how does education in the united states compare to european countries?

Answer 1

Primary and secondary education in the US is a disaster, and unfortunately the source is primarily cultural. In the US, there's a lot of lip service given to education, but kids who study hard and know their subjects in primary and secondary schools are called "geeks" and "nerds"; that should tell you how valued their efforts are. On the other hand, the kids who don't study, but can toss spheres of rubber or leather well are called "jocks", and they are highly worshipped and valued by our culture. Kids aren't stupid, and rapidly internalize the message our culture sends them. The result is the culture of incompetence that plagues the US today. Europeans value education, and most parents expect that their kids will study hard, get good grades, and conform to the expectations of their teachers.

European colleges aren't bad, but they are notoriously hard to get into, and hamstrung by a very conservative and restrictive tradition that values conformity over innovation. US colleges are far more accepting of thought patterns that are "outside the box" and thus are great nurseries for radical thought and groundbreaking research.

Answer 2

Depends on what kind of education we are talking about. Primary and secondary education in the U.S. sucks compared to the rest of the industrialized world; U.S. schools are notoriously incapable of teach reading and math. Higher education, however, is the best in the world and there are no signs of the gap closing, especially with more than half of all PhDs being earned by foreign students...

Answer 3

Although European countries introduce topics such as Calculus and Physics at a much younger age than the US (as early as middle school, for example), the US universities are among the best in the world.

Answer 4

Let's see, we teach language to kids just when their brains no longer wnat to learn new ones.
We don't know our OWN geography and economy, but people from Europe can usually teach the classes to our kids.
However!!!!! Some of our states are great about not only educating those with special needs but promoting them into full-fledged citizens, out in public almost daily, and we do our best for those who are not at that level to at least be involved. You don't see that in Germany.
Or in Georgia.

Answer 5

Our universities are alot better than Europe's, BUT Europe's grade school education is signfiicantly better than ours.

Blame the Teacher Unions for the decline in US education.

Answer 6

Competition of schools + a society that values education = good high school grades.

Employer expectations + greedy self interested people = good Universities :)

Answer 7

Avant le college: L'Europe
Pendant le college: Les États Unis

Vous n'avons pas la bonne education par votre gens.

Answer 8

We are way behind. Saw it on dateline.

Answer 9

Almost same.