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Peter Caruana

Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) is a Gibraltarian former politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1996 to 2011 and Leader of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) from 1991 to 2013. He is the longest serving Chief Minister to date.

Caruana is a barrister by profession. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel for Gibraltar in 1998 (which became King's Counsel upon the death of Queen Elizabeth II), and elected an Overseas Master of the Bench of Inner Temple in 2011.

Early and personal life
Caruana was born in Gibraltar and is of Maltese and Italian descent. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School in Gibraltar, and then Grace Dieu Manor School and the independent Ratcliffe College (both in Leicestershire, England), and finally Queen Mary College, University of London and the Council of Legal Education. Before serving as Chief Minister, he was a partner in the law firm Triay & Triay. He is married to Cristina, daughter of Joseph Triay, a local barrister. He has 7 children: Michael, Georgina, Nicola, Philippa, Patrick, Timothy, and James. His leisure interests are golf, and political and current affairs.

Politics
Prior to being elected to Government his political career progressed steadily. In 1990, Caruana became a member of the Gibraltar Social Democrats. One year later, he became leader of the party and in May 1991 gained a seat in the House of Assembly by winning Gibraltar's first contested by-election. In January 1992, Caruana led his party to the position of official opposition by winning seven seats in the House of Assembly. Finally, in May 1996, he led the party to victory and became Chief Minister of Gibraltar.

The GSD which he led from 1991 to 2012, is robustly against any transfer of sovereignty to Spain, but remains in favour of safe dialogue. As Chief Minister, Caruana consistently refused to attend bi-lateral talks between the United Kingdom and Spain as part of the UK delegation, on the basis that the interests of the Gibraltarians were not protected, and he did not want to give any measure of legitimacy to talks over which Gibraltar had no control.

In 2002, he called a referendum on the subject of the proposed joint sovereignty deal, which led to it being abandoned.

In December 2004, the principle of tripartite talks, with the Government of Gibraltar as an equal party with the UK and Spain, was finally recognised, largely as a result of his involvement. This resulted in the Cordoba Agreement which improved communications between Gibraltar and Spain with direct flights from Madrid which subsequently collapsed due to a lack of demand, and in Spain finally recognising Gibraltar's international dialling code, thereby ending a long-standing dispute.

In November 2007, he was returned to office for a fourth term. Under his leadership, the Gibraltar Social Democrats were narrowly beaten in the general election of December 2011 by their rival party, the coalition between the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party and the Liberal Party of Gibraltar, who won said election by 1.2%. On 9 January 2013, Caruana made it public that he would stand down from the party leadership and as Leader of the Opposition at the end of the month.

Awards
Caruana was appointed a Queen's Counsel for Gibraltar in 1998. In 2003, he was appointed Knight Grand Cross of Merit of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro. Caruana was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to Gibraltar.

title: Peter Caruana


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Vought F-8 Crusader

The Vought F-8 Crusader (originally F8U) is a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Vought. It was the last American fighter that had guns as the primary weapon, earning it the title "The Last of the Gunfighters".

Development of the F-8 commenced after release of the requirement for a new fighter by the United States Navy in September 1952. Vought's design team, led by John Russell Clark, produced the V-383, a relatively unorthodox fighter that possessed an innovative high-mounted variable-incidence wing, an area-ruled fuselage, all-moving stabilators, dog-tooth notching at the wing folds for improved yaw stability, and liberal use of titanium throughout the airframe. During June 1953, Vought received an initial order to produce three XF8U-1 prototypes of its design. On 25 March 1955, the first prototype performed its maiden flight. Flight testing proved the aircraft to be relatively problem-free. On 21 August 1956, U.S. Navy pilot R.W. Windsor attained a top speed of 1,015 mph; in doing so, the F-8 became the first jet fighter in American service to reach 1,000 mph.

During March 1957, the F-8 was introduced into regular operations with the US Navy. In addition to the Navy, the type was also operated by the United States Marine Corps (replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass), the French Navy, and the Philippine Air Force. Early on, the type experienced an above-average mishap rate, being somewhat difficult to pilot. American F-8s saw active combat during the Vietnam War, engaging in multiple dogfights with MiG-17s of the Vietnam People's Air Force as well as performing ground attack missions in the theatre. The RF-8 Crusader was a photo-reconnaissance model. It played a crucial role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing essential low-level photographs of Soviet medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Cuba that were impossible to acquire by other means at that time. Several modified F-8s were used by NASA for experimental flights, including the testing of digital fly-by-wire technology and supercritical wing design. The RF-8 operated in U.S. service longer than any of the fighter versions; the United States Navy Reserve withdrew its remaining aircraft during 1987.

Background

During September 1952, the United States Navy released a requirement calling for a new fighter. Specifics of this requirement included a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 at 30000 ft with a climb rate of 25000 ft/min, and a landing speed of no more than 100 mph. Experience gained during the Korean War had demonstrated that .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns were no longer sufficient armament and, as a result, the new fighter was to be armed with 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon. The 20x110mm round had become common in the U.S. Navy prior to the Korean conflict: used on the McDonnell F2H Banshee, F9F, F3D Skyknight, F7U Cutlass, and the F4D among others.

In response to the requirement, the American aircraft manufacturer Vought opted to produce a new design, internally designated as the V-383. Vought's design team was led by John Russell Clark. It was relatively unorthodox for a fighter, possessing a high-mounted wing which necessitated the use of a short and lightweight landing gear in the fuselage. A major contributing factor that facilitated the use of such compact main gear, however, was the variable-incidence wing (not to be confused with a variable-sweep wing, another form of variable geometry wing designed for similar purposes) which reduced the amount of pitch up required while in landing configuration at low speeds, an extremely nose high attitude being a common characteristic of the highly swept and low aspect ratio wings used on many fighters of the era. This innovative wing pivoted upwards by 7° in takeoff and landing configuration, and by doing so, increased the angle of attack of the wing without requiring the entire aircraft to pitch up, which allowed for greater forward visibility and a suitably slow landing speed. The variable-incidence wing helped the F-8's development team win the Collier Trophy in 1956.

Considerable competition for the requirement also emerged. This included the Grumman F-11 Tiger, the upgraded twin-engine McDonnell F3H Demon (the F3H-H, which would eventually become the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II), and the North American F-100 Super Sabre hastily adapted to carrier use and dubbed the "Super Fury". In addition to the fighter-orientated V-383 proposal, Vought also presented a tactical reconnaissance version of the aircraft, internally designated as the V-392.

Into flight
During May 1953, Vought's submission was declared to be the winner; one month later, the company received an initial order for three XF8U-1 prototypes (after adoption of the unified designation system in September 1962, the F8U became the F-8). On 25 March 1955, the first prototype performed its maiden flight with John Konrad at the controls; confidence was such that it was decided to exceed the speed of sound during its maiden flight. The development was relatively trouble-free, to the extent that the second prototype and the first production F8U-1 made their first flights together on the same day, 30 September 1955. On 4 April 1956, the F8U-1 performed its first catapult launch from USS Forrestal (CVA-59).

Beginning in late 1956, prototype XF8U-1s were evaluated by VX-3, during which few problems were noted. Weapons development was conducted at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and a China Lake F8U-1 set a U.S. National speed record in August 1956. Commander "Duke" Windsor set a new Level Flight Speed Record of 1015.428 mph on 21 August 1956 beating the previous record of 822 mph set by a USAF F-100. (It did not break the world speed record of 1132 mph, set by the British Fairey Delta 2, on 10 March 1956. )

An early F8U-1 was modified as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft, becoming the first F8U-1P. Subsequently, the RF-8A was equipped with cameras rather than guns and missiles. On 16 July 1957, Major John H. Glenn Jr, USMC, completed the first supersonic transcontinental flight in a F8U-1P, flying from NAS Los Alamitos, California, to Floyd Bennett Field, New York, in three hours, 23 minutes, and 8.3 seconds.

In parallel with the F8U-1s and -2s, the Crusader design team was also working on a larger aircraft with even greater performance, internally designated as the V-401 and later officially designated as the Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III. It was externally similar to the Crusader and shared several design elements, as the variable incidence wing, but differed by being considerably larger while also sharing relatively few components and being capable of greater speeds amongst other abilities.

Design
The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority fighter. It was typically described as an all-weather fighter, yet initial production aircraft were only fitted with a ranging radar for its guns and thus was entirely reliant on external platforms to be guided towards enemies. From the F-8B onwards, air-intercept radar was fitted to the aircraft; increasingly capable and reliable radar sets were present on later models. Pilot training of the era did not focus much upon use of the radar, thus making it less effective operationally than it otherwise could have been. The addition of more advanced avionics on later models, particularly the F-8J, was often criticized as being responsible for considerable weight increases as well as having questionable effectiveness. Pilots often claimed the later F-8 models did not turn as well as early aircraft and had greater difficulty in aborting a landing attempt; furthermore, that the radar did not work well in tropical environments.

A key feature of the F-8 was its variable-incidence wing, which allowed for a greater angle of attack to be achieved and increased lift without compromising forward visibility by pivoted by 7° out of the fuselage during takeoff and landing runs. Simultaneously, the aircraft's lift was augmented by leading-edge flaps drooping by 25° and inboard flaps extending to 30°. The F-8 also took advantage of contemporary aerodynamic innovations such as an area-ruled fuselage, all-moving stabilators, dog-tooth notching at the wing folds for improved yaw stability, and liberal use of titanium throughout the airframe. The aircraft was powered by a single Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engine, which was equipped with an afterburner. On the initial F8U-1 production aircraft, this afterburner increased the engine's thrust from 10,200 lb to 16,000 lb, but, unlike later engines, lacked any intermediate thrust settings.

