So, It's Not Just Us

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TJ and I have noticed, with some alarm, that our young'uns have been saddled with much more homework than we ever had... or even than our two older ones ever had. It is, apparently, much more prevelant than we thought.

Here is a good article on the subject... and I plan to research the books they talk about.

[[ The country's top homework scholar, Duke University's Harris Cooper, author of "The Battle over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents" (Corwin), analyzed nearly 200 studies and concluded that homework does not measurably improve academic achievement for children in grade school. He also found that for high school students in particular, performance diminished after two hours of homework.

"Kids are not vending machines," Mr. Kohn said. "You don't put in more homework and have more learning come out the other end. Your instincts might tell you otherwise, but the research is overwhelmingly conclusive."

It might not be clear what sweeping educational policies will best serve the majority of American children. But it is decidedly clear that children being raised in the privileged world of private, competitive schools are being overworked each night, especially in the early grades, when there is hardly any proof of any academic benefit.

"Parents need to reclaim their family time at night," Mr. Kohn said. "If teachers can make a case that most children in their class can benefit from an assignment, well great. But that's very different from assuming that all homework, regardless of it content, is valuable."

"These selective schools are all about sweat and tears instead of creating a love of learning," he continued. "Saddling children with homework does one thing: It kills the love of learning." ]]

Honestly, I believe that part of it is a mask to hide the incompetence of many teachers nowadays. They think that giving the kids lots of homework will make parents think that much learning is occurring and the teacher is serious about academics. Well, the opposite holds true for me. I think it is a poor teacher who sends the student out with busy work, instead of actually teaching.

Homework Blues

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