The Homework Revolution | Teen Ink

The Homework Revolution MAG

June 12, 2009
By SpaceKing800 GOLD, Glen Rock, New Jersey
SpaceKing800 GOLD, Glen Rock, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 228 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but is somewhat beauty and poetry"- Maria Mitchell


A young girl sits at her desk, reviewing her homework assignments for the evening. English: read three chapters and write a journal response. Math: complete 30 problems, showing all work. Science: do a worksheet, front and back. French: study vocabulary for tomorrow's test. It's going to be a long night.

This describes a typical weeknight for students across the country. Now is the time to start a homework revolution.

Do students in the United States receive too much homework? According to guidelines endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), a student should be assigned no more than 10 minutes per grade level per night. For example, a first grader should only have 10 minutes of homework, a second grader, 20 minutes, and so on. This means that a student in my grade – seventh – should have no more than 70 minutes of work each night. Yet this is often doubled, sometimes even tripled!

There are negatives to overloading students. Have you ever heard of a child getting sick because of homework? According to William Crain, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at City College of New York and the author of Reclaiming Childhood, “Kids are developing more school-related stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems, and depression than ever before.” The average student is glued to his or her desk for almost seven hours a day. Add two to four hours of homework each night, and they are working a 45- to 55-hour week!

In addition, a student who receives excessive homework “will miss out on active playtime, essential for learning social skills, proper brain development, and warding off childhood obesity,” according to Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University.

Everybody knows that teachers are the ones who assign homework, but they do not deserve all the blame. “Many teachers are under greater pressure than ever before,” says Kylene Beers, president of the National Council for Teachers of English and the author of When Kids Can't Read What Teachers Can Do. “Some of it comes from parents, some from the administration and the desire for high scores on standardized tests.” Teachers who are under pressure feel the need to assign more homework. But why aren't teachers aware of the NEA homework recommendations? Many have never heard of them, have never taken a course about good versus bad homework, how much to give, and the research behind it. And many colleges of education do not offer specific training in homework. Teachers are just winging it.

Although some teachers and parents believe that assigning a lot of homework is beneficial, a Duke University review of a number of studies found almost no correlation between homework and long-term achievements in elementary school and only a moderate correlation in middle school. “More is not better,” concluded Cooper, who conducted the review.

Is homework really necessary? Most teachers assign homework as a drill to improve memorization of material. While drills and repetitive exercises have their place in schools, homework may not be that place. If a student does a math worksheet with 50 problems but completes them incorrectly, he will likely fail the test. According to the U.S. Department of Education, most math teachers can tell after checking five algebraic equations whether a student understood the necessary concepts. Practicing dozens of homework problems incorrectly only cements the wrong method.

Some teachers believe that assigning more homework will help improve standardized test scores. However, in countries like the Czech Republic, Japan, and Denmark, which have higher-scoring students, teachers give little homework. The United States is among the most homework-intensive countries in the world for seventh and eighth grade, so more homework clearly does not mean a higher test score.

Some people argue that homework toughens kids up for high school, college, and the workforce. Too much homework is sapping students' strength, curiosity, and most importantly, their love of learning. Is that really what teachers and parents want?

If schools assign less homework, it would benefit teachers, parents, and students alike. Teachers who assign large amounts of homework are often unable to do more than spot-check answers. This means that many errors are missed. Teachers who assign less homework will be able to check it thoroughly. In addition, it allows a teacher time to focus on more important things. “I had more time for planning when I wasn't grading thousands of problems a night,” says math teacher Joel Wazac at a middle school in Missouri. “And when a student didn't understand something, instead of a parent trying to puzzle it out, I was there to help them.” The result of assigning fewer math problems: grades went up and the school's standardized math scores are the highest they've ever been. A student who is assigned less homework will live a healthy and happy life. The family can look forward to stress-free, carefree nights and, finally, the teachers can too.

Some schools are already taking steps to improve the issue. For example, Mason-Rice Elementary School in Newton, Massachusetts, has limited homework, keeping to the “10 minute rule.” Raymond Park Middle School in Indianapolis has written a policy instructing teachers to “assign homework only when you feel the assignment is valuable.” The policy also states, “A night off is better than homework which serves no worthwhile purpose.” Others, such as Oak Knoll Elementary School in Menlo Park, California, have considered eliminating homework altogether. If these schools can do it, why can't everyone?

So, my fellow Americans, it's time to stop the insanity. It's time to start a homework revolution.



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JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 821 comments.


on May. 19 2011 at 6:49 am
HorseLover SILVER, Dallas, Texas
7 articles 0 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A boat is safe in the harbor. But this is not the purpose of a boat."~Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist

I'm not even in high school yet and I get 3 plus hours a night. I enjoy some of the assingments (I'm a little bit of a geek), but I don't want school to be my entire life!

mia518 said...
on May. 14 2011 at 10:51 am
mia518, Chengdu, Other
0 articles 1 photo 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
The greatest achievement in the world is to do what people say you cannot do!

