教育是美國人的生活中很重要的一部分，花銷也大。基規(guī)模宏大，種類多樣。
與其他大多數(shù)國家相比，美國教育處的不同在于美國教育是為每一個人設(shè)置的——不只是為享有特權(quán)的優(yōu)等生。學(xué)校是要滿足每個孩子的需要，不論其能力如何，同時也要滿足社會本身的需求。這意味著公共學(xué)校提供的教育不只限于學(xué)術(shù)方面的課程。很多人來到美國之后會吃驚地發(fā)現(xiàn)高中除了提供傳統(tǒng)課程，例如：數(shù)學(xué)、歷史和語言之外，他們還提供一些課程如打字、縫紉、無線電修理、計算機(jī)課程，或駕駛訓(xùn)練課程。學(xué)生選擇課程是根據(jù)個人喜好，目標(biāo)以及能力水平。美國教育潛在目標(biāo)是將每一個孩子的能力最充分發(fā)揮出來，培養(yǎng)每一個孩子的公民和社區(qū)覺悟感。
成千上萬的移民者涌入到這個國家，他們的出身背景不同。習(xí)慣上，學(xué)校在建立民族團(tuán)結(jié)以及使移民者叛國化兩方面起著重大的.作用。學(xué)校在社區(qū)中，尤其在小城鎮(zhèn)，仍然起著重要作用。
大家對美國的教學(xué)方法似乎也很陌生。因?yàn)檫@種教學(xué)方法不僅不正式，而且不把重點(diǎn)放在學(xué)習(xí)具體知識上。相反，美國人教孩子獨(dú)立思考，教他們自己去開發(fā)自己的智慧以及創(chuàng)造能力。學(xué)生花很多時間學(xué)習(xí)怎樣使用參考資料、圖書館、數(shù)據(jù)以及計算機(jī)。美國人認(rèn)為只要孩子具有好的推理能力，好的研究方法，他們就能在以后找到自己所需的具體知識。并認(rèn)為懂得怎樣解決問題比積累事實(shí)更重要。
在這個變化萬千的時代里，全世界細(xì)心的父母都問著一個尖銳深刻的問題：“怎樣為孩子的明天做準(zhǔn)備呢？孩子的明天既不能預(yù)料也不能理解�！鄙鲜龅慕虒W(xué)方法正是美國對這一問題的回答。
Goal of American Education
Education is an enormous and expensive part of American life. Its size is matched by its variety.
Differences in American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that education here has long been intended for everyone — not just for a privileged elite. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that public schools offer more than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such courses as typing, sewing, radio repair, computer programming or driver training, along with traditional academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose their curricula depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. The underlying goal of American education is to develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of civic and community consciousness.
Schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and “Americanizing” the millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgrounds and origins. Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in the small towns.
The approach to teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is not much emphasis on learning facts. Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time, learning how to use resource materials, libraries, statistics and computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives. Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation of facts.
This is America's answer to the searching question that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking themselves in the fast-moving time: “How can one prepare today's child for a tomorrow that one can neither predict nor understand?”