III. Comment on the headline.

IV. Points for discussion.

1. Is it good that free education is being increasingly replaced by education for money?

2. What Russian colleges and universities are top ones? Do they differ from their foreign counterparts?

3. Does Russian education really need a radical revamp?

Supplement

Education Glossary

A)

1. College and university admission/ entrance requirements:

1) application including personal information; 2) high school report including class rank, a transcript with the list of all the courses taken and all grades received in high school with courses failed or repeated, test results, SAT, Achievement Test and ACT scores and a general assessment of the applicant’s character such as academic motivation, creativity, self-discipline, leadership, self-confidence, warmth of personality, sense of humour, etc.; 3) one or more recommendations by school teachers; 4)personal commentary such as major extra-curricular activities, hobbies, special awards or prizes, work or travel experiences, educational and /or career goals and the reasons for the choice of this particular university; 5) personal interview.

2. Administration and organization: The head of the university is usually called President, sometimes Chancellor. His principal assistants are Vice-presidents, directors, deans and business managers. Each university consists of a number of units called either College or School. There is always a College of Arts and Sciences and several professional schools, e.g. one unit of a university may be called College of Medicine, whereas another one of the same university may be called Law School, i.e. the units of a university providing professional education may be called either colleges or schools, without any differences in meaning.

3. Faculty members: The teaching staff of an American university is called the faculty. Full –time faculty consists of professors and instructors. The rank of associate professors, assistant professors corresponds to the British rank of readers or senior lecturers.

4. Tenure – signifies that a faculty member has become a full and permanent member of the academic body of the university and provides the faculty member with the right of continued employment without discriminatory reduction in salary unless there be grave reasons for dismissal. Normally tenure is attached to the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor who have demonstrated excellence in teaching, research and service.

5. Career development and job placement – an academic advising service which provides up-to-date information on career areas and individual career counseling and planning. Job placement is not guaranteed in universities of the USA.

6. Counselor – a person on a university staff who provides counseling and consultation service to help in decisions regarding courses, majors, vocational plans, career opportunities and personal matters. Services are free to all students.

7. Teacher training: All states require a bachelor’s degree for teaching elementary grades. Forty seven states require a bachelor’s degree as the minimum preparation for teaching in the secondary schools; three states and the District of Columbia require five years or a master’s degree. Manu public and private colleges and universities are approved and accredited for teacher education. At the undergraduate level, the typical teacher education program is four or five years in length. It comprises a combination of traditional academic subjects and professional courses such as methods of teaching and educational psychology. Practice-teaching for four or six months, either in the college laboratory school or in a public school system, is often included. Graduate of liberal arts colleges which do not have a teacher education program may usually qualify through a fifth year master’s degree program.

8. Degrees: the Associates’ degree – the Associate of Arts (A.A), the Associate of Science (A.S.) – is usually awarded at a community or junior college upon completion of 2 years of study – it represents the same level as completion of the first two years of a four-year college or university and students with A.A. or A.S. may refer to four-year institutions.

The Bachelor’s degree normally requires 4 years of academic study beyond the high school diploma: the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the Bachelor of Science (B.S.); the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.); the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), etc.

The Master’s degree – programs leading to the degrees usually require 1 or 2 years of advanced study in graduate-level courses and seminars. Frequently a thesis is required or a final oral or written examination. (M.A. – the Master of Arts, etc.)

The Doctor’s degree – usually the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (equal to the Soviet candidate of Science, Philology, etc.) – the highest academic degree, it requires a minimum of 2 years of course work beyond the Master’s degree level, success in a qualifying examination, proficiency in one or two foreign languages and/ or in a research tool (such as statistics) and completion of a doctoral dissertation.

9. SAT – the Scholastic Aptitude Test (in mathematics and verbal ability) used since 1947: 1600 scores – a good result; 400 scores – poor.

The SAT is taken in the 11^th grade of high school. (About 1,5 million students take it yearly.)

Many educators point out that SAT scores are related to family income – the higher the income, the higher the SAT scores and certain minorities have not scored well because of low incomes and bad schools. SAT can be taken two or three times (in the 11^th and 12^th grades), generally proceeded by PSAT (preliminary), a test to give students a warm-up exercise for the SAT and indicate their probable SAT scoring range.

ACT – the American College Testing program – is similar to SAT but scores social studies and the natural studies. The ACT is taken when required by certain colleges or universities (About 200,000 students take this test yearly.)

Both tests are widely used in the admission process of US colleges and universities. Their results are sent to the colleges or universities to which the students have applied. ACT is meant to be taken only once.

