A High School Student

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A High School Student's Perspective on Homework
For years I have never fully understood my parents' celebrations of or concerns about my education. They have
strong opinions about everything from the curricula used in my classes to how instruction is provided. My parents
are both professors in the educational psychology and special education fields, so I have heard their views on
education all my life.
One area that has prompted much discussion in our household surrounds the use of homework, particularly
since I entered high school. Based on my own experiences, listening to my parents in their classes, and my
research, I have come to the conclusion that homework could use some serious modification.




First, mastery can only be achieved by correct practice over time. My parents are advocates of explicit
instruction; that is, teachers should show us what to do, give us opportunities to do it, and then give us a chance
to show that we can do it on our own. Homework was designed to build on skills covered extensively in class. I
should be able to complete an assignment with little to no confusion at home as long as it involves previously
learned skills. I read Harris Cooper's 1989 article "Synthesis of Research on Homework" (PDF), published
in Educational Leadership, which is cited by many of the researchers who have studied homework and its effects.
Two recommendations stood out for me:
"Homework will not be used to teach complex skills. It will generally focus on simple skills and material
or on the integration of skills already possessed by the student" (p. 90).
"Parents will rarely be asked to play a formal instructional role in homework. Instead, they should be
asked to create a home environment that facilitates student self-study" (p. 90).
Many of the homework assignments I have received throughout my years of schooling have involved activities
not previously practiced. When a teacher assigns homework incorporating information that was just recently
taught or not taught at all, it puts a tremendous amount of stress on students. Worse yet, I think, it puts a great
deal of stress on our parents. We rely on our parents to help us be successful. Our parents have to figure out
how to do the assignment and then teach it to us. Many of the projects and activities are too difficult to be done
without our parents' help. Students who have no help at home, therefore, are at a total disadvantage and their
grades might falter because of this lack of assistance.
If teachers use homework as additional or extended practice, we should be able to do homework with few, if any,
difficulties. Our parents can simply check over our homework. I often get calls from my friends asking me how to
complete assignments, and I think about how lucky I am to have parents who can actually help me with my
homework. I often see students copying other students’ work. Maybe they copy because they simply didn’t take
the time to do the work—or maybe they didn’t understand how to complete the work in the first place.






Second, homework should not exceed two hours per night. Again, Cooper provides recommendations about the
length of homework. He says the following (p. 90):
Grades 1–3: 1–3 assignments a week, each lasting no more than 15 minutes.
Grades 4–6: 2–4 assignments a week, each lasting 15–45 minutes.
Grades 7–9: 3–5 assignments a week, each lasting 45–75 minutes.
Grades 10–12: 4–5 assignments a week, each lasting 75–120 minutes.




If we assume that we know how to do the homework we are assigned, we should be able to complete it
in a reasonable amount of time. But consider the schedules of many high school students: we often wake up
early in the morning; some of us have long bus rides; and many of us have sports practices, jobs, or other
extracurricular activities before or after school. We have to make time to eat dinner and complete our chores.
Now add on three or more hours of homework a night and you have instant stress, not only for students but also
for their families. I have known my peers to stay up until midnight trying to finish their homework on top of
everything else they have to do in their busy lives. These students are not always procrastinators—they just
simply cannot do it all.

Additionally, some teachers assign homework before a test day. All I would like to focus on before a test is
studying. I find it hard to put in the necessary hours of studying when I have to complete extra assignments.
Before a test day, the only work that should be assigned for a particular class is to study. If students do not want
to study, then they have no homework (although choosing not to study might jeopardize their grades). The
research I read found benefits for homework. Students do better in school if they have homework assignments
and actually complete them; they get better test scores too. However, teachers should think about how long
assignments might take to complete and whether they involve previously learned skills, and assign them
accordingly.
In summary, I enjoy school and appreciate the time my teachers take in providing feedback on homework
assignments and in reviewing them in class. If teachers take the time to assign homework we can actually do
within a reasonable amount of time, we will enjoy the experience much more, be less stressed, and have more
time to spend with our families each evening.