The armament of the F-8, which had been specified by the US Navy, consisted primarily of four 20 mm (.79 in) autocannons; the aircraft would become the final U.S. fighter to be designed with guns as its primary weapon. They were supplemented with a retractable tray with 32 unguided Mk 4/Mk 40 Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket (Mighty Mouse FFARs), and cheek pylons for four guided AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. In practice, Sidewinder missiles were the F-8's primary weapon; the 20mm guns were considered to be "generally unreliable"; moreover, the F-8 achieved nearly all of its kills using Sidewinders. It has been suggested that, had the US Navy mandated more rigorous and realistic weapons testing, the reliability of the guns could have been improved considerably.

Introduction
VX-3 was one of the first units to receive the F8U-1 in December 1956, and was the first to operate the type in April 1957, from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42). VX-3 was the first unit to qualify for carrier operations but several aircraft were lost in accidents, several of them fatal to their pilots.

The first fleet squadron to fly the Crusader was VF-32 at NAS Cecil Field, Florida, in 1957, which deployed to the Mediterranean late that year on USS Saratoga (CV-60). VF-32 renamed the squadron the "Swordsmen" in keeping with the Crusader theme. The Pacific Fleet received the first Crusaders at NAS Moffett Field in northern California and the VF-154 "Grandslammers" (named in honor of the new 1,000-mph jets and subsequently renamed the "Black Knights") began their F-8 operations. Later in 1957, in San Diego VMF-122 accepted the first Marine Corps Crusaders.

In 1962, the Defense Department standardized military aircraft designations generally along Air Force lines. Consequently, the F8U became the F-8, with the original F8U-1 redesignated F-8A.

The Crusader became a "day fighter" operating off the aircraft carriers. At the time, U.S. Navy carrier air wings had gone through a series of day and night fighter aircraft due to rapid advances in engines and avionics. Some squadrons operated aircraft for very short periods before being equipped with a newer higher performance aircraft. The Crusader was the first post-Korean War aircraft to have a relatively long tenure with the fleet.

Cuban Missile Crisis
The unarmed RF-8A proved good at getting low-altitude detailed photographs, leading to carrier deployments as detachments from the Navy's VFP-62 and VFP-63 squadrons and the Marines' VMCJ-2. Beginning on 23 October 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, RF-8As flew extremely hazardous low-level photo reconnaissance missions over Cuba, the F-8's first true operational flights. Two-ship flights of RF-8As left Key West twice each day, to fly over Cuba at low level, then return to Jacksonville, where the film was offloaded and developed, to be rushed north to the Pentagon.

These flights confirmed that the Soviet Union was setting up medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Cuba. The RF-8As also monitored the withdrawal of the Soviet missiles. After each overflight, the aircraft was given a stencil of a dead chicken. The overflights went on for about six weeks and returned a total of 160,000 images. The pilots who flew the missions received Distinguished Flying Crosses, while VFP-62 and VMCJ-2 received the prestigious U.S. Navy Unit Commendation.

Mishap rate

The Crusader was not an easy aircraft to fly, and was often unforgiving in carrier landings, where it suffered from poor recovery from high sink rates, and the poorly designed, castering nose undercarriage made it hard to steer on the deck. Safe landings required the carriers to steam at full speed to lower the relative landing speed for Crusader pilots. The stacks of the oil-burning carriers on which the Crusader served belched thick black smoke, sometimes obscuring the flight deck, forcing the Crusader's pilot to rely on the landing signal officer's radioed instructions. Early on, pilots were encouraged to only keep a minimum level of fuel remaining onboard prior to landing; in the long term, the adoption of the more powerful J57-P420 engine improved the situation. It earned a reputation as an "ensign eliminator" during its early service introduction. The nozzle and air intake were so low when the aircraft was on the ground or the flight deck that the crews called the aircraft "the Gator". Not surprisingly, the Crusader mishap rate was relatively high compared to its contemporaries, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk and the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II. However, the aircraft did possess a desirable capability, as proved when several Crusader pilots took off with the wings folded and were able to land the aircraft. One of these episodes took place on 23 August 1960; a Crusader with the wings folded took off from Napoli Capodichino in full afterburner, climbed to 5000 ft and then returned to land successfully. The pilot reported that the control forces were higher than normal. The Crusader was capable of flying in this configuration, though the pilot would be required to reduce aircraft weight by jettisoning stores and dumping fuel before landing. 1,261 Crusaders were built. By the time it was withdrawn from the fleet, 1,106 had been involved in mishaps.

Vietnam War

When conflict erupted in the skies over North Vietnam, it was US Navy Crusaders from USS Hancock (CV-19) that first engaged with Vietnam People's Air Force (the North Vietnamese Air Force) MiG-17s, on 3 April 1965. The MiGs claimed the downing of a F-8 and Lt Pham Ngoc Lan's gun camera revealed that his cannons had set an F-8 ablaze, but Lieutenant Commander Spence Thomas had managed to land his damaged F-8 at Da Nang Air Base, the remaining F-8s returning safely to their carrier. The F-8 repeatedly encountered the relatively nimble North Vietnamese MiGs over the following years, yet the F-8 never made first contact via radar detection in any of these engagements. Instead, F-8 pilots were reliant on ground control intercept controllers to find enemies and be guided towards a favorable firing position. A typical day mission would be performed using a pair of F-8s, one pilot concentrated on radar and navigation functions while the other searched the skies with their eyes; ground controllers would alert and direct them towards any MiGs spotted, which they'd approach at speed from behind, not relying on their own radar to detect the hostile aircraft. The presence of US surface to air missiles (SAMs) usually compelled MiGs to fly at lower altitudes, where the F-8 was more maneuverable and thus would have an advantage.

The US Navy had evolved its "night fighter" role in the air wing to an all-weather interceptor, the F-4 Phantom II, equipped to engage incoming bombers at long range with missiles such as AIM-7 Sparrow as their sole air-to-air weapons, and maneuverability was not emphasized in their design. Some experts believed that the era of the dogfight was over as air-to-air missiles would knock down adversaries well before they could get close enough to engage in dogfighting. As aerial combat ensued over North Vietnam from 1965 to 1968, it became apparent that the dogfight was not over. In one pitched air-battle between USN F-8s and VPAF MiG-21s on 1 August 1968, ace fighter pilot Nguyen Hong Nhi fired a pair of R-3S AAMs at a pair of F-8s, the second R-3S making a successful hit, claiming one F-8 shot-down. Following a brief dogfight with the other F-8, another pair of F-8s entered into the fray and fired two Sidewinder AAMs at Nguyen Hong Nhi, who was hit and safely ejected from his stricken MiG-21; the downing of ace fighter pilot Nguyen is credited to F-8H pilot Lt. McCoy of VF-51, USS Bon Homme Richard.

As the conflict progressed, North Vietnam received MiG-21s, which proved to be a more capable opponent for the F-8, yet it still proved to be effective with good teamwork and exploiting the MiG-21's weaknesses. Following the end of Operation Rolling Thunder in November 1968, American aircraft stopped flying in airspace in which MiGs encounters were expected and thus there were less opportunities for aerial engagements to occur. Accordingly, the Crusader became increasing used as a "bomb truck", with both ship-based U.S. Navy units and land-based US Marine Corps squadrons attacking communist forces in both North and South Vietnam. US Marine Crusaders flew only in the south, where they largely performed close air support and interdiction missions. During December 1972's Operation Linebacker II, numerous Navy F-8s were assigned to fly aerial superiority missions, yet these were largely unopposed; actual combat with MiGs had become exceeding rare by this point of the conflict.

Navy Crusaders flew only from the small Essex-class carriers.

Despite the "last gunfighter" moniker, the F-8s achieved only four victories with their cannon; the remainder were accomplished with Sidewinder missiles, partly due to the propensity of the 20 mm (.79 in) Colt Mk 12 cannons' feeding mechanism to jam under G-loading during high-speed dogfighting maneuvers. Between June and July 1966, during 12 engagements over North Vietnam, Crusaders claimed four MiG-17s for two losses. Crusader pilots would claim the best kill ratio of any American type in the Vietnam War, 19:3. Of the 19 aircraft claimed during aerial combat, 16 were MiG-17s and three were MiG-21s. While VPAF pilots claimed 11 F-8s shot down by MiGs, official US sources indicate that only three F-8s were lost in air combat, all of them during 1966, to cannon fire from opponents in MiG-17s. A total of 170 F-8s would be lost to all causes – mostly ground fire and accidents – during the war.

Withdrawal from frontline operations

LTV built and delivered the 1,219th (and last) US Navy Crusader to VF-124 at NAS Miramar on 3 September 1964. The last active duty US Navy Crusader fighter variants were retired from VF-191 and VF-194 aboard USS Oriskany (CV-34) in 1976 after almost two decades of service, setting a first for a Navy fighter.

The photo reconnaissance variant continued to serve in the active duty Navy for yet another 11 years, with VFP-63 flying RF-8Gs up to 1982, and with the Naval Reserve flying their RF-8Gs in two squadrons (VFP-206 and VFP-306) at Naval Air Facility Washington / Andrews AFB until the disestablishment of VFP-306 in 1984 and VFP-206 on 29 March 1987 when the last operational Crusader was turned over to the National Air and Space Museum.