It's probably the same all over the world. I'm a Chinese senior high student and feel more pressure than you do. The college entrance exam is the most essential step for us all. When I was in grade 7, I joggled 5 important subjects and couldn't go to bed until 11. But I feel better  now, thinking about my future life.

on May. 8 2011 at 5:42 pm
Inkslinger BRONZE, Chattanooga, Oklahoma
2 articles 0 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."--Marianne Williamson

I understand where you're coming from. I don't believe in going to the extremes, and homework is starting to head in that direction. Homework is good for things like learning to work hard and study, though.

Archy said...
on May. 1 2011 at 3:27 pm
Archy, Honolulu, Hawaii
0 articles 0 photos 41 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone, it's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone"
~Robin Williams

Great article. At times i think that being in High School we have too much homework. In Middle school you should be doing at the least  1 hour to 1 hour and a half of homework each night or studying. In high school they say we need between 2 hours to 3 hours each night. By all means A ton of homework doesn't mean obesity. I dont even know how that came to mind. For example. There is an 11 year old who is a Junior in High School right now, at my school who has freaking good grades and plays Soccer and Baseball for my school. He got to where he is because if his intense studying and homewor. I agree that sometimes we get a ton of homework, but the more we do at night the better our grades are and the less we have to do during the day. It does toughen you for College and High school because lets say you are accostome to only 70 minutes a night like you say. When the 2 years from then instead of going by 10 minute more you have to go at least 1 more hour. Great Article but there was a reason for homework.

on Apr. 28 2011 at 8:49 pm
LAXdoubleK BRONZE, Aurora, Colorado
2 articles 0 photos 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--which is:
Try to please everybody."
-Herbert Bayard Swope

I agree completely! Read my article I posted a few years back about the same subject, "Too Much Homework, Too Little Time".

on Apr. 18 2011 at 9:00 pm
Daniosopuppy BRONZE, Sarasota, Florida
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"They say love is in the air so... I hold my breath till my face turn purple."-Lil Wayne

Wow. Your article just makes me want to print it out and show it to my teachers. You have strong detail and back up your topic very well. I'm really impressed. Also kids get tired of homework, so they just stop doing it which in result their grade goes down.

on Apr. 18 2011 at 8:05 pm
Riverschild SILVER, Mount Vernon, Washington
9 articles 11 photos 25 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You will never know until you try."

First off, good job for only being in seventh grade! I'm very impressed.

I'm not sure I completely agree with your point of view. (Though I get tons of HW as well since I'm in High School) Yet you were very persuasive and you cited good facts.

The only thing is Homework is a time where we really soak in what we have been taught that day, and ten minutes is not enough. In college, the common rule is each class you take, you double the studying for that night. For example you take a two hour class and you study that night for four hours. Ten minutes of Homework (or whatever short amount) will not help a student learn or prepare for college.

In my sad attempt at an analogy I will say this. I play the piano. I play two hours a day (though I only have to play an hour) and I’m really good. I have only been playing for two years and I have played with a few symphonies (I guess that’s how you spell it) and won several competitions. I take long piano lessons, but, for a big part of my time “I am my OWN teacher.” That is where the learning happens. We shouldn’t complain homework it’s too much. We should over achieve!!

Oops…I wrote too much. This was amazing. Great job J

 


on Apr. 18 2011 at 4:01 pm
goodnightmoon, Wapakoneta, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
We all matter. Maybe less than a lot, but always more than none.
-John Green

Okay. As I said, simply curious. 

Exactly. And I try to consider things from both points of view as much as I can. Even with a graduating class of 36 and few options for classes (I go to a reeeally small school), only a few kids in my class share schedules, which would make it so confusing for the teachers. It's so much easier for them to assign homework when they feel it's fit, even if that doesn't make us happy.


on Apr. 18 2011 at 3:47 pm
PaRaNoRmAl627 GOLD, Mountainside, New Jersey
15 articles 0 photos 296 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do what you want. If it's something you'll regret in the morning, sleep late."

This was an extremely well-written article. I can't believe you're only in 7th grade; you write just as well, if not better than most high school students I know. The only thing I don't agree with is the obesity part. If a student isn't doing homework, they're more likely to be on Facebook than running around outside. But that's just my opinion. If they want to give us less homework, thats quite alright with me :)

fabulous job, really. :)


on Apr. 18 2011 at 3:23 pm
RiverSong BRONZE, Baltimore, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 100 comments

Thanks :)

Well, about other things... I mean, I practice music and then sometimes I have play rehearsal or something. And I shower, and eat dinner, and try to squeeze in some chill time but it doesn't always happen...

And yeah, now that I think about it a bit more, it would be harder in high school, what with people not really having the same classes.  But in my middle school, everyone takes the same classes except language (either french or spanish, in addition to latin) and math (enriched or standard). So it wouldn't be that difficult for the teachers to figure out a way so that we're not still up scribbling essays at eleven pm.


on Apr. 18 2011 at 3:17 pm
goodnightmoon, Wapakoneta, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
We all matter. Maybe less than a lot, but always more than none.
-John Green

In that case, I apologize for assuming, and my kudos to you for not procrastinating; I'm genuinely impressed. 

