The Homework Debate
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/3/8/14382586/4670336.gif?1)
By Johanna Sorrentino
Every school day brings something new, but there is one status quo most parents expect: homework. The old adage that practice makes perfect seems to make sense when it comes to schoolwork. But, while hunkering down after dinner amongst books and worksheets might seem like a natural part of childhood, there's more research now than ever suggesting that it shouldn't be so.
Many in the education field today are looking for evidence to support the case for homework, but are coming up empty-handed. “Homework is all pain and no gain,” says author Alfie Kohn. In his book The Homework Myth, Kohn points out that no study has ever found a correlation between homework and academic achievement in elementary school, and there is little reason to believe that homework is necessary in high school. In fact, it may even diminish interest in learning, says Kohn.
If you've ever had a late night argument with your child about completing homework, you probably know first-hand that homework can be a strain on families. In an effort to reduce that stress, there are a growing number of schools which are banning homework.
Mary Jane Cera is the academic administrator for the Kino School, a private, nonprofit kindergarten through 12th grade school in Tucson, AZ which maintains a no homework policy across all grades. The purpose of the policy is to make sure learning remains a joy for their students, not a second shift of work that impedes social time and creative activity. Cera says that when new students are told there will be no homework assignments, they breathe a sigh of relief.
Many proponents of homework argue that life is filled with things we don't like to do, and that homework teaches self-discipline, time management and other nonacademic life skills. Kohn challenges this popular notion: If kids have no choice in the matter of homework, they're not really exercising judgment, and are instead losing their sense of autonomy.
At the Kino school, Cera says children often choose to take their favorite parts of school home. “A lot of what we see kids doing is continuing to write in journals, practicing music with their friends, and taking experiments home to show their parents,” she says. Anecdotal information from Kino graduates suggests that the early control over their education continues to serve them well into college; they feel better equipped to manage their time and approach professors with questions.
One of the reasons that we continue to dole out mountains of homework, Kohn says, is our obsession with standardized tests. This concern is especially relevant with the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results placing American students 25th in math and 21st in science. “The standards and accountability craze that has our students in its grip argues for getting tougher with children, making them do more mindless worksheets at earlier ages so that we can score higher in international assessments,” Kohn says. “It's not about learning, it's about winning.”Even if we can agree to the importance of kids doing better on tests like PISA, Kohn says, there is no research to suggest that homework is our ticket to success: our “competitors” in the global marketplace are coming up with the same conclusions about homework. A recent comparative study of kids in China, Japan and two U.S. cities shows there is no correlation between time spent on studying and academic achievement.So, what's the solution? The National Parent Teacher Association suggests children in kindergarten through second grade should do homework for no more than 10-20 minutes a day, and for third through sixth graders the limit is 30-60 minutes a day. Kohn says the question isn't just "How much homework is too much?" Many parents would be delighted if teachers reduced the amount their children are getting, but he says the quality of those assignments needs to be addressed as well. “Some of this stuff isn't worth two minutes of their children's time.”
Kohn believes that the “default” setting for schools should be no homework, but that if evening work was assigned on occasion, it better be for a good reason. That means repetitive practice problems from 500-page textbooks get tossed out the window. Instead, Kohn says parents should be asking two fundamental questions:
Wherever the homework debate goes next, be it the front pages or on the back burner, it's worth taking a moment to examine if we're asking the right questions about our child's education. The good news is, it's never too late to start.
For more information on Alfie Kohn and his latest book, The Homework Myth, visit www.alfiekohn.org
Photo above found at http://suburbanrobin.blogspot.com/2012/10/helping-children-with-adhd-tackle.html
Every school day brings something new, but there is one status quo most parents expect: homework. The old adage that practice makes perfect seems to make sense when it comes to schoolwork. But, while hunkering down after dinner amongst books and worksheets might seem like a natural part of childhood, there's more research now than ever suggesting that it shouldn't be so.
Many in the education field today are looking for evidence to support the case for homework, but are coming up empty-handed. “Homework is all pain and no gain,” says author Alfie Kohn. In his book The Homework Myth, Kohn points out that no study has ever found a correlation between homework and academic achievement in elementary school, and there is little reason to believe that homework is necessary in high school. In fact, it may even diminish interest in learning, says Kohn.
