Stop Homework

In a commentary in today’s North County Times, Stephen D. Aloia, Associate Professor of Education at California State University, Fullerton, writes that one of the reasons teachers give so much homework is that they spend so much time on test prep that they don’t have time to teach. With his permission, here’s what he has to say:

State Standards Measure Wrong Things
by Stephen D. Aloia

Research shows that schools spend one day per week testing and preparing kids for tests.

No wonder we give so much homework. There’s no time left to teach. Tests cost money, take up teaching time, cause teachers to “teach to the tests” and give administrators ulcers. And tests cause students and parents to go off the deep end worrying about the wrong things.

Every year, our children are subjected to a number of tests that are supposed to help us determine the wellness of both our students and our schooling system. For purposes of space (and to avoid boredom), just the abbreviations will be used herein. There’s the API, AYP, PI, STAR tests, Exit Exam (CAHSEE), CAPA, CELDT, EAP, PFT, CHSPE, CAT/6, STS, NASP, GED, SAT, ACT, and perhaps a few others. (See the State of California Web site, http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta, for details of each test.) Not every student takes every test, but you get the point —- too many tests!

Sadly, these tests fail to assess the most important things about which schools are supposed to teach, but don’t. Tests tell us who can write well, think critically (it doesn’t matter about what, as long as it is critical thinking), calculate some fancy equation (that they will never use for the rest of their lives), and in some cases even tell us if our children know something about our own past —- our U.S. history (not social studies).

But we have no state standards nor tests that address the most important things in life, such as the importance of compassion, honesty, integrity, sincerity, patience, persistence, effort, fairness, justice, temperance, fortitude, courage, faith, hope, charity, magnanimity, trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, kindness, cheerfulness, cleanliness, reverence, thrift, bravery and obedience.Continue reading “Testing Doesn’t Leave Room for Teaching”

Last week, I posted an article about how teenagers need more downtime, which was written by Dr. Daniel Gottlieb, a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and author of, among other things, Letters to Sam: A Grandfather’s Lessons on Love, Loss, and the Gifts of Life. On Monday of this week, he wrote a follow-up piece, again originally published in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Inside Out | Would less homework lead to more learning?
By Dan Gottlieb

My last column was about too much homework and what to do about it. I advised adolescents to form committees of students and parents to examine homework practices at their schools. I suggested they consult several recent books that argue that excessive homework does little good and a great deal of harm. I supported the position taken by many educators that homework should total no more than 10 minutes a night multiplied by grade level (90 minutes in ninth grade, for example). And I recommended that the newly formed committees meet with administrators and teachers to make their case.

Of course, I received dozens of e-mails. Most were from parents like Ginny DeLong, who said that when her daughter was in 10th grade, her English teacher would assign two hours of homework a night just for her class (one of six). When she complained, it turned out the school did have a homework policy – but no one was aware of it.

Jim O’Brien wrote that his adolescent daughter is “buried under homework; every night, every weekend and most holidays.” I also heard from a friend whose child is in kindergarten; he is already hearing about excessive homework requirements in first and second grade!Continue reading “More from Dr. Daniel Gottlieb”