“Back to school” means anything from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the United States you live. According to a recent Pew Research report which was just published, “About 70% of the 46.7 million public school students in the United States were back in class by August 25th.” Depending on where you grew up or live now, your reaction might vary from “That sounds about right,” “Already?” or “What took them so long?”
By August 4th, 4% of the school districts and 7% of the students had returned to class. During the next two weeks, 41 % of the school districts and 54% of the students had returned to the classroom and received a quick refresher course in “reading, writing, and arithmetic.” For some, learning to “sit still” and “not talk” has been a little more difficult.
Schools tend to start earlier in southern regions than farther north, broadly speaking. More than two-thirds of students living in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee went back to school the week of August 7. They joined another 19% of students who had started classes earlier. In the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas, 94% of the students returned to school between August 7 and August 18.
In the six New England states, almost on one goes back to school before the week of August 28. Students in the Middle Atlantic States — New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania — go back even later. About three-quarters didn’t hit the books until after Labor Day.
There are some states which stand apart from the overall trends in their region. In the West North Central region, roughly two-thirds of public school students start classes between August 14 and August 25. However, Minnesota law requires schools to start after Labor Day in most cases.
Some may wonder “Why do start dates vary so much?” Geographic variations are apparent; however, the reasons for them are less clear. State laws certainly play a part. Some establish windows, either by statute or rule, for when school must start. However; even in those states, the rules are fairly loose — merely requiring school to start before a certain date — and waivers for individual districts are not uncommon.
Contrary to popular belief, the school calendar isn’t a relic of the nation’s agrarian past. In fact, into the early 20th century, rural schools typically operated summer and winter sessions. This allowed the children working on farms in the spring and fall to help with planting and harvesting. Schools in the larger communities, on the other hand, were open nearly year-around, though many children attended sporadically or for just part of the year.
Between 1880 and 1920, the calendars of the rural and town schools converged into more or less the pattern we know today. This was driven by such pressures as the shift from one-room school houses to age-graded classrooms, lower attendance in the town schools as family vacations grew in popularity, and cost of keeping schools open all year.
Today, the share of American 9- and 13-year-olds who say they read for fun on a daily basis had dropped from nearly a decade ago. They are at the lowest levels since at least the mid-1980s, according to a survey conducted in late 2019 and early 2020 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
Among both age groups, the percentages who said in the 2019-20 school year that they “read for fun on [their] own time almost every day” were at their lowest points since the question was first asked in 1984. Among 9-year-old students, around four-in-ten (42%) said in 2020 that they read for fun almost every day. This is down from 53% in both 2012 and 1984. The share of 9-year-old who said they never or hardly ever read for fun on their own time was at its highest point since the question was first asked: 16% said this in 2020, compared with 11% in 2012 and 9% in 1984.
Among 13-year-olds surveyed in the 2019-20 school year, 17% said they read for fun almost every day, a small percentage that the 27% who said this in 2012 and roughly half the share (35%) who said this in 1984. About three-in-ten students in this age group (29%) said they never or hardly ever read for fun, up 21 percentage points from the 8% who said the same in 1984. In the 2020 survey of younger children, female students were more likely than male students to say they read for fun.
Oh how things have changed from the days of the one-teacher rural school with grades 1-8. In those days, every student listened (even while working on their own assignments) to each group that was seated up-front on the “recitation bench” next to the teacher.
When finished with their studies, students would go over to the “orange crate” bookshelves and grab a volume of the “Compton’s” or “World Book” encyclopedia to read. The stories were organized in alphabetical order and they were accompanied with several illustrations and a concise description. A well-illustrated atlas and large dictionary were also available for study.
You may not be aware that each article was written with grade level in mind. The first part of each story was printed in larger type and simpler language. As your reading progressed through the story, the print became smaller and the subject matter more complex. For those of you who are still lucky to have a set of those old encyclopedias around the house, check out some of the articles for yourself.
Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on September 13, 2023