Friday, August 21, 2009

Reconsidering Homework

Information Guide and Homework Policy






Dear Parents,

Any homework given to your child will reflect our intentions to promote two goals: high quality learning and the desire to keep learning. When homework is given it will reflect activities that are naturally suited for home. For example, we encourage reading together from a book of your children’s choice every day. Cooking, board games and puzzles are all activities that can be done together at home that can act as a compliment to the work we do during school hours.

Homework is a chance for your child to learn by making mistakes. The point of good homework is to learn, not to prove that they have already learned. Therefore, when homework is given, it will not be graded. However great care will be given for proper feedback about what the student is learning.

Any homework given will be offered with the following qualification:
If homework ever interferes with any family activities or extracurricular activities such as music or sports, simply make a note of it on the homework and we will waive it. The same note should be made if any student is struggling with the homework.

All of us want our children to be successful and happy. As teachers, it is our intention to work with you to find the balance of school, play and home life. We look forward to (and need!) your feedback. You are your child’s best teacher and often times only you can help us understand your child and what is best for him or her. We encourage you to find out more about the affects of homework (both negative and positive) and look forward to any suggestions or comments you may have so that we can work together to help form the best learning environment for your child.


Information Guide and Homework Policy


Please take a moment to find out what current research has shown about the effectiveness of homework in Elementary schools.

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The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing
Kohn, Alfie. (2006) First Da Capo Press.

“There is no evidence of any academic benefit from homework in elementary school.”(p38)

“Correlation doesn’t prove causation. At best, most homework studies show only an association, not a causal relationship.” (p. 28)

“The conclusions of more than a dozen reviews of the homework literature conducted between 1960 and 1989 varied greatly. Their assessments ranged from homework having positive effects, no effects or complex effects to the suggestion that the research was too sparse or poorly conducted to allow trustworthy conclusions.”(p.25)

“The proportion of six- to eight-year-olds who are assigned homework is now almost the same as that for nine- to twelve-year-olds.” (p.7)

Negative impacts of homework: Burden on parents, Stress on children, Family Conflict, Less time for other activities, Less interest in learning. (p.10-17)
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American School Board Journal, (v183 n10 p48-51 Oct 1996)

Researcher Harris Cooper examined studies on homework and student achievement and found that homework substantially raises high school students' achievement; in junior high, homework raises students' achievement only about half as much; and in elementary grades, homework has no discernible effect on students' achievement.

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National Foundation for Educational Research
http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research-areas/pims-data/summaries/hwk-review-of-studies-on-homework.cfm

* There is a positive relationship between time spent on homework and achievement at secondary school level (especially for older secondary students). Evidence at primary school level is inconclusive, because fewer studies have been carried out at primary level and results have been inconsistent.

* Time spent on homework explains only a small amount of the variance in pupils' achievement scores, even at secondary level.

* There is a disappointing lack of reliable evidence on 'what works' in terms of homework assignments, procedures, marking and feedback.

1 comment:

  1. i found you! :)
    did you write this?
    if you don't mind, please pass this on to the third grade team at CCCS, I think Mrs. Tovar would appreciate it :)

    -Korlynne

    ReplyDelete