More elementary schools are doing away with after-class chore
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Guess what, kids? No homework. Really. All year.
A small but growing number of elementary schools and individual teachers are doing away with the after-school chore to allow children more time to play, participate in activities, spend time with families, read and sleep.
There's been pushback against homework from parents in recent years who say their children's time is monopolized by other activities, said Steven Geis, president of the National Elementary School Principals' Association.
At North Trail Elementary School, in Farmington, Minn., where he is principal, students do what he says is engaging homework.
Some schools and individual teachers are revising their homework policies to ensure that they are effective, he said.
At the Orchard School, a kindergarten-through-fifth grade school in South Burlington, Vt., the principal there said he's seen more anxiety among students in the last decade. The school opted to do away with homework this school year, based in part on the book “The Homework Myth.”
“They're just kids. They're pretty young and they just put in a full day's shift at work and so we just don't believe in adding more to their day. We also feel that we are squashing their other passions and interest in learning,” said Principal Mark Trifilio.
Alfie Kohn, the outspoken education lecturer and author of the book, “The Homework Myth,” says homework is a case of all pain and no gain.
“The disadvantages of homework are clear to everyone: exhaustion, frustration, loss of time to pursue other interests and often diminution of interest in learning,” he said. “Homework may be the greatest extinguisher of curiosity ever invented.”
But Harris Cooper, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Duke University, who has been studying the effects of homework for 30 years, disagrees.
He thinks all school children should be doing homework, but the amount and type should vary depending on age and developmental levels.
Cooper led research that reviewed more than 60 studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and found that homework had a positive effect on student achievement, but the positive correlation was much stronger for students in grades seven-12 than for those in elementary school.
He prescribes homework assignments that are short, simple and lead to success for elementary school kids.
It teaches children that they don't just learn in the classroom and helps turn them into lifelong learners while improving their sense of independence, and time management and study skills, Cooper said.
“Homework is like medicine. If you take too little, it does nothing. If you take too much, it can kill you,” Cooper said. “You've got to get the dose right.”
A lot of the backlash is a reaction to some teachers assigning too much homework, he said.
A guideline for many schools is 10 minutes of homework per grade: so 10 minutes in first grade, 20 minutes in second grade and so on.
“We definitely don't say 'no homework' but we try to keep it reasonable,” said Cherie Stobie, principal at the school in Marion, Mont.
“The main benefit is just having the additional time to practice later in the day because research shows that if students practice, you know they take a break after they've learned something and they practice it again later, it's more likely to be retained,” she said.
Noelle Ellerson, of AASA: The School Superintendents Association, said there has been a small but growing number of schools or teachers revising homework policies or talking about it “whether it's to do away with it or to shift to a policy where homework is the classwork they didn't finish during the day or where the homework of the child is to read with their parents.”
At the Orchard School, the children's daily home assignment now is to read books, get outside and play, eat dinner with family and get a good night's sleep.
