Down With Homework, Say U.S. School Districts

[cawacko]

Anyone with kids feel strongly about this one way or the other? Anecdotally I've heard several parents say they feel their kids have too much homework but I don't have school age kids so I don't know from personal experience. Most of me says suck it up and do the work. But I guess it's possible there could be a tipping point where too much loses its effectiveness.





Down With Homework, Say U.S. School Districts

More districts ban or stop grading it amid complaints of overload, but some parents and teachers aren’t on board


School districts across the country are banning homework, forbidding it on certain days or just not grading it, in response to parents who complain of overload and some experts who say too much can be detrimental.

A new policy in Ridgefield Public Schools in Ridgefield, Conn., places nightly time limits on homework for most students. It is banned on weekends, school vacations and some other days off for elementary and middle-school students, and isn’t calculated into their overall grades.

Lafayette Parish School System in Louisiana told teachers not to grade homework for grades 2-12 starting this school year. Students in grades K-1 already didn’t receive grades.

The goal of the changes is to give students more time to read, sleep and spend time with family, especially at the elementary level, school administrators say. “Student wellness is becoming a much larger issue,” said Mark Toback, superintendent of Wayne Township Public Schools in Wayne, N.J., which had its first homework-free weekend in October with two more scheduled.

The average number of hours high-school students spent per week on homework increased from 6.8 in 2007 to 7.5 in 2016, the latest year available from the U.S. Department of Education. The average hours for students in K-8 stayed flat at 4.7 during those years.

Homework changes have been met with concern by some teachers, who say it takes away a tool to reinforce the day’s lesson, and parents who feel left out of the academic process.

Kevin Fulton withdrew his daughter from the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston after she spent her fifth-grade year at Yeager Elementary without homework because the school stopped giving it. She now attends a private school.

“In my house, we’re very hands-on and homework is a way to determine if our child is falling behind,” he said. “I just think it takes parents out of the equation.”

The Cypress-Fairbanks district said Yeager and other schools with no-homework rules can still assign personalized homework to struggling students.

Kauffman Leadership Academy, a public charter school in Cleburne, Texas, with grades 5-12, holds classes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to fit in needed lessons to prevent sending work home. The school opened in 2016 with the intent of having no homework after hearing from parents of prospective students.

“We just heard a lot of parents complaining about how much the homework was eating into their family life,” Superintendent Theresa Kauffman said.

“It’s amazing to be able to go home after a long day at school and not have anything to do, just be able to relax,” Kauffman student Karissa Olsen, 14 years old, said during a snack break that the school gives due to the long day.

Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University who has studied homework for over 25 years, found that homework has little impact on elementary students. Junior-high students showed higher achievement when doing homework up to 60 to 90 minutes a night and high-school students up to two hours. There were no additional positive effects after those time frames.

Dr. Cooper said those who go over appropriate limits could become frustrated and lose interest in the subject area. It also could crowd out other activities, such as athletics, music and volunteer work, he said.

The superintendent of Marion County Public Schools, a 43,000-student district in central Florida, told teachers to stop assigning “meaningless homework” for elementary students and instead substitute at least 20 minutes a night of reading, said spokesman Kevin Christian. More students are reading as a result, he said.

Jonathan Cole, a high-school teacher in Lafayette Parish, said some teachers in the district are unhappy with the homework-grading ban. A good number of students skip homework because it isn’t going to be graded, he said.

“We’re seeing some drops in some scores related to math, and that’s a skill that does benefit from some practice,” said Mr. Cole, who is also president of a local educator association.

Even so, parent Laurie Lightfoot supports the new policy. “These kids have so much homework at younger and younger ages. And heaven forbid if they have after-school activities or want to spend time with family,” she said. Her 13-year-old daughter Madison said the change “does relieve a little stress.” Some students who aren’t turning in homework are being urged to do so by teachers, she said.