If you've ever had a late night argument with your child about completing homework, you probably know first-hand that homework can be a strain on families. In an effort to reduce that stress, there are a growing number of schools which are banning homework.
Mary Jane Cera is the academic administrator for the Kino School, a private, nonprofit kindergarten through 12th grade school in Tucson, AZ which maintains a no homework policy across all grades. The purpose of the policy is to make sure learning remains a joy for their students, not a second shift of work that impedes social time and creative activity. Cera says that when new students are told there will be no homework assignments, they breathe a sigh of relief.
Many proponents of homework argue that life is filled with things we don't like to do, and that homework teaches self-discipline, time management and other nonacademic life skills. Kohn challenges this popular notion: If kids have no choice in the matter of homework, they're not really exercising judgment, and are instead losing their sense of autonomy.
At the Kino school, Cera says children often choose to take their favorite parts of school home. “A lot of what we see kids doing is continuing to write in journals, practicing music with their friends, and taking experiments home to show their parents,” she says. Anecdotal information from Kino graduates suggests that the early control over their education continues to serve them well into college; they feel better equipped to manage their time and approach professors with questions.
One of the reasons that we continue to dole out mountains of homework, Kohn says, is our obsession with standardized tests. This concern is especially relevant with the latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results placing American students 25th in math and 21st in science. “The standards and accountability craze that has our students in its grip argues for getting tougher with children, making them do more mindless worksheets at earlier ages so that we can score higher in international assessments,” Kohn says. “It's not about learning, it's about winning.”Even if we can agree to the importance of kids doing better on tests like PISA, Kohn says, there is no research to suggest that homework is our ticket to success: our “competitors” in the global marketplace are coming up with the same conclusions about homework. A recent comparative study of kids in China, Japan and two U.S. cities shows there is no correlation between time spent on studying and academic achievement.So, what's the solution? The National Parent Teacher Association suggests children in kindergarten through second grade should do homework for no more than 10-20 minutes a day, and for third through sixth graders the limit is 30-60 minutes a day. Kohn says the question isn't just "How much homework is too much?" Many parents would be delighted if teachers reduced the amount their children are getting, but he says the quality of those assignments needs to be addressed as well. “Some of this stuff isn't worth two minutes of their children's time.”
Kohn believes that the “default” setting for schools should be no homework, but that if evening work was assigned on occasion, it better be for a good reason. That means repetitive practice problems from 500-page textbooks get tossed out the window. Instead, Kohn says parents should be asking two fundamental questions:
- Does this assignment make kids more excited about the topic and learning in general?
- Does this assignment help kids to think more deeply about questions that matter?
Wherever the homework debate goes next, be it the front pages or on the back burner, it's worth taking a moment to examine if we're asking the right questions about our child's education. The good news is, it's never too late to start.
For more information on Alfie Kohn and his latest book, The Homework Myth, visit www.alfiekohn.org
Photo above found at http://suburbanrobin.blogspot.com/2012/10/helping-children-with-adhd-tackle.html
The Myth About Homework
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/3/8/14382586/932110.jpg?385)
Sachem was the last straw. Or was it Kiva? My 12-year-old daughter and I had been drilling social-studies key words for more than an hour. It was 11 p.m. Our entire evening had, as usual, consisted of homework and conversations (a.k.a. nagging) about homework. She was tired and fed up. I was tired and fed up. The words wouldn't stick. They meant nothing to her. They didn't mean much to me either. After all, when have I ever used sachem in a sentence--until just now?
As the summer winds down, I'm dreading scenes like that one from seventh grade. Already the carefree August nights have given way to meaningful conversations (a.k.a. nagging) about the summer reading that didn't get done. So what could be more welcome than two new books assailing this bane of modern family life: The Homework Myth (Da Capo Press; 243 pages), by Alfie Kohn, the prolific, perpetual critic of today's test-driven schools, and The Case Against Homework (Crown; 290 pages), a cri de coeur by two moms, lawyer Sara Bennett and journalist Nancy Kalish.
Both books cite studies, surveys, statistics, along with some hair-raising anecdotes, on how a rising tide of dull, useless assignments is oppressing families and making kids hate learning. A few highlights from the books and my own investigation:
• According to a 2004 national survey of 2,900 American children conducted by the University of Michigan, the amount of time spent on homework is up 51% since 1981.
