Stop Homework

Today’s guest blogger, Amanda Cockshutt, writes her thoughts on a Middletown, Ohio, editorial, which opposed a school board’s proposal to eliminate the grading of homework. Amanda, who lives in New Brunswick, Canada, was instrumental in getting her local elementary school to reexamine its homework policy. Her school now has no homework on nights of major school events and there are two weeks per year where there is be no homework other than reading.

Muddled Thinking in Middletown, Ohio
by Amanda M Cockshutt, PhD

I read with interest the editorial by the concerned folk of Middletown concerning the school board’s proposal to stop the grading of homework. I think that the proposal is progressive and clearly attempts to preserve standards rather than lower them.

The authors of the editorial seem absolutely convinced that stopping the grading of homework will lower standards and ruin their children’s chances of success. Having not seen the proposal I can’t be sure, but I would be surprised if the lowering of expectations was a stated policy of the school board’s initiative.

Rather, it seems, that the board wants to level the playing field. I would interpret this to mean that all the same benchmarks of student performance will be used, except the grading of homework. In other words, tests and exams will be as difficult.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s guest blogger is Kate McReynolds, a child clinical psychologist who is currently the Assistant Editor of Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice. I met Kate while working on The Case Against Homework and, whenever I get the opportunity to talk to her, or read her writing, I feel lucky to spend time with her. Here, she explains why vacations are so critical.

The Importance of Getting a Break
by Kate McReynolds

With the end of the school year, over 50 million American children are looking forward to summer vacation. But for most children, the school year never really ends. Summer homework assignments, internships, and summer school (including voluntary programs) mean that most children will be taking a working vacation. Many educators and politicians, especially those who support the current “standards movement,� maintain that homework, including summer homework, is vital to the academic success of our children. But is it? More importantly, is it good for children’s overall development?

The Development of the Whole Child

Academic mastery is one of the many developmental needs of children. They also need to develop social and emotional skills, self-control, problem solving abilities, self-confidence, creative and imaginative capacities, values and morals, a hopeful vision of the future, and a strong sense of self. Too exclusive a focus on school work deprives children of the activities they need to develop these other important capacities. In other words, excessive homework might help youngsters do better in school (although there is reason to believe that it works against learning), but it makes it hard for them to develop what they need to do better in life. To develop fully, children need time to play, time for self-directed activities, time to socialize with friends and neighbors, and time in nature. Children need time with their families too, relaxed time that is not fraught with homework battles. And they need time to dream and to wonder, time to imagine who they are and what they can become. Teenagers especially benefit from free time with their friends and unscheduled time to think, to dream, and to ponder their futures.

How Summer Homework Hurts Academic Growth

Not only can summer homework hinder children’s full development, it can hurt their academic development. Everyone needs a break from their work, especially children. A real vacation, without even the thought of work hanging over one’s head, provides time to rest and recuperate. Vacations restore children’s spirits, renew their energy, and revitalize their enthusiasm for school. But real vacations do even more. They give children’s brains and minds vital time to consolidate and integrate new knowledge. When children have the opportunity to turn their attention away from their studies, for an afternoon or for the summer, new knowledge can “sink in� and become a permanent part of the child’s mind. Youngsters are then ready to take in more. Imagine a sponge that’s completely full of water. If we want it to absorb anymore, we have to make room for it.
Summer without homework will help our children, emotionally, socially, and academically. And it will add to their happiness.

Today’s post is a letter that appeared in the Sackville Tribune Post on May 8, 2007. I’ve been corresponding with the author, Amanda Cockshutt, since the publication of The Case Against Homework and Amanda and I were on a Canadian radio program together in the Fall. Amanda, who lives in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, is the CEO of Environmental Proteomics, a small biotech company, and part time lecturer at Mount Allison University. She has 3 children, ages 12, 8 and 6. In the winter, Amanda persuaded the principal of her children’s elementary school to have two separate one-week trial periods without homework. When it was over, the school did not abolish homework, but it did institute some homework policy changes, including no homework the nights of major events and two weeks per year where there would be no homework other than reading.

Letter to the Editor
by Amanda Cockshutt

Children are assigned daily homework from the time they start kindergarten at the ripe old age of five. Is it really necessary? Does homework promote better learning or even higher test scores?