Achievements tests – special tests in a discipline required by some colleges for admission.

«TOEFL» stands for the Test of English as a Foreign Languages. This test is used to measure your English language proficiency. If you are applying to a college or university, your TOEFL scores will help the admission staff determine if your skills are adequate for enrollment into the program of study you have selected.

10. Academic Year is usually nine months duration, or two semesters of four and a half month each. Classes usually begin in September and end in July. There are summer classes for those who want to improve the grades or take up additional courses.

During one term or semester, a student will study, concurrently, four or five different subjects. The students’ progress is often assessed through quizzes (short oral or written tests), term papers and a final examination in each course. Each part of a student’s work in a course is given a mark which helps to determine his final grade. A student’s record consists of his grade in each course.

College grades, determined by each instructor on the basis of class work and examinations, are usually on a five-point scale, with letters to indicate the levels of achievements. A – is the highest mark, indicating superior accomplishment, and the letters go through B, C, D to E or F which denotes failure. Many schools assign points fir each grade (A=5, S=4, etc.) so that GPA (grade point average) may be computed. Normally, a minimum grade point average (3.5 points) is required to continue in school and to graduate.

11. Student Financial Aid – sums of money for students who need financial aid to attend college.

When a family applies for aid, an analyses is made of the person’s income; Financial Aid is normally awarded as part of a package: part grant (a grant needn’t be repaired, parts of which might come from several sources: federal, state private scholarship, college scholarship); part loan (to be repaid after college); part work (colleges normally expect students on aid to earn some of the money they need by working summers on the campus).

12. Student Union. There are several national nongovernmental associations of students. The largest and most active has been the United States National Student Association, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. (USNSA).

A great deal of the cultural and recreational life at a university is created and conducted by student groups. They sponsor or participate in concerts, plays, debates, forums and festivals. They have various clubs, film societies, jazz groups, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, athletic events. At many universities, the center of these social and cultural out-of-class activities is the Student Union. Some community colleges or universities maintain major resident facilities, fraternity and sonority houses and student unions.

There are also a large number of national fraternities and sonorities with chapters (branches) at almost 500 colleges and universities. These organizations, Greek letter societies, are descendents of the 18^th century library and social clubs which flourished in the early American colleges.

No society has more than one chapter in any one college. While those societies are secret in character there is seldom any overemphasis of ritual or mystery in their conduct. The Greek alphabet is generally used in naming the fraternity, sonority or a chapter. It has become quite the practice for students of a particular fraternity to reside together during their college course in their «chapter» house. Students who live outside the colleges or universities live in cooperatives (cooperative housing associations providing lodgings), rooming houses or apartment complexes.

B)

Accreditation: Approval of colleges, universities and secondary schools by nationally recognized professional associations.

Assignment: Work to be done outside of class time, required by a teacher or professor and due by a specified date.

Busing: Transporting children from otherwise segregated schools to other schools in order to achiever racial and ethnic balance (approximately reflecting the racial and ethnic constitution of the population of an area). Federal courts have repeatedly mandated busing as a remedy for past discrimination. Busing as a means to achieve desegregation is a controversial issue.

Cafeteria: Self-service eating facility in a school or on a campus operated by a private contractor.

Campus: The land on which the buildings of an educational institution are located (often characterized by park-like green spaces).

Chapter One: Reference to federal legislation of 1981 providing aid for educational programs for low-income children, often in the form of remedial reading and/or math programs in elementary schools.

Class: The word “class” has several different definitions: (1) Group of students which meets with an instructor or professor on regular scheduled basis; (2) The group of students in a particular year of study, i.e., freshman class (1st year), sophomore class (2nd year), junior class(3rd year), senior class (4th year); (3) The group of students who will graduate (i.e., finish school or their studies) in a particular year, as “The Class of 1990”.

Class Rank: A number or ratio indicating a student’s academic standing in his or her graduating class. A student who ranks first in a class of 100 students would report his or her class rank as 1/100, while a student ranking last would report 100/100. Class rank may also be expressed in percentiles (i.e., the top 25 percent, the lower 50 percent).

Commencement: The graduation ceremony; the event at which degrees are awarded.

Continuing Education: An extension of educational activities by and for people who have completed their formal schooling; the reference is usually to non-credit coursework.

Course: Regularly scheduled class sessions of one or several hours per week of a particular subject (such as English, math, etc.).

Core Curriculum: A group of courses in varied subject areas, designated by a school district or college as one of the requirements for graduation or a specified degree.

