Most of us assume that getting a zero for failing to do work is fair. But here’s an article that shows why the zero is unfair and should be abolished. It’s a must read.
I know of a teacher who slipped the article in her colleagues’ mailboxes as an “FYI.” You might consider doing the same.
Have a relaxing, peaceful, and homework-free holiday.
According to a press release issued by the Brookings Institute, the 2007 Brown Center Report on American Education finds that homework DOES NOT improve scores on standardized math tests.
Today’s guest blogger, Diane Hewlett-Lowrie is the mother of a six-year-old son. Diane works in education and interpretation with the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. She grew up in Scotland and believes in nurturing the development of the whole child. Her experience with homework to date has been that it is pointless, has no real merit and takes time away from much more valuable activities at home.
The Experts Tell Us
by Diane Hewlett-Lowrie
Eat healthy food.
Play a ball game with your family and friends.
Cook your own meals from scratch using fresh organic produce.
Don’t eat take-out food regularly; the trans-fats/sugar/carbohydrates, etc. will kill you.
Have sit-down family dinners at least four times a week; it helps communication and keeps your kids off drugs.
Allow your kids an hour every day for unstructured play and interaction with the natural world.
If you’re in first grade, get at least 11 hours of sleep so you can concentrate in school.
Cherish the time with your children while they are young. They grow up so fast.
Reduce stress in your family – enjoy some down time and relax together.
Get at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every day.
Read to your child for 30 minutes every night.
Get a good night’s sleep.
I’m sorry; we don’t have time to do that, WE’VE GOT HOMEWORK!”
Today’s post is an op-ed published in the Contra Costa Times on November 15. It’s written by Kerry Dickinson, who was Monday’s’s guest blogger.
Homework is Culprit
by Kerry Dickinson
I was both thrilled and perplexed with the front page article “Healthy development tied to nature” on Nov. 8. I’m thrilled because our family loves being outdoors and we know that nature is good for the mind, body and soul. I’m delighted that this article promotes riding one’s bike or walking to local schools and stores. That’s great for the environment as well as for one’s own health.
I am perplexed, however, that the writer mentioned video games as one of the main reasons kids stay indoors. It’s true that after school activities such as video games, sports, or music lessons do take up a considerable amount of time, time that could be spent playing outdoors. But let’s not ignore the fact that children are spending one to three hours on homework after school each night and sometimes more on the weekends. Add homework to after school activities and it’s easy to see why children spend so little time outdoors.
As parents we have a choice about our children’s extracurricular activities. But we DON’T have a choice about the homework they are given. I would much rather send my boys outside to play after school than nag them about doing their homework.
Imagine a time when you came home from school and the first question out of your mother’s mouth was “Who are you going to play with today?” instead of, “How much homework do you have today?” Chances are, that time was 30 years ago when you were a kid.
Today’s guest blogger is Kerry Dickinson, the mother of two middle school age boys, a former middle and high school teacher, a current part-time substitute teacher, and a stay at home mother. She, and Julie Kurtz, the mother of two teens, a Mental Health Director, and a licensed marriage and family therapist in the San Francisco East Bay as well as teacher at a local Junior College, are actively working to change homework policy in their community.
How We’re Organizing in Danville, California
by Kerry Dickinson
Julie, and I have been spear-heading a movement to get our district (San Ramon Valley Unified District – SRVUSD) to re-evaluate its outdated homework policy, written in 1995.
We’ve started an email distribution list (currently at about 80 people) and have sent out a general survey about homework to collect initial data to present to the district. We ended up with about 60 completed surveys which I put into an Excel file.
Julie and I met with the Director of Instruction, Student Services, at our district on November 27. He seemed genuinely concerned with our issue. We gave him the results of our survey and he agreed to study it and get back to us.
A week later, he called Julie and told her that he met with the Educational Services Cabinet in the SRVUSD and they discussed homework. He indicated the group shares our concern about homework and the outdated policy we have. He stated after the winter break that a task force group would be developed to address the homework issue in our community as well as the homework policy. This task force would be comprised of a wide variety of stakeholders who can fairly represent the opinions that vary throughout the San Ramon Valley, including parents. They did not know who would be on it or how it would be developed or even how large or small it would be. This is yet to be decided.
So, at this point, we are cautiously optimistic about meeting with the district after the break to begin to form a task force and move forward with rewriting the outdated homework policy.
In the meantime, we continue to write editorials to the local paper and keep communicating with parents on our homework email list about any relevant issues that pertain to this homework issue.
In the last two weeks, Stan Goldberg, a podcaster from the Bay Area who is better known as Senior Dad has interviewed two parents involved in trying to change homework policy in their communities, Amanda Cockshutt and Tracy Mason.