Kathy Aloisio, Lafayette’s director of elementary schools, said grades should reflect a student’s mastery of a subject, not homework, which some students can get help with at home. “Are we grading what the parents did, or are we grading what the child did?” she said.

Norfolk Public Schools in Nebraska dropped homework for elementary school children last year.

“It was pretty common that elementary students would take home 30 math problems every night, and might have additional homework after that,” said Superintendent Jami Jo Thompson. “It was a lot of stress on the child and the family.”

Dr. Thompson said students who are struggling are getting the help they need in school instead of sending the work home with them to parents, who have been supportive of the homework change.

Now, parents with children at the schools in northeastern Nebraska, which go up to fourth grade, are asked to read with their children and practice math skills.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-home...=hp_listb_pos4

[Minister of Truth]

Plus, parents won't be able to stick their head in the living room and bark "are you finished with your homework, yet?"

[floridafan]

Anyone with kids feel strongly about this one way or the other? Anecdotally I've heard several parents say they feel their kids have too much homework but I don't have school age kids so I don't know from personal experience. Most of me says suck it up and do the work. But I guess it's possible there could be a tipping point where too much loses its effectiveness.


|





Down With Homework, Say U.S. School Districts

More districts ban or stop grading it amid complaints of overload, but some parents and teachers aren’t on board


School districts across the country are banning homework, forbidding it on certain days or just not grading it, in response to parents who complain of overload and some experts who say too much can be detrimental.

A new policy in Ridgefield Public Schools in Ridgefield, Conn., places nightly time limits on homework for most students. It is banned on weekends, school vacations and some other days off for elementary and middle-school students, and isn’t calculated into their overall grades.

Lafayette Parish School System in Louisiana told teachers not to grade homework for grades 2-12 starting this school year. Students in grades K-1 already didn’t receive grades.

The goal of the changes is to give students more time to read, sleep and spend time with family, especially at the elementary level, school administrators say. “Student wellness is becoming a much larger issue,” said Mark Toback, superintendent of Wayne Township Public Schools in Wayne, N.J., which had its first homework-free weekend in October with two more scheduled.

The average number of hours high-school students spent per week on homework increased from 6.8 in 2007 to 7.5 in 2016, the latest year available from the U.S. Department of Education. The average hours for students in K-8 stayed flat at 4.7 during those years.

Homework changes have been met with concern by some teachers, who say it takes away a tool to reinforce the day’s lesson, and parents who feel left out of the academic process.

Kevin Fulton withdrew his daughter from the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District in Houston after she spent her fifth-grade year at Yeager Elementary without homework because the school stopped giving it. She now attends a private school.

“In my house, we’re very hands-on and homework is a way to determine if our child is falling behind,” he said. “I just think it takes parents out of the equation.”

The Cypress-Fairbanks district said Yeager and other schools with no-homework rules can still assign personalized homework to struggling students.

Kauffman Leadership Academy, a public charter school in Cleburne, Texas, with grades 5-12, holds classes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to fit in needed lessons to prevent sending work home. The school opened in 2016 with the intent of having no homework after hearing from parents of prospective students.

“We just heard a lot of parents complaining about how much the homework was eating into their family life,” Superintendent Theresa Kauffman said.

“It’s amazing to be able to go home after a long day at school and not have anything to do, just be able to relax,” Kauffman student Karissa Olsen, 14 years old, said during a snack break that the school gives due to the long day.

Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University who has studied homework for over 25 years, found that homework has little impact on elementary students. Junior-high students showed higher achievement when doing homework up to 60 to 90 minutes a night and high-school students up to two hours. There were no additional positive effects after those time frames.

Dr. Cooper said those who go over appropriate limits could become frustrated and lose interest in the subject area. It also could crowd out other activities, such as athletics, music and volunteer work, he said.

The superintendent of Marion County Public Schools, a 43,000-student district in central Florida, told teachers to stop assigning “meaningless homework” for elementary students and instead substitute at least 20 minutes a night of reading, said spokesman Kevin Christian. More students are reading as a result, he said.