The Crusader is the only aircraft to have used the AIM-9C, a radar-guided variant of the Sidewinder air-to-air missile. During 1969, the US Navy opted to shelve the AIM-9C due to its restrictive launch envelope, as well as its high maintenance demands and associated logistical difficulties. When the Crusader retired, these missiles were converted to the AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radiation missiles used by United States attack helicopters against enemy radars.

NASA

Several modified F-8s were used by NASA in the early 1970s, proving the viability of both digital fly-by-wire technology (using data-processing equipment adapted from the Apollo Guidance Computer), as well as supercritical wing design.

French Navy
During the early 1960s, the French Navy's air arm, the Aéronavale, required a carrier-based fighter to serve aboard the new carriers FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Clemenceau and FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Foch, the F-4 Phantom, then entering service with the United States Navy, proved to be too large for the small French ships. Following carrier trials aboard Clemenceau on 16 March 1962, by two VF-32 F-8s from the American carrier USS Saratoga, the Crusader was chosen and 42 F-8s were ordered; these would be the last Crusaders produced.

The French Crusaders were based on the F-8E, but were modified in order to allow operations from the compact French carriers; accordingly, the maximum angle of incidence of the aircraft's wing increased from five to seven degrees and blown flaps fitted. The weapon system was modified to carry two French Matra R.530 radar or infra-red missiles as an alternative to Sidewinders, although the ability to carry the American missile was retained. Deliveries of these aircraft, dubbed the F-8E(FN), started in October 1964 and continued until February 1965, with the Aéronavale's first squadron, Flotille 12F reactivated on 1 October 1964. To replace the old Corsairs, Flotille 14.F received its Crusaders on 1 March 1965.

During October 1974, (on Clemenceau) and June 1977 (on Foch), Crusaders from 14.F squadron participated in the Saphir missions over Djibouti. On 7 May 1977, two Crusaders went separately on patrol against supposedly French Air Force (4/11 Jura squadron) F-100 Super Sabres stationed at Djibouti. The leader intercepted two fighters and engaged a dogfight (supposed to be a training exercise) but quickly called his wingman for help as he had actually engaged two Yemeni MiG-21s. The two French fighters switched their master armament to "on" but, ultimately, everyone returned to their bases. This was the only combat interception to be performed by French Crusaders.

The Aéronavale Crusaders flew combat missions over Lebanon in 1983 escorting Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard strike aircraft. In October 1984, France sent Foch with 12.F squadron to conduct Operation Mirmillon off the coast of Libya, intended to deter Libyan ruler Colonel Gaddafi from escalating. Regional tensions around the Persian Gulf, largely related to the Iran-Iraq conflict, triggered the deployment of a task force headed by Clemenceau, which included 12.F squadron in its air way. During 1993, combat missions commenced over the skies of the former Yugoslavia; Crusaders were launched from both French carriers, which were stationed in the Adriatic Sea. These missions ceased in June 1999 with Operation Trident over Kosovo.

The French Crusaders were subject to a series of modifications throughout their life, being fitted with new F-8J-type wings in 1969 and having modified afterburners fitted in 1979. Armament was enhanced by the addition of R550 Magic infra-red guided missiles in 1973, with the improved, all-aspect Magic 2 fitted from 1988. The obsolete R.530 was withdrawn from use in 1989, leaving the Crusaders without a radar-guided missile. In 1989, when it was realized that the Crusader would not be replaced for several years due to delays in the development of the Rafale, it was decided to refurbish the Crusaders to extend their operating life. Each aircraft was rewired and had its hydraulic system refurbished, while the airframe was strengthened to extend fatigue life. Avionics were improved, with a modified navigation suite and a new radar-warning receiver. The 17 refurbished aircraft were redesignated as F-8P (P used for "Prolongé" -extended- and not to be confused with the Philippine F-8P). Although the French Navy participated in combat operations in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm and over Kosovo in 1999, the Crusaders stayed behind and were eventually replaced by the Dassault Rafale M in 2000 as the last of the type in military service.

Philippine Air Force
During late 1977, the Philippine government purchased 35 secondhand U.S. Navy F-8Hs that had been stored at Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. 25 of them were refurbished by Vought while the remaining ten were used for spare parts. As part of the deal, the U.S. would train Philippine pilots using the TF-8A. The Crusaders were manned by the 7th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Basa Air Base and were mostly used for intercepting Soviet bombers and escorting presidential flights. However, due to a lack of spares and the rapid deterioration of the aircraft, the remaining F-8s were grounded in 1988 and left on an open grass field at Basa Air Base. They were finally withdrawn from service three years later after they were badly damaged by the Mount Pinatubo eruption, and have since been offered for sale as scrap. Some of the inoperational airframes were refurbished for use as props in the 2000 movie Thirteen Days, a dramatization of the Cuban Missile Crisis, to depict the real-life RF-8As involved in the low-level photo reconnaissance missions that obtained photos of Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba.

Variants

 * XF8U-1 (XF-8A) (V-383) – the two original unarmed prototypes.
 * F8U-1 (F-8A) – first production version, J57-P-12 engine replaced with more powerful J57-P-4A starting with 31st production aircraft, 318 built.
 * YF8U-1 (YF-8A) – one F8U-1 fighter used for development testing.
 * YF8U-1E (YF-8B) – one F8U-1 converted to serve as an F8U-1E prototype.
 * F8U-1E (F-8B) – added a limited all-weather capability thanks to the AN/APS-67 radar, the unguided rocket tray was sealed shut because it was never used operationally, first flight: 3 September 1958, 130 built.
 * XF8U-1T – one XF8U-2NE used for evaluation as a two-seat trainer.
 * F8U-1T (TF-8A) (V-408) – two-seat trainer version based on F8U-2NE, fuselage stretched 2 ft (0.61 m), internal armament reduced to two cannon, J57-P-20 engine, first flight 6 February 1962. The Royal Navy was initially interested in the Rolls-Royce Spey-powered version of TF-8A but chose the Phantom II instead. Only one TF-8A was built, although several retired F-8As were converted to similar two-seat trainers.
 * YF8U-2 (YF-8C) – two F8U-1s used for flight testing the J57-P-16 turbojet engine.
 * F8U-2 (F-8C) – J57-P-16 engine with 16,900 lbf (75 kN) of afterburning thrust, ventral fins added under the rear fuselage in an attempt to rectify yaw instability, Y-shaped cheek pylons allowing two Sidewinder missiles on each side of the fuselage, AN/APQ-83 radar retrofitted during later upgrades. First flight: 20 August 1957, 187 built. This variant was sometimes referred to as Crusader II.
 * F8U-2N (F-8D) – all-weather version, unguided rocket pack replaced with an additional fuel tank, J57-P-20 engine with 18,000 lbf (80 kN) of afterburning thrust, landing system which automatically maintained present airspeed during approach, incorporation of AN/APQ-83 radar. First flight: 16 February 1960, 152 built.
 * YF8U-2N (YF-8D) – one aircraft used in the development of the F8U-2N.
 * YF8U-2NE – one F8U-1 converted to serve as an F8U-2NE prototype.
 * F8U-2NE (F-8E) – J57-P-20A engine, AN/APQ-94 radar in a larger nose cone, dorsal hump between the wings containing electronics for the AGM-12 Bullpup missile, payload increased to 5,000 lb (2,270 kg), Martin-Baker ejection seat, AN/APQ-94 radar replaced AN/APQ-83 radar in earlier F-8D. IRST sensor blister (round ball) was added in front of the canopy. First flight: 30 June 1961, 286 built.
 * F-8E(FN) – air superiority fighter version for the French Navy, significantly increased wing lift due to greater slat and flap deflection and the addition of a boundary layer control system, enlarged stabilators, incorporated AN/APQ-104 radar, an upgraded version of AN/APQ-94. A total of 42 built.
 * F-8H – upgraded F-8D with strengthened airframe and landing gear, with AN/APQ-84 radar. A total of 89 rebuilt.
 * F-8J – upgraded F-8E, similar to F-8D but with wing modifications and BLC like on F-8E(FN), "wet" pylons for external fuel tanks, J57-P-20A engine, with AN/APQ-124 radar. A total of 136 rebuilt.
 * F-8K – upgraded F-8C with Bullpup capability and J57-P-20A engines, with AN/APQ-125 radar. A total of 87 rebuilt.
 * F-8L – F-8B upgraded with underwing hardpoints, with AN/APQ-149 radar. A total of 61 rebuilt.
 * F-8P – 17 F-8E(FN) of the Aéronavale underwent a significant overhaul at the end of the 1980s to stretch their service life another 10 years. They were retired in 1999.
 * F8U-1D (DF-8A) – several retired F-8A modified to controller aircraft for testing of the SSM-N-8 Regulus cruise missile. DF-8A was also modified as drone (F-9 Cougar) control which were used extensively by VC-8, NS Roosevelt Rds, PR; Atlantic Fleet Missile Range.
 * DF-8F – retired F-8A modified as controller aircraft for testing of missiles including at the USN facility at China Lake.
 * F8U-1KU (QF-8A) – retired F-8A modified into remote-controlled target drones
 * YF8U-1P (YRF-8A) – prototypes used in the development of the F8U-1P photo-reconnaissance aircraft – V-392.
 * F8U-1P (RF-8A) – unarmed photo-reconnaissance version of F8U-1E, 144 built.
 * RF-8G – modernized RF-8As.
 * LTV V-1000 – A vastly reworked version of the F-8 designed for the USAF International Fighter Aircraft Program in 1969 in response to the widespread Soviet MiG-21. The aircraft competed with the F-4E Phantom II, Lockheed CL-1200 and F-5A-21 in a tender for U.S. Military Assistance Program (MAP) funding. A summary of changes are installation of the GE J79-GE-17, 3800 lbs (1723 kg) in weight reduction, and overall simplification of the aircraft. The V-1000 was selected as the competition winner however was not given the contract.
 * XF8U-3 Crusader III (V-401) – new design loosely based on the earlier F-8 variants, created to compete against the F-4 Phantom II; J75-P-5A engine with 29,500 lbf (131 kN) of afterburning thrust, first flight: 2 June 1958, attained Mach 2.39 in test flights, canceled after five aircraft were constructed because the Phantom II won the Navy contract.

