According to an article in The New York Times, an English teacher at a Montclair, New Jersey, high school assigns regular homework to the parents. Since September, the teacher has asked the parents to read and comment on a Franz Kafka story, Section 1 of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” and a speech given byContinue reading “High School Teacher Assigns Homework to Parents”
Category Archives: In the News
Los Angeles area K-6 Private School Eliminates Most Homework
A Jewish day school in Los Angeles, Temple Israel of Hollywood, has basically abolished homework for its K-6 students. According to an article in The LA Times, Eileen Horowitz, the head of the school, stated, “It became apparent that some of what we were doing was silly. Why should our children spend time doing fill-in-the-blankContinue reading “Los Angeles area K-6 Private School Eliminates Most Homework”
Welcome Back to Stophomework.com
Welcome back to Stop Homework. I’ve enjoyed the respite from blogging, just as many of you have enjoyed a homework-free summer. Over the summer, I received a grant from a non-profit foundation to help fund my stop homework project. This is fantastic news, because it allows me to devote more time to helping all ofContinue reading “Welcome Back to Stophomework.com”
Boing Boing Raves About The Case Against Homework
On the highly popular website, boingboing.net, Cory Doctorow gives a rave review to The Case Against Homework. He also discusses his own schooling: I was lucky enough to attend excellent, publicly funded alternative schools through my educational career. We had homework, but we were also given a lot of time for free play, and aContinue reading “Boing Boing Raves About The Case Against Homework”
China Moves Away from Drilling and Testing
Here’s an interesting article from Education Week which discusses how educators in China are trying to move away from the rote memorization that has characterized much of the education system. “China’s government is…seeking to inject more American-style flexibility into its math and science curriculum, by placing less emphasis on exams and more focus on cultivatingContinue reading “China Moves Away from Drilling and Testing”
Canadian Teens Clock 50-Hour Work Week
According to Statistics Canada, more than 60 percent of Canadian teenagers spend, on average, 2-1/3 hours a day on homework, helping to contribute to their 50-hour week spent in school, at jobs, and on homework and housework. The
Ohio School District Considers Eliminating Homework Grade
I’m interested to see what happens in the Middletown, Ohio, School District, where school board members are deciding on a policy amendment that would eliminate grading on homework assignments. Although the Board thinks homework is “very important,” the removal of the grade is to ensure that teachers grade students for their work, not the workContinue reading “Ohio School District Considers Eliminating Homework Grade”
More Homework Won’t Equal More Proficiency in Math and Science
According to an article in Education Week, Pennsylvania State University researcher, Gerald K. LeTendre, has published a new paper in which he again finds that more homework is not associated with higher levels of average national achievement. “’The paper is a preliminary investigation with some fairly common-sense warnings not to start promoting or demoting homework’Continue reading “More Homework Won’t Equal More Proficiency in Math and Science”
Inspiration from Australia
The president of the Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends in Australia (an independent community based organization formed in 1947 to represent the parents of children participating in state school education within Tasmania) has started a campaign to stop teachers from assigning homework in elementary and high schools. According to an article in
Another Palo Alto Elementary School Takes a Look at Homework
When parents at Addison Elementary School in Palo Alto, California, brought to their principal’s attention the reduction of homework at Oak Knoll Elementary in Menlo Park, the principal responded by refining its homework policy as well. According to an article in Palo Alto online, the principal stated, “”I was blindsided about the anxiety that seemsContinue reading “Another Palo Alto Elementary School Takes a Look at Homework”
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