In Homework Revolt, School Districts Cut Back

[RamboLiberal]

GALLOWAY, N.J. — After Donna Cushlanis’s son, who was in second grade, kept bursting into tears midway through his math problems, which one night took over an hour, she told him not to do all of his homework.

“How many times do you have to add seven plus two?” Ms. Cushlanis, 46, said. “I have no problem with doing homework, but that put us both over the edge. I got to the point that this is enough.”

Ms. Cushlanis, a secretary for the Galloway school district, complained to her boss, Annette C. Giaquinto, the superintendent. It turned out that the district, which serves 3,500 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, was already re-evaluating its homework practices. The school board will vote this summer on a proposal to limit weeknight homework to 10 minutes for each year of school — 20 minutes for second graders, an hour for sixth graders, and so forth — and ban assignments on weekends, holidays and school vacations.

Galloway, northwest of Atlantic City, is part of a wave of districts across the nation trying to remake homework amid concerns that high-stakes testing and competition for college have fueled a nightly grind that is stressing out children and depriving them of play and rest, yet doing little to raise achievement, particularly in elementary grades.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/education/16homework.html?_r=1&hp

I hated homework. IMHO while some may be valuable a lot is nothing but make work.

[pnwmom]

1. Good. If there's much homework, there's no time for reading for pleasure,

physical activities, or just plain fun.

My son's elementary school started piling on the homework along with NCLB -- and it doesn't help kids learn more.

He literally had 5 times as much homework in the early grades as his sister had years earlier -- and it didn't help him learn more. How much better if he could have used that time to just be a kid.

[MadHound]

2. Sorry, but I think this will continue the process of dumbing down our populace.

Do some teachers give too much homework, certainly. But a blanket time limit according to grade, and a blanket ban on homework on weekends and holidays is simply wrong, sorry.

What about AP classes, which generally require more work? What about writing intensive classes at the secondary level? What about the fact that we're supposed to be preparing kids for college where, like it or not, any college worth a damn loads a student down with two hours of homework per credit hour, or more.

Not to mention the fact that cutting back on homework means that students will have to be doing that work in class. Which leaves even less time for teaching, which means students will learn even less. Sorry, but that's not a good scenario.

Instead of throwing a blanket time limit at a problem that involves a few teachers, how about we review those cases on an individual level, rather than applying a blanket solution that winds up being bad for everybody, students included.

[RB TexLa]

3. Just getting them ready for the working world where you are told you have to have balance work life

or some kind of bullshit like that.

Don't sacrifice to get ahead, that's unfair to those who don't want to sacrifice.

[angstlessk]

4. For my elementary education I went to Catholic School

I do not recall being 'burdened' by homework and no one looked at how many hours it took to complete...but I was in bed by 9 o'clock every night.

Of course College was different..and my first paper to the 1st year psyche teacher stated..'if all my teachers in all my classes required me to write papers as you do, I would surpass (forgot the name of the shrink who was known for his collection diatribes) in written words.

I was forced to read it in class..and was applauded by the class..the teacher was COOL!

[Odin2005]

5. Thank god, kids are getting way too much, it's causing burnout.