Category NOTEWORTHY

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Education in the United States is compulsory until a certain age or grade level.

2. A small percentage of students attend private schools, either reli­gious or secular, but most attend public schools.

3. There is no nationwide curriculum, nor are there nationwide standardized examinations set by the government.

4. The federal government influences public education by providing funds for special programs such as education for the handicapped and bilingual education.

5. Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally.

6. Each state has many school districts run by school boards whose members are elected by voters of the district.

7. The amount of funding supplied by the state and by the local school districts fluctuates over time and from state to state.

8. Public schools are funded to a great degree by local taxes.

9. Funding for private schools, which are generally religious schools, is now and has been controversial for some time.

10. Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that compete with regular public schools for students.

11. Charter schools operate under contract to a sponsor, usually a state or local school board, to whom they are accountable.

12. Supporters of the voucher concept believe that private schools offer better education.

13. Opponents of the voucher concept claim that using tax money for private schools violates the separation of church and state built into the U. S. Constitution.

14. The federal government in 2002 passed an educational bill that re­quires states that wish to receive certain federal funding to develop and put in place extensive testing programs and other systems to ensure "adequate yearly progress" of students.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Structuring: Outlining <script>

Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally at three levels. Let’s begin with the state department of education.

The department of education of each of the fifty states has two basic functions. First, each state department of education sets basic curricu­lum requirements for all the schools in its state. For example, a high school might require four years of English, three years of math, two years of social science, and so forth. The state also sets the number of credits a student must complete in order to graduate from a high school. This total number of credits includes both required courses and electives. So much for the state part in education.

The second level of control is the school district. The number of school districts a state has depends on the size of its population and the size of the state. A large metropolitan area would have several school districts. A smaller community might have only one district. Each school district is run by a school board that is elected by the citizens of the district. The school district is responsible for the specific content of courses taught in its schools. In other words, the school district

determines what the students will study in each of their, let’s say, four years of high school English. The school district also decides what elec­tives will be available for students. Besides determining course con­tent, the school district is responsible for the operation of the schools in its district, for example, the hiring of teachers and administrators. The third level of control is the individual school itself, where teachers have primary responsibility for deciding how to teach the content of each course and for preparing and giving examinations to the students.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Public Education: Philosophy and Funding

Most young people in the United States today, like most young people around the world, attend public schools. Indeed, young people in the U. S. have to attend school because education is compulsory, in most states to the age of sixteen or until the students reach ninth grade.

A small percentage of American youth attend private schools, either religious or secular schools, but the vast majority attend public schools. One distinguishing feature of U. S. public education that sur­prises many foreigners is that although there are some standardized examinations, there is no nationwide curriculum set by the govern­ment. Nor are there nationwide standardized examinations set by the government. In contrast, in most countries a government ministry of education determines the curriculum that all students study and the examinations that all students take at a set time. Of course, U. S. stu­dents follow a curriculum, and they take examinations as all students do. Although the federal government does influence public education by providing funds to schools for special programs such as education for the handicapped and for bilingual education, the fed­eral government does not determine the curriculum or the examina­tions. Today I’d like to talk about the three levels of control within each state and then spend some time discussing where the money for education comes from and three issues related to funding.

Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally at three levels. Let’s begin with the state department of education.

The department of education of each of the fifty states has two basic functions. First, each state department of education sets basic curricu­lum requirements for all the schools in its state. For example, a high school might require four years of English, three years of math, two years of social science, and so forth. The state also sets the number of credits a student must complete in order to graduate from a high school. This total number of credits includes both required courses and electives. So much for the state part in education.

The second level of control is the school district. The number of school districts a state has depends on the size of its population and the size of
the state. A large metropolitan area would have several school districts. A smaller community might have only one district. Each school district is run by a school board that is elected by the citizens of the district. The school district is responsible for the specific content of courses taught in its schools. In other words, the school district determines what the students will study in each of their, let’s say, four years of high school English. The school district also decides what elec­tives will be available for students. Besides determining course con­tent, the school district is responsible for the operation of the schools in its district, for example, the hiring of teachers and administrators. The third level of control is the individual school itself, where teachers have primary responsibility for deciding how to teach the content of each course and for preparing and giving examinations to the students.

Local control of schools may seem very strange to some of you, but it will seem less strange if you consider how public schools in the United States are funded—that is, where money to run the schools comes from. Only about 7 percent of the money comes from the federal government. The rest of the money comes from state and local taxes. The percentages supplied by the state and by the local school districts fluctuate over time and from state to state. Currently approximately 49 percent of school funding comes from the states and about 44 per­cent comes from the local communities, that is, the school districts.