Cram: Intense study for a test, done at the last possible moment.

Credits: Units which institutions use to record the completion of courses of instruction (with passing or higher grades) that are required for graduation or an academic degree, based on the weekly number of hours the classes took place.

Credit hour: One credit; a weekly class-hour.

Cut: Unauthorized absence from a class.

Degree: Diploma or title conferred by a college, university or professional school upon completion of a prescribed program of studies.

Department: Administrative subdivision of a school, college or university through which instruction in a certain field of study is given (e.g. English department)

Department of Education: The federal agency which supervises, supports, and collects data on the nation’s education establishment.

Desegregation: Moving students from racially separate public schools to other schools to achieve a more balanced racial or ethnic mix (see busing).

Dropout: A student who leaves school with no intention of returning.

Electives: Courses that students may “elect” (choose freely) to take for credit toward their intended degree – as distinguished from courses that they are required to take.

Elementary School: The first formal school for children, consisting of four to eight grades.

Enrichment: Special additional programs of instruction designed to provide students with experiences addressing special needs, abilities, and interests (for both disadvantaged or culturally deprived and specially gifted children).

ELS: English as a Second Language; English language training for persons whose first language is not English.

Enrollment: (1) The process of enrolling or registering for classes; (2) the total number of students at an educational institution – e.g., an enrollment of 4,000.

Extracurricular Activities: Activities which are a part of student life but not part of regular classroom study, such as athletics, student activities, dances, clubs, etc.

Faculty: The members of the teaching staff, and occasionally the administrative staff, of an educational institution. The faculty is responsible for designing the plans of study offered by the institution.

Final: The last examination in the class or course.

Financial Aid: A general term that includes all types of money, loans and part-time jobs offered to a student.

Flunk: To fail an examination or a course.

Freshman: A first-year student at a high school, college or university.

Grade: The evaluation of a student’s academic work (see grading system).

GPA: Grade Points Average. A system of recording academic achievement based on an average, calculated by multiplying the numerical grade received in each coarse by the number of credit hours studied (cf. grading system).

grade	grade points per credit
A-excellent
B-good
C-average
D-below average
F-fail

Grading System: Schools, colleges and universities in the United States commonly use letter grades to indicate the quality of a student’s academic performance: A (excellent), B (good), C (average), D (below average), and F (failing). Work rated C or above is usually required of an undergraduate student to continue his/her studies; work rated B or higher is usually required of a graduate student to continue. Grades of P (pass), S (satisfactory), and N (no credit) are also used. In percentage scales, 100 percent is the highest mark, and 70 percent (or 65 percent) is usually the lowest passing mark.

Graduate: A student who has completed a course of study, either at the high school or college level. A graduate program at a university is a study course for students who hold a bachelor’s degree.

Gymnasium: The building containing facilities for athletic events – most prominently, a basketball court.

Head Start: A federally funded program for disadvantaged pre-school children from low-income families which has been operating since 1964.

High School: The last three or four years of the twelve-year public education program in the United States.

Higher Education: Postsecondary education at colleges, universities, junior or community colleges, professional schools, technical institutes and teacher training schools.

Homework: Regular assignments to be completed outside class and considered in the student’s course grade.

ID: Identification card. A card which states that the bearer is a member of the student body. This card, usually issued by the college or university during the registration period, is an important form of identification, particularly on campus.

Junior: A third-year student at a high school, college or university.

Junior High School: Lower education grades 7-9, gathered into a separate administrative unit.

Kindergarten: Pre-schooling for 5-year-olds provided by most school districts.

Language Requirement: The institution’s requirement that its graduates master one or more foreign languages; occasionally a part of undergraduate programs, almost always a part of doctoral programs.

Liberal Arts: Term referring to academic studies of subjects in the humanities (languages, literature, philosophy, the arts), the social sciences (economics, sociology, anthropology, history, political science), and the sciences (mathematics, physics, chemistry).

Magnet School: According to the U.S. Department of Education, a magnet school or educational center is defined as one that offers a special curriculum capable of attracting substantial numbers of students of different racial backgrounds; initially magnet schools were established for the purpose of achieving a racial and ethnic mix, i.e., voluntary desegregation. Magnet schools may emphasize the arts, sciences or other curricular specialties.

Mainstreaming: The practice of placing students of varying mental and physical abilities in the same class.

Major: The subject or area of studies in which students concentrate. Undergraduates usually choose a major after the first two years of general courses in the arts and sciences.

