Can anyone help this Georgia grad student?
I am currently a PhD student in the Mathematics and Science Education Department at the University of Georgia. For my dissertation, I want to investigate a school that has implemented a no homework policy, preferably a school that has continued to meet AYP and has had other positive benefits attributed to the homework policy. Do you know of a really good school(s) that would help me out with this?
If you have any ideas, please email Tonya Brooks.
One of the most eye-opening pieces of writing I’ve ever read is A Mathematician’s Lament” How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form by Paul Lockhart. I’ve known Paul since our sons met when they were about eight years old, and I was so happy to hear that his essay (called a “gorgeous essay” by the Los Angeles Times) was printed in paperback form. This book belongs on everyone’s bookshelf.
Here’s how it begins:
A musician wakes from a terrible nightmare. In his dream he finds himself in a society where music education has been made mandatory. “We are helping our students become more competitive in an increasingly sound-filled world.” Educators, school systems, and the state are put in charge of this vital project. Studies are commissioned, committees are formed, and decisions are made—all without the advice or participation of a single working musician or composer.
Since musicians are known to set down their ideas in the form of sheet music, these curious black dots and lines must constitute the “language of music.” It is imperative that students become fluent in this language if they are to attain any degree of musical competence; indeed, it would be ludicrous to expect a child to sing a song or play an instrument without having a thorough grounding in music notation and theory. Playing and listening to music, let alone composing an original piece, are considered very advanced topics and are generally put off until college, and more often graduate school.
Since the beginning of Stop Homework, I’ve been corresponding with John Painter, a father of two from Readington, New Jersey, who maintained an active web site for five years where he wrote a number of interesting articles on such topics as scripted learning, cheating, and homework. He has recently started a new blog called Rational American. Stop by and take a look.
At the end of dinner last night, I said, “I have to go write a post for Stop Homework tomorrow.” And without skipping a beat I turned to my daughter and said,”and I guess it’s time for you to do your homework, too.” Her response, “you write for Stop Homework, and I do homework. Kind of ironic, don’t you think?” Of course, I do my best to change homework policy, both at her high school (where I’ve been talking to the principal), and in the world at large, but obviously there’s still a lot to be done.
Let me know what you’ve done recently by posting a Comment. Even though the school year is winding down, it’s not too late to talk to your child’s teacher or principal, talk to other parents, write a letter to your local newspaper, start a petition, run for School Board,….
Today’s guest blogger, Candace Hanson, is a graduate of Oral Roberts University and is currently studying Counseling at Valparaiso University. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. She just sent me the following piece a few days ago and her timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The Comments to Monday’s blog post are about this very topic.
Homework Discriminates Against Children from Dysfunctional Homes
by Candace Hanson
I have long thought about how productive homework actually is. In school I was the type who aced all of my tests, participated in class, and generally learned the material. But it never failed–the more homework I had for a class, the worse I did in it since I didn’t do the homework and completion was counted as a part of my grade.
Why would such a smart kid not do homework? Especially if it was the only thing that stood in the way of getting an A? Well my home life was not really one in which it was easy to do homework. I had an extremely dysfunctional family. There was always yelling and fighting. My parents were both pretty checked out, so my sister and I kept the household going. We were the oldest so we cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and helped the younger kids with homework and baths etc. When we got home, we were pretty much the heads of the household, and doing our homework was not only physically impossible, but school was not even on our minds at home–we were concerned with surviving and our siblings’ survival.
Now when I look back, I think of how many kids there probably are out there like me. Home is chaos, dysfunction, or overflowing with unreasonable amounts of responsiblity for whatever reason. How can these children be graded on their ability to complete tasks at home, when home can be an unpredictable, uncontrollable environment? How can a teacher mark a child’s grade down for not doing homework, and mark another child up because he completed it, when the fact that the child did not do the homework may be completely out of his control? Maybe home life is easier for child #2. His parents encourage him and help him with his homework. He has not much to worry about other than cleaning his room and practicing the piano. Is it fair for child #1 that his grade is dependent on his home, which is not his fault, and under which he rarely has control?
It’s just another reason why homework needs to GO! A student’s achievement as far as grades go should be measured in the class, during the school time. Whenever grades are influenced by something the child is supposed to do outside of the class, I would go as far as to say that this could be construed as discrimination. Students from less stable or healthy families are discriminated against.
Could the presence of homework be one of the many factors that is causing and perpetuating the stratification of society by socioeconomic status and race and contributing to the achievement gap?
Through Tracy Stevens, a former teacher whose blog is called a better education, I discovered Teacher, Revised, which is a blog “for teachers and by teachers. It is an education grab bag of classroom reflection, a compilation of news that matters to teachers, essays, interviews with the brightest minds in pedagogy, and even the occasional book and movie review. Basically, it deals with anything that affects teachers, could make teachers’ lives better, or that we all should be very, very afraid of.” I highly recommend taking a look.