Operators

Former operators
 * French Navy (Aéronavale)
 * 🇵🇭 Philippines:
 * Philippine Air Force
 * United States Navy
 * United States Marine Corps
 * NASA
 * Thunderbird Aviation
 * NASA
 * Thunderbird Aviation

France

 * F-8E(FN)
 * 151732 (French Navy Side Number 1) – Musee des Avions de Chasse, Beaune.
 * 151750 (French Navy Side Number 19) – Musée des Ailes Anciennes, Toulouse.

 * F-8P
 * 151733 (French Navy Side Number 3) – Lann Bihoue Airport, Le Meneguen.
 * 151735 (French Navy Side Number 4) – Musee Europeen de lAviation de Chasse, Montelimar-Ancone.
 * 151738 (French Navy Side Number 7) – Aeronavale Base, Landivisau.
 * 151741 (French Navy Side Number 10) – Musee de l air et de l Espace, (The Air and Space Museum), Paris, France.
 * 151742 (French Navy Side Number 11) – Musee de l aeronautique navale, Rochefort.
 * 151754 (French Navy Side Number 23) – Aeronavale Base, Landivisau.
 * 151760 (French Navy Side Number 29) – Aeronavale Base, Landivisau.
 * 151767 (French Navy Side Number 36) – Musee des Avions de Chasse, Beaune.
 * 151768 (French Navy Side Number 37) – Airport in Cuers.
 * 151770 (French Navy Side Number 39) – Aeronavale Base, Landivisau.

Philippines

 * F-8H
 * 147056 – Philippine Air Force Aerospace Museum, Villamor Air Base, Manila.
 * 147060 - Basa Air Base, Floridablanca, Pampanga.
 * 148661 – Clark Air Base, Angeles City.
 * 148686 - 	Philippine Military Academy, Fort Gen. Gregorio H. del Pilar, Baguio City. Registration serial incorrectly marked as 148696.

United States

 * XF8U-1 (XF-8A)
 * 138899 – Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington.

 * XF8U-2 (XF-8C)
 * 140448 – McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord, New Hampshire.

 * F8U-1 (F-8A)
 * 141351 – NAS Jacksonville Heritage Park, Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida (relocated from former NAS Cecil Field).
 * 141353 – Edwards AFB, California.
 * 143703 – USS Hornet Museum, former Naval Air Station Alameda, Alameda, California.
 * 143755 – Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California.
 * 143806 – Wings of Freedom Aviation Museum, former Naval Air Station Willow Grove, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.
 * 144427 – Pima Air and Space Museum adjacent to Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.
 * 145336 – Planes of Fame at Chino, California.
 * 145347 – National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.
 * 145349 – Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, Pueblo, Colorado.
 * 145397 – Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, Lakehurst, New Jersey.

 * F8U-2 (F-8C)
 * 145546 – Edwards AFB, California. After being transferred from the US Navy to NASA, it was used as a research aircraft (experimental aircraft).
 * 146973 – Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii
 * 147034 – (nose section only) USS Hornet Museum, former NAS Alameda, Alameda, California.

 * F8U-2N (F-8D)
 * 148693 – Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal, Kansas.

F8U-2NE (F-8E)
 * 149150 – NAS Oceana Aviation Heritage Park, Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

F-8E(FN)
 * 151765 – under restoration to airworthiness by a private owner in Fort Myers, Florida

 * F8U-1P (RF-8G)
 * 144617 – Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California
 * 144618 – Celebrity Row, Davis-Monthan AFB (North Side), Tucson, Arizona.
 * 145607 – Castle Air Museum (former Castle AFB), Atwater, California.
 * 145608 – (nose section only) Pacific Coast Air Museum, Santa Rosa, California.
 * 145609 – National Museum of Naval Aviation, Naval Air Station Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida.
 * 145645 – USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, Mobile, Alabama.
 * 146860 – Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, adjacent to Dulles International Airport.
 * 146858 – in storage at Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California
 * 146882 – Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.
 * 146898 – Fort Worth Aviation Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

 * F-8H
 * 147909 – NAD Soroptimist Park, Kitsap Lake, Bremerton, Washington, about 1 mile away from Naval Hospital Bremerton. Aircraft is on loan from the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida. The wings are in a folded position.

 * F-8J
 * 150904 – Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is currently on display indoors, with its wings folded.
 * 150920 – Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California Initially commissioned as an F-8E, it was later converted to an F-8J.

 * F8U-2 (F-8K)
 * 145550 – USS Intrepid Museum in New York City, New York.
 * 145592 - under restoration to airworthiness by a private owner in Seattle, Washington, After being operated by the U.S. Navy, the registration number was changed to NX19TB, with the X removed from the middle. It was then transferred to the Flying Heritage Collection at Arlington Municipal Airport in Arlington, Washington, although it is believed that the wings were still able to fold at that time. It is unknown what condition it is currently in.
 * 146931 – Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, California. The operating mechanism of the wings remains.
 * 146939 – Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum aboard ex-USS Yorktown (CV-10), Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
 * 146963 – Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. It was manufactured as an F-8F, but was converted into an F-8K and used until retirement. The state of preservation is such that leak prevention measures have been taken around the cockpit.
 * 146983 – Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
 * 146985 – Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum at Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida It is currently on display indoors, with its wings folded.
 * 146995 – Pacific Coast Air Museum, adjacent to the Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California
 * 147030 – USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California.

 * F-8L
 * 145449 – Naval Air Station Fallon, Fallon, Nevada.
 * 145527 - under restoration to airworthiness by a private owner in Seattle, Washington, Originally operated as an F-8A, it was converted to an F-8L and used until retirement. Afterwards, it was given a new registration number N37TB and taken over by Thunderbird Airlines. In 2002, ownership changed to the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum and it was restored, but the wings are still folded.

 * F8U Cockpit

 * 145399 – Under restoration at Moffett Historical Museum, Moffett Federal Airfield, California

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Vought F-8 Crusader


text:
Fighter

Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to:

Combat and warfare

 * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict
 * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplanes in air-to-air combat
 * Fighter pilot, a military aviator who controls a fighter aircraft
 * Martial artist, one who practices martial arts
 * Soldier, one who fights as part of an army
 * Warrior, a person specializing in combat or warfare

Film and television

 * The Fighter (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Henry Kolker
 * The Fighters (1939 film), a Soviet drama film directed by Eduard Pentslin
 * The Fighter (1952 film), an American film noir boxing film directed by Herbert Kline
 * The Fighters (1974 film), a documentary film directed by Rick Baxter and William Greaves
 * The Fighter (1983 film), a television movie starring Gregory Harrison and Glynnis O'Connor
 * Fighter, a 1995 unrealized Indian film by Sanjay Gupta, starting Akshaye Khanna
 * Fighter (2000 film), an American documentary about two holocaust survivors
 * Fighter (2007 film) or Fightgirl Ayse, a Danish film directed by Natasha Arthy
 * The Fighter, a 2010 American biographical sports film directed by David O. Russell
 * Fighter (2012 film), an Indian Bengali-language film directed by Rabi Kinagi
 * War (2019 film), an Indian film with the working title Fighters
 * Fighter (2023 film), an Indian Kannada-language film
 * Fighter (2024 film), an Indian Hindi-language film directed by Siddharth Anand
 * "The Fighters", an episode of Bonanza

Games and sports

 * Fighter (character class), a common archetypal character class in numerous role-playing games
 * Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons), a class in Dungeons & Dragons
 * Fighter kite, a type of kite used for the sport of kite fighting
 * Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, a Japanese professional baseball team

Literature

 * Fighter: The True Story of the Battle of Britain, a 1977 book by Len Deighton
 * The Fighter, a 2008 novel by Craig Davidson

Music

 * The Fighters (band), a 1990s American punk rock band
 * Fighters, nickname for fans of Christina Aguilera

Albums

 * Fighter (David Nail album) or the title song, 2016
 * Fighter (Manafest album) or the title song, 2012
 * The Fighters (Chad Brownlee album) or the title song, 2014
 * The Fighters (LoCash album) or the title song, 2016

Songs

 * "Fighter" (Christina Aguilera song), 2003
 * "Fighter" (Namie Amuro song), 2016
 * "Fighter" (Tali song), 2024
 * "Fighters" (song), by Sandaime J Soul Brothers from Exile Tribe, 2011
 * "The Fighter" (Gym Class Heroes song), 2011
 * "The Fighter" (Keith Urban song), 2017
 * "Fighter", by Bump of Chicken from Butterflies, 2016
 * "Fighter", by Monsta X from The Clan Pt. 2 Guilty, 2016
 * "Fighter", by Sneaker Pimps, 2021
 * "Fighers", by Kris Allen from Thank You Camellia, 2012
 * "The Fighter", by In This Moment from Black Widow, 2014
 * "The Fighter", by the Fray from Scars & Stories, 2012
 * "The Fighter", by Paradise Fears, 2012

Other uses

 * Fighter brand, a lower-priced offering intended to under-price competitors

title: Fighter


text:
Secondary education in the United States

Secondary education is the last six or seven years of statutory formal education in the United States. It culminates with twelfth grade (age 17–18). Whether it begins with sixth grade (age 11–12) or seventh grade (age 12–13) varies by state and sometimes by school district.

