DETROIT -- Detroit students will begin their studies before school officially starts this year with homework assignments sent to them through the mail.
More than 28,600 third- through eighth-graders will receive educational activity books with assignments that must be turned in on Sept. 7 -- the first day of school.
Historically, little real classroom work has been done on the first of day of school because many students haven't yet been enrolled and aren't in class.
The Detroit Public Schools are trying to change that and set the tone for a more challenging curriculum, Assistant Superintendent Karen Ridgeway said.
The 62-page booklets will be mailed in a back-to-school packet that contains school assignments, immunization updates and other information. The booklets contain literacy exercises and activities that emphasize subjects that some students have had difficulty with on standardized tests, such as the Michigan Educational Assessment Program -- or MEAP.
The exercises include word searches and puzzles designed for students at each grade level.
Teachers will use the booklets as their first lessons.
"We want to change the culture of the classroom and place more emphasis on the importance of attending class on the first day of school," Ridgeway said in a statement. "The exercises are fun and educational, and we invite parents and students to work on them together."
Detroit students routinely score below others in the state on tests like the MEAP. This past school year, about 40 percent of Detroit eighth-graders scored proficient or better on math tests, compared to 70 percent statewide.
Forty of the 92 schools on what Michigan calls its "persistently lowest achieving schools" list are in Detroit's public school district.
The district is closing some underperforming schools, replacing more than half the staff in some buildings and changing the curriculum in others.