1)Characteristics of American education:

①formal education in the US consistes of elementary, secondary and higher education.②Elementary and secondary education,which forms public education, is free and compulsory③public and private schools:Public schools are created, financially supported and governed by states or communities, and private ones by religious groups, or nonreligious private organizations or individuals.④the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution said education was included among the responsibilities which were "reserved to the states or the people", This makes it clear that education is a function of the state, not the federal government.⑤diversity and sameness in educational policy and practice.

1.正式教育包括初等、中等、高等教育2.构成公共教育的初、中等教育是免费和义务的；3.公立和私立学校：公立学校由州或社区创建、资助和管理，私立由宗教团体、或非宗教性质的个人或组织来创建；4.《宪法第十修正案》把教育包括在‘只属于州和人民’的职责中，这清晰表明教育是州的职能，并非联邦政府的；5.教育政策和教学实践的多样性和类同性

2）Elementary and secondary educationin the US

Elementary schools: In some states the elementary school covers grades 1-8, but in some other states it covers grades 1-5 or 6. so it takes 5,6or 8 years to finish the elementary school in the United Stetes. The elementary school curriculum mainly consists of mastery of the "basics"(基础课) ， such as reading, writing, and arithmetic or mathematics.

一些州小学包括1-8年级，但另一些是1-5或6年级。所以在美国小学要花5，6或8年完成。小学的课程重要包括‘基本知识’的掌握，比如阅读，写作，和算术或数学。

Secondary Schools: Secondary schools are also called high schools in the United Stetes, covering grades 9-12,the junior high school 6or 7-9,and the high school 10-12. High schools are made up of comprehensive, academic, vocational and technical schools with somewhat different tasks. There are 21000 public secondary schools and a number of private secondary schools in the US.

中学包括9-12年级或初中6或7到9，高中10-12。中学包括不同教学任务的综合性学校，普通文化课学校和职业和技术学校。共有21000所公立中学和一些私立中学。

3)Different types of colleges and universities:

①research universities②doctoral universities ③master's comprehensive colleges and universities.④Liberal arts colleges ⑤junior colleges ⑥specialized institutions.

学院和大学的区别：1.研究性大学；2.博士学位大学；3.硕士学位综合大学和学院；4.文科学院；5.两年专科学院；6.专科学院

Famous universities:Harvard,Yale,Princeton,Columbia and MIT（Massachusetts Institute of Technology）,Stanford,Berkeley.

哈佛，耶鲁，普林斯顿，哥伦比亚，麻省理工学院，斯坦福，伯克利。