Too much homework? Schools look at the load
BY HANNAH SAMPSON
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Homework is not always a good thing -- too much can be harmful
The following information is taken from the book, "The Case Against Homework" by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. I encourage you to read it and discuss it with your kids' teachers this parent-teacher conference if you feel you feel you can relate to these issues.
-The U.S. Department of Education itself asserts, five problems is all it takes to demonstrate whether a child understands how to do them -- or not. Most often a math teacher can tell after checking five algebraic equations whether students have mastered the necessary concepts. This five-problem rule applies to all areas of math.
If a child comprehends a mathematical concept solidly enough to solve five problems correctly, there's no need to practice more. "A child who clearly demonstrates the ability to do addition or subtraction does not need to complete forty-five problems just because it's a homework assignment," says Emily, a first-grade teacher and department chair in Valhalla, New York. "That's clearly not useful or meaningful for that child."
And if a kid doesn't get a concept, doing additional problems is a particularly bad idea. "If a child does the first five wrong, what's he going to accomplish by doing the next forty-five wrong?" asks Deanne Rohde, the principal from San Diego. "He'll just cement the wrong way of doing it into his brain." Then the incorrect method will have to be unlearned before the child can progress.
-According to a 2001 review of more than 120 studies of homework and its effects by Professor Harris Cooper of Duke University, the country's leading homework researcher, and his updated 2006 review of an additional sixty studies, there is very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. Even in high school, "Too much homework may diminish its effectiveness or even become counterproductive," writes Cooper in his latest research review (Harris Cooper, The Battle Over Homework, second edition, page 26, and Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of the Research 1987-2003, the Review of Educational Research [Spring 2006]).
-Many countries with the highest scoring students on achievement tests, such as Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic, have teachers who assign little homework. Meanwhile, countries such as Greece, Thailand, and Iran, where students have some of the worst average scores, have teachers who assign a lot of homework. American students do as much homework as their peers in other countries -- if not more -- but still manage only to score around the international average (National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling by David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre, Stanford University Press, 2005).
-Most teachers do not take courses specifically on homework during teacher training. In fact, research shows that the great majority are unaware of the research on the problems with homework (Stephen Aloia, "Teacher Assessment of Homework," Academic Exchange Quarterly [Fall 2003]). That's why, as Professor Cooper told the authors of The Case Against Homework, when it comes to homework, "Most teachers are winging it."
-The U.S. Department of Education itself asserts, five problems is all it takes to demonstrate whether a child understands how to do them -- or not. Most often a math teacher can tell after checking five algebraic equations whether students have mastered the necessary concepts. This five-problem rule applies to all areas of math.
If a child comprehends a mathematical concept solidly enough to solve five problems correctly, there's no need to practice more. "A child who clearly demonstrates the ability to do addition or subtraction does not need to complete forty-five problems just because it's a homework assignment," says Emily, a first-grade teacher and department chair in Valhalla, New York. "That's clearly not useful or meaningful for that child."
And if a kid doesn't get a concept, doing additional problems is a particularly bad idea. "If a child does the first five wrong, what's he going to accomplish by doing the next forty-five wrong?" asks Deanne Rohde, the principal from San Diego. "He'll just cement the wrong way of doing it into his brain." Then the incorrect method will have to be unlearned before the child can progress.
-According to a 2001 review of more than 120 studies of homework and its effects by Professor Harris Cooper of Duke University, the country's leading homework researcher, and his updated 2006 review of an additional sixty studies, there is very little correlation between the amount of homework and achievement in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. Even in high school, "Too much homework may diminish its effectiveness or even become counterproductive," writes Cooper in his latest research review (Harris Cooper, The Battle Over Homework, second edition, page 26, and Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of the Research 1987-2003, the Review of Educational Research [Spring 2006]).
-Many countries with the highest scoring students on achievement tests, such as Japan, Denmark, and the Czech Republic, have teachers who assign little homework. Meanwhile, countries such as Greece, Thailand, and Iran, where students have some of the worst average scores, have teachers who assign a lot of homework. American students do as much homework as their peers in other countries -- if not more -- but still manage only to score around the international average (National Differences, Global Similarities: World Culture and the Future of Schooling by David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre, Stanford University Press, 2005).
-Most teachers do not take courses specifically on homework during teacher training. In fact, research shows that the great majority are unaware of the research on the problems with homework (Stephen Aloia, "Teacher Assessment of Homework," Academic Exchange Quarterly [Fall 2003]). That's why, as Professor Cooper told the authors of The Case Against Homework, when it comes to homework, "Most teachers are winging it."
