School doesn't end when the Lessons are over - School-related Activities, Conversations and Mental Preoccupation during leisure time

Even in the half-day elementary schools, the relevance of lessons and school affairs is not limited to the morning hours. Besides homework and often other tasks that have to be completed for school, students are occupied with conversations and thoughts about school-related topics during their leisure time. Our empirical study investigates in which way and to what extent students are occupied with "school affairs" outside of school hours. We differentiate the students and study different phases of the school year (beginning, mid-year, which is the half-term reporting time, and the end of the year). There were remarkable differences between girls and boys, between third graders and fourth graders and between students of different levels of achievement. These differences are striking both for the additional class-related tasks as well as for school-related conversations and mental preoccupation with school.