• Most of that increase reflects bigger loads for little kids. An academic study found that whereas students ages 6 to 8 did an average of 52 min. of homework a week in 1981, they were toiling 128 min. weekly by 1997. And that's before No Child Left Behind kicked in. An admittedly less scientific poll of parents conducted this year for AOL and the Associated Press found that elementary school students were averaging 78 min. a night.
• The onslaught comes despite the fact that an exhaustive review by the nation's top homework scholar, Duke University's Harris Cooper, concluded that homework does not measurably improve academic achievement for kids in grade school. That's right: all the sweat and tears do not make Johnny a better reader or mathematician.
• Too much homework brings diminishing returns. Cooper's analysis of dozens of studies found that kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 min. a night in middle school and more than 2 hr. in high school is associated with, gulp, lower scores.
• Teachers in many of the nations that outperform the U.S. on student achievement tests--such as Japan, Denmark and the Czech Republic--tend to assign less homework than American teachers, but instructors in low-scoring countries like Greece, Thailand and Iran tend to pile it on.
Success on standardized tests is, of course, only one measure of learning--and only one purported goal of homework. Educators, including Cooper, tend to defend homework by saying it builds study habits, self-discipline and time-management skills. But there's also evidence that homework sours kids' attitudes toward school. "It's one thing to say we are wasting kids' time and straining parent-kid relationships," Kohn told me, "but what's unforgivable is if homework is damaging our kids' interest in learning, undermining their curiosity."Kohn's solution is radical: he wants a no-homework policy to become the default, with exceptions for tasks like interviewing parents on family history, kitchen chemistry and family reading.Or, in a nation in which 71% of mothers of kids under 18 are in the workforce, how about extending the school day or year beyond its agrarian-era calendar? Let students do more work at school and save evenings for family and serendipity.
Bennett and Kalish have a more modest proposal. Parents should demand a sensible homework policy, perhaps one based on Cooper's rule of thumb: 10 min. a night per grade level. They offer lessons from their own battle to rein in the workload at their kids' private middle school in Brooklyn, N.Y. Among their victories: a nightly time limit, a policy of no homework over vacations, no more than two major tests a week, fewer weekend assignments and no Monday tests.
Why don't more parents in homework-heavy districts take such actions? Do too many of us think it's just our child who is struggling, so who are we to lead a revolt? Yup, when it comes to the battle of homework mountain, we've got too many Indians and not enough sachems.
Photo above found at http://www.eumom.ie/blog/index.php/homework-fun-or-fury/
As the summer winds down, I'm dreading scenes like that one from seventh grade. Already the carefree August nights have given way to meaningful conversations (a.k.a. nagging) about the summer reading that didn't get done. So what could be more welcome than two new books assailing this bane of modern family life: The Homework Myth (Da Capo Press; 243 pages), by Alfie Kohn, the prolific, perpetual critic of today's test-driven schools, and The Case Against Homework (Crown; 290 pages), a cri de coeur by two moms, lawyer Sara Bennett and journalist Nancy Kalish.
Both books cite studies, surveys, statistics, along with some hair-raising anecdotes, on how a rising tide of dull, useless assignments is oppressing families and making kids hate learning. A few highlights from the books and my own investigation:
• According to a 2004 national survey of 2,900 American children conducted by the University of Michigan, the amount of time spent on homework is up 51% since 1981.
• Most of that increase reflects bigger loads for little kids. An academic study found that whereas students ages 6 to 8 did an average of 52 min. of homework a week in 1981, they were toiling 128 min. weekly by 1997. And that's before No Child Left Behind kicked in. An admittedly less scientific poll of parents conducted this year for AOL and the Associated Press found that elementary school students were averaging 78 min. a night.
• The onslaught comes despite the fact that an exhaustive review by the nation's top homework scholar, Duke University's Harris Cooper, concluded that homework does not measurably improve academic achievement for kids in grade school. That's right: all the sweat and tears do not make Johnny a better reader or mathematician.
• Too much homework brings diminishing returns. Cooper's analysis of dozens of studies found that kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 min. a night in middle school and more than 2 hr. in high school is associated with, gulp, lower scores.
• Teachers in many of the nations that outperform the U.S. on student achievement tests--such as Japan, Denmark and the Czech Republic--tend to assign less homework than American teachers, but instructors in low-scoring countries like Greece, Thailand and Iran tend to pile it on.