RECOMMENDED HOMEWORK GUIDELINES
-According to Professor Cooper, kids should be assigned no more than ten minutes per grade level per school night (Monday through Thursday only). In other words, this adds up to ten minutes in first grade, twenty minutes in second grade, and so on, up to a maximum of two hours per night in high school (Harris Cooper, The Battle Over Homework, second edition, page 26).
-The National Education Assciation and National Parent Teacher Association recommend no more than ten to twenty minutes of homework per night in grades K through 2, and thirty to sixty minutes per night in grades 3 through 6.
-And some education experts, such as Etta Kralovec, associate professor of teacher education University of Arizona South, and coauthor of The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Famiilies, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning, recommend none.
-According to Professor Cooper, kids should be assigned no more than ten minutes per grade level per school night (Monday through Thursday only). In other words, this adds up to ten minutes in first grade, twenty minutes in second grade, and so on, up to a maximum of two hours per night in high school (Harris Cooper, The Battle Over Homework, second edition, page 26).
-The National Education Assciation and National Parent Teacher Association recommend no more than ten to twenty minutes of homework per night in grades K through 2, and thirty to sixty minutes per night in grades 3 through 6.
-And some education experts, such as Etta Kralovec, associate professor of teacher education University of Arizona South, and coauthor of The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Famiilies, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning, recommend none.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
-A 2006 national Scholastic/Yankelovich study found that reading for fun declined sharply after age eight. The number one reason: too much homework.
-Kids between the ages of five and twelve need ten to eleven hours of sleep each night; teens need 9.25 hours. According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2004 Sleep in America Poll, 54 percent of first through fifth graders sleep just 9 to 10 hours each night and 17 percent sleep less than 9 hours. According to the foundation's 2006 poll, 80 percent of teens don't get the reccommended amount of sleep. At least 28 percent fall asleep in school and 22 percent fall asleep doing homework (all fact: National Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org).
-According to a large study by the University of Michigan, family meals are the single strongest predictor of better achievement scores and fewer behavioral problems for children ages three to twelve (Journal of Marriage and the Family, May 2001).
-According to the American Psychological Association, typical schoolchildren today report more anxiety than did child psychiatric patients in the 1950s (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, December 2000).
-Kids are more sedentary than ever before, and homework is a contributing factor. Since 1981, the amount of time kids spend playing sports has decreased by 58 percent for six- to eight-year-olds, 19 percent for nine- to eleven-year-olds, 43 percent for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds, and 28 percent for fifteen- to seventeen-year-olds (Changing Times of American Youth: 1981-2003, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2004). Since 1980, the number of overweight children in the United States has tripled, according to a 2004 report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Even since 2000, there's been a significant increase: 17.1 percent of American kids under age nineteen are now considered overweight (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 2004), and the CDC predicts that one in three children born in 2000 will become diabetic (Journal of the American Medical Association, October 2003).
-A 2006 national Scholastic/Yankelovich study found that reading for fun declined sharply after age eight. The number one reason: too much homework.
-Kids between the ages of five and twelve need ten to eleven hours of sleep each night; teens need 9.25 hours. According to the National Sleep Foundation's 2004 Sleep in America Poll, 54 percent of first through fifth graders sleep just 9 to 10 hours each night and 17 percent sleep less than 9 hours. According to the foundation's 2006 poll, 80 percent of teens don't get the reccommended amount of sleep. At least 28 percent fall asleep in school and 22 percent fall asleep doing homework (all fact: National Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org).
-According to a large study by the University of Michigan, family meals are the single strongest predictor of better achievement scores and fewer behavioral problems for children ages three to twelve (Journal of Marriage and the Family, May 2001).
-According to the American Psychological Association, typical schoolchildren today report more anxiety than did child psychiatric patients in the 1950s (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, December 2000).
-Kids are more sedentary than ever before, and homework is a contributing factor. Since 1981, the amount of time kids spend playing sports has decreased by 58 percent for six- to eight-year-olds, 19 percent for nine- to eleven-year-olds, 43 percent for twelve- to fourteen-year-olds, and 28 percent for fifteen- to seventeen-year-olds (Changing Times of American Youth: 1981-2003, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 2004). Since 1980, the number of overweight children in the United States has tripled, according to a 2004 report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Even since 2000, there's been a significant increase: 17.1 percent of American kids under age nineteen are now considered overweight (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 2004), and the CDC predicts that one in three children born in 2000 will become diabetic (Journal of the American Medical Association, October 2003).
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