Finally, I’d like to discuss three issues related to the funding of schools that have been receiving a lot of attention recently in the United States. The first issue deals with the inequality of educational oppor­tunity that students face. Because public schools are funded to a great degree by local taxes, this means that schools in poorer communities or poorer parts of large cities do not have the same amount of money as schools located in richer communities. This, in turn, means that children from poorer areas are less likely to receive a good education than children from wealthier areas. The second issue, one that has been controversial since the beginning of public education, is the issue of funding for private schools, which are generally rim by religious organizations. As you already know, the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution mandates separation of church and state. A little back­ground on the history and development of public education will be useful here.

During colonial times, education was largely a religious concern and most schools were supported by religious organizations. However, dur­ing the nineteenth century, there was widespread support and accep­tance of public education paid for by taxes as the best way to provide equal educational opportunity for all children. Nevertheless, some parents have always chosen to send their children to either private religious schools or private schools devoted to academic excellence. Because private schools are not funded by the government, parents have had to pay tuition to send their children to private schools. Peo­ple who have wanted to send their children to private schools have long

questioned why they should have to pay taxes for public schools at the same time as they pay private tuition for their children’s education.

Although this issue is not new, during the last twenty years or so, more parents have become unhappy about what they perceive to be the increasingly secular nature of public education and prefer to send their children to schools where they will receive an education more in line with their religious beliefs. Other parents are concerned about the questionable quality of education in public schools. These concerns have led to efforts by the school system, and the government, to offer alternative educational opportunities, that is, educational choices.

Two of the most important responses to these concerns have been charter schools and school vouchers. Both of these alternatives to reg­ular public education are based on the idea that competition in the ed­ucational market is a good thing, but otherwise, they differ quite a bit.

Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that compete with regular public schools for students. Charter schools operate under con­tract to a sponsor, usually a state or local school board. Charter schools are accountable to their sponsors, the parents who choose to send their children to them, and the public that funds them through their tax money. In turn, charter schools generally have greater auton­omy, that is, independence, over selection of teachers, curriculum, resources, and so on, than regular public schools. The first charter schools came into existence toward the end of the 1980s. By 2003, there were 2,695 charter schools with almost 685,000 students en­rolled. This was a 15 percent increase over the year 2002, which shows how fast these schools are growing. There are many issues surround­ing charter schools, but a study published in 2003 found that charter school students did a little better than their public school counter­parts on standardized exams.

The school voucher concept is a much more controversial one than charter schools. The idea behind school vouchers is that the govern­ment provides students with a certain amount of money each year that they can use to attend whatever school they choose, public or private. The idea again is that competition will improve the education students receive. Voucher schools in reality are largely private schools, and most often religiously based schools. They are quite different from charter schools, which as public schools are first of all, nonsectarian, that is, not religious. Second, charter schools cannot apply restrictive admission standards, as public schools do. To date, voucher programs funded by taxpayers are operating in only three U. S. cities, and there are many court battles over the voucher system. Supporters of the voucher system feel very strongly that private schools offer better edu­cation than public schools. Those opposed to the voucher system claim that vouchers rob public schools of needed funding and that voucher schools do not truly provide school choice because of restric­tive admissions standards, which can include academic performance, religion, sex, and other factors. Opponents of vouchers also strongly

believe that using taxpayer funds for private religious schools violates the separation of church and state built into the U. S. Constitution.

The third and final issue I’d like to touch on today is also very contro­versial. I mentioned earlier that the United States does not have a nationwide curriculum nor nationwide exams set by the government. However, in the past fifteen or twenty years, there has been an in­creased emphasis in various states on raising standards and on giving students standardized exams to monitor their progress. The federal government in 2002 passed a sweeping education bill that requires states that wish to receive certain federal funding to develop and put in place extensive testing programs and other systems to ensure ade­quate yearly progress of students. Although the percentage of funding for schools from the federal government is relatively small, it still rep­resents a lot of money that schools do not want to lose. Some people support this movement toward standardization and accountability in the educational system, while others see it as a dangerous step away from local control of schools.

No one can predict the future of public education in the United States, but it appears that the emphasis on educational choice and on ac­countability of the educational system for student results will be with us for a long time.

III. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. What two things about the American educational system often surprise people from other countries?

2. What are the three levels of control of education found in each state?

3. What is one type of decision that the state department of education might make?

4. How are the people on a school board selected?

5. From what three sources does the money come to pay for Ameri­can public schools, and what percentage of that money comes from each of these three sources?

6. During the colonial period, who generally ran the schools that children attended?

7. During which century did public education paid for by taxes become widely accepted as the best way to provide education for all children?

8. What do we call nonsectarian public schools that operate quite independently under contract, usually to a school district?

