American Education and Canadian Education

Essay by RustpuppetHigh School, 11th gradeA+, April 2004

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Education in North America is a very serious topic, but how serious is America and Canada about educating our youth? How close is the education system in America compared to Canada? Do students benefit equally in both countries and our teachers treated the same in each country?

Canada and America have very different ways of dealing with education for each state or province. Canada is one of the few countries that don't have a national education system unlike America, which has a Department or Ministry of Education for every state (Anderson, John O., Bachor, Don G, Vol. 5, Issue 3, pg. 353). America is a much more manageable system because it has separate curriculum and guidelines designed for each state. According to Author Susan B. Hume, Ph. D., the federal government does not operate the school system and each of the 50 states has its own Department of Education. Guidelines for the schools are set out by each state and almost all the power in the schools is held by that school's district, which is governed by a group of local elected personnel known as the School Board (http://www.educationguide-us.com/isg/edusystem.htm).

Students are assessed on their average grades known as a GPA. Students in Canada are not assessed by a GPA but rather by A, B, C grading etc. GPA does not come into effect until the student reaches university age. The GPA system is more of a pressure on students than help, where students deal with just letter grades in Canada. The only thing Canada really has that is similar to America's national education system is the Council of Minister of Education. All Provinces are similar in their approach to teaching; however each Province may differ slightly depending upon the Minister of Education for that particular province. For instance, British...