Category Archives: In the News

More Schools are Cutting Back on Homework

According to the San Jose Mercury News, some San Francisco Bay area schools are responding to the requests of elementary and middle-school parents to cut back on homework. The Oak Knoll Elementary school in Menlo Park has mostly banned homework, except reading, occasional projects or catch-up work. Bubb Elementary, in Mountain View relaxed its homeworkContinue reading “More Schools are Cutting Back on Homework”

Fourth Graders are Burned Out

According to an article in Newsweek, Principals and teachers around the country are growing increasingly concerned with what they call the fourth-grade slump. The malaise, which can strike children any time between the end of the second and the middle of fifth grade, is marked by a declining interest in reading and a gradual disengagementContinue reading “Fourth Graders are Burned Out”

Needham, Massachusetts, Principal Tries to Ease Burden for High School Students

When I started this blog last summer, one of my first entries was about schools that had cut back on summer homework. There, I wrote about the principal of Needham High, Paul Richards (whom I had interviewed for The Case Against Homework), an educator who’s concerned about the amount of stress today’s students face. PaulContinue reading “Needham, Massachusetts, Principal Tries to Ease Burden for High School Students”

Some Highly Competitive Schools are Reducing Homework Loads

According to an article by a Wall Street Journal reporter, some of the most elite elementary and high schools across the country are changing their homework policies, limiting the amount of work assigned by teachers or eliminating it altogether in lower grades. In Greenville, South Carolina, the 74-school district reduced the amount of time studentsContinue reading “Some Highly Competitive Schools are Reducing Homework Loads”

High Schools in Toronto, Canada, Consider Homework Ban Before Exams

Last week, a student trustee to the Toronto, Canada, District School Board proposed placing a moratorium on homework for the five days before final exams, according to an article in The Toronto Star. The School Board’s program committee endorsed the idea and will gather feedback from students and staff before sending it to the fullContinue reading “High Schools in Toronto, Canada, Consider Homework Ban Before Exams”

Washington Post Education Reporter Writes that The Case Against Homework is About the Benefits of TV Watching

In November, education reporter Jay Mathews criticized The Case Against Homework in The Washington Post, stating, “I was surprised to find these good people trying to get away with hyperbole and incomplete data unworthy of them.” He devotes a good part of that article to arguing that school children these days do no more homeworkContinue reading “Washington Post Education Reporter Writes that The Case Against Homework is About the Benefits of TV Watching”

Lancaster, Texas Community Gets Involved to Make Sure Students do Homework over the Holiday Break

For the second Christmas in a row, students in Lancaster, Texas, from pre-kindergarten through high school, were assigned homework over the holiday break. Last year, the nearly 1,000 students who returned without having done their holiday homework were suspended. This year, the entire community was involved in making sure the students do their homework. AccordingContinue reading “Lancaster, Texas Community Gets Involved to Make Sure Students do Homework over the Holiday Break”

Parents Go Back to School To Help With Their Children’s Learning

In Kenilworth, England, eight parents just completed a six-week science course where they learned about friction, how liquids change shape and how electricity works, so that they could better help their children at home. According to an article in Kenilworth Today, one of the parents who attended the course had this to say: “”The courseContinue reading “Parents Go Back to School To Help With Their Children’s Learning”