Success on standardized tests is, of course, only one measure of learning--and only one purported goal of homework. Educators, including Cooper, tend to defend homework by saying it builds study habits, self-discipline and time-management skills. But there's also evidence that homework sours kids' attitudes toward school. "It's one thing to say we are wasting kids' time and straining parent-kid relationships," Kohn told me, "but what's unforgivable is if homework is damaging our kids' interest in learning, undermining their curiosity."Kohn's solution is radical: he wants a no-homework policy to become the default, with exceptions for tasks like interviewing parents on family history, kitchen chemistry and family reading.Or, in a nation in which 71% of mothers of kids under 18 are in the workforce, how about extending the school day or year beyond its agrarian-era calendar? Let students do more work at school and save evenings for family and serendipity.
Bennett and Kalish have a more modest proposal. Parents should demand a sensible homework policy, perhaps one based on Cooper's rule of thumb: 10 min. a night per grade level. They offer lessons from their own battle to rein in the workload at their kids' private middle school in Brooklyn, N.Y. Among their victories: a nightly time limit, a policy of no homework over vacations, no more than two major tests a week, fewer weekend assignments and no Monday tests.
Why don't more parents in homework-heavy districts take such actions? Do too many of us think it's just our child who is struggling, so who are we to lead a revolt? Yup, when it comes to the battle of homework mountain, we've got too many Indians and not enough sachems.
Photo above found at http://www.eumom.ie/blog/index.php/homework-fun-or-fury/
The Homework Debate- Finding Common Ground
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/3/8/14382586/7705388.gif?228)
The Homework Debate By Peter DeWitt on February 25, 2012 10:38 AM
Sometimes parents want to help their children with homework but may not know the "right" way or newest way of doing it, which could be counterproductive to getting it done correctly.
Why do teachers believe that homework is so important? Is it really important at all? Do teachers believe that whatever they teach is so extraordinary that students must continue to work on assignments at home as well as school? Or, are administrators making top-down decisions that homework must be a part of a student's nightly practice? Is homework being used to teach students time management techniques? Whatever the reason, homework still continues to be a hot topic among educators and parents.
Like any good debate, the one over homework has valid points on both sides. When done correctly, homework can be an extension of school where students continue to work on projects from home that they began in the classroom. Some assignments are so engaging to students that they want to continue doing research when they go home. It can also provide parents with important insight into what their children are doing in the classroom.
Unfortunately, if homework is an evening of worksheets it can be a chore more than a learning experience. Some educators send home homework because it is what they have always done. It's important to keep in mind that the homework that is sent home provides parents a window into their classroom. If teachers are sending home worksheets or other homework that is more boring than engaging, the parents may think their child's classroom provides the same experience during the day.
For students who struggle with school, homework can be an extension of the agony they feel on a daily basis. When a student struggles during the day, that struggling doesn't magically disappear when they get home. Sometimes their parents struggle as well, and they cannot provide assistance to their child. Homework can act as a reminder of what they do not know and it's easier to not complete the homework than it is to complete it. Asking students to do more of the same will not make them better at it.
The Homework Routine
When I began teaching, my principal made classroom teachers give homework based on the student's grade (kindergarten was ten minutes, first grade was twenty minutes, etc.). I taught first grade so we had to give about twenty minutes of homework every night. Twenty minutes was easy, after all it was important for students to review what we did during the day. Unfortunately, I found out weeks later that some students struggled for an hour each night with the homework that was supposed to be twenty minutes. Other students got through it on the bus and never had to complete it at home.
Parents didn't want to tell me that their child was struggling with homework because that could potentially mean that there was something wrong with their child. As much as I asked parents to write a note on top of the paper if their children became frustrated, they did not follow that direction.
We also had to give homework packets for vacation. When the students left for holiday, winter or spring break, they left with a packet of worksheets and a journal. After a few years of this practice a parent, who also happened to be a teaching assistant, told me she would not allow her child to complete the assignment because that was their special time with one another. She assured me that they did other types of educational work together, and the school need not send anything home.