Secondary education in the United States occurs in two phases. The first. as classified by the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), is the lower secondary phase, a middle school or junior high school for students seventh grade through eighth grade; sometimes sixth grade is included. The second is the ISCED upper secondary phase, a high school or senior high school for students ninth grade through twelfth grade. There is some debate over the optimum age of transfer, and variation in some states; also, middle school often includes grades that are almost always considered primary school.

Academies
Today "Academy" is a general term referring to post-secondary education, especially the most elite or liberal arts part of it. However, in the 18th and 19th century, an "academy" was what later became known as a high school. In most towns there were no public schools above the primary level. The typical college at first included a preparatory unit, which it dropped by 1900..

In the nineteenth century an academy was what later became known as a high school; in most places in the U.S. there were no public schools above the primary level. Some older high schools, such as Corning Free Academy, retained the term in their names (Corning Free Academy, demoted to a middle school, closed in 2014). In 1753, Benjamin Franklin established the academy and Charitable School of the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1755, it was renamed the college and Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia. Today, it is known as the University of Pennsylvania. The United States Military Academy was formed in 1802 as a college. It never included a preparatory unit.

The religious revival knowns as the Second Great Awakening stimulated Protestant denominations to open academies and colleges. In the small town of Amherst, Massachusetts in 1812, funds were raised for a secondary school, Amherst Academy; it opened December 1814. The academy incorporated in 1816, and eventually counted among its students Emily Dickinson, Sylvester Graham, and Mary Lyon (founder of Mount Holyoke College). By 1821 it added a higher education with Amherst College. Besides religion, the academy movement arose from a public sense that education in the classic disciplines needed to be extended into the western states.

Thousands of academies were started using local funds and tuition; most closed after a few years and others were established. In 1860 there were 6,415 academies in operation. When the Civil War erupted in 1861 they generally closed down temporarily; most in the South never reopened.

Like Amherst, a number of colleges began as (high school) academies, then became a college by adding post-secondary unit, and then finally dropped the pre-collegiate academy. Several colleges were indirectly influenced by the academy model, including Brown University in Rhode Island and Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.In 1753, Benjamin Franklin established the academy and Charitable School of the Province of Pennsylvania. In 1755, it was renamed the college and Academy and Charitable School of Philadelphia. It evolved into the University of Pennsylvania.

By 1840 3,204 academies and similar secondary schools were in operation. Most lasted only a few years but others were created and by 1860 6,415 were in operation nationwide. The first public secondary schools started around the 1830s and 40s within the wealthier areas of similar income levels and greatly expanded after 1865 into the 1890s.

Public high schools
Many high schools in the 19th century contained a "normal school" which trained students as teachers in common schools. Most of those enrolled were young women planning to teach a few years before marriage.

High school enrollment increased when schools at this level became free tuition, and when compulsory education laws required teenagers to attend until a certain age. It was believed that every American student had the opportunity to participate regardless of their ability.

In 1892, in response to many competing academic philosophies being promoted at the time, a working group of educators, known as the "Committee of Ten" was established by the National Education Association. It recommended twelve years of instruction, consisting of eight years of elementary education followed by four years of high school. Rejecting suggestions that high schools should divide students into college-bound and working-trades groups from the start, and in some cases also by race or ethnic background, they unanimously recommended that "every subject which is taught at all in a secondary school should be taught in the same way and to the same extent to every pupil so long as he pursues it, no matter what the probable destination of the pupil may be, or at what point his education is to cease."

20th century
Between 1910 and 1940, the high school movement resulted in rapidly increasing founding of public high schools in many cities and towns and later with further expansions in each locality with the establishment of neighborhood, district, or community high schools in the larger cities which may have had one or two schools since the 19th century. High school enrollment and graduation numbers and rates increased markedly, mainly due to the building of new schools, and a practical curriculum based on gaining skills "for life" rather than "for college". There was a shift towards local decision making by school districts, and a policy of easy and open enrollment. The shift from theoretical to a more practical approach in curriculum also resulted in an increase of skilled blue-collar workers. The open enrollment nature and relatively relaxed standards, such as ease of repeating a grade, also contributed to the boom in secondary schooling. There was an increase in educational attainment, primarily from the grass-roots movement of building and staffing public high schools. By mid-century, comprehensive high schools became common, which were designed to give a free education to any student who chose to stay in school for 12 years to get a diploma with a minimal grade point average.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, made desegregation of elementary and high schools mandatory, although private Christian schools expanded rapidly following this ruling to accommodate white families attempting to avoid desegregation.

By 1955, the enrollment rates of secondary schools in the United States were around 80%, higher than enrollment rates in most or all European countries. The goal became to minimize the number who exited at the mandatory attendance age, which varies by state between 14 and 18 years of age, and become considered to be dropouts, at risk of economic failure.

In 1965, the far-reaching Elementary and Secondary Education Act ('ESEA'), passed as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty, provided funds for primary and secondary education known as Title I funding while explicitly forbidding the establishment of a national curriculum. It emphasized equal access to education and established high standards and accountability. The bill also aimed to shorten the achievement gaps between students by providing every child with fair and equal opportunities to achieve an exceptional education.

After 1980, the growth in educational attainment decreased, which caused the growth of the educated workforce to slow down.

Under the education reform movement started in the early 1990s by many state legislatures and the federal government, about two-thirds of the nation's public high school students are required to pass a graduation exam, usually at the 10th and higher grade levels, though no new states had adopted a new requirement in 2006. This requirement has been an object of controversy when states have started to withhold diplomas, and the right to attend commencement exercises, if a student does not meet the standards set by the state.

Pressure to allow people and organizations to create new Charter schools developed during the 1980s and were embraced by the American Federation of Teachers in 1988. These would be legally and financially autonomous public school free from many state laws and district regulations, and accountable more for student outcomes rather than for processes or inputs. Minnesota was the first state to pass a charter school law in 1991.

In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act required all public schools receiving federal funding to administer a statewide standardized test annually to all students. Schools that receive Title I funding must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in test scores; for instance, each year, fifth graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous year's fifth graders. Schools that miss AYP for a second consecutive year are publicly labeled as in need of improvement, and students have the option to transfer to a better school within the school district, if such options exist.

Standards-based education has been embraced in most states which changed the measurement of success to academic achievement, rather than the completion of 12 years of education. By 2006, two-thirds of students lived in states with effective standards requiring passing tests to ensure that all graduates had achieved these standards.

By 2009, charter schools were operating in 41 of the 50 states and the national capital of Washington, D.C., and 59% of these had waiting lists.

Curriculum
Authority to regulate education resides constitutionally with the individual states, with direct authority of the U.S. Congress and the federal U.S. Department of Education being limited to regulation and enforcement of federal constitutional rights. Great indirect authority is, however, exercised through federal funding of national programs and block grants although there is no obligation upon any state to accept these funds. The U.S. government may also propose, but cannot enforce national goals, objectives and standards, which generally lie beyond its jurisdiction.

Many high schools in the United States offer a choice of vocational or college prep curriculum. Schools that offer vocational programs include a very high level of technical specialization, e.g., auto mechanics or carpentry, with a half-day instruction/approved work program in senior year as the purpose of the program is to prepare students for gainful employment without a college degree. The level of specialization allowed varies depending on both the state and district the school is located in.

Core
Many states require courses in the "core" areas of English, science, social studies, and math every year although others allow more choice after 10th grade. The majority of high schools require four English credits to graduate.

Three science courses, biology, chemistry, and physics are usually offered.

High school math courses typically include Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II with trigonometry classes. Advanced study options can include Precalculus, Calculus, and Statistics generally with an opportunity to earn Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) accreditation. Usually, only three math credits are required for graduation (although four is recommended).

English and language classes are usually required for four years of high school although many schools count journalism, public speaking/debate, foreign language, literature, drama, and writing (both technical and creative) classes as English/Language classes.

Social studies classes include History, Political Science, Economics and Geography. Political science and Economics classes are sometimes combined as two semesters of a year-long course. Additional study options can include classes in Sociology, and Psychology.

Many states require a health or wellness course in order to graduate. The class typically covers basic anatomy, nutrition, first aid, sexual education, and how to make responsible decisions regarding illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. In some places, contraception is not allowed to be taught for religious reasons. In some places, the health and physical education class are combined into one class or are offered in alternate semesters. In some private schools, such as Catholic schools, theology is required before a student graduates. Two years of physical education (usually referred to as "gym," "PE" or "phys ed" by students) is commonly required, although some states and school districts require that all students take Physical Education every semester.

Electives
Public high schools offer a wide variety of elective courses, although the availability of such courses depends upon each particular school's financial situation. Some schools and states require students to earn a few credits of classes considered electives, most commonly foreign language and physical education.

Common types of electives include:
 * Visual arts (drawing, sculpture, painting, photography, film studies, and art history)
 * Performing arts (choir, drama, band, orchestra, dance, guitar)
 * Vocational education (woodworking, metalworking, computer-aided drafting, automobile repair, agriculture, cosmetology, FFA)
 * Computer science/information technology (word processing, computer programming, robotics, graphic design, computer club, web design and web programming, video game design, music production)
 * Journalism/publishing (school newspaper, yearbook, television production)
 * Foreign languages (French, German, Italian, and Spanish are common; Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Greek, Latin, Korean, Dutch, and Portuguese are less common, though the former two are gaining popularity.)
 * Business education (Accounting, Data Processing, Entrepreneurship, Finance, Business, Information and Communication Technology, Management, Marketing, and Secretarial)
 * Family and consumer science/home economics (nutrition, nursing, culinary, child development, and additional physical education and weight training classes)
 * Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (In some schools, JROTC may replace a credit of health or P.E.) and gun clubs and shooting teams
 * Some American high schools offer drivers' education. At some schools, a student can take it during school as a regular course for a credit. At some schools, drivers education courses are only available after school.

