Let's Talk About Homework

Homework -- should we or shouldn't we -- is a big question for today's teachers and students. Old-school thinking would dictate that students should have homework every night, that they need additional practice outside of the classroom, and that homework is necessary for student learning. But we know now that most of our students do not come home to Mom waiting with hot cookies and cold milk, and a homework station with resources, supplies, and plenty of adult help. Also, students today have far more activities and responsibilities competing for their time than before. Many students' time is limited by sports, lessons, activities, caring for family members, jobs, and other activities and responsibilities. So, we will look into the research on homework and its effectiveness and impact, and investigate some questions about homework:

Should we give students homework at all?

If so, how much homework should students be doing?
How often should we assign homework?
What kind of homework should students be doing?
How should we (or should we) assess homework?
Should homework be graded? How/how much should homework be graded?

There may not be clear right-or-wrong answers to these questions, but as teachers we should be making decisions based on research rather than tradition or trend, and we should be doing what is best for each of our students.

In this section we will look at research about homework, and you should begin thinking about how that research might apply to you and to your own future classroom. Let's work on making decisions about what is best for our students, not based on what we've heard, what everyone is doing, or what is traditional, but rather based on what we know is best for our students!