A few weeks ago, a college professor posted a comment that deserves highlighting:
I am a college professor. While some may argue that some of my assignments are overly challenging… all of my assignments are designed to force students to consider complex issues independently. They are meant (usually) to take little time, but be addressed seriously.
It stuns me how much training I have to commit to showing our incoming freshmen how I intend their “homework” to be used.
For example:
– Students have typically been “trained” to rewrite all of my questions prior to typing their answers. What a gratuitous waste of time – I should know what I asked.– Students typically ask “how long it has to be”, where, to me, if you address the questions as asked, the length is unimportant (as short as possible to answer the questions). More meat, less filler.
-Students have been taught to “read” the textbook. No one should literally read a text – it is a reference, use it to gain information, not to follow word-for-word. Use it to glean key features, organize material, identify differences between similar ideas, and so on.
-Homework is not an opportunity to force students to teach themselves something that you don’t find interesting enough to cover.
Now that my children are working their way up this system, it is that much more infuriating.
Several times over the past year, Diane Hewlett-Lowrie of Plumsted, New Jersey, wrote about the overwhelming amounts of homework her second grader was getting in his local public school and the toll it was taking on her family. In January, she moved her son to a democratic community school. Last week, she wrote to the School Superintendent of her son’s former school (and cc’d his former teacher and principal) to tell them how her son was doing at his new school. (You can read her earlier posts here, here, here and here.)
A Home Without Homework
by Diane Hewlett-Lowrie
Dear School Superintendent,
As I sat down to write to you, I figured out how long my son has been going to his new school and am surprised to realize it has been over four months! Wow, four blissful months without homework – how time flies when you are enjoying life!
As you know, my family had a philosophical difference of opinion with the amount of homework our 6, then 7-year-old son was getting – 45 minutes to 2 hours, several times a week. The homework issue, along with the impending years of statewide testing, the years of being taught how to pass the test, reduced recess, and the regimented atmosphere of the public school system were all factors in our decision to try something different. We looked into Montessori, but decided upon a democratic community school which, coincidently, was only 10 minutes from my office! The homework policy for this school is that there may be one or two home-related assignments in the academic year and if the children don’t get their daily math assignment finished, they have to bring it home to complete. [My son has had to do this twice, with absolutely no trouble. He took responsibility for completing the assignments and just did them.]
My son loves his new school. I tried to get him to play hooky with me on Inauguration Day, but he refused; he would not take the day off school in case he missed something! Now we have been there for 4 months, I can safely say, on the homework issue alone, there is a huge difference in our quality of life. I drive home from work looking forward to spending a relaxing, or exciting, evening with my family. I no longer have “that sinking feeling” when I reach the halfway point knowing that a folder full of papers, notices and assignments are awaiting me and my son.
My dining room table no longer doubles as a school desk – we can eat
Continue reading “A Home Without Homework is a Happy Home–Plumsted, New Jersey”
A principal of a K-8 school in New Brunswick, Canada, recently posted the following comment:
I am a principal on the east coast of Canada. A large k-8 school of 800 kids. We are revisiting our homework policy/procedures to ensure that we have an equitable system in our school. We are aiming to have no homework, based on much research.
Read Alfie Kohn: The Homework Myth.
Rocks.
Homework is just one more structure to keep the marginalized down.
Schools can do a better job teaching. And parents could assist with spending their energy in to just “being” with their children: talking, dreaming, playing, etc.
My two cents.
I got this compelling email the other day from a Connecticut middle school student:
Dear Sara,
The life of a middle school girl is one of total chaos–cliques, peer pressure, friendships, guys, emotions, and lots lots LOTS of homework. I don’t understand why children are expected to complete assignments that have NOTHING to do with their goals for life. For example, I want to be an author when I grow up, and I’m always working toward that goal. WHEN in my life will I ever be required to do algebra? Why must I complete 50 algebra problems a night, when I COULD be working on my journal? Doing so many problems only makes me hate math more than ever. Plus, when these assignments are graded, I always end up getting the last twenty or so wrong. By this point of the assignment, I am so completely drained that I do the rest haphazardly. THAT is not helping my education. I usually eat dinner while completing homework, because I have so much of it. Therefore, sometimes my dinner is a bowl of Captain Crunch or a bag of chips. By the time I actually have time to myself, it is 9:30, and I have to go to bed. It doesnt matter though. I’m usually up until over 11:00, worrying about tests, quizzes, and whether or not I did all my homework correctly. That is not a healthy lifestyle, but I’m gonna have to deal with it for seven more years.
I’d like to thank you for your incredible website. It has really comforted me to know that other people feel this way about homework- especially adults. Thank you for reading this!
Stop Homework