There are several main types of secondary education systems in the United States.

There are three types of secondary education in the United States: two-fourth system, six-year system, and four-year system.

The 2-4 system refers to the second year of junior high school and the four years of high school. This type of school has academic courses to prepare for higher education, vocational courses to prepare for employment and general courses of basic knowledge in the high school stage.

Six-year middle schools combine junior high school and high school into one. Generally, general education is implemented in the first three years and subject-specific education is implemented in the last three years, that is, students choose academic courses, vocational courses and general courses respectively.

Four-year middle school means that the primary school in the school district implements an eight-year system. This type of middle school includes ordinary middle schools that implement general education, as well as technical schools that implement vocational education and schools that implement special education. Middle school teachers teach by subject. Generally, one teacher is responsible for teaching two to three classes of the same subject.

American middle schools do not have nationally unified curriculum and teaching materials. But states and schools must keep students physically and mentally healthy, master basic learning skills, be competent in their civic responsibilities, make good use of time, and cultivate moral character. Junior high schools focus on basic comprehensive courses, while high school courses are of a higher academic nature.

The junior high school curriculum includes compulsory Chinese, mathematics, natural sciences, social sciences, health and physical education, art and music, home economics technology, etc., as well as some elective courses such as foreign languages ​​and vocational courses.

There is a clear distinction between compulsory and elective courses in high school. In 1983, the National Commission on Quality Education in the United States proposed basic compulsory courses for high schools: four years of Chinese, three years of mathematics, three years of social studies, half a year of computers, and two years of foreign language. Other compulsory courses vary from school to school. The biggest feature of American education is its high degree of socialization. High schools have permanent emergency courses, such as sex education, safety education, consumer education, survival education, life education, global education, etc.