A High School Junior Speaks Out–Dear Secretary of Education

I think it’s fitting that today’s post is by a student who is seeking change at the very top.

Sheeva Seyfi, a junior at Laguna Hills High School in Southern California, sent me a letter she’s considering sending to the Department of Education. She very articulately outlines the problems so many high schoolers face and I hope you take the time to read it. Of course, I encouraged her to send it. I also encouraged her to get together some of her classmates so they can talk about, and find solutions to, the problems of stress at her school. (I hear from dozens of students just like Sheeva every day. I hope you are moved to do everything you can to try to change policies that are harming our children in so many ways.)

I always ask students who write to me to tell me a little about themselves, their schools, and what they’d do if they didn’t spend so much time on school work. This is what Sheeva told me:

Laguna Hills is a midsized public school with around 1800 students. Outside of school, playing soccer usually takes up most of my time. When I’m not playing soccer, I sometimes take part in a youth group dedicated to organizing philanthropy projects. I actually do enjoy reading and writing, as long as it’s a book or prompt of my choice. However, like any other high schooler,on the weekend I do my best to make time for friends or simple relaxing activities such as going to the movies and much needed couch/tv time.

Soccer is a great passion of mine, and playing in college has been a life long dream. To do so, playing on club team is basically mandatory. Due to increased homework, decreased sleep, and unmeasurable stress, I was forced to quit club soccer. Rather then spending weekends on the open grass field, I have been tucked behind my desk in my room finding questions to answers I will never again be asked after the test.

Continue reading “A High School Junior Speaks Out–Dear Secretary of Education”

From a Former Teacher

Today I am highlighting a Comment posted by a former teacher:

I don’t remember what bunny trail led me to your blog, but I have a few general comments.

I am a former public school teacher who started teaching at age 21. I hate to admit it, but for 8 years or so, I was so clueless. I was the kind of teacher that, as a mom, I would now hate!

What did I do that was so bad? Upon reflecting, it was assigning STUPID “projects”. Most of the time, the ridiculous projects ended up being homework. Why did I assign them? Did I ever think about whether they provided any real educational benefit? I don’t know and no. What I DO remember thinking about was how great a particular project was going to make my room look! I actually thought that having all these projects made ME look like a great teacher! Ugh!

Fast forward to my having kids and subsequently making me THINK about what was important-my husband and I decided we would homeschool our children. (He’s a gifted, insightful, award winning and well-loved educator who HATES homework, as well.) I am not writing to persuade you on homeschooling, but to merely affirm that 1. extra time does NOT equal more understanding and 2. kids absolutely need to play and have down time. My 4th grade son spends about 5-51/2 hours on school each day – and this includes 2 hours of reading (which he LOVES). The rest of the time, it’s play. His scores on standardized tests are exceptional, and he is 2-3 “grade” levels ahead in all subjects.

Now, I don’t think that his (as well as his sibling’s) academic success is due is to his being exceptionally smart. I truly believe his success is due to our “less is more” philosophy, and his being given time to simply be a hard-playing, inquisitive child. I know without a doubt that his love for reading and learning would be squashed if he were to have the work load of his friends that are in the schools around us.

I am not sure where I am going with all this, or why I even took time out to comment, but I wanted to let you know that I applaud you in your efforts to curb homework and worthless, silly, time-consuming assignments (which, as you saw from my own experience, is what most homework turns out to be.). Unfortunately, there are more out of touch educators than you would care to believe. And I can say that because I used to be one.

What to do When the Teacher Tells You Your Child has ADHD

Here’s a very good answer by Dr. Yvonne Fournier, to the question of what to do when the teacher tells you your child has ADHD and should be medicated:

DEAR DR. FOURNIER: We were summoned to our daughter’s school, told she is ADHD and instructed to get her on the meds. My neighbor says ADHD is something that was developed so pharmaceuticals can sell more unnecessary drugs and absolve parents from having to actually parent and teachers from taking responsibility for what our daughter isn’t learning. Please tell us the truth.

ASSESSMENT: I have been answering questions about ADD/ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder with or without hyperactivity) and the surrounding controversy for several years now.

The ADHD diagnosis is often communicated to parents when their children become distracted and do not complete tasks or act impulsively and disrupt the classroom.

ADD/ADHD is not a disease, but a cluster of behaviors, some of which may be acceptable in certain classroom situations and not in others. In some cases, these behaviors may continue through life and be the very strengths that lead to success, such as the “daydreamer” who becomes a heralded movie director or the “talker” who becomes a noted trial lawyer.