Other parents were not as honest but they were very savvy. The students went all vacation without doing anything and then two days before they went back to school they sat down to complete the packet. I would hang a lot of it up on the wall because I wanted it to seem relevant, but even I felt it was merely busy work to do during the week.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are times when parents get mad at educators for not giving their children enough homework. Those parents believe homework prepares their children for the future. They also ask for extra worksheets if their child is high achieving. That can potentially add to a child's dislike of school.
In the End
Homework succumbs to outside influences. Teachers and students may control their classroom environment but they do not control the home environment of their students. What may be easy to complete during the day may be a chore for the student at home. Teachers and administrators need to understand that the point of giving homework is not a routine, but relevant practice for what their students are doing in the classroom.
Homework, if given at all, needs to be engaging for a student. If the student is the only one completing it at home, then it should certainly be student-centered because that will increase the likelihood that it will get done at all. The point, however, is to not give students something to do at night as busy work, because they can find their own engaging activities which can be more important to their development than homework.
Things to Remember:
Photo above found at http://ftriver.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-still-need-books-for-book-swap.html
Sometimes parents want to help their children with homework but may not know the "right" way or newest way of doing it, which could be counterproductive to getting it done correctly.
Why do teachers believe that homework is so important? Is it really important at all? Do teachers believe that whatever they teach is so extraordinary that students must continue to work on assignments at home as well as school? Or, are administrators making top-down decisions that homework must be a part of a student's nightly practice? Is homework being used to teach students time management techniques? Whatever the reason, homework still continues to be a hot topic among educators and parents.
Like any good debate, the one over homework has valid points on both sides. When done correctly, homework can be an extension of school where students continue to work on projects from home that they began in the classroom. Some assignments are so engaging to students that they want to continue doing research when they go home. It can also provide parents with important insight into what their children are doing in the classroom.
Unfortunately, if homework is an evening of worksheets it can be a chore more than a learning experience. Some educators send home homework because it is what they have always done. It's important to keep in mind that the homework that is sent home provides parents a window into their classroom. If teachers are sending home worksheets or other homework that is more boring than engaging, the parents may think their child's classroom provides the same experience during the day.
For students who struggle with school, homework can be an extension of the agony they feel on a daily basis. When a student struggles during the day, that struggling doesn't magically disappear when they get home. Sometimes their parents struggle as well, and they cannot provide assistance to their child. Homework can act as a reminder of what they do not know and it's easier to not complete the homework than it is to complete it. Asking students to do more of the same will not make them better at it.
The Homework Routine
When I began teaching, my principal made classroom teachers give homework based on the student's grade (kindergarten was ten minutes, first grade was twenty minutes, etc.). I taught first grade so we had to give about twenty minutes of homework every night. Twenty minutes was easy, after all it was important for students to review what we did during the day. Unfortunately, I found out weeks later that some students struggled for an hour each night with the homework that was supposed to be twenty minutes. Other students got through it on the bus and never had to complete it at home.
Parents didn't want to tell me that their child was struggling with homework because that could potentially mean that there was something wrong with their child. As much as I asked parents to write a note on top of the paper if their children became frustrated, they did not follow that direction.
We also had to give homework packets for vacation. When the students left for holiday, winter or spring break, they left with a packet of worksheets and a journal. After a few years of this practice a parent, who also happened to be a teaching assistant, told me she would not allow her child to complete the assignment because that was their special time with one another. She assured me that they did other types of educational work together, and the school need not send anything home.
Other parents were not as honest but they were very savvy. The students went all vacation without doing anything and then two days before they went back to school they sat down to complete the packet. I would hang a lot of it up on the wall because I wanted it to seem relevant, but even I felt it was merely busy work to do during the week.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are times when parents get mad at educators for not giving their children enough homework. Those parents believe homework prepares their children for the future. They also ask for extra worksheets if their child is high achieving. That can potentially add to a child's dislike of school.
In the End
Homework succumbs to outside influences. Teachers and students may control their classroom environment but they do not control the home environment of their students. What may be easy to complete during the day may be a chore for the student at home. Teachers and administrators need to understand that the point of giving homework is not a routine, but relevant practice for what their students are doing in the classroom.
Homework, if given at all, needs to be engaging for a student. If the student is the only one completing it at home, then it should certainly be student-centered because that will increase the likelihood that it will get done at all. The point, however, is to not give students something to do at night as busy work, because they can find their own engaging activities which can be more important to their development than homework.