9. What kind of schools do students with vouchers usually attend?

10. How do opponents of the movement toward standardized exams and accountability view this movement?

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Now that you have completed the chapters in this unit, your teacher may want you to take a quiz. Your teacher will tell you whether or not you can use your notes to answer the questions on the quiz. If you can use your notes, review them before taking the quiz so that you can anticipate the questions and know where to find the answers. If you cannot use your notes, study them carefully before you take the quiz, concentrating on organizing the information into main ideas and de­tails that support these main ideas.

Work in small groups to help each other anticipate the questions your teacher will ask. Before breaking up into groups, review your notes and highlight important, noteworthy points. After reviewing your notes, break up into groups. Discuss and write specific short-an­swer questions and more general essay questions. Follow these guide­lines in writing the questions:

Writing Short-Answer Questions

Short-answer questions…

• should be specific, easy to answer in a few words or two sentences at most.

• should be clearly stated so that it is obvious what answer is wanted.

• should ask for facts, not opinions or information outside the lecture.

Exercise 1

Judge these questions by the above criteria. Mark each question + if it is good and – if it is bad. Discuss reasons for your choices, citing the criteria above.

___ 1. Talk about the U. S. worker.

___ 2. Do workers in your country work harder than workers in the

United States?

___ 3. What is the basic difference between the service industries and

other industries?

__ 4. In 1999 what percentage of U. S. women were working?

___ 5. Compare the U. S. worker in 1900 with the U. S. worker in 1999.

Writing Essay Questions

Essay questions…

• are usually in the form of a statement.

• are more general and require at least a paragraph—that is, several sentences—to answer fully.

• usually begin with a headword such as discuss, describe, explain, compare and contrast, list, analyze, or summarize. These head­words explain the writer’s purpose in answering the question:

1. to give all sides of the topic (discuss)

2. to give all the important details of something (describe)

3. to make something clear by giving reasons or by explaining how to do it (explain)

4. to write the similarities and differences (compare and contrast)

5. to name the parts of something, one by one (list)

6. to break something into its logical parts in order to explain it (analyze)

7. to write something in a shorter form, giving the main ideas and omitting the details (summarize)

Exercise 2

Judge these questions by the above characteristics. Mark each question + if it is good and – if it is bad. Discuss reasons for your choices, citing the characteristics above.

___ 1. Compare the U. S. worker in 1900 and 1999.

___ 2. List the percentage of U. S. women who were working in 1999.

___ 3. Discuss the child labor laws that were in place by 1999.

___ 4. Discuss the U. S. workers today in terms of productivity and

wages.

Write your group’s questions on the following pages.

29

UNIT QUIZ DIRECTIONS

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Admissions

(w> A. Discussion

Discuss the following questions with your classmates:

• Do you think that this is an important examination that the students are taking?

• What will happen if they fail this exam?

• Do students in your country take a lot of exams? What are the most important exams they take?

В. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

Read through the sentences, trying to imagine which words would fit in the blanks. Then listen to a dictation of the full sentences, and write the missing words in the blanks.

1. _______________________ education in the United States

includes_________________________ as well as four-year

colleges, most of which are__________________________

2. To be________________________ , a college must meet certain

________________________ set by institutional and professional associations.

3. The more________________________ private schools are more

________________________ —that is, they have stiffer admissions requirements.

4. All college applicants must submit a________________________

of high school grades and often_________________________ test

results.

5. A student’s________________________ activities and possibly

_________________________________________________ are often factors in his or her admission.

6. Among the 2.8 million high school graduates in 2002, 65.2 percent in

college the following October.

7. If we_________________________________________________

the statistics racially, we find that white students enrolled in

college in greater_________________________ than black or

Hispanic students.

8. They may be people who attend part-time to

________________________ their__________________________ ,

people who are changing careers, or retired people who still have a desire to learn.

9. Because most young American students have not traveled in other

countries, they are not very_________________________ in inter­

national matters, and foreign students often find them friendly but not very about their countries

or cultures.

10. Some students begin college at a community college with more

admissions requirements and later_________________________

________________________ to a four-year college.

Follow-up: Check the spelling of the dictated words with your teacher. Discuss the meanings of these words and any other unfamiliar words in the sentences.

C. Predictions

Using the photograph and the vocabulary exercise as a starting point, write three questions that you think will be answered in the lecture.

Example: • How many colleges and universities are there in the

United States?

1. __________________________________________________

2.

3.

Follow-up: After you have written your questions, share them with your teacher and your classmates.

Preparation

1. Structuring: Listening

In the previous lesson we talked about structuring notes by using letters and numbers to make the notes clearer and easier to use. Practice struc­turing your notes as you listen to a portion of this lecture. Remember to move from left to right as you take down more specific information. The main idea, the most general one, is written for you.

ST3 Community colleges differ from four-year colls.

A.

1.

B.

1.

2.

C.

1.

2.