I have been bothered by homework for the past 7 years. At times it has been a nuisance, at other times it has elicited outright mutiny (complete with kicking and screaming) in my household. I started to seriously question the value of homework when our family spent a year in Sweden. My oldest child, then 7/8 attended a Swedish school that assigned one math sheet on Monday to be returned Friday as the only homework. School ran from 8:10 am until 1 pm. My child went from an English reading level of Curious George to beyond Harry Potter, went from only a few words of spoken Swedish to being a fluent speaker and reader of Swedish chapter books and she covered the entire Canadian math curriculum that year. The last spike in the homework coffin for me, was the discomfort I felt telling my kids to put down the book they were reading or come inside from playing and do their homework. It was time to do my own homework. Read the rest of this entry »

For many months, I’ve been corresponding with Stan Goldberg, also known as Senior Dad. Stan, who lives in the Bay Area, has his own podcast and has many interviews with educators and other experts that are well worth listening to. Here, he talks about his own perspective on homework and also how he has approached the homework problem in his daughter’s K-5 public school. I love his “opt-out” proposal.

Another profound change is composition of the American family. In my childhood it was uncommon for both parents to work out of the house; today it is the norm. In my childhood, single parent households were rare but today they are not unusual. With these changes in the makeup of the family, a variety of parenting styles evolved to include afterschool programs and childcare. Throughout it all, homework loads kept increasing. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s an update from Lisa Grady, the parent from southern California who writes about what she’s doing to try to change homework policy in her fourth-grader’s public school. In Lisa’s first guest blog entry, she told us about a comprehensive presentation she gave to the fourth grade teachers at her school. (I’m on vacation this week. Instead of sending me email about your concerns and comments, why not post a comment on this blog entry or in the forums instead. It’s so important for people other than me to hear from you.)

Organizing Other Parents (Continued)
by Lisa Grady

We first emailed the teachers and principal letting them know we were putting the presentation in their boxes. After my co-chair Cheryl hit the send button she said her hands were shaking. I emailed her saying that as I read her email alerting me that there was no turning back, I could hear the music from JAWS resounding in my head. I understood then how invested we had become in our cause. But I knew our group had been very conscious in creating our presentation. We painstakingly reviewed every word to edit out anything that seemed critical and unsupportive. We were pure in our intent of collaboration. Yet, we felt the pressure of knowing that we represented over 1/3 of the fourth grade families and were unsure how our presentation would be received. Unfortunately, we were disheartened by what was to follow.

We thought, perhaps naively, that the next communication would be an acknowledgment from the teachers that our presentation had been received and potentially the establishment of a future meeting time. Instead, rumor quickly spread that the teachers had not reacted positively. The principal quickly sent out a communication to all fourth grade parents that was initially very upsetting to the members of our group and in some ways validated the reaction of the teachers. I literally felt sick to my stomach. Read the rest of this entry »

Edward, a twelve-year-old seventh-grader from Las Vegas, has been writing to me with his thoughts about homework. He is a “wizard on the computer,” plays viola, and would be taking advanced classes except that he was reassigned to regular classes because he wasn’t completing all of his homework. The other day, Edward sent me an email outlining all of his assignments that evening:

20 Min. on reading a book for reading. (Required)
Plus 3 Chapters on a Wrinkle in Time novel work and read. About 50 Min.
Approximately 30 Min. on Math.
Approximately 15 Min. on English homework.
Approximately 20 Min. on Science homework.
Approximately 1 hour and 28 Min. on Regular reading.
Approximately 20 Min. on Orchestra. (Required)
About 3 and 1/2 on homework.
I will start on 4:00 P.M. because I need to eat and have little time to myself.
Sundown is 7:10 and will be dark. No time to go outside.

Edward has posted a petition to stop homework. He really wants other students to sign it so please spread the word.

The Problems with Homework
by Edward, seventh-grade student, Las Vegas, Nevada

I am a Middle School Student tired of homework. I know, school is very important. Its a gift. But, homework is changing it all. Right know, I’m still doing my homework. Its about 9:20 P.M. right now. I’m not finish yet! School is very important. But, if we don’t get enough sleep, we don’t pay attention in class because we need more sleep! Last night, I got only 6 hours of sleep. Less than an average adult. And we don’t even go to work yet!

I don’t finish my homework all the time. We have lunch period to try to finish all are homework. But what if people copy each other? It does not have any benefit! Hay, I sometimes do it to because I am so desperate to not get an 0 or F. I don’t like it. Right now, I have almost all C’s. I check my grades and most of the things that pull me down where homework! We don’t even have time to do extra curricular activities! Or, talk to are friends! We need time to are self. I am a bright student. But homework is pulling me down!

Stress is always a problem mostly for adults. But now, its a problem for us students! Homework is a “Health Problem.” Sleep. Exercise. Socialize. Stress. Anxiety. We are getting less Sleep and Exercise, but more Stress and Anxiety.

So, homework is a problem. Research everywhere is telling that. So, how do we stop it? Talk to your friends, teachers to sign this petition. And, don’t forget to tell your parents too. Spread the word. Your Myspace, forum, website, or something. Thank you using your time to read this. Here is the petition.