Amanda, who wrote a guest blog entry last June, and whose letter to a local newspaper I posted last May, is an incredibly articulate speaker. It’s worth taking the time to listen to her interview. She talks eloquently about the problems with homework, how she has approached the school, and some of the practices that have been changed as a result of her advocacy.
Recently, I’ve been following Tracy’s organizing efforts in San Marino, California, here and here. You can hear Tracy, who is also very articulate, speak for herself here.
Last year, Senior Dad did a four-part series on homework, where he interviewed Alfie Kohn, John Buell, Harris Cooper, and me. And here’s a very recent interview I did with Christina Lemmey of wonder years radio. Christina is the mother of 2 girls, ages 10 and 5, and their school experiences have formed the basis for her podcast.
Last week, five parents in Davis, California, met with the Director of Curriculum and the Associate Superintendent to discuss homework policy. Here’s the report back to the Superintendent:
Today we met with five parents, representatives of the 40 parents who signed the letter to you. The parents expressed numerous concerns with the district’s homework policy adopted in 2003), as well as the length and value of assignments. A complete packet of the parents’ concerns is attached here, along with research material they garnered.
Summary of parent homework concerns:
• Inconsistent practices on quality and length of homework within grade-levels and content areas.
• Lack of collaboration among teachers at the secondary sites when calendaring major assignments, ignoring or circumventing the homework policy and the assignment of repetitious busy work.
• Mental health, emotional and physical stain on student – major lack of sleep and conflict within families over these issues.
• Need for students to have real world experiences, including time for after school jobs, to balance academics and to learn practical skills
• Obsolete grading practices where homework assignments completed outweigh demonstrated content proficiency assessments.
• District culture in which hours of homework are expected, regardless of quality or value to student learning.We shared perspectives for over an hour and agreed that this issue should be considered by our School Board. We hope that by February, the Board might have the time to begin a conversation with staff and parents.
Our draft timeline to address homework is to bring their packet of information to both the secondary and elementary principal meetings in December, as well as to our Cabinet. We will ask principals to discuss concerns at their staff and department grade level meetings. The parents at the meeting today volunteered to describe the situation they are experiencing to PTA and staff meetings. We will encourage principals to invite the parents for open communication between the staffs and parents in any venues determined by the principals. The parents were encouraged to continue to directly communicate with their students’ teachers and principals.
In January, we can compile information from the sites on actual practices and any progress made for collaboration and consistency. All of the current information and developments can be gathered for the Board packet in February. Hopefully this can be discussed at our next Cabinet meeting to insure that we are all in agreement on steps and timelines.
In my last blog entry, I wrote about how parents in Davis, California, welcomed their new school Superintendent with a letter asking him to meet to discuss homework policy. Last week, 5 parent representatives met with the Director of Curriculum and the Associate Superintendent. Here’s what one of the parents told them:
My name is Ruth Santer. I have an 8th grade daughter and a 4th grade son.
First, I want to thank you for agreeing to meet and listen to us. I am very grateful for the help you provided dealing with a teacher whose demands exceeded the district homework standards. That particular situation is symptomatic of an overall trend in Davis that I think needs to be examined. Davis schools are justly renown for their high academic standards, and that is the primary reason my family lives here. I am sure we have the same goal; to make the schools the best they can be. We all want that for our children.
However, I believe that in one area we are moving in the wrong direction. The amount of time we expect our children to spend on homework is too high. Instead of enhancing their education, it is detracting from it. We ask that the district review and revise the current homework policy to lower the maximum amount of homework allowed across all grades.
Continue reading “Davis, California, Parents Meet With Representatives of the new School Superintendent”
Forty parents in Davis, California, sent their new Superintendent of Schools the following welcoming lettter. As a result, the Superintendent scheduled a meeting to discuss homework.
Dear Mr. Superintendent,
Welcome to your new position as Superintendent. I know you have many policy matters to assess, and we, the undersigned parents, believe that one of them should be the district homework policy. We would like to meet with you at your earliest possible convenience to discuss two main points.
1. Most importantly, we believe that the homework policy that exists is flawed and needs to be revisited. The current maximum levels of homework allowed are so onerous as to be destructive of children’s physical and mental health. We are damaging our children’s love of learning by occupying far too many hours after a full day of school with further academic requirements. Children need balanced lives; they need to sleep, often 9-11 hours a night. They need to be physically active, to participate in the responsibilities of family life, to enjoy friendships, and free unscheduled time. 2-4 hours of homework each night and homework on weekends will make even highly motivated, conscientious students bored, frustrated and exhausted. Recent articles and books cite examples of high achieving communities that have “turned down the heat on homework” to good effect. We want to see Davis join their ranks.
Continue reading “Brilliant Idea from Parents in Davis, California”
Stop Homework