Conclusion:

Follow-up: Compare your notes with another student’s. Do you have the same information under A, B, and C?

2. Acronyms

Acronyms are abbreviations in which the first letters of the words in a phrase are used as a shortcut way to speak or write about the phrase. For example, ESL is an acronym for "English as a Second Language." It is often used in both spoken and written language.

In this lecture the following tests and degrees will be referred to in abbreviated form. As you now write the first-letter abbreviations, say them to yourself. When you take notes, use the abbreviations.

Graduate Record Examination GRE_______

Graduate Management Admissions Test _________________

Law School Admissions Test __________

Medical College Admissions Test __________

Scholastic Aptitude Test __________

Associate of Arts degree A. A. degree

Bachelor of Science degree __________

Bachelor of Arts degree __________

II. LISTENING______________________________________________

Q A. First Listening

The lecturer appears to be in a hurry today to get into her topic. Her introduction is very brief and basically consists of an announcement of her major subtopics. You will not need to take notes on the introduc­tion itself. However, notice as you listen that the conclusion, which begins with "in brief," contains important logical conclusions about the four subtopics that you will want to include in your notes. As you take notes, take down details you have time for, but make sure that you take down the subtopics. Again, practice structuring your notes by using letters and numbers.

NOTES

ST1

ST3

Conclusion:

ST4

Follow-up: Check your major subtopics with your teacher. Which subtopic would you look under to answer the following questions?

• What are two factors that a college or university might use to decide whether to admit a student?

• What is the range (from low to high) of the total cost of attending a college or university?

• Where can you receive an Associate of Arts degree?

Q B. Further Listening

While continuing to structure your notes, write down remaining rele­vant information.

Follow-up: Check your notes. If you missed important information or have doubts about your notes, (1) verify them by asking a classmate questions to fill the gaps in your notes or (2) listen to the lecture a third time. When verifying your notes with a classmate, do not show each other your notes; ask specific questions to get the information you need.

Examples: • What does SAT stand for? Do all high school students

have to take this exam before they can graduate?

• What percentage of university students actually graduate?

• What do you have in your notes about the differences between community colleges and four-year colleges and universities? I’m not sure I got everything the lecturer said.

This is also a good time to check to see if the lecturer answered your Predictions questions about the lecture.

III. POSTLISTEIMIIMG________________________________________

Q A. Accuracy Check

Listen to the following questions, and write short answers. You will hear each question one time only.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

10. _________________________________________

Follow-up: Check your answers with your teacher. If your score is less than 70 percent, you may need to listen to the lecture again or rewrite your notes so that you can understand and use them later.

1.

B. Oral Activities

Review

In small groups, review your notes section by section to be sure that all members have a complete set of notes for each subsection. At the end of this activity, your teacher will ask various class members to reproduce sections of the lecture for the whole class to listen to. At that time, check what you hear against your notes. If you don’t understand or you disagree with what you hear, wait until the speaker finishes. Then bring your notes into agreement by seeking clarification, as follows:

• Did you say that some schools have up to 15,000 students or 50,000 students?

• In my notes I have that it’s expensive to attend a community college. What do you have?

• I’m not sure what it means to "drop out" of school.

2. Transfer

If you and your classmates come from different countries, discuss these questions with a partner or in small groups. If not, discuss them with the whole class.

• How many colleges and universities are there in your country?

• What kinds of colleges and universities do you have?

• Where are these schools located—in major cities or in small towns?

• Approximately how many students are there at these schools?

• What percentage of high school graduates go on to a university?

Some countries take a more elitist approach to education than does the United States. That is, some countries limit the number of students who can go on to college by means of a highly competitive examination system. Discuss the following two questions in pairs, in small groups, or as a class:

• What might be some of the social, political, and economic reasons for an elitist educational system?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of the two different approaches to education—elitist and nonelitist?

C. Collaboration: Writing Answers to Essay Questions

To help you prepare for the essay questions in the Unit Quiz at the end of this unit, plan and write essay answers to the following questions on U. S. postsecondary education in groups of three or four. Appoint one member of the group to do the actual writing; all members of the group should participate in planning and helping with the answers. At this point, you should refer to the guidelines in Unit 1, Chapter 2, p. 18. Review the guidelines before you begin to write essay answers.

Questions:

1. Discuss the wide variety of sizes, kinds, and locations of American universities and colleges.

2. Compare and contrast junior colleges and four-year universities.

Follow-up: Share your answers with at least one other group that has written on the same question(s). Or share your answers orally as a class, and discuss the strengths in each answer.

D. Pursuing the Topic

The following are recommended for a closer look at university admis­sions issues in the United States:

Book/Periodicals/Internet

www. collegeboard. com

This Web site gives reliable information on more than 1,500 colleges and universities to help students select a school. The site allows students to compare different colleges by listing tuition and fees, admissions requirements, and the range of students’

SAT scores to let applicants knowhow competitive the school is.

