American tradition of intellectual competitions: contests and Olympiads

Importance. The Olympiad movement is gaining popularity around the world, attracting the attention of schoolchildren as a reliable tool for self-development and study of subjects at an increased level. The problem of the study is the analysis of foreign practices of organizing intellectual competitions for schoolchildren, in the context of the development of creative abilities of students. The focus of our attention is the national ecosystem of the implementation of intellectual competitions in the United States. The purpose of our study is refracted in identifying the peculiarities of the implementation of these competitive events in the American tradition, while the relevance is due to the success of the US teams at international olympiads.Materials and methods. Methodologically, we rely on the principles of systemic, de-factional and cultural approaches. Among the theoretical methods we used are the study of scientific literature on the topic, including in English; generalization, categorization, comparative analysis, as well as analysis of US legal acts in the field of education, and websites of operators of intellectual competitions.Results. As a result of the study, a number of features of the American system for the selection and development of talented schoolchildren in school were established, among the features were the decentralization of the organization of competitions and the widespread introduction of team competitions.Conclusion. The novelty of the study is refracted in the study of the features of the competitive and Olympiad movement in the United States at the present stage. The theoretical significance lies in the increase in pedagogical knowledge about foreign education in the implementation of the Olympiad movement, at the practical level, the obtained data can be adapted and introduced into domestic practices for finding talented youth.