Continue reading “What to do When the Teacher Tells You Your Child has ADHD”

Reading First–Does Intensive Decoding Instruction Contribute to Reading Comprehension?

I’ve written about the trouble with packaged reading programs before.

Today, I’m linking to a piece by Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California. In this piece, Krashen writes that children do not improve their reading comprehension skills through those packaged reading programs.

Does Intensive Decoding Instruction Contribute to Reading Comprehension?
by Stephen Krashen

In the recent Reading First Impact Final Report, children participating in Reading First classrooms did better than comparisons on a test of decoding given in grade one. Reading First children did not, however, do better on tests of reading comprehension in grades one, two, and three, despite considerable extra instructional time (Gamse, Jacob, Horst, Boulay, and Unlu, 2008).

Not mentioned in the Final Report is that we have seen this pattern before: Children following an intensive, decoding-based curriculum do better on tests of decoding (pronouncing words out-loud) when compared to regular students but do not better on measures of reading comprehension.

Read the rest here.

“I Hate Reading Logs,” says FedUp Mom

This is the sixth post by FedUp Mom, the mother of a fifth grader. FedUp Mom’s daughter used to attend a public school in suburban Philadelphia, but this year FedUp Mom moved her to a private Quaker school, hoping for a more relaxed environment. You can read her other posts here, here, here, here and here.

I Hate Reading Logs
by FedUp Mom

Every time I think we’ve solved the school problem something comes along to bite me in the rear. This week it’s the dreaded reading log. We found out about it from a letter the teachers sent home:

“Your child will be expected to read every night. We ask that you sign the log each night … We will also check the log regularly, in order to ensure follow through on your child’s part… Please sign the form below and return it to school tomorrow with your child.”

And now, the fun part:

“Thank you for your partnership in your child’s education.” (!)

And how does following the teacher’s directions make me a partner exactly? I feel more like an unpaid employee. Wait a minute — we’re paying them!

There was a little form at the bottom of the letter that said:

“I have read the above letter and agree to help my child by signing his/her log each night.”

I crossed this out and wrote in:

“We trust our daughter to do her reading.”

Then we signed it.

Then we sent the following e-mail to the teacher:

Teacher X: we have chosen not to participate in the reading log. We’ve experienced reading logs before and have these objections:

1.) They turn reading into a chore.

2.) They send a message that we don’t trust (daughter) to do the reading without meddling and micromanaging.

(Daughter) will do the reading she needs to do, but she won’t be logging the pages. Thank you.

I’m hoping that will be the end of it. I’m really tired of conferences and I’m sure we all have better things to do with our time.

New Jersey Parents–Act by Tuesday to Make Sure New Jersey Children Get Recess

Today’s guest blogger, Karen Cecere, is a Howell, New Jersey, parent who got recess restored in her community last year and is now fighting to get recess for all New Jersey children. She is a Girl Scout leader, active PTA member, and is extremely concerned with the growing lack of time for children to be children.

By this coming Tuesday (January 13), she is asking all New Jersey voters to write an email to Senate President Richard Codey and ask that Senate Bill S226 be put on the agenda and brought to the Senate for a vote.

Go to Senator Richard Codey’s website
Click “Contact Your Legislator(s)”
Check “Senator Richard J. Codey”
Click “Select your Representative(s)”
Fill in your name and address and type in your message, ask that bill S226 be added to the agenda for Tuesday, January 13, 2006

Restore Recess in New Jersey
by Karen Cecere

Two years ago I because aware of a serious problem in our schools. Our children were not getting a break! Over 6 hours a day in the class room, homework every night, and the only time they were not learning was when they were eating. No time to relax or burn off energy or unwind.
I happened to meet another mother, Marie Walton, with the same concerns. We, along with a few other concerned parents, grandparents, and professionals, went to the Board of Education and stated our concerns. A committee was formed to try and find a way to get recess back on the schedule for our children. And we did. Our township now has recess every day for every student before lunch time!

But Marie and I were still concerned because we found out that recess, or lack of, was not just a problem in our schools. It was a problem in many schools throughout NJ and across the nation! Organizations such as International Play Association estimate that close to 40% of our children are not getting a break! So while we were trying to get recess for our schools, we also reached out to our legislative representatives. Assemblyman Malone took our concerns seriously and presented a bill to the Assembly (A467), which calls to establish a Task Force to study the benefits of recess and make recommendations on advisability of mandatory recess in school districts. At the same time, Senator Robert Singer presented an identical bill (S226) in the NJ Senate. At this time, A467 has been approved by an almost unanimous full Assembly vote. We are still waiting for S226 to be presented to the Senate for vote.
Continue reading “New Jersey Parents–Act by Tuesday to Make Sure New Jersey Children Get Recess”

Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Calgary, Alberta

Unfortunately, not everyone in Canada has been having the same luck as Frank Bruni of Toronto and Dale O’Dair of Niagara Falls.