The Association for Career and Technical Education is the largest U.S. association dedicated to promoting this type of education.

Middle school / Junior high school
Middle schools and junior high schools, are schools that serves grades 5, 6, or 7 through 7, 8, or 9 which straddle primary and secondary education. Upon arrival in middle school or junior high school, students begin to enroll in class schedules where they generally take classes from several teachers in a given day. The classes are usually a set of four or five (if foreign language is included in the curriculum) core academic classes (English or "language arts," science, mathematics, history or "social studies," and in some schools, foreign language) with two to four other classes, either electives, supplementary, or remedial academic classes.

Some students also start taking a foreign language or advanced math and science classes in middle school. Typically schools will offer Spanish and French; and, often German; and, sometimes Latin; Chinese, Japanese, and/or Greek. In addition to Pre-Algebra and other high school mathematics prep courses, Algebra I and Geometry are both commonly taught. Schools also offer Earth Science, Life Science, or Physical Science classes. Physical education classes (also called "PE", "phys ed", Kinesiology, or "gym") are usually mandatory for various periods. For social studies, some schools offer U.S. History, Geography, and World History classes.

Many also have honors classes for motivated and gifted students, where the quality of education is higher and much more is expected from the enrolled student.

Intermediate school
Intermediate school is an uncommon term, and can either be a synonym for middle school (notably as used by the New York City public schools) or for schools that encompass the latter years of primary education prior to middle school/junior high school, serving grades 3 or 4 through 5 or 6.

High school / Senior high school
High schools, or senior high schools, are schools that span grades 8, 9, or 10 through 12. Most American high schools are comprehensive high schools and accept all students from their local area, regardless of ability or vocational/college track. Students have significant control of their education, and may choose even their core classes, although the control given to students varies from state to state and school to school. The schools are managed by local school districts rather than by the central government.

Some states and cities offer special high schools with examinations to admit only the highest performing students, such as Boston Latin School, several schools in the New York City Specialized High School system or Alexandria, Virginia's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. Other high schools cater to the arts. Some schools have been set up for students who do not succeed with normal academic standards; while others, like Harvey Milk High School, have even been created for special social groups such as LGBT students.

Most states operate special residential schools for the blind and deaf, although a substantial number of such students are mainstreamed into standard schools. Several operate residential high schools for highly gifted students in specialized areas such as science, mathematics, or the arts. A smaller number of high schools are operated by the Department of Defense on military bases for children of military personnel.

Most high schools have classes known as "honors" classes for motivated and gifted students, where the quality of education is higher and much more is expected from the enrolled student. Some high schools offer Regular Honors (H) (sometimes called Advanced), Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses, which are special forms of honors classes. International schools offering programs of study in line with foreign systems of Education, such as those of Britain and France, are also available. Some schools also offer dual-enrollment programs, in which select classes at a university may be taken for both university and high school credit.

Graduation from high school or senior high school leads to the awarding of the high school diploma. After this, secondary education is considered complete and students may pursue tertiary level study.

Types of schools
Secondary education can be provided within a number of different schools and settings.

Public schools
The United States public education system is structured into three levels: elementary (also known as primary) education, middle and high school (which is secondary together) education, and college or university level (also known as post-secondary) education. Schooling starts at age 5–6 and ends anywhere from 16 to 18 depending on the school system, state policy, and the student's progress. Pre-School or Pre-Kindergarten accept as young as age 3 and is not required. From there education models differ as elementary school can last anywhere from to  depending on the structure. Some states have middle schools which is part of secondary education and between elementary school and high school encompassing grades from 6 to 9, while others have no middle school and instead combined mixed high schools. High school is generally grades 9–12, with the exception of the mixed model which is 8–12.

All children are guaranteed the right to a free public elementary and secondary education when living within the jurisdiction of the United States regardless of race, gender, ability, citizen status, religion or economic status. Public education in the United States is mainly the responsibility of State and local level administration levels. As of 2010–2011 around 13,588 school districts exist within which around 98,800 public schools exist in the United States. Only 8% of funding for public schools comes from federal sources, the other 92% comes mostly from state and local funding. Curriculum requirements vary state by state as it is up to these states and local school districts, in addition to national associations if applicable, to come up with and be approved by the federal government in order for them to receive funding. Most schools mark proficiency in a subject through the A-F grading scale accumulating throughout years creating a grade point average or G.P.A. Parent involvement is encouraged in the U.S. with many having parent-teacher associations otherwise known as PTA's.

Independent schools
Independent schools are schools that are not public and not run by any government, but rather function as an independent institution. Independent schools range from levels of kindergarten to undergraduate, various institution usually accommodating different levels. Most independent schools have a tuition cost of attendance As of 2013–2014 there were 33,619 independent schools in the United States. Most independent schools in the United States are associated with religious orientations making up 68.7% of all private schools as of 2013–2014. This is a number had an increasing trend in the period of 1989–2005 however, it dropped by about 9% in 2006–2007, but seems to be increasing again.

All independent schools must comply with federal laws of non-discrimination and health privacy & financial security laws. These include

- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (for employees or applicants over the age of 40)

- Americans with Disabilities Act

- Equal Pay Act

- 42 U.S.C. § 1986 (discrimination based on race)

- Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1979

- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and/or national origin)

- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (employment or reemployment discrimination based on military service)

- Revenue Procedure 75-50 (independent schools can not discriminate on the basis of race in any programs or financial assistance)

More specific legal restrictions apply to private schools on the state level and vary based on the state.

Independent schools can accept money from the federal government otherwise called "Federal financial assistance" which can come as funds in the form of grants or loans, donations, assets and property or interest in property, services by federal employees or contract of intent to receive federal assistance, involvement in federal programs. Schools receiving funding must comply with additional federal regulations included in many of the above acts. However, a policy can also have exceptions to these regulations based on the private school characteristics, such as religious beliefs that the law would be defying or being involved in military development.

Charter schools
Charter schools are subject to fewer rules, regulations, and statutes than traditional state schools, receive less public funding than public schools, typically a fixed amount per pupil and are often over-subscribed.

College-preparatory schools
College-preparatory schools, commonly referred to as 'prep schools', can be either publicly funded, charter schools or private independent secondary schools funded by tuition fees and philanthropic donations, and governed by independent boards of trustees. Fewer than 1% of students enrolled in school in the United States attend an independent private preparatory school, a small fraction compared with the 9% who attend parochial schools and 88% who attend public schools. While these schools are not subject to government oversight or regulation, they are accredited by one of the six regional accreditation agencies for educational institutions.

Home schooling
It is estimated that some 2 million or 2.9% of U.S. children are home educated. Home schooling is lawful in all 50 states, and although the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on homeschooling specifically, in Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) it supported the rights of Amish parents to keep their children out of public schools for religious reasons.

Types of scheduling
At the secondary level, students transition from the American primary education system of remaining with one class in one classroom with one teacher for the entire school day to taking multiple courses taught by different teachers in different classrooms. This system is also used by American colleges and universities at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. It requires students to develop time management and navigation skills in order to efficiently race from one classroom to the next during each school day, and to develop interpersonal communication skills in order to interact with many more teachers and classmates than before.

Traditional scheduling
Students take six, seven, eight, or sometimes nine classes per day all year long. Six classes are around 50–60 minutes in length. Seven classes are around 45–52 minutes in length. Eight classes are around 40–48 minutes in length. Nine classes are around 42 minutes or less in length.

Alternate day block scheduling
Also referred to as A/B block scheduling, Odd/Even block scheduling, or Day 1/ Day 2 block scheduling. Students take three to four courses, around 90–120 minutes in length, per day all year long on alternating days resulting in a full six or eight courses per year. An example table of a possible schedule is provided below.

4x4 Block Scheduling
Students take four courses, around 90 minutes in length, every day for the first semester and take four different courses every day for the second semester. This results in a full eight courses taken per year. An example table of a possible schedule is provided below.

Teacher certification
Teachers are certified in one of two areas for high school (and in some states, certification can be to teach grades 6–12). These certifications can overlap. In Missouri, for example, middle school certification covers grades 6–8, elementary school certification covers up to grade 5, and high school certification covers grades 9–12. This reflects the wide range of grade combinations of middle schools, junior high schools, and elementary schools. Alternatively, some states certify teachers in various curricular areas (such as math or history) to teach secondary education.

Compulsory education
Compulsory education laws refer to "legislative mandates that school-aged children [shall] attend public, nonpublic, or homeschools until reaching specified ages." In most cases, local school attendance officers enforce compulsory education laws, and all jurisdictions hold parents/legal guardians responsible to ensure their child/children attend school.

History
Compulsory education first became required in Massachusetts upon the passing of the Compulsory Attendance Act of 1852. The law required that all children eight to fourteen to attend school for three months out of the year, and of these twelve weeks, six of them had to be consecutive. The only exceptions to this law was if the child already attended another school for the same amount of time, proof the child had already learned the material, if they lived in poverty, or the child had a physical or mental disability preventing them from learning the material.