According to guidelines endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), a
student should be assigned no more than 10 minutes per grade level per night. For
example, a first grader should only have 10 minutes of homework, a second grader, 20
minutes, and so on. This means that a student in my grade -- seventh -- should have no
more than 70 minutes of work each night. Yet this is often doubled, sometimes even
tripled!
There are negatives to overloading students. Have you ever heard of a child getting sick
because of homework? According to William Crain, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at
City College of New York and the author of Reclaiming Childhood, "Kids are developing
more school-related stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems, and depression than ever
before." The average student is glued to his or her desk for almost seven hours a day. Add
two to four hours of homework each night, and they are working a 45 to 55 hour week!
In addition, a student who receives excessive homework "will miss out on active
playtime, essential for learning social skills, proper brain development, and warding off
childhood obesity," according to Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and
neuroscience at Duke University.
Everybody knows that teachers are the ones who assign homework, but they do not
deserve all the blame. "Many teachers are under greater pressure than ever before," says
Kylene Beers, president of the National Council for Teachers of English and the author of
When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do. "Some of it comes from parents, some
from the administration and the desire for high scores on standardized tests." Teachers
who are under pressure feel the need to assign more homework. But why aren't teachers
aware of the NEA homework recommendations? Many have never heard of them, have
never taken a course about good versus bad homework, how much to give, and the
research behind it. And many colleges of education do not offer specific training in
homework. Teachers are just winging it.
Although some teachers and parents believe that assigning a lot of homework is
beneficial, a Duke University review of a number of studies found almost no correlation
between homework and long-term achievements in elementary school and only a
moderate correlation in middle school. "More is not better," concluded Cooper, who
conducted the review.

Is homework really necessary? Most teachers assign homework as a drill to improve
memorization of material. While drills and repetitive exercises have their place in
schools, homework may not be that place. If a student does a math worksheet with 50
problems but completes them incorrectly, he will likely fail the test. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, most math teachers can tell after checking five algebraic
equations whether a student understood the necessary concepts. Practicing dozens of
homework problems incorrectly only cements the wrong method.
Some teachers believe that assigning more homework will help improve standardized
test scores. However, in countries like the Czech Republic, Japan, and Denmark, which
have higher-scoring students, teachers give little homework. The United States is among
the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh and eighth grade, so
more homework clearly does not mean a higher test score.
Some people argue that homework toughens kids up for high school, college, and the
workforce. Too much homework is sapping students' strength, curiosity, and most
importantly, their love of learning. Is that really what teachers and parents want?
Do students in the United States receive too much homework? If schools assign less
homework, it would benefit teachers, parents, and students alike. Teachers who assign
large amounts of homework are often unable to do more than spot-check answers. This
means that many errors are missed. Teachers who assign less homework will be able to
check it thoroughly. In addition, it allows a teacher time to focus on more important
things. "I had more time for planning when I wasn't grading thousands of problems a
night," says math teacher Joel Wazac at a middle school in Missouri. "And when a
student didn't understand something, instead of a parent trying to puzzle it out, I was
there to help them." The result of assigning fewer math problems: grades went up and
the school's standardized math scores are the highest they've ever been. A student who is
assigned less homework will live a healthy and happy life. The family can look forward to
stress-free, carefree nights and, finally, the teachers can too.
Some schools are already taking steps to improve the issue. For example, Mason-Rice
Elementary School in Newton, Massachusetts, has limited homework, keeping to the "10
minute rule." Raymond Park Middle School in Indianapolis has written a policy
instructing teachers to "assign homework only when you feel the assignment is
valuable." The policy also states, "A night off is better than homework which serves no
worthwhile purpose." Others, such as Oak Knoll Elementary School in Menlo Park,
California, have considered eliminating homework altogether. If these schools can do it,
why can't everyone?
So, my fellow Americans, it's time to stop the insanity. It's time to start a homework
revolution.

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