When I was in Chicago at the AERA conference two weeks ago, I was on a panel with Chris Ellsasser, an associate professor of education at Pepperdine University, a high school English teacher, and the founder of a group of progressively-minded teachers known as the Mad Tea Educators. Chris approaches homework by asking high school teachers and students one simple question: How much time do we really have? Below is an excerpt from the paper he wrote to accompany the presentation.

Do the Math:
Redesigning Homework to Create More Time for Learning
by Christopher Ward Ellsasser

Time is a finite resource and something which cannot be changed, so it makes sense to begin by establishing exactly how time works for students.

Too often discussions and decision making processes in schools related to issues like homework are based on personal preferences, social norms, and the mythology of schooling. Such a process is akin to medical doctors basing treatment on “gut feeling� rather than science and knowledge of the particular patient. In order to develop policies that reflect the best of what we know about education using the most sophisticated ways of knowing we have, time must be created to establish a baseline of facts. Such is the case with homework. While each school and community has it differences which need to be considered, there is also a shared body of knowledge we can draw from.

Developing a thoughtful approach to homework can begin by doing the math on the time students spend each day. We can begin our calculations by looking at how much time students need to be healthy. The following questions reveal how much time students spend per day on health related activities:

• How much time should students spend sleeping? (9 hours)
• How much time should students spend eating? (three meals = 2 hours
• How much time should students spend exercising? (1 hour)
• Total hours spent maintaining basic health = 12 hours per day

The next consideration is time spent engaged in structured activities such as classes and other organized programs. The following questions reveal how much time students spend on structured activities:

• How much time do students spend in school? (6 hours)
• How much time do students spend in after school activities (i.e. sports, art, work)? (2 hours)
• How much time do students spend commuting = 1 hour
• Total hours spent on structured activities = 9 hours

Once we have accounted for maintaining health and engaging in structured activities (21 hours), students have three hours of discretionary time per day. Of course that assumes the day is without unexpected glitches or distractions. Factor in a conservative thirty minutes twice a day for hygiene/waking up/winding down and you are down to two hours unaccounted for each day.

Given the overwhelming research on the importance of reading, we would be inclined to set aside one hour for reading. Now we are down to one hour per day for school age children to play, relax, or just spend down time with others like friends and family. Regardless of the recommended 10 minutes of homework per day (90 -120 minutes for high school students), even if we eliminate “personal time� today’s high school student only have one hour each day to spend doing homework. So now the question becomes what, if anything, can be done in one hour to enhance the quality of their education.

Today I’d like to introduce Lisa Grady, the parent of a fourth-grader from a community of 35,000 in southern California. Lisa is the co-chair of a committee which formed to raise the issue of homework in the fourth grade. Although you might want to turn to The Case Against Homework to learn the research and facts and have sample policies, petitions and surveys at your fingertips, here Lisa will tell us in her own words what’s happening in her community. I wish her lots of luck in her work and hope that there aren’t too many bumps along the way. (As always, please chime in with any suggestions, comments, or your own stories.)

Organizing Other Parents
by Lisa Grady

While I have struggled with the issue of homework in elementary school for years, my struggle was a silent one. That all changed when I learned of two new books, “The Case Against Homework� by Sara Bennett and “The Homework Myth� by Alfie Kohn. I was so ecstatic that others recognized the impact that homework was having on children and their families, that I began carrying the books around with me everywhere I went. Invariably, people would notice the books and ask me about them. My intention was to start a grass roots movement. It took about six months for my intention to come to fruition and the way in which it unfolded underscores how isolated we can feel until we begin talking with each other.

A parent, whom I had never met before,was surprised when another subject showed up on her child’s weekly homework assignment sheet. So, she emailed some other parents in the class and queried how they felt about the additional work on top of the existing homework load. One of the emails she received back suggested that she “email this parent who always carries around these books on homework�. She contacted me and now Cheryl and I are the emissaries for a group that currently represents a third of the fourth grade at our school.

We started with ten active members and then individual members spoke to various people they knew. For those interested in hearing more, we sent out a letter briefly detailing our concerns and summarizing the research. This effort helped us grow to over 43 people. And we have only focused on the fourth grade thus far.

We hold weekly meetings, complete with agendas so that the meetings are constructive. Our overriding goal of all communication is to be collaborative and non-adversarial. Some members would prefer no homework while others would simply like less homework of higher quality. But we all agree that we want our children to have a lifelong passion for learning and anything that interferes with that demands careful examination.

As we delve further into the subject of homework, we find that homework may only be a small part of our true mission — making sure that no childhood is left behind.