Later, in 1873, the law was revised. The age limit was reduced from 14 to 12, but the annual attendance requirement was increased to 20 weeks a year. By 1918, all U.S. states had some sort of mandatory attendance law for school.

Elite schools

 * Cookson, Peter W., Jr., and Caroline Hodges Persell. Preparing for Power: America's Elite Boarding Schools (Basic Books, 1985) online
 * McLachlan, James. American Boarding Schools: A Historical Study (1970) online

Normal schools and teachers

 * Burks, Benjamin D. What was normal about Virginia's normal schools: A history of Virginia's state normal schools, 1882–1930 (PhD dissertation,  University of Virginia; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2002. 3035340).

 * Cochran-Smith, Marilyn et al., eds. Handbook of research on teacher education (Routledge, 2008) online.

 * Harper, Charles A. A century of public teacher education; the story of the State teachers colleges as they evolved from the normal schools (1939) online
 * Herbst, Jurgen. "Nineteenth‐century normal schools in the United States: A fresh look." History of Education 9.3 (1980): 219-227. online

 * Labaree, David F. "An uneasy relationship: The history of teacher education in the university" in Marilyn Cochran-Smith, et al., eds. Handbook of research on teacher education (Routledge, 2008) pp.  290-306.

 * Lucas, Christopher J. Teacher Education in America: Reform Agendas for the Twenty-First Century (Palgrave Macmillan US, 1999) pp. 3– 94 online.

 * Mattingly, Paul H. The classless profession: American schoolmen in the nineteenth century (NYU Press, 1975) online.

 * Ogren, Christine A. The American State Normal School: An Instrument of Great Good ( Palgrave Macmillan. 2005)


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Secondary education in Japan

Secondary education in Japan is split into junior high schools (中学校 chūgakkō), which cover the seventh through ninth grade, and senior high schools (高等学校 kōtōgakkō, abbreviated to 高校 kōkō), which mostly cover grades ten through twelve.

Junior high school
Lower-secondary schools cover grades seven, eight, and nine. Ages are 12/13-15/16 with increased focus on academic studies. Although it is possible to leave the formal education system after completing lower secondary school and find employment, fewer than 4% did so by the late 1980s.

Most junior high schools in the 1980s were government-funded public schools; 5% were private schools. At per pupil, private schools had a per-student cost that was four times as high as public schools.

The minimum number of school days in a year is 210 in Japan, compared to 180 in the United States. A significant part of the school calendar is taken up by non-academic events such as sports days and school trips.

Teachers often majored in the subjects they taught. Each class is assigned a homeroom teacher who doubles as counselor. Unlike elementary students, junior high school students have different teachers for different subjects. The subject teachers usually move to a new room for each 50-minute period. Usually, students' lunch is provided by the school itself.

Instruction

Instruction tends to rely on the lecture method. Teachers also use other media, such as television and radio, and there is some laboratory work. By 1989 about 45% of all public lower-secondary schools had computers, including schools that used them only for administrative purposes. Classroom organization is still based on small work groups, although no longer for reasons of discipline. Students are expected to have mastered daily routines and acceptable behavior.

All course contents are specified in the Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools. Some subjects, such as Japanese language and mathematics, are coordinated with the elementary curriculum. The curriculum covers Japanese language, English, social studies, mathematics, science, music, fine arts, industrial arts, homemaking, health, and physical education. Moral education and special activities continue to receive attention.

Extracurricular activities
Many students participate in after-school clubs. Sports clubs, such as baseball, are especially popular among boys, while wind bands are one of the most popular clubs for girls. Football (soccer) clubs are gaining popularity. Other popular sports clubs include tennis, basketball, gymnastics, Judo and volleyball. In every sport, many games are held between schools and at the regional level, so students have opportunities to compete.

For cultural clubs, choir and art clubs, brass band, tea ceremony, and flower arrangement clubs are popular.

Some junior high schools encourage students to take academic ability tests such as the STEP Eiken for English or the Kanji kentei for Japanese.

Students in the highest grades of elementary, junior high, and senior high schools also take trips lasting up to several days to culturally important cities such as Kyoto and Nara, ski resorts, or other places such as Tokyo, Osaka, Okinawa and Hokkaido.

Senior high school

Even though upper-secondary school is not compulsory in Japan, as of 2005 94% of all junior high school graduates entered high schools and over 95% of students graduated successfully from them.

To enter, students typically take an entrance examination in Japanese, mathematics, science, social studies, and English, whether it is standardized for all public high schools in the prefecture or a test created by a private high school for that school alone.

Daily life
High schools typically begin at 8:30, when teachers meet for a five-minute meeting, followed by homeroom. Students assemble in their homerooms of an average of around 40 students each, Homeroom teachers are in charge of morning or afternoon homeroom times, about five minutes each, as well as a weekly long homeroom period.

Many students are assigned to specific task committees in their homeroom class.

There are four classes of 50 minutes each before lunch. Students go to different classrooms for physical education, laboratory classes, or other specialized courses; otherwise, teachers change classrooms instead of the students for the entire day. Students typically attend between ten and fourteen courses a year.

Some schools do not have their own cafeteria, so students generally eat in their homerooms instead. Unlike students in elementary and middle school, high school students do not have government-subsidized lunches. Because of this, many students bring bento from home. After lunch students have two more classes. Typically, by 3:30 PM, students are free to attend extracurricular activities.

Saturday schooling, when offered, ends at 1 PM after four courses.

Extracurriculars
In most schools, there are two types of extracurricular clubs, sports clubs and culture clubs. New students usually choose a club after the school year begins and only rarely change for the rest of their high school careers. Clubs meet for two hours after school every day, and often during school vacations. These clubs are an important chance for students to make friends and learn social etiquette and relationships like the senpai/kohai dynamic.

Curriculum
Traditionally Japanese students attended class on Saturdays. An education reform introduced in 2002 has made them non-mandatory, but many schools have begun to bring them back.

Schools have limited autonomy in developing their curriculum or choosing their textbooks. Instead, although the latter are written and produced in the private sector, the Ministry of Education has the final say over any and all content and materials. Typically students take three years each of mathematics, social studies, Japanese, science, and English, with additional courses including physical education, music, art, and moral studies. In particular social studies in Japan is broken down into civics, geography, Japanese history, world history, sociology, and politics/economics. There are a large number of mandatory courses, and a few number of electives.

Upper-secondary teachers are university graduates. Upper-secondary schools are organized into departments, and teachers specialize in their field of study although they teach a variety of courses sharing a more general discipline. Teaching depends largely on the lecture system, with the main goal being to cover the curriculum. Approach and subject coverage tends to be uniform, at least in the public schools.

Education reforms
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) recognizes a need to improve the teaching of all foreign languages, especially English. To improve instruction in spoken English, the government invites many young native speakers of English to Japan to serve as assistants to school boards and prefectures under its Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. By 2005 participants numbered over 6,000. In the last few years, several school boards in Japan have relied on ALTs (Assistant Language Teacher) from private dispatch companies.

As part of the movement to develop an integrated curriculum and the education reform movement of the late 1980s, the entire Course of Study for Lower-Secondary Schools was revised in 1989 and took effect in the 1992–93 school year. A main aim of the reform is to equip students with the basic knowledge needed for citizenship. In some measure, this means increased emphasis on Japanese history and culture, as well as understanding Japan as a nation and its relationships with other nations of the world. The course of study also increased elective hours, recommending that electives be chosen in light of individual student differences and with an eye toward diversification.

A further revision to the Fundamental Law of Education was carried out on 22 December 2006. The revised law leaves the structure of schooling basically the same but includes new emphases on respect for Japanese culture (Article 2.5), school discipline (Article 6.2), and parental responsibility (Article 10).

Junior high issues
Two problems of great concern to educators and citizens began to appear at the lower-secondary level in the 1980s: bullying, which remains a major problem, and the school-refusal syndrome (toko kyohi; manifested by excessive absenteeism), which was on the rise. In 2008, there were 42,754 incidents of problematic behavior in junior high schools, according to a government survey.

Experts disagreed over the specific causes of these phenomena, but there is general agreement that the system offers little individualized or specialized assistance, thus contributing to disaffection among those who can not conform to its demands or who are otherwise experiencing difficulties. Another problem concerns Japanese children returning from abroad. These students, particularly if they have been overseas for extended periods, often need help in reading and writing — and in adjusting to rigid classroom demands. Even making the adjustment does not guarantee acceptance. Besides having acquired a foreign language, many of these students have also acquired foreign customs of speech, dress, and behavior that mark them as different.

Senior high issues
The upper-secondary curriculum underwent thorough revision in 1989. That year a new Course of Study for Upper-Secondary Schools was announced that was to be phased in beginning with the tenth grade in 1994, followed by the eleventh grade in 1995 and the twelfth grade in 1996. Among noteworthy changes is the requirement that male and female students take a course in home economics. The government is concerned with instilling in all students an awareness of the importance of family life, the roles and responsibilities of family members, the concept of cooperation within the family, and the role of the family in society. The family continues to be an extremely important part of the social infrastructure, and the ministry clearly is interested in maintaining family stability within a changing society. Another change of note was the division of the old social studies course into history-and-geography and civics courses.

National

 * Education in Japan
 * Educational reform in occupied Japan
 * Higher education in Japan

title: Secondary education in Japan


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Secondary education in France

In France, secondary education is in two stages:
 * Collèges cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
 * Lycées provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between the ages of 15 and 18. Pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat (baccalaureate, colloquially known as bac, previously bachot), which can lead to higher education studies or directly to professional life. There are three main types of baccalauréat: the baccalauréat général, baccalauréat technologique and baccalauréat professionnel.

