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Pro/Con and Essential QuestionShould homework be abolished?Yes. Homework disrupts family time.No. Homework helps improve academic performance.At Issue: HomeworkHomework and Parents |Homework is a source of stress in many American households. This stress is compounded when both parents work or in single-parent households. Students are also busier than ever with after-school activities including sports, music lessons and part-time jobs, which leave little time for hours of homework. However, school reform movements like the No Child Left Behind Act that require schools to show improvement in student performance or lose funding make it more likely that homework is not going away. The National PTA and the National Education Association both endorse the "10-minute rule" created by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper. This rule says that students should get 10 minutes of homework a night per grade-a first grader would have 10 minutes of homework, a second grader 20 minutes, and so on. Critics of homework argue that too much of it is busywork that has little academic value.Perspectives"The kind of homework matters as much as the amount--it should help students master the subject and spark their imagination, while leaving time for other activities."--Dennis Van Roekel, President, National Education AssociationHow Much Homework Should Students Have?"Don't just quibble about how much homework. Ask why kids must work a second shift at home since research finds that homework before high school yields absolutely no benefits."--Alfie Kohn, Author, The Homework MythHow Much Homework Should Students Have?Newsday (Long Island, NY) Aug 24, 2012, n.p. Less Is More When It Comes to HomeworkBy Anne Michaud ?As school doors swing open, it will be time once again to engage the homework battles. A major front, every year, is the parents’ complaint that schools give too much homework. This campaign has received recent reinforcement with the publication of “Teach Your Children Well” by Madeline Levine, a psychologist who treats adolescents in affluent Marin County, Calif. Levine says that high-pressure parenting with Ivy League goals can leave kids feeling empty inside. Family rituals that generate enthusiasm and contentment are being lost.?Canada has gotten this message. The nation’s education minister has directed schools to make sure students are not overloaded. Toronto schools, with nearly 300,000 kids, have limited elementary school homework to reading, eliminated holiday homework and adopted language endorsing the value of family time. U.S. schools also are experimenting with reduced homework, but there is no national directive like in Canada.?The Banks County Middle School in Homer, Ga., stopped assigning regular homework in 2005. Grades are up, and so are results on statewide tests. The Kino School, a private K-12 school in Tucson, Ariz., allows time for homework during the school day. Kids can get help with the work if they need it, or spend the time socializing and do their homework later. Giving kids this choice teaches them to manage their time.?Not all the experiments are positive, though. In the 2010-2011 school year, the schools in Irving, Texas, stopped counting homework as part of a student’s grade. After six weeks, more than half the high school students were failing a class--a huge increase. The kids seem to lack the judgment and experience to know on their own when additional studying or work outside class is needed in order to pass tests and complete projects.?There ought to be a middle ground. Mandating “no homework” days or weekends, or setting guidelines for how much time children should spend on homework according to their age, seems reasonable. One leading researcher, Harris Cooper at Duke University, recommends 10 minutes of homework a night for each grade a child is in. In other words, 10 minutes in first grade, 30 minutes in third grade, etc. For middle school and high school students, Cooper found no academic gains after one-and-a-half to two hours of homework a night.?Couldn’t teachers assign homework only when the work really can’t be accomplished in school? Say, for a project where kids are interviewing various people on a topic??Cutting back on homework can make the difference in whether some students even attempt the assignment. And teachers who assign large amounts of homework are often unable to do anything more than spot-check it. Shouldn’t teachers have the time to read homework closely, so they can see whether kids are learning??One problem is that parents have trouble even finding out what the assignment is. This sounds straightforward, but parents for the most part only know what kids tell them. In this digital age, schools should communicate better. Poorly thought-out assignments can make students cynical about school and crush their love of learning. I’m sure you’ve heard the perennial question, “Am I really going to use this after I graduate?”?Some countries teach their children well without much homework. In Finland, for example, which ranks near the top in science worldwide, a half-hour of homework in high school is the norm.?Like many things in life, homework may be a case where less really is more.NewspaperAsbury Park Press (Asbury Park, NJ) Sep 10, 2013,?n.p. Copyright ? 2013 Asbury Park Press NJ. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Does Homework Work?Only If It's Meaningful ?By Dr. John W. Griffith ?Homework is a subject that evokes passion and controversy not just among children but also their parents. Ironically, homework is a practice that is almost synonymous with schooling, and yet few methodological studies of the benefits have been done. ?Critics cite the impact on family life and extracurricular activities, the lack of empirical data to support benefits, the impact on sleep-deprivation, and a disconnect between what students do in class and what they do at home. Daniel Pink, in his book "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," advises that in order for children to be motivated to learn through homework, we need to make homework meaningful, ensure that it promotes mastery, try to make it creative and engaging, and clearly define its purpose. ?A rationale for homework lies in the argument for the development of good lifelong habits--a compelling line of thought which argues that homework prepares students for careers in which assignments do not typically fit into a set period. Basic skills such as grammar, spelling and multiplication tables require drill, and the length of the school day may not allow sufficient time for this in class. ?Moreover, learning how to begin projects, search for answers, and solve problems are skills that adults use daily and must be learned early through homework. ?Although some say homework impinges on family life, anecdotal evidence suggests that sometimes the opposite is true. ?Parents who are partners in the educational process have a positive influence on their children and can reinforce the benefits of education. Homework can provide an opportunity for parents to work with their children and demonstrate interest in what students do at school. ?Of course, we also hear parents lament not only the amount of homework but also confess their frustration at not being able to help adequately with the work--especially in subjects like math. ?Since Ranney School is an early childhood (beginning at age 3) through 12th-grade school, we are very conscious of the whole continuum and the way in which homework develops gradually and increases appropriately over time. In a school known for academic rigor, there is danger in the proverbial arms race over homework, as students move through multiple Advanced Placement courses that require a substantial commitment. ?Yet, even in the upper grades, quality of homework, not quantity, should be our default as educators. If a math concept can be appropriately demonstrated and mastered in 10 problems, more may be redundant and even counterproductive. Differentiation and individualization of instruction further help us to see that one student may be required to do more problems than another before achieving mastery. ?As an English teacher for many years, I find the idea of not providing readings on most nights to be anathema to the reading habits I want students to develop for college and a life beyond it. I also think that reflection and some modest writing (in blogs and wikis, and the like) can serve a great purpose, and that this can be achieved both in and out of class. Some faculty are even moving toward the "flipped" classroom model, where much of the traditional content that we are used to seeing in the classroom is reversed, so that students do much of the "homework" with the guided assistance of faculty. Again, while these innovative experiments have provoked great discussion, the proverbial jury is still out on their success. ?The task we all face as educators is to assign purposeful homework, designed so that students will complete it, involving parents in appropriate ways and carefully monitoring the amount (and the age at which it is assigned) so that it is meaningful. I am very conscious of this as the parent of a preschooler at Ranney. There needs to be an appropriate balance. Homework can help students learn how to prioritize, make choices, and organize. ?If we are reminded of anything, though, it is that inappropriate homework may produce little or no benefit. Our schools need to ensure that homework is a tool used effectively and properly. As teachers, we need to continually examine all our practices, and change and refine them as appropriate. The debate about homework is a discussion well worth having, both inside and outside of schools. ................
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