For over a year now, Shelli and Tom Milley, the parents of three children, have been trying to get their children’s school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to institute a reasonable homework policy. They have also asked several times that their children be allowed to opt out of the homework policy.

At the end of last year, as a result of pressure from Shelli and other parents she had organized, her school agreed to form a homework committee. Shelli managed to get herself, and several of her allies, appointed to the committee. The school principal and several teachers were also appointed. Shelli got the committee to read several of the articles I suggested and she got the committee to listen to five different podcasts of leading researchers and authors in the area (including myself)–a tactic I thought was brilliant. In addition, Shelli enlisted the support of Vera Goodman, also of Calgary and the author of Simply too much Homework! What Can We Do?.

Shelli (and the principal) posted a series of articles on the school’s eboard, so that the entire community could become informed.

With all of this information, you’d think the school, like the one I wrote

Continue reading “Moms (and Dads) on a Mission–Calgary, Alberta”

New Zealand Study Finds Teacher Feedback Important

A major study conducted at a New Zealand University and based on research into 83 million students around the world found that “the key to effective teaching is the quality of the feedback students get and their interaction with teachers.” According to New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times, the study casts serious doubt on the importance of homework, small class sizes and even which school a child attends.

Good News to Start off 2009–Private School Changes Homework Policy after Talk by Alfie Kohn

I recently heard from Alfie Kohn that he spoke to teachers, administrators, and parents at an independent school in the Northwest. After that visit, the lower school division director wrote to the parents:

As a result of Kohn’s visit and our discussions, and after I did even more research from other books and articles from The Center for Public Education, we have decided that we will be changing the default from automatic, nightly or weekly homework to occasional homework. Research shows there are little to non academic benefits or a correlation of improvement in student achievement on younger students (research a little more ambiguous in middle and high school years), especially with one size fits all homework, which often follows the formula of “10 minutes per grade level”.

We do want to encourage, or in fact require, nightly reading for pleasure by all students, as this is one area where there are proven benefits for students. Also, many students can benefit from short but intensive amounts of fact review and practice, especially before bedtime when some studies show the brain repeats patterns and facts during sleep. There will also be some project work to be completed at home, as well as meaningful tasks that cannot be accomplished during school time, such as interviews with family members and additional keyboarding/ typing practice. Fifth graders will also continue with current events, as we feel that this is something that encourages a world view and important life skills. Finally, students who have some learning issues may benefit from focused homework with supervision.
Continue reading “Good News to Start off 2009–Private School Changes Homework Policy after Talk by Alfie Kohn”

Zine: A Students’ Guide to Taking Back the Classroom

Two years ago, right after The Case Against Homework was published, I heard from Dylan Baird, then a 16-year-old junior at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. He was writing an article on homework for his school newspaper.

Now, Dylan and two friends, Breton Sheridan and Tom Stokes, have published a zine, “A Students’ Guide to Taking Back the Classroom”, which outlines the positive effects of increased student autonomy. The purpose of the zine is “not only to educate, but to call for cooperation between students and teachers in order to create a new classroom culture of respect, autonomy, and motivation.”

Please take the time to read the zine. The research and writing is impressive; the call to action should be responded to.

One of the criticisms always leveled at students who don’t want to do homework is that they’re “lazy” and headed for a life of drudgery at a low-paying job. Of course, these criticisms are baseless. In fact, many of the students I hear from are self-motivated, highly articulate, well-read, and passionate. Dylan, Breton, and Tom are shining examples.

In case you’re wondering where they are now, this is what they told me: “Breton Sheridan, age 18, is enrolled at Temple University and is pursuing his interest in education both radically, though current zine projects, and more conventionally, as he looks into a 5 year teaching program at Temple. Tom Stokes, age 18, is currently a freshman at Yale University and is pursing his love for art, as well as enjoying the diverse class options at Yale. Dylan Baird, age 18, recently returned from an 11 week road trip around the country and has now committed full time to working on various student empowerment projects.”

Let them know what you think of their zine at: structureproject@gmail.com. And, they would be thrilled if you distribute their zine wherever you can.

AND HAVE A HAPPY AND STRESS-FREE HOLIDAY. STOP HOMEWORK WILL RETURN ON JANUARY 5.