How Much Homework is Too Much



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|Argument Issue: |

|Homework |

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|Issue: As the U.S. struggles to keep students competitive in a global economy, there is pressure on schools to raise the level of academic rigor in the classroom |

|and in homework. Consequently, parents often ask for schools to assign more academically rigorous homework. On the other hand, some families feel that too much |

|homework interferes with extra-curricular activities and results in too much stress. |

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|Response: |

|Considering the above argument, explain your position on homework. |

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|Assignment: |

|Annotation- Citing evidence that supports a claim |

|Directions: Annotate the two attached articles about homework. |

|Highlight evidence that supports a side to the argument for and against homework. +=for -=against |

|In the margins, note which side that evidence supports. |

|In the margins, note which pieces of text are the most convincing with an ! |

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Dad Says Not Enough Homework Assigned

Somerville — Somerville dad Herc Kalogeropoulos is not happy with the amount of homework his fifth- and second-grade children get at the Kennedy School.

It’s just not enough, he said.

“What can they do in 45 minutes? Four to five math problems, maybe. What about reading and the rest of it?” Kalogeropoulos said. “I want to know what they are doing in school, and I want homework to be tough. I want them to ask questions and learn more.”

Whether it’s too much homework or too little, parents at the Kennedy School take issue with both. The topic came up last year when some parents felt children were being given too much homework and others felt there ought to be more.

Kalogeropoulos said he recently attended a Kennedy School PTA meeting where he reportedly met several parents and teachers who felt the same way. He said teachers told him that they have been asked to give less homework by the administration.

“Who are these parents asking for less homework — the ones who sit on their couches and watch TV?” Kalogeropoulos said. “If homework is too easy or too little, they are not learning, and a lot of teachers agree with me.”

Kalogeropoulos said one person in the school department asked why he cares because his kids are “A” students anyway. Kalogeropoulos said he’d like to keep it that way. During this conversation, Kalogeropoulos said he was also told, “It’s not your job to teach your kids, it’s the school systems’.”

The Superintendent told the Journal that the district trusts its teachers and principals to honor the spirit and intent of the homework policy. She e-mailed a statement from Kennedy School Principal Ann Foley that explained homework is a way for parents to learn about and connect with what their children are doing in class, and that it is intended to be flexible to meet all learning needs and styles.

Kalogeropoulos begged to differ, and said that kids in the lower grades need at least 90 minutes of homework to actually reinforce and learn.

“The Somerville school system is not the same as say, the town of Newton. We are a melting pot city, and things should be handled differently. If these kids don’t have enough homework, then what will they learn — X-Box, Wii, Playstation?”

How Much Homework is Too Much?

Many districts are recommending 10 minutes a night per grade

Christina Harris doesn't believe kindergartners should have homework. So at the beginning of her son's kindergarten year, she flat-out told the teacher he wouldn't be doing any.

"I don't believe that there's any use for it," said Harris, of Federal Way, Wash. "I think that's a complete waste of childhood."

A grassroots parents movement has taken hold in recent years calling for less — or at least better — homework. Books like The Case Against Homework (Crown, 2006) and The Homework Myth (Da Capo, 2007) have argued that too much of today's homework is mindless busywork that takes away from family time and does not improve academic performance. Homework's critics argue that kids should instead be reading for enjoyment, exploring and being creative.

Many school officials are taking note.

But how much homework is too much?

One standard that many school districts are turning to is the "10-minute rule" created by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper. The rule, endorsed by the National PTA and the National Education Association, says kids should get 10 minutes of homework a night per grade. A first grader would have 10 minutes of homework each night; a fifth grader 50 minutes.

Cooper said the amount of homework in America actually hasn't changed that much over the past 50 years except that there has been an increase in the amount given in the early grades.

Attitudes towards homework go in cycles, he said. After the Soviet launch of Sputnik in 1957, he says, there was a drive toward more homework because it was thought that the United States was falling behind. The same happened in the mid-'80s, and again in recent years.

Kerry Dickinson, a Danville, Calif., mom of two, took that advice a step further. She asked other parents what they thought about homework, then she and a friend met with the school district's director of curriculum and instruction. She got a call days later saying the San Ramon Valley Unified School District was forming a task force to rewrite homework policy.

Last year, the district implemented a new policy, adapting Cooper's formula, for kindergarten through eighth grade. A new high school policy will take effect in the fall.

Some Danville parents, however, thought the old homework policy was fine.

Mary Grace Houlihan, who has two teenagers, says attempts to limit homework can amount to lazy parenting: "At what point do you start saying, whoa, I decided to be a parent and learning doesn't stop at 3 o'clock?"

In her home, she said, homework often turns into a family discussion. Learning outside the classroom is necessary for students to be accepted into major universities, says Houlihan, whose daughter was just accepted to Princeton.

Cooper's research found that practice-style assignments in elementary school, such as learning number places and vocabulary, do help improve unit test scores, but found little or no connection between the amount of time spent on homework and academic achievement. Homework does help secondary students overall and on tests, he said.

Other places that have wrestled with the homework question recently include Broward County, Fla., where the school board recently approved the 10-minute rule, and urged teachers to assign academically challenging work, but not too much. An elementary school in Glenrock, Wyo., implemented a no-homework practice in fall 2007.

In Vermont, the Colchester School District now makes homework count for only 10 percent of a grade, instead of the previous 40 percent. And no longer are kids kept in from recess if they don't do their homework.

"It helped us really define what our purpose is," said Gwen Carmolli, Colchester's director of curriculum and instruction. "Our purpose is to help students understand the concepts they're learning at school. But we shouldn't give homework just to give it."

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