On Friday, I had
the pleasure of talking with Kyle Wind, a reporter for the Daily Freeman, who
was writing an article on a proposed homework policy for the Kingston, New York
school district. His article, “Kingston Board of Education Mulls new homeworkpolicy (with policy),” was published this morning. In it, he referred to some
of our conversation. Here, I will include my full comments to the proposed
homework policy:
The policy mentions
several times in bold text that research supports homework as a valuable
educational tool. This is misleading in both fact and emphasis. The research
supporting homework is scant. As with all studies, thoughtful people can read
the results in different ways. Yet even homework advocates like Harris Cooper
have commented on the limited marks homework gets in formal studies. He tends
to support homework for its so-called intangible while other homework experts,
like Alfie Kohn, Sara Bennett and Etta Kralovec, question its value. Even if that
committee that reviewed the literature came up with this conclusion, to present
it in the policy as a boldened fact without reference to controversy is in my
mind questionable.
Even if a
committee reviewing the issues finds homework valuable, there is the question
of teacher training. Mr. Wind told me that there are about 700 teachers in the
Kingston School District. It is important to know whether or not those teachers,
not just the committee, have studied homework, too. Schools of education do not
tend to teach homework-giving, at least at a level that compares to the weight
it is given by educators. On that basis, I think the homework policy should
include a provision for the district to sponsor in-service education for
teachers on homework.
The policy
suggests that homework reinforces time management skills, and perhaps, for
those children who already have those skills, it does. But that should not be
confused with “teaching” time management skills. Drawing an analogy to managing
one’s money, if you have trouble managing money, the first step you take is to
cut your credit cards up and work on managing the money you have. Similarly, if
a child has trouble managing time, the first thing they need is a time-based
boundary in which to do their work. Forcing children to do the work until it is
done does not teach time management since the child has no fixed amount of time
to manage.
I agree with
Trustee Robin Jacobwitz that the ten minute per night per rule is probably too
much. I don’t quibble over that amount simply because I think the most
important issue is having a fixed amount of time. But I think it is important
to know that the ten minute rule is not research based, but a norm. It is certainly
better to operate with a clock based norm than it is to use estimates of how
long the homework much take.
Provision 6
talks about no student failing because of homework alone, and I absolutely
agree with that concept. But the statement is followed by one that gives the
student a chance to make up work that has not been done. As it is written, this
provision could be read to suggest that if the child does not make up the work,
then he might fail. The reality is that
if a child cannot complete homework assignments on time, that child is not
going to complete homework assignments as they continue to accumulate. That
child needs homework relief, with an effort to better understand what is making
it difficult for the child to complete the work.
Mr. Kyle refers
to my comment about parents having the authority to relieve struggling students
of some of their assignments. I would like to add to that position that it is
also important for teachers to understand that parents are the ultimate heads
of their homes. Teachers should understand that homework is being completed on “borrowed
ground.” Teachers should have full authority for things that take place in the
school. But they should also understand that, in the end, it is the parent not
the teacher who makes the final decisions on what happens in their home.
*****
Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.
I recommend giving copies of the book to the teachers at your child's school. Discount purchases are available through Wyndmoor Press. Single copies can be purchased at Amazon.
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