Archived: The Educational System in the United States: Case Study Findings

Chapter 4
The Role of School in United
States Adolescents’ Lives
By: Barbara K. Hofer
A Typical Day for an Eight-Grade
Student
The clock radio clicks on and Gabe Marshall wakes to rock music from his favor-
ite radio station. It is 6:30 a.m., and his parents and older sister are also up and
getting ready for the day. Soon his father will catch the train to work, and his
mother will leave to drop his sister at the local high school before she heads to
her office. Gabe gathers his homework from his desk and places it in his back-
pack with other school materials and textbooks. After dressing, eating, and talking
briefly with his mother about a permission slip he needs signed for a field trip,
he waits for his neighbor Matt to meet him for the walk to the nearby middle
school.
When they arrive at school, Gabe and Matt quickly locate their group of friends,
gathered just outside the school building, a large concrete structure built in the
early 1950’s. When the bell rings at 8:00 a.m., students move inside, continuing
their conversations, and head for their lockers to gather the materials needed for
the first part of the day. Then they go to their 20-minute advisory period. In advi-
sory class they listen to morning announcements, some from the principal over
the school loudspeaker and others from the advisory teacher. She reminds the stu-
dents of the upcoming registration for next year’s high school classes and distrib-
utes information to take home to parents about the courses students can choose
to take.
Although they are both eighth-graders, Gabe then heads off to algebra class and
Matt to prealgebra. Because they are part of the same middle school team, they
have most of their other academic classes together, each of which last 45 minutes,

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with 5 minutes between classes. In Gabe’s class, students pass in their homework
and then work in small groups on a series of problems. The teacher periodically
intervenes to keep groups on task, provide further information, and summarize
the material learned. During the next period, in English class, they work in pairs
to edit each other’s essays, and then the teacher introduces the next novel they
will be reading and provides a worksheet to complete on the first chapter.
Science class follows, and Gabe enjoys this most of all; the teacher is introducing
them to chemistry, and Gabe likes the hands-on experiments and the way the
teacher makes them interesting. Today they learn how bases and acids interact
by combining vinegar and baking soda in the making of peanut brittle, which they
also get to eat. At the end of class, the teacher reminds them of an upcoming
test and provides a review sheet of questions to help prepare. Afterwards, Gabe
rushes to his locker to store his books and then to the lunchroom, where he buys
pizza and french fries before joining his friends for lunch. In the afternoon, Gabe
has American history, band, and Spanish. When the final bell rings, he heads back
to the boys’ locker room and changes for an hour of soccer practice.
Gabe reaches home at 4:00 p.m., grabs a snack in the kitchen, calls his mother
at work to check in with her, and then takes off to deliver papers. Gabe has had
a paper route since he was 11. He enjoys having his own money to buy new
games for his computer and to spend on weekends. When he returns home, he
flips on the television and watches until his parents arrive home from work. They
admonish him to begin his homework. He starts his math assignment and reads
an assigned chapter for history, until his mother calls him to set the table for din-
ner. She tells him that there will just be three for dinner tonight, as his sister has
theater practice and won’t be home till late. After dinner, his mother reminds him
to practice his clarinet, and then it is time to watch a couple of favorite TV shows
with his parents. A classmate calls to clarify a homework assignment, and they
talk for several minutes about other things and make plans to meet at a movie
on Saturday. At 9:00 p.m. he heads upstairs to finish his homework and then plays
on his computer for a few minutes before bedtime at 10:00 p.m.