It also gives information about SAT administration, hints about applying to colleges, and information on loans and scholarships.

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I, PRELISTENING____________________________________________

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Postsecondarv education in the United States includes community as well as four-year colleges, most of which are coeducational.

2. To be accredited, a college must meet certain standards set by institutional and professional associations.

3. The more prestigious private schools are more competitive—that is, they have stiffer admissions requirements.

4. All college applicants must submit a transcript of high school grades and often standardized test results.

5. A student’s extracurricular activities and possibly ethnic back­ground are often factors in his or her admission.

6. Among the 2.8 million high school graduates in 2002, 65.2 percent were enrolled in college the following October.

7. If we break down the statistics racially, we find that white stu­dents enrolled in college in greater proportions than black or His­panic students.

8. They may be people who attend part-time to upgrade their skills, people who are changing careers, or retired people who still have a desire to learn.

9. Because most young American students have not traveled in other countries, they are not very well versed in international matters, and foreign students often find them friendly but not very well informed about their countries or cultures.

10. Some students begin college at a community college with more lenient admissions requirements and later transfer to a four-year college.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Structuring: Listening <script>

An interesting feature of education in the United States is the commu­nity college. Community colleges that are publicly supported offer somewhat different educational opportunities than those offered

by a senior college or a university. First, admissions requirements at public community colleges are usually much more lenient than those at a four-year college or university. It’s usually enough to have gradu­ated from an American high school to be admitted. Second, it is also cheaper to attend a community college. The tuition and fees are usu­ally quite a bit lower. Students often live at home because this type of school does not have dormitories. For these two reasons, many people who are unable to go to a four-year college or university can have an opportunity to take classes for college credit. Finally, community col­leges offer two-year programs that can lead to an Associate of Arts de­gree. Many of these programs, but not all of them, are vocational in na­ture. In conclusion, people attend community colleges for many different purposes. Some people may be taking only a course or two in some field that particularly interests them and may not be planning on getting a degree. Other people may be going to community college full­time and planning to transfer to a four-year college or university upon successful completion of two years at a community college.

SHAPE * MERGEFORMAT

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Postsecondary Education: Admissions

In this lecture, I’m going to talk to you about postsecondary education in the United States. Today I’ll give you some facts and figures about colleges and universities in the United States and some general infor­mation about admissions policies. I will also make a few remarks about community colleges and finish up by giving you an idea of what kinds of students make up the student body on a typical U. S. campus.

Let’s begin with some facts and figures. The most recent figures I have reveal there are 4,182 public and private four-year and two-year col­leges in the United States. These range from full universities with diverse programs to smaller four-year colleges to two-year community colleges. Most of them are accredited, which means the schools meet certain standards set by institutional and private evaluators. When applying to a school, you would probably want to make sure it was accredited. Even though there are more private colleges than public ones, over three-quarters of students, precisely 78 percent, are enrolled at public colleges and universities. Some of the small private schools may have fewer than 100 students, whereas some of the large state university systems may have 50,000 or more students. Most of these schools are coeducational although some of them are primarily for women and others are primarily for men. Some schools may offer only one program of study and others have a great variety of programs. The total cost for attending one of these schools may be less than $5,000 a year or as much as 30 or 40 thousand dollars a year for one of the prestigious private schools. These schools are located all over—in industrial areas, agricultural areas, large cities, and small towns in a wide variety of climates.

With such a wide variety of sizes, kinds, and locations of schools, it probably won’t surprise you to find out that admissions requirements at these colleges and universities vary greatly also. Some are relatively easy to be admitted to whereas others are highly competitive. How­ever, most schools will ask undergraduate applicants to submit their high school transcripts with a record of their grades and test results from one of the standardized tests regularly offered to high school stu­dents. The most common of these standardized exams is the Scholas­tic Aptitude Test, commonly known as the SAT. Students who are applying to graduate school are usually asked to take other, more spe­cific standardized exams depending on which college they are applying to. For example, some students are required to take the Graduate Record Exam, or the GRE. Students applying to a business college will probably have to take the GMAT, and students applying to law college will have to take the LSAT. You probably know about the TOEFL exam, which most foreign students have to take before being admitted to American colleges or universities. These exams, including the TOEFL, are all prepared by a company that is independent of the school system. These exams have come under a lot of criticism lately, but they are still widely used as one way to determine who will be ad­mitted to various schools. However, most schools try to look at the whole student and consider factors other than simply grades and test scores. Some of these factors may be extracurricular activities in school, ethnic background, work experience, and so on. Some schools will have personal interviews with students they are considering for admission. Many schools, private as well as public, try very hard to have a student population with a wide variety of backgrounds and ages. Even the most prestigious and most highly competitive colleges and universities will not take only those students with the highest grades and standardized test scores but will consider these other fac­tors. Nevertheless, schools of this type, such as Stanford and Harvard, have so many more people applying than they can possibly accept that students who want to get into such schools take grades and SAT ex­ams very seriously. In general, medical and law colleges, both private and public, are very difficult to get into, and, once again, test scores on standardized exams can be extremely important to those applying to these schools.

