How Do U.S. Schools Compare to Schools in My Country?

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Directions: The left column of this chart contains information about U.S. schools. Read
this information and then compare and contrast it to your culture. Type your responses
in the right column. When you have finished, upload the document and earn your
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(1) Public schools provide . . .

U.S. Schools Your Schools

· Free transportation to and How is this different in your country?...

from school -There are few public school in the city I
· Meals live with free transportation.
· Social activities - Public school do have free meals, but
· Civic events they are not that good.
· Special student services - Public school do not have civic events.
· Textbooks to all students - They do offer services for special
students, but they are limited, there are
school designs for special students, but
they are not completely connected to the
government, they depend on different
NGOs.
- Students do have textbooks

(2) Characteristics of public education . . .

U.S. Schools Your Schools

· Free and available to all How is this different in your country?...

 children regardless of ability,
race, religion, ethnic
background, or socioeconomic
level
· Responsibility of each
individual state
· Different from state to state,
district-to-district and school-to-
school
· Begins at age 4 or 5 (Pre-
kindergarten / Kindergarten) and
ends at age 18 (grade 12)
· High accountability for
student achievement
· Educational emphasis on
nurturing positive self-esteem
· Classes are heterogeneous
ethnically, socio-economically,
and by ability levels
(3) For elementary teachers, characteristics of elementary school ...
U.S. Schools
· Ages 4-11, Pre-Kindergarten-
5th Grade
· Focus on the total
development of the child
· Teacher instructs all core
curriculum areas: reading,
mathematics, science, social
studies, and communication
skills
· Specialists may teach
physical education, art, music,
-It´s free, but it´s not available to
everyone, because there are many
children, but not many schools, so parents
struggle to get a placement for their
children, in many cases those schools are
not closed to students.
- We do not have states, in Colombia the
country is divided into Departments, every
single one of them must manage their
funds for every public school.
-There are many differences, because the
funds for each department is different, so it
could be said that Education in one
department may vary.
- There is no program for self-esteem, I
researched about that on internet, I did not
find any program for that.
-Yes, all classroom are heterogeneous
ethnically, but no socio-economically,
since public school are in most of the
cases for low socio-economically people.
Your Schools
How is this different in your country?
The only different that I can tell is the fact
that the teacher does not stay with the
same group of students the whole day,
since they might have different teacher for
all subjects.
How would you feel about teaching in a
school like this?…
I find this very challenging and interesting,
since its way different from my country in
terms of material, due to the fact that here
 world languages, ESOL in Colombia we do not have that amount of
· Teachers remain with material for each classroom, not even in
students the entire day with little private school, so I think that there is a
or no time without duty whole world full of possibilities to create
· Teachers may have material and plan different activities.
assistants in the lower grades
(K-3)
· Students generally stay in
the same classroom most of the
day
· Free time may not be part of
the school day
· Grade level planning

(4) Teacher responsibilities . . .

U.S. Schools Your Schools

· Teachers have extra duties in How is this different in your country?

addition to teaching (bus duty,
hall duty, lunch duty, tutoring,
etc.)
· Teachers have to do a large
amount of paperwork
(attendance records, parent
communications, marking
papers, grade documentation,
etc.)
· Teachers must establish a
discipline plan of rules,
procedures, and consequences
· Teachers are expected to
attend some after school events
· Typical day may range from 7
a.m. until 4 p.m.
· Teachers are responsible for
establishing and maintaining a
I found no differences, everything that
is done in the U.S. schools in terms of
teachers responsabilities have to be
done in here as well.
How would you feel about teaching in
a school like this?…
I feel challenged, because I will need
to work on same type of activities,
however It is going to be in a different
environment so it means that it might
be different.
 positive relationship with all
parents
· Teachers must teach ALL
students and believe that ALL
students can learn
· Teachers are required to write
and turn in lesson plans
· Teachers are required to
follow a state and local
curriculum
· Teachers must EARN the
respect of students

(5) Characteristics of students . . .

U.S. Schools Your Schools

· Students are verbal, How is this different in your country?

outspoken, and question
authority
· Students are respected as
individuals whose opinion is
valued
· Strive for independence and
value personal choice
· Have a short attention span
· Are accustomed to high level
of stimulation as a result of
television, music, and video
games
· Learn best through a wide
variety of teaching techniques
and activities
· Are motivated by clear goals
and consistent, positive feedback
We find students with same
characteristics here in Colombia, so it
could be said that there is no
difference, but the language that they
speak and their environment.
How would you feel about teaching
students like this?….
I find everything interesting and makes
me fell challenged and eager to be
there, and I am really eager to be in
the school and accept all those
challenges for me to grow as a
teacher.

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