About 56 million students, from kindergarten kids to high school seniors, have gone back to school across the country, and an estimated 56 percent of 3- and 4-year-olds have enrolled in nursery school or pre-K classes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. What does the Class of 2008-09 look like, and what challenges will it face? Let's look inside the numbers:
Where Do They Learn?
In the 2005-06 school year, the U.S. had 97,382 public schools, 28,996 private schools and 3,690 charter schools, according to census data. About 11 percent of elementary through high school students attended private schools that year.
Who Teaches Them?
Your grandchildren will learn from some of the country's 7.1 million teachers. Those teachers earned an average of $49,026 in 2005-06, according to census data. Their jobs were aided (or, some teachers would say, complicated) by 14.2 million computers available for classroom use nationwide, or one for every four students. High school principals earned an average of $92,965 in 2006-07. School-bus drivers earned $15.48 per hour that year, custodians made $13.78 per hour, and cafeteria workers were paid $11.16 per hour.
How Much Does a Public-School Education Cost?
The average annual per-pupil expenditure nationwide in 2006 was $9,138, according to the census. New York had the highest per-pupil costs of any state, at $14,884; Utah had the lowest, at $5,437.
What Will They Study?
In most classrooms, the primary focus will be on math and reading. Since the federal No Child Left Behind program became law in 2002, more students have had to prepare for standardized tests in those subjects. Students' results have sometimes determined the future of their schools, and of their principal's jobs. A recent study by the Center on Education Policy found that since 2002, 62 percent of the country's school systems had added an average of three hours of math or reading instruction a week, while significantly decreasing the amount of time spent on science, art, history, gym, recess, and even lunch.
Are Boys at Risk of Falling Behind?
Some education experts believe they are. In kindergarten classrooms, there are 116 boys enrolled for every 100 girls — but by 12th grade, there are only 98 for every 100. Those are the findings of an analysis of Census Bureau statistics by the advocacy group The Boys Project. Boys are also more than two-and-a-half times as likely as girls to be diagnosed with some form of learning disability.
Will Students Take More Quizzes?
If they are lucky, they will. In one of several recent studies that have prompted a movement for more daily quizzes in school, students were taught new information over several days. Then at the end of each class, they were given either facts to review, a multiple-choice quiz, or a short-answer quiz. Those who got the daily short-answer questions retained the information best in follow-up tests a month later.
What's New in Gym Class?
"Dance Dance Revolution," a video game already popular in U.S. arcades, is becoming part of the nation's phys. ed. curriculum as well. In the game, students stand on special mats and follow directions on a screen as music plays, shifting back and forth and side to side, often furiously fast. Experts hope the game can serve as a "bridge" for overweight kids who dislike team sports, helping them shift from leading a sedentary lifestyle to engaging in more regular physical activity. West Virginia has made the biggest commitment to the game so far, ordering systems for each of its 765 public schools.
Where Are They Eating Dinner?
Hopefully, they're sitting down at home with their parents or grandparents. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, young people who eat dinner with their families at least five times a week are 70 percent less likely to abuse drugs, half as likely to smoke, one-third less likely to drink and more apt to get better grades. CASA reports that 59 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds ate dinner with their families at least five times a week in 2007, compared with only 47 percent in 1998.
How Many Are Smoking?
Fewer young people are smoking than in the past, but still too many. About 28 percent of high school students use tobacco at least occasionally, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and at least 352,661 kids became regular smokers in 2007; the campaign estimates that 112,835 of them will die prematurely from their addiction. Male and female teens smoke in almost equal numbers, and each day, about 4,000 of them smoke for the first time.
How Many Will Graduate High School?
About 3.3 million students will clutch high-school diplomas in spring 2009, according to a Census Bureau estimate.
How Many Will Take the SAT?
More than two million kids will take the SAT during the school year, and at least half of them will take the test in October or November, according to the College Board, which administers the test.
How Many Will Get Into College?
Almost all who try will probably get in. Getting into college is more competitive than ever, but almost 90 percent of graduating seniors will get into their first- or second-choice schools, according to The College Board. There are about 18.4 million students taking classes at the nation's colleges this fall, up from 13.5 million 20 years ago.
What Does College Cost?
Whether your grandchildren go to public or private college, it will cost about twice as much as it did in 1990, according to census data. Annual tuition, and room and board for in-state students at the nation's four-year public colleges and universities runs an average of $14,203; at private colleges, the average annual bill is $38,400. Despite the costs, 46 percent of 18- and 19-year-olds enrolled in college in 2006.
The Bottom Line
Whether grandchildren are nursery-school newbies, or too-cool-for-school teens, they all need your guidance and support, in and out of the classroom. Stay engaged with them, find out what they're learning in school, and when you can, offer them some homework help. And given that those college costs are going nowhere but up, try to put a few dollars away for their college funds, too.
To learn about starting a college-savings account for your grandchild, click here. Elsewhere on Grandparents.com, find surprising suggestions about what young children need to become brilliant, learn what to do if a grandchild is being cyberbullied, discover what grandfathers can teach their grandchildren, read about five ways to get your grandchildren writing, and find out the best ways to praise a grandchild.