Middle School: An intermediate, separate type of school, usually beginning with grade 5 or 6, with a program geared to early adolescents 10 to 15 years old. Unlike the junior high school, the middle school tends to organize students and teachers into coherent units or ‘teams’.

Mid-term: An examination given in the middle of a semester or quarter.

Milliken II: Compensatory school concept (named for former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken) which emerged from the desegregation efforts in Detroit’s schools. The Supreme Court had ruled in 1974 that the de facto segregation in the Detroit metropolitan area public schools was not caused by the suburban school districts or other public authority. As a result, most court-ordered busing was stopped and compensatory schools(Milliken II schools) were instituted.

Minor: The subject or area of studies in which students concentrate their studies to lesser extent than their majors.

Multiple-choice Exam: An examination in which questions are followed by two or more answers from which the student must select the correct one.

Open Enrollment: Policy of allowing students from one area of school district to enroll in schools of another.

Parent-Teacher Association: PTA. Largest (over 6 million members) volunteer association in the U.S. devoted to education, health, safety of children.

Parochial School: School maintained by a church parish or religious body.

Pass/Failing Grading System: A system of grading students’ performance as either satisfactory (“pass”) or unsatisfactory (“fail”), rather than indicating various levels of passing work, as with letter grades.

Phi Delta Kappa: A professional fraternal organization of educators that promotes quality education and recognizes persons who have shown educational leadership.

Physical Education: A common requirement, in both high schools and colleges, of health, safety, and sports education.

Placement Test: An examination used to test a student’s academic ability in a certain field so that he or she may be placed in the appropriate course in that field. In some cases a student may be given academic credit based upon the results of a placement test.

Prerequisites: Programs or courses a student is required to complete before being permitted to enroll in a more advanced program or course.

Principal: Administrative head of a school who is responsible for coordinating and directing its activities.

Public Schools: Elementary and secondary schools supported by public money.

Quiz: Short written or oral test, less formal than an examination.

Registration: Selection of courses to be taken during a semester or school year.

Remedial Education: Specialized or additional instruction to correct deficiencies in learner accomplishments or achievements, with the expectation that the student will ultimately master the regular curriculum.

Sectarian School: School associated with or run by a sect or a religious organization.

Scholarship: A study grant of financial aid, usually given at the undergraduate level, which may be supplied in the form of a cancellation of tuition and/or fees.

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT): A standardized external examination of mathematical and verbal skills, taken by high school students to demonstrate their qualifications for college work.

School Board: Elected administrative body of a public school district with the power to oversee (regulate, finance, evaluate) the educational activities of its schools.

School District: A local administrative unit established by the state to provide 12 years of schooling for residents of its area.

Semester: Period of study of approximately 15 to 16 weeks’ duration, usually half of an academic year.

Senior: A fourth-year student at a high school, college or university.

Social Security Number: A number issued by the U.S. Government to jobholders for payroll deductions for old age, survivors and disability insurance. Many institutions us the Social Security Number as a student identification number.

Social Studies/Sciences: General Field of instruction including subjects such as history, geography, politics, and civics.

Sophomore: A second-year student at a high school, college or university.

Subjects: Courses in an academic discipline offered as part of a curriculum of an educational institution.

Survey Course: A course which covers briefly the principal topics of a broad field of knowledge.

Teachers’ College: Institution of higher learning that confers degrees, especially in teacher education, or a college within a university which offers professional preparation for teachers.

Term Paper: A formal paper required as a part of course work, and often (at graduate level) the major determinant of the student’s grade.

Test: Examination. Any procedure measuring the academic progress of a student.

Textbook: The book required of all students enrolled in a course.

Theme: A brief composition or essay with a particular subject or topic.

Thesis: A Ph.D. dissertation or a less substantial work required at the master’s or (occasionally) bachelor’s level.

Three R’s: Traditional reference to the basic elementary school subjects of reading, (w)riting, and (a)rithmetic.

TOEFL: Test of English as a Foreign Language; a multiple-choice exam to measure the English proficiency of people whose native language is not English.

Track: Study program or level of curriculum to which a student is assigned on the basis of aptitude or need; academic course or path..

Transcript: A certified copy of a student’s educational record containing titles of courses, the number of credits and the final grades in each course. An official transcript will also state the date a degree has been conferred.

Truancy: Absence from school without permission.

Unit: Same as “credit”.

Vocational Education: Education which trains students for employment.

Vocational Schools: Institutions which prepare students for semi-professional or technical employment.

Yearbook: An annual publication of, by, and for students, commemorating the year’s activities.

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