School year
The school year starts in early September and ends in early July. Metropolitan French school holidays are scheduled by the Ministry of Education by dividing the country into three zones (A, B, and C) to prevent overcrowding by family holidaymakers of tourist destinations, such as the Mediterranean coast and ski resorts. Lyon, for example, is in zone A, Marseille is in zone B and Paris and Bordeaux are in zone C.

In contrast to the practice in most other education systems, the school years in France are numbered on a decreasing scale. Thus, pupils begin their secondary education in the sixième (6th class) and transfer to a lycée in the seconde (2nd class). The final year is the terminale.

In French, the word étudiant(e) is usually reserved for university-level students, and collège and lycée students are referred to as élèves (pupils or students in English).

The curriculum (programme officiel) is standardized for all French public institutions. Changes to the programme are made every year by the French Ministry of Education and are published in the Ministry's Bulletin officiel de l'Éducation nationale (BO), the official reference bulletin for educators.

Collège
The collège is the first level of secondary education in the French educational system. A pupil attending collège is called collégien (boy) or collégienne (girl). Men and women teachers at the collège- and lycée-level are called professeur (no official feminine professional form exists in France although the feminine form "professeure" has appeared and seems to be gaining some ground in usage). The City of Paris refers to a collège in English as a "high school".

Entry in sixième occurs directly after the last year of primary school, called Cours moyen deuxième année (CM2). There is no entrance examination into collège, but administrators have established a comprehensive academic examination of students starting in sixième. The purpose of the examination is evaluating pupils' level on being graduated from primary school.

Curriculum
The table at the right details the French curriculum. Along with 3-4 weekly hours of physical education, a typical school week consists of some 26 hours of schooling. French language and literature occupy the most time, 4-5 hours per week, followed by 4 hours per week of mathematics; other subjects occupy 1-3.5 hours per week.

The curriculum is devised by the French Ministry of National Education and applies to all collèges in France and also for AEFE-dependent institutions. Académies and individual schools have little margin for curriculum customisation. Teachers compose syllabi per precise government educational regulations and choose textbooks accordingly, and every major French publishing house has a textbook branch.

Process and purpose
Usually a different professeur or teacher teaches each subject; most teachers teach several different age groups. Collège pupils stay in the same class throughout the school year and in every subject (except for optional courses such as foreign languages, where students from several classes mix), so each year-group is divided into as many classes as necessary. The strong belief in teaching in mixed-ability classes means that streaming occurs only rarely.

Class sizes vary from school to school, but usually range from 20 to 35 pupils. Each class has a professeur principal (main teacher or class tutor) who acts as the link between the teaching staff, administration and pupils.

Ultimately, the collège has the task of preparing students for the advanced subjects of the lycée. At the end of the troisième class, students sit for le diplôme national du brevet, an end-of-collège  examination. The brevet is not required for entrance to the lycée, and passing it does not guarantee that a pupil will progress to the higher-level school.

During the last conseil de classe of the year, held in June, teachers and administrators decide whether or not a pupil can progress to the next grade. In deciding, they evaluate the student's skills, participation, and behaviour. One of three outcomes is possible: A student asked to repeat a grade can appeal said decision. The decision of the appeals council is final.
 * 1) The student progresses to the next grade.
 * 2) His or her redoublement (repeating the year) can be required.
 * 3) He or she can, in specific cases, be offered to skip a grade and be promoted two grades.

Lycée
The lycée is the second and last stage of secondary education in the French educational system. The City of Paris refers to a lycée in English as a "sixth form college". A pupil attending a lycée is a lycéen (masculine) or a lycéenne (feminine).

Until 1959, the term lycée designated a secondary school with a full curriculum (seven years, the present college + lycée) directly under the supervision of the state, then from 1959 to 1963 any secondary school with a full curriculum. Older lycées still include a collège section, so a pupil attending a lycée may actually be a collégien.

At the end of the final year of schooling, most students take the baccalauréat diploma. There are three main types of baccalauréat, which are completely different from each other: the baccalauréat général (general baccalaureate), the baccalauréat technologique (technological baccalaureate), and the baccalauréat professionnel (professional baccalaureate).

Lycées are divided into (i) the lycée général, leading to two or more years of post–baccalauréat studies, (ii) the lycée technologique, leading to short-term studies, and (iii) the lycée professionnel, a vocational qualification leading directly to a particular career. General and technological education courses are provided in "standard" lycées, while vocational courses are provided in separate professional lycées.

In practice, competent pupils at a vocational lycée professionnel can also apply to take short-term, post–baccalauréat studies leading to the Brevet de technicien supérieur (BTS), a vocational qualification. That option is available also to pupils at a lycée général.

General streams (baccalauréat général)
In France, the lycée général is the usual stepping stone to university degrees.

Before 2021, the students of the general baccalaureate chose one of three streams (termed séries) in the penultimate lycée year (S for Sciences; ES for Economics and Social sciences; and L for Literature). During the seconde, students mostly take the same courses, despite having different academic skills and interests, so it is usually thought to be an easier year than either the première or the terminale.

The baccalauréat général examination is different for all three séries, and subjects are weighted according to the course taken.

According to the official statistics, for the 2003–2004 school year, 33 percent of all students chose série S; 19 percent chose série ES; and 11 percent chose série L.

All students take philosophy courses in terminale, while French language classes end in the première, excepting the série L, where they become French literature classes, where pupils are to study two books during the year, from French writers, or foreign books translated into French (e.g. Romeo and Juliet during the school year 2007–2008, or The Leopard from Italian author Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa).

There also is a required option for further specialisation in all séries, although it is restricted to the chosen course. For example, a student in série S can choose to specialise in mathematics, physics, "SVT (biology and geology) or "engineering sciences" but not in philosophy.

A student in série L can choose to specialise in one of his or her foreign languages (English being the most popular), a third foreign language or a dead language such as Latin, or one of the following arts: music, theatre, circus, "plastiques". Specialisation adds a separate, weekly two-hour class in the chosen discipline; also, it increases the weight of the chosen subject at the baccalauréat. The syllabus in the specialisation class is unrelated to the material learned in the common class. Specialisation plays no role in the choice of a post–secondary career or subject at university, except for a few courses aimed for students from a given série that can also accept students from other séries if they have taken a given specialisation.

Starting from the 2020-21 academic year, the S, ES and L streams of the general baccalaureate are deleted. Students of the general baccalaureate now choose three specialty courses, then keep two in the final year. There are 12 specialties (that vary in their availability depending on the school): arts, ecology, history & geography, humanities, languages, literature, mathematics, computer science, physics & chemistry, economic and social sciences, engineering sciences, biology & geology. These specialties are added to a part common to all: French, philosophy, history & geography, languages, sciences, sport. A large part of the examinations are now done over the school year but the students also have final exams in their 2 specialties as well as in philosophy, added to a general oral examination.

Technical streams (baccalauréat technologique)
After the seconde, students can also go on the lycée technologique to obtain the baccalaureat technologique. It includes eight other streams, called séries technologiques:

 * sciences et technologies de la gestion (Management Sciences and Technologies, STG) (replaced sciences et technologies tertiaires (Service Sciences and Technologies, STT) for the June 2007 Bac Exam)
 * sciences et technologies de l'industrie et du développement durable (Industrial Science and Technologies and sustainable development, STI2D)
 * sciences et technologies de laboratoire (Laboratory Science and Technologies, STL)
 * sciences médico-sociales (Health and Social Sciences, SMS): The name was changed in 2007 and became: Sciences et technologies de la santé et du social (Sciences and Technologies in Health and Social, ST2S)
 * sciences et technologies du produit agroalimentaire (Food Science and Technologies, STPA)
 * sciences et technologies de l'agronomie et de l'environnement (Agronomy and Environment Science and Technologies, STAE)
 * techniques de la musique et de la danse (Music and Dance Techniques, TMD)
 * hôtellerie (Hotel and restaurants management)

The STPA and STAE stream are available only in lycées agricoles, speciality schools for agricultural sciences.

The teaching of the lessons is based on inductive reasoning and experimentation. It allows you to work or to pursue short and technical studies (laboratory, design and applied arts, hotel and restaurant, management etc.).

Lycée professionnel
The lycée professionnel leads to the baccalauréat professionnel. The courses are designed for students who do not plan to continue into higher education. The vocational training is for craftspeople and involves internships in commercial enterprises. The courses are suitable for students who are more interested in a hands-on educational approach than in academic schooling. There are nearly 100 specialties, including: Leather crafts; Building technician; Maintenance of industrial equipment; Cooking; Road freight transport driver; Butcher, etc and others.

Carte scolaire
French parents are not free to choose the state school that their children will attend; unless the children have special learning needs, they will attend the school allocated to them by the carte scolaire (school map). Reasons for attending a state school that is not their nearest include studying an option unavailable in the school to which they were originally assigned (e.g. a rare foreign language).

For many reasons, many parents consider the allocated school standards inadequate, the teaching poor, and particularly if they do not like the idea of their children mixing with some of the other pupils at the school. In any city, there are "better" lycées and collèges, which parents would prefer their children attend. The two main methods used in such circumstances to get children into a school other than their assigned school are :

A similar trick is used if some classes in a school are seen as "better" than others. For organisational reasons, students taking certain options are grouped into special classes, which may be academically attractive. They typically include classes taking German as a first foreign language, or Latin or Ancient Greek as options.
 * paying for private schooling;
 * having the child choose an unusual option (e.g. Ancient Greek or Latin) available only in the preferred school.

title: Secondary education in France