However, for students who want to attend a state college or university in their own state, it may be enough to graduate from high school in the upper third or even upper half of their high school class. This may surprise those of you who come from an educational system that is highly competitive, a system in which only a small percentage of stu­dents who pass a very difficult nationwide standardized high school examination can enter a university. You may be even more surprised by what I have to tell you about community colleges.

An interesting feature of education in the United States is the two – year community college. Community colleges that are publicly sup­ported offer somewhat different educational opportunities than those offered by a senior college or a university. First, admissions require­ments at public community colleges are usually much more lenient than those at a four-year college or university. It’s usually enough to have graduated from an American high school to be admitted. Second, it is also cheaper to attend a community college. The tuition and fees are usually quite a bit lower. Students often live at home because this type of school does not have dormitories. For these two reasons, many people who are unable to go to a four-year college or university can have an opportunity to take classes for college credit. Finally, commu­nity colleges offer two-year programs that can lead to an Associate of Arts degree. Many of these programs, but not all of them, are voca­tional in nature. People attend community colleges for many different purposes. Some people may be taking only a course or two in some field that particularly interests them and may not be planning on getting a degree. Other people may be going to community college full-time and planning to transfer to a four-year college or university upon successful completion of two years at a community college.

Well, so much for community colleges.

I promised to tell you a little about the actual student body on a typi­cal U. S. campus. Let’s start with some statistics, and then we’ll dis­cuss two items that surprise many foreign students. Among the 2.8 million high school graduates in 2002, 65.2 percent were enrolled in college the following October. More than 90 percent of those attended full time. Young men represented half of the high school graduates, but more women than men went on to college. The exact statistics are: 68.4 percent of female high school graduates and 62.1 percent of male high school graduates. If we break down the statistics racially, we find that white students enrolled in college in greater proportions than black or Hispanic students. The figures are 66.7 percent of white graduates, 58.7 percent of black graduates, and 53.5 percent of His­panic students. My next statistic may be surprising. 42.6 percent of full-time students in 2002 were either employed or looking for work. That number jumps to 75.7 percent for part-time students. That last statistic makes more sense when we consider that besides the students who are from eighteen to twenty-two years old that one expects to find on a college campus, there are also many older married students. They may be people who attend part-time to upgrade their skills, people who are changing careers, or retired people who still have a desire to learn. Also, foreign students are often surprised at how poorly prepared American students are when they enter a univer­sity. Actually, at very select schools the students are usually very well prepared, but at less selective schools, they may not be as well pre­pared as students in your country are. If you will remember the educa­tional philosophy we discussed in the last lecture, you will understand why. Schools in the States simply admit a lot more students than is usual in most other countries. Also, most young American university students have not traveled in other countries and are not very well

versed in international matters and do not know a lot about people from other countries. Foreign students usually find them friendly but not very well informed about their countries or cultures.

In brief, you can see that educational opportunities and admissions standards vary greatly in the United States. While it may be quite dif­ficult to gain admission to some colleges and universities because of the very large number of applicants, probably any student graduating from high school with reasonable grades can find some accredited uni­versity or college to attend. Those students hoping to enter graduate school will often face very stiff competition, whether at private or public schools. Many students who start at a college or university will not finish in four years. Some will drop out to work or travel and may never finish. Others will return to school a few months or a few years later. Some will go to school full-time and others part-time. Some will not work while going to school, but most will work at some time or other during their school years.

We’re out of time, I see. In my next lecture, I’ll talk to you about a rel­atively new development in education, distance learning. It should be of interest to those of you who want to attend college but can’t be­cause of living far from a college, busy schedules, or for other reasons.

Ш. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. How many public and private four-year and two-year colleges are there in the United States?

2. How many students do these individual colleges and universities have?

3. What is the range of tuition at one of these colleges?

4. What two kinds of academic records will most undergraduate col­leges or universities ask applicants to submit?

5. What are two examples of the names of standardized tests that graduate students may have to take before being admitted to a graduate program?

6. What are two examples of nonacademic factors that a U. S. college or university might consider before admitting a student?

7. What are three ways that community colleges are generally differ­ent from senior colleges and universities?

8. What kind of a degree can a student get from a community college?

9. What percentage of high school graduates in 2002 were enrolled in college the following October?

10. What percentage of full-time college students were employed in 2002?

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Can you imagine getting a college, or university, degree without ever once setting foot on a college campus?

