American higher education is charactetrised by flexibility, differentiation and individualization, the use of a wide range of innovative technologies and programmes, the ability to quickly adapt to the requirements of practice. This significantly affects the quality and efficiency of training of higher education teachers and ensuring their competitiveness in the labor market. The purpose of the article is to study the forms and methods of formation of research competence of future high school teachers in the USA. Research methods used: analysis, synthesis, generalization, scientific interpretation of pedagogical facts and phenomena, study of documents. The research competence of a future high school teacher is an integral quality of personality that reflects the unity of theoretical and practical readiness of a teacher for scientific research work aimed at transforming pedagogical practice and provides the ability to independently, responsibly, proactively solve research problems in the professional activity. Components of research competence are: professional research competence, competence of scientific communication, educational competence. Professional research competence characterizes the formation of professional knowledge of scientific researches, as well as the level of formation of research skills and abilities. The competence of scientific communication enables effective communication of researchers in their professional activity, forms the ability to establish and maintain contacts in the scientific circles. Educational competence is aimed at forming in teachers-researchers the ability to effectively manage their activities, the ability to optimally and competently regulate its content, scope etc. The formation of research competence of a future high school teacher takes place during the professional training through the use of certain forms and methods: lectures and seminars based on the model of «learning as research», practice, individual, group and independent work, consultations, implementation of scientific research, projects, case study, portfolio, cognitive workshop, simulation, self-assessment maps, reflective analysis, etc.