Things to Remember:
- The same homework assignment can take a short or long period to complete depending on the ability of the student
- Not all home environments are conducive for completing homework
- Students who struggle in school will continue to struggle on homework. The magic of a higher reading ability or math ability doesn't happen when they walk in their house
- Just because the teacher or parent had homework when they were younger doesn't mean the students have to have homework as well. If educators want students to change with the times, their assignments have to change with the times as well.
- Test prep should never be given for homework. It's boring and sends the message that all the school thinks about is achieving high marks on a test.
- Sometimes parents want to help their children with homework but may not know the "right" way or newest way of doing it, which could be counterproductive to getting it done correctly.
Photo above found at http://ftriver.blogspot.com/2012/03/we-still-need-books-for-book-swap.html
Website Resources
Picture above found at http://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2008/09/03/my-mom-ate-my-homework/
SF Gate- "My Mom ate my homework"
http://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2008/09/03/my-mom-ate-my-homework/
The first website is a blog written by a mom, Kelly Mills, who hates homework. She talks about her dislike for homework. She says kids need to play and be kids and be involved in sports and art. She talks about how Barak Obama said that parents should turn off the TV and help with homework, but how she doesn’t even agree that kids should have as much homework as they do. Kelly talks about how she can make since of the research papers, but doesn’t understand the ditto sheets and making kids read (Mills, K. 2008, September 3).
The Great Homework Debate
http://www.kidspot.com.au/Back-to-School-For-parents-The-great-homework-debate+3909+153+article.htm
This website the great homework debate talks about homework and if children should or should no have homework. The back 2 School website states that there is no evidence that homework benefits achievement during early school years (Homework Debate - Back To School). On this website Kathy Walker says, “ Homework for homework’s sake is not necessary.” They promote reading with your child and eating dinner together as a family, without the TV on as great forms of homework to practice skills such as speaking, listening, and sharing together. Back 2 School talks about what education departments say about homework. They state that it bridges the gap between school and home. Back to school talks about how parents either love it or hate it, or just go along with it because the schools send it home (Homework Debate - Back To School).
SF Gate- "My Mom ate my homework"
http://blog.sfgate.com/parenting/2008/09/03/my-mom-ate-my-homework/
The first website is a blog written by a mom, Kelly Mills, who hates homework. She talks about her dislike for homework. She says kids need to play and be kids and be involved in sports and art. She talks about how Barak Obama said that parents should turn off the TV and help with homework, but how she doesn’t even agree that kids should have as much homework as they do. Kelly talks about how she can make since of the research papers, but doesn’t understand the ditto sheets and making kids read (Mills, K. 2008, September 3).
The Great Homework Debate
http://www.kidspot.com.au/Back-to-School-For-parents-The-great-homework-debate+3909+153+article.htm
This website the great homework debate talks about homework and if children should or should no have homework. The back 2 School website states that there is no evidence that homework benefits achievement during early school years (Homework Debate - Back To School). On this website Kathy Walker says, “ Homework for homework’s sake is not necessary.” They promote reading with your child and eating dinner together as a family, without the TV on as great forms of homework to practice skills such as speaking, listening, and sharing together. Back 2 School talks about what education departments say about homework. They state that it bridges the gap between school and home. Back to school talks about how parents either love it or hate it, or just go along with it because the schools send it home (Homework Debate - Back To School).
Homework or No Homework? Which is better?
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/3/8/14382586/590134.jpg?1)
Homework is an ongoing issue that is discussed between teachers, students, and educators. It seems to always form debates as to if it is needed or if it is just extra work required for elementary school age children to do. The reason this topic was chosen was to determine if homework is needed and is necessary, and if homework had any benefits when it came to the education of elementary age children.
The articles were chosen because they gave good information on the “homework debate” The article entitled, “The Homework Debate” states that there are no known benefits for children in elementary school doing homework. It also states that so much homework is given out to prepare for standardized tests.( The Homework Debate. (n.d.).Education Week) The next article selected is “The Myth about Homework” this article talks about how homework had doubled tremendously and gives other information and facts regarding homework. In the article it says, “Success on standardized tests is, of course, only one measure of learning--and only one purported goal of homework. Educators, including Cooper, tend to defend homework by saying it builds study habits, self-discipline and time-management skills. But there's also evidence that homework sours kids' attitudes toward school.” It also talks about how parents should demand a sensible homework schedule so children are not overwhelmed and burdened with so much homework. (Wallis, C. 2006, August 29) The last article chosen was called, “The Homework Debate-Finding Common Ground”. Had some good information regarding homework and reminds parents that if students struggle at school they will also struggle with homework.