2. "Distance education is instruction that occurs when the instruc­tor and student are separated by distance or time, or both."

3. As early as 1840, it was possible to take a correspondence course in shorthand.

4. Peterson’s 1994 Guide to Distance Learning listed ninety-three accredited distance education programs available at community colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.

5. First, rapidly changing economic conditions require many profes­sional people to upgrade their knowledge or skills on an almost continuous basis.

6. At the same time that the demand for postsecondary education is growing, many U. S. colleges and universities are facing budget crunches.

7. Millions of people have access to audio, video, and computer tech­nology.

8. The modes of instruction can vary greatly.

9. CD-ROMs may come to the student via mail or the student may download materials from the Internet.

10. Many distance education programs have a residency requirement.

11. The dropout rate from distance education courses and programs is higher than for traditional courses and programs.

12. There are many unscrupulous and disreputable universities adver­tising on the Internet with very alluring Web sites.

13. It is important for anyone wishing to take a course or to pursue a degree to check out the credentials of the school they are consider­ing very carefully.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Distance Education

One of the most exciting changes in education in the United States today is the incredible growth of distance education at the post­secondary level. Let me begin the lecture by asking you a couple of

questions. First, can you imagine getting a college, or university, de­gree, without ever once setting foot on a college campus? Second, would you believe me if I told you there are a few higher education institutions that grant degrees that don’t even have a campus? Some of these schools even grant graduate degrees, that is, a master’s degree or even a Ph. D.

What is distance education? A publication called Distance Education: A Consumer’s Guide defines distance education this way: "Distance education is instruction that occurs when the instructor and student are separated by distance or time, or both." That sounds a little strange, but it’s not really new.

As early as 1840, it was possible to take a correspondence course in shorthand; that is, a student could learn shorthand by mail. And the University of Wisconsin offered the first correspondence catalog in 1892. This meant that a student could take university courses by mail over 100 years ago. So distance education is not really new; however, modern technology, such as audio, video, and computer technology, has changed distance education a great deal. Today almost all distance education programs are online or have an online learning component to take advantage of the technology.

As I mentioned, distance education is now growing at an incredible rate. Peterson’s 1994 Guide to Distance Learning listed 93 accredited distance education programs available at community colleges and universities across the United States and Canada, whereas its 1997 guide listed more than 700 programs. In 2003, almost 1,100 programs were listed. According to the U. S. Department of State, more than 90 percent of all accredited U. S. colleges and universities with 10,000 students or more offer distance education programs with new ones coming online continuously.

Distance education is quite a complex subject with many aspects to look at. Today let’s look at the reasons why distance education is growing so rapidly, how distance education works, that is, what the modes of delivery are, and some things people considering distance education need to be aware of.

To start with, why is distance education growing at such an incredible rate?

First, rapidly changing economic conditions require many professional people to upgrade their knowledge or skills on an almost continuous basis. For example, a person who graduates with a degree in engineer­ing or computer science may find it necessary to take courses to up­grade his or her skills every few years. Or a person who begins his or her career with a B. A. or B. S. degree may find it desirable to pursue an M. A. after some time, or even a Ph. D. Busy working people often find it difficult or even impossible to take the courses they need or to pur­sue degrees on campus. Thus, there are a lot of people wanting post­secondary education who don’t find it convenient to study in the traditional on-campus setting.

At the same time that the demand for postsecondary education is growing, many U. S. colleges and universities are facing budget crunches; that is, they just don’t have as much money as they had in the past, but at the same time they have more students. They have to find ways to deliver instruction in the most economical way possible.

The final reason is modern technology, which is the key to making the desired postsecondary education available to the millions of peo­ple who have access to audio, video, and computer technology.

Many institutions offer distance education courses, certificate pro­grams, and degree programs. How does distance education work at the postsecondary level? What are the usual modes of delivery?

The modes of instruction can vary greatly and different courses in a program may use different modes. And any given course may use several different modes. Some of the modes include video, audio, CD – ROM, Internet, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and e-mail. Let’s consider some of the possibilities among these technologies. Video, for exam­ple, can be as simple as videotape the student plays on his or her VCR. Or it could involve video conferencing where the student is able to see and interact with the instructor and other students. Audio works simi­larly. A student may have a set of audiotapes to play on a cassette player or may be connected to an audio conference where he or she in­teracts with other students and the instructor. When students study on their own, at a time convenient to them, from a video- or audio – tape, it is asynchronous learning, asynchronous meaning not at the same time. Video and audio conferencing, on the other hand, are called synchronous learning; that is, the instructor and the students are engaged in the teaching and learning process at the same time.