Jonathan Cole, a high-school teacher in Lafayette Parish, said some teachers in the district are unhappy with the homework-grading ban. A good number of students skip homework because it isn’t going to be graded, he said.

“We’re seeing some drops in some scores related to math, and that’s a skill that does benefit from some practice,” said Mr. Cole, who is also president of a local educator association.

Even so, parent Laurie Lightfoot supports the new policy. “These kids have so much homework at younger and younger ages. And heaven forbid if they have after-school activities or want to spend time with family,” she said. Her 13-year-old daughter Madison said the change “does relieve a little stress.” Some students who aren’t turning in homework are being urged to do so by teachers, she said.

Kathy Aloisio, Lafayette’s director of elementary schools, said grades should reflect a student’s mastery of a subject, not homework, which some students can get help with at home. “Are we grading what the parents did, or are we grading what the child did?” she said.

Norfolk Public Schools in Nebraska dropped homework for elementary school children last year.

“It was pretty common that elementary students would take home 30 math problems every night, and might have additional homework after that,” said Superintendent Jami Jo Thompson. “It was a lot of stress on the child and the family.”

Dr. Thompson said students who are struggling are getting the help they need in school instead of sending the work home with them to parents, who have been supportive of the homework change.

Now, parents with children at the schools in northeastern Nebraska, which go up to fourth grade, are asked to read with their children and practice math skills.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-home...=hp_listb_pos4

Are we not on a message board regarding politics? The shit you post is not necessary

[cawacko]

Are we not on a message board regarding politics? The shit you post is not necessary

Oh sorry, I didn't know education wasn't political. Oh that's right, we don't have government schools do we?

If all you can discuss is the President then you do you. But politics encompasses a whole world outside just the actions of the President. If that is over your head then don't respond.

[floridafan]

Oh sorry, I didn't know education wasn't political. Oh that's right, we don't have government schools do we?

If all you can discuss is the President then you do you. But politics encompasses a whole world outside just the actions of the President. If that is over your head then don't respond.

No ,we do not have government schools prick. Never had, never will.

[cawacko]

No ,we do not have government schools prick. Never had, never will.

LOL, really? Who runs our schools?

[floridafan]

LOL, really? Who runs our schools?

local school boards

[Mason Michaels]

I would never do homework,if I couldn't do it in study hall,fuck it.
When I was out of school,it was my time.

[Irish Exit]

Some subjects have too much homework--like math. I seldom had a math teacher/prof who didn't flood us with the stuff. The one exception was an analytical geometry prof who only gave a handful of the easier problems and would spend the entire class if necessary making sure each and every student could do them no matter how long he took and even if everybody else in the room already got it. He felt it was idiotic to flood people with work if they couldn't get the basic concepts down and if he could make sure everybody could do the basics, they could figure out how to do the harder ones.

[floridafan]

I would never do homework,if I couldn't do it in study hall,fuck it.
When I was out of school,it was my time.

Thats why you are left with a miserable existence posting 24/7 on a message board

[cawacko]

local school boards

I see. So local school boards are private entities and teachers aren't government employees then? So we don't actually have "public schools"?

[floridafan]

I see. So local school boards are private entities and teachers aren't government employees then? So we don't actually have "public schools"?

You asked who runs our schools and I told you. The fact that employees are paid by the local taxing body means nothing. You are in a subject you know nothing about.

[Mason Michaels]

Thats why you are left with a miserable existence posting 24/7 on a message board

When you assume

[floridafan]

When you assume

Nothing assumed hand job. You treat school like shit and here you are posting for a living.

[cawacko]

You asked who runs our schools and I told you. The fact that employees are paid by the local taxing body means nothing. You are in a subject you know nothing about.

Ahhh, so teachers are government employees. The money for schools comes from the government but the school boards themselves are private entities? And therefore there is no such thing as public schools?

Yes, I'm the one who doesn't know what they are talking about.