The pictures chosen for this topic were chosen to best fit the debate homework. The first picture is a boy with his schoolbooks holding his pencil and having his hand on his head trying to figure out the given assignment for homework. The next picture is a teacher’s chalkboard with the work homework written on it. A picture of books is next. These have the homework assignments that the average student is required to do each night. The picture following is a boy squatted down trying to carry heavy books home from school. With the amount of homework that is given students backpacks are so heavy bringing everything home so this best represents this. The last picture chosen is a boy daydreaming while doing his homework. This is what students are doing with the homework load. They become distracted by the given tasks due to having to spend so much of their time doing homework.
The websites were chosen because it expressed people’s views based on the homework debate that people have. The first website is a mom’s blog who thoroughly despises homework and does not understand the purpose of it. The other website talks about homework and how it is not really necessary for elementary students, but definitely useful when it comes to middle school in high school. It was good to look at websites that issued opinions on both sides of the homework debate.
Photo above found at http://ldswhy.com/qa/why-shouldn’t-i-do-homework-on-sunday/
The articles were chosen because they gave good information on the “homework debate” The article entitled, “The Homework Debate” states that there are no known benefits for children in elementary school doing homework. It also states that so much homework is given out to prepare for standardized tests.( The Homework Debate. (n.d.).Education Week) The next article selected is “The Myth about Homework” this article talks about how homework had doubled tremendously and gives other information and facts regarding homework. In the article it says, “Success on standardized tests is, of course, only one measure of learning--and only one purported goal of homework. Educators, including Cooper, tend to defend homework by saying it builds study habits, self-discipline and time-management skills. But there's also evidence that homework sours kids' attitudes toward school.” It also talks about how parents should demand a sensible homework schedule so children are not overwhelmed and burdened with so much homework. (Wallis, C. 2006, August 29) The last article chosen was called, “The Homework Debate-Finding Common Ground”. Had some good information regarding homework and reminds parents that if students struggle at school they will also struggle with homework.
The pictures chosen for this topic were chosen to best fit the debate homework. The first picture is a boy with his schoolbooks holding his pencil and having his hand on his head trying to figure out the given assignment for homework. The next picture is a teacher’s chalkboard with the work homework written on it. A picture of books is next. These have the homework assignments that the average student is required to do each night. The picture following is a boy squatted down trying to carry heavy books home from school. With the amount of homework that is given students backpacks are so heavy bringing everything home so this best represents this. The last picture chosen is a boy daydreaming while doing his homework. This is what students are doing with the homework load. They become distracted by the given tasks due to having to spend so much of their time doing homework.
The websites were chosen because it expressed people’s views based on the homework debate that people have. The first website is a mom’s blog who thoroughly despises homework and does not understand the purpose of it. The other website talks about homework and how it is not really necessary for elementary students, but definitely useful when it comes to middle school in high school. It was good to look at websites that issued opinions on both sides of the homework debate.
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Emerging Issues...
What would happen if kids stopped doing homework? What would happen if kids in Elementary school continue to have the amount of homework that they do? Are there effects that would take place? Would kids not be as smart? There are so many questions out there in regards to homework that are left unanswered.
The emerging issue to be aware of is if students begin to have no homework would testing scores and grades be affected? Kids would still be exposed to a proper education 6 hours a day is that enough learning in one day to master the skills they need to successful in life? Homework is not always graded so are kids benefiting from doing more work at home perhaps improperly? Is this a benefit to their education or harming it? These are all issues that would need to be watched and carefully observed if educators decided to do away with homework.
The emerging issue to be aware of is if students begin to have no homework would testing scores and grades be affected? Kids would still be exposed to a proper education 6 hours a day is that enough learning in one day to master the skills they need to successful in life? Homework is not always graded so are kids benefiting from doing more work at home perhaps improperly? Is this a benefit to their education or harming it? These are all issues that would need to be watched and carefully observed if educators decided to do away with homework.