Let’s look at two other popular modes used in distance learning: bulletin boards and chat rooms. Both provide a place for discussion among students taking the same course. A student can log on to a bulletin board anytime of the day and night, read what other students have written, and respond, by either adding his or her ideas or asking a question. Chat rooms, on the other hand, offer a discussion forum where students can interact in real time, that is, synchronously. CD – ROMs may come to the student via mail or the student may download materials from the Internet. E-mail provides a very convenient way for students to submit assignments or to ask the instructor questions. There are many more modes of instruction, but this should give you an idea of the possibilities.

Students interested in pursuing distance education degrees need to consider the following six points:

Number 1. Many distance education programs have a residency re­quirement. The students may be required to take two courses on campus, that is, six hours of credit, or students may be required to spend several days on campus several times during the program.

Number 2. Distance education courses generally have time limits. Courses and programs must be completed within a certain time limit. Assignments must be submitted on time.

Number 3. Admissions requirements are the same as those of an on-campus education.

Number 4. Distance education can save students money in terms of not having to travel to campus for classes, and the like, but the aca­demic fees are about the same as for traditional education. Fulfilling the residency requirements may be quite costly in terms of travel and lodging for students who live far from the campus.

Number 5. Online study requires students to have access to a computer that meets minimum requirements such as the latest version of Win­dows, a microphone, sound card and speakers, adequate hard drive and RAM, a modem, browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape), and Internet connection. Connection speed is very important and many schools rec­ommend having high-speed Internet access like a cable modem or DSL.

And finally Number 6. Distance learning requires that students be disciplined and independent learners. Distance education is not easier than traditional education. Not everyone is temperamentally suited for distance education. The dropout rate from distance education courses and programs is higher than for traditional courses and programs.

Before I close today, let me just say that many people are still suspi­cious of distance education believing that it cannot possibly be equiva­lent to a traditional classroom education, although there are studies that indicate that distance education can be as effective as traditional education and sometimes even more effective. However, some suspi­cions are well founded. There are many unscrupulous and disreputable universities advertising on the Internet with very alluring Web sites. Therefore, it is important for anyone wishing to take a course or to pursue a degree to check out the credentials of the school they are considering very carefully.

We have an expression: Let the buyer beware. That means that anyone who wishes to buy something should be very careful! And that in­cludes online or distance education.

III. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. In what two ways can the instructor and student be separated in distance education?

2. How could students learn shorthand in 1840 without having to at­tend classes?

3. In what year was the first university correspondence catalog offered in the United States?

4. According to the U. S. Department of State, what percentage of accredited U. S. colleges and universities with 10,000 or more students offer distance education programs?

5. What does the term synchronous mean?

6. Name three modes of delivery of instruction used in distance education.

7. Can students take all the time they want or need to complete distance education courses or programs?

8. Are the fees for distance education programs generally cheaper than those for traditional on-campus programs?

9. What are two ways many schools recommend that students get high-speed Internet access?

10. Do students complete distance education courses and programs at the same rate as traditional courses and programs?

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Unit One Chapter 1

The Population

Assign one group member to write down the questions; all members will help plan and compose the questions. For the lecture on popula­tion, write five short-answer questions that can be answered with a few words or a maximum of two sentences.

1. _________________________________________________________

2.

3.

4.

5.

Follow-up: Write your questions on the board to discuss as a class.

Written follow-up: Prepare for the quiz by writing answers to the ques­tions your class has proposed. You have abbreviations in your notes, but do not use abbreviations other than standard ones like U. S. in your answers.

Chapter 2 Immigration: Past and Present

Assign one group member to write down the questions; all members will help plan and compose the questions. For the lecture on immigra­tion, write five short-answer questions that can be answered with a few words or sentences. In addition, write two essay questions,- word the questions so that they can easily be turned into topic sentences.

Short-Answer Questions

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Essay Questions

1. ___________

2. ________

Follow-up: Write your questions on the board to discuss as a class.

Written follow-up: Prepare for the quiz by writing answers to the questions your class has proposed. You have abbreviations in your notes, but do not use abbreviations other than standard ones like U. S. in your answers.

UNIT QUIZ PREPARATION 31

Chapter 3 Americans at Work

Assign one group member to write down the questions; all members will help plan and compose the questions. For the lecture on work, write five short-answer questions that can be answered with a few words or sentences. In addition, write two essay questions; word the questions so that they can easily be turned into topic sentences.

Short-Answer Questions

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Essay Questions

1. 2.

Follow-up: Write your questions on the board to discuss as a class.

Written follow-up: Prepare for the quiz by writing answers to the questions your class has proposed. You have abbreviations in your notes, but do not use abbreviations other than standard ones like U. S. in your answers.

Read More