Elementary schools in the United States
[2] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in the fall of 2020 almost 32.8 million students attended public primary schools.
Learning standards are identified for all areas of a curriculum by individual states, including those for mathematics, social studies, science, physical development, the fine arts, and reading.
The school district selects curriculum guides and textbooks that reflect a state's learning standards and benchmarks for a given grade level.
There is much discussion within educational circles about the justification and impact of curricula that place greater emphasis on those topics (reading, writing and math) that are specifically tested for improvement.
[5] Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, the teaching of social studies and science has been underdeveloped in elementary school programs.
Reading, writing and math proficiency greatly affect performance in social studies, science and other content areas.
When students and educators take the preparation period of standardized testing seriously, it is also a great way for the state to measure how well each school functions.
Teachers typically earn either a Bachelor's or master's degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education.
Training programs for elementary school teachers often cover a variety of educational theories, including constructivist, behavioral, and socio-cultural approaches to learning.
These programs also focus on developing skills in classroom management, differentiation to meet diverse learning needs, and effective communication strategies with students, parents, and colleagues.
[9] Public Elementary School teachers typically instruct between twenty and thirty students of diverse learning needs.
[10] A study of seven industrialized nations found that in 2006, the average starting salary of American public primary school teachers with minimum qualifications was $34,900.
[12] The National Center for Education Statistics found that as of the 2019-2020 school year, the average American teacher makes $63,645.
By the start of the 2021-22 school year the following states required in-person instruction for all or some grades: Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, and Texas.
[19] Future elementary educators have some curriculum changes in their classes in order to better prepare them for the pandemic side of teaching.
Future educators in the making have to contain a certain amount of skills in technology so they can properly teach their students in any circumstance that may occur.
Because the No Child Left Behind Act focuses on reading and math as primary targets for improvement, other instructional areas have received less attention.
[23] Learning Standards are the goals by which states and school districts must meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Teachers and advisory administrators form committees to develop supplemental materials to support learning for diverse learners and to identify enrichment for textbooks.
Many school districts post information about the curriculum and supplemental materials on websites for public access.
[24] Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, public schools receiving government funding are required to test and assess student progress each year.
Individual states and not the federal government are required to develop their own set of standards by which they measure student progress.
In the past simply the study of and presentation of core content knowledge for areas such as: physical, life, earth, and space sciences; was seen as sufficient.
