only country in the world with freedom of speech and other basics of civilized nations.  I'm sure educated American adults laugh about this, but in most playgrounds or classrooms, your kids will have these ideas hammered in.      

A bigger impact on your kids' education than the quality of the school curriculum, would be the social factors of adjusting to a new culture.  There are serious social pitfalls with a UK/US move, probably less so the other way.  The impact of culture shock is real, don't ignore it.    

No-one will think to tell you this, but, you'll need to know (for high school) what is a unit and how do my kids get them?  You'll also need to realize that all units are not created equal.  There are college-prep classes, and there are retail clerk classes. They each provide units for graduation, but one of those transcripts will not get you into college. Choose proactively, so you have options, or else your kids will be swept into classes like "consumer math" by default.  Your CA high school will not accept your kids' French taken at Junior high level, no matter their fluency, but have faith, the University of CA will.  

I recommend you learn the proper American names for school supplies.  Be sure to warn your kids to call rubbers by their American name of "eraser" or else they will rapidly be the laughingstock of the school.  Learn about drugs and their paraphernalia, as your children surely will be naiive to the American version and could easily fall into the wrong crowd by not recognizing the signs.  Imagine how gullible a visitor from Norway would be in your neighborhood.  Think about what you would tell them to watch out for when visiting your neighborhood, and how might these thoughts help your children through their transition.  Visit your local police dept once you get here, and ask for a breifing on what you need to know about the local drugs and gangs.  Your are your child's most important teacher and you must learn about American children so you can translate for your kids.  This is a different culture, with very different social rules.  Because Brits tend toward much more subtle body  language, it will appear that everyone here is "so nice", (even criminals) which you will mistake for friendship, but it's just a learned social mannerism that is mandatory.  The interpersonal honesty level is very different, as is the level of mainstream religious intensity.  Your kids social status will immediately drop because of their social differences and they won't be able to recognize the bad guys, judge character, or pick decent friends.  You will be in the same boat.  Talk about these things.  You can learn together, if you know what you are looking for.  Find a British club to help you integrate into your new locale.  For now, there is a brit-ex-pat group on Yahoo, and there should be community resources in your new locale.  If you want to help your kids accculturate directly, consider volunteering for the 4-H group in your new locale.  Host a class in English cooking.  It doesn't matter if you can cook, the kids will learn by doing, and you will better understand your kids peers by interacting with them.    

Good luck with your move.  You'll love it here, and don't give away all your sweaters, it rains here two months out of the year.  

Answer 3

Some would say yes, some would say no.  Especially the Brits!  LOL  But seriously, there are even some Americans who must think British education is better because whole schools systems have adopted it -- with a few obvious modifications, of course, like American history,  American government, American spelling, but ending with the same type of graduation tests and so forth.  Look up Cambridge Schools or Cambridge curriculum, which is what it's called here instead of British National Curriculum.  If there's no Cambridge school where you'll be, you can always homeschool using the same curriculum.  

Answer 4

From what I hear, it's just brainwashing. Only education people get is focused around America being so great and how America is the best.