I will agree that that is a lot of time to be spending on homework in middle school, but I must ask what else do you do that you're up until midnight. (I completely believe you. I'm simply curious.) 

Another angle on this to consider: how are the teachers supposed to consider other teachers' assignments? Sure, they can talk to one another about it, but not every kid in a grade has the same classes. It would be hard to keep track of each class taught and what other teachers are assigning each of their classes. 


on Apr. 18 2011 at 2:57 pm
RiverSong BRONZE, Baltimore, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 100 comments

What do you mean, I wouldn't have studied before Wednesday night? I pride myself on doing things when they are assigned, not the day before they're due.  And I always start studying for tests two to three days before them.  I don't procrastinate, I don't text or use Facebook, and I rarely watch TV.  But still I am kept up until after midnight pretty much every day of the week.  And I'm in middle school.

I understand it might be different at your school, and it will definitely be different in college.  College is one thing; you're right, it is preparing us for adult life.  But three to four hours a night, in middle school, for someone who rarely procrastinates and gets straight A's, is ridiculous.


on Apr. 18 2011 at 12:53 pm
jennywalsh24 SILVER, Woodbridge, Virginia
5 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Hope is alive as long as the sun exists." -Me

Well said! I love this article!I think every word of this is true!

But, I think homework increases child obesity.Kids are stuck in a classroom doing work all day,then they come home.They want to go play outside,bt they can't because they have alot of homework. Homework should be banned, or at least limited. :)


jacobmhkim said...
on Apr. 18 2011 at 12:39 am
jacobmhkim, Burbank, California
0 articles 0 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Man, unlike anything organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments." (Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath)

Homework is just a small part of a huge system called education. As the amount of students who want to go to college are increasing from the recession, the competitions grows more and more. Therefore, the states create a curriculum that is more advanced and denser with information because they know that colleges will have to pick the top. The teachers have to follow that curriculum and try to give the students more work. It's the same for private schools too but it is the parents who complain to make changes for more work. The bottom line is, it's all for you. Either you work your butt off to go to college to end and prevent hardships so that students can afford to work less harder, or you don't take work seriously and wait for the next generation to take care of things.

on Apr. 17 2011 at 3:57 pm
goodnightmoon, Wapakoneta, Ohio
0 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
We all matter. Maybe less than a lot, but always more than none.
-John Green

Maybe. But isn't the purpose of high school to prepare us for "the real world," especially college? College professors are going to care even less than high school teachers care.

Don't get me wrong; I've had ridiculous amounts of homework to do in one night, but I understand that that's mainly because I procrastinate. I've chosen not to have a study hall in school, and I understand that I could use that time to do homework instead of being a teacher's aid. When I'm up late finishing a project, I understand that it's because I didn't work on it when the teacher assigned it a week ago. 

I can tell that you have a lot to do, but when were each of those assigned? Seeing as you know it now, they were assigned at least on Friday. A weekend is plenty of time to write a three to five page paper, and you should still have plenty of time to hang with friends. That would give you Monday and Tuesday for your composer paper, which should also be adequate time. Even if you hadn't had this homework schedule, I'd bet you wouldn't have studied for your test before Wednesday night anyway. And then you have from Thursday until that paper is due to work on that. And again, a night to study Latin, whenever that is. See? You have plenty of time to do all of that.


on Apr. 17 2011 at 11:12 am
RiverSong BRONZE, Baltimore, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 100 comments

But don't you think that teachers SHOULD consider what other teachers assign? I am currently in eighth grade, and I have a math teacher who gives us, every day, about forty to fifty math problems as homework; "extra" problems that are not extra at all (they are mandatory); monthly projects, daily quizzes, extra worksheets... it's just too much.

Another thing: I have an English paper due on Monday.  Three to five pages.  I also have a report on a composer due on Tuesday, a science test on Thursday, a rough draft of a research paper due the week after next, and a Latin quiz.  Teachers should work together when deciding how much homework to assign per night.  Do it any other way, and studenst will be overloaded with work. (Trust me, I speak from experience.)


on Apr. 11 2011 at 6:11 pm

I understand and agree with most of what you are saying, but I also think you need to consider that, for the most part, teachers don't assign homework knowing what other teachers will assign. Also, most teachers won't pile on lots of hard homework in one night. Usually, they'll give you several nights to complete it. How you spend your time is up to you. As a sophomore, I understand getting more homework than you know what to do with, but I also understand that usually when I have too much homework, it's because I procrastinated. I think most kids blame teachers for all of the homework when, if the kids paid attention in class and didn't procrastinate, it doesn't have to be so much and so tough.

You also have to consider what else you are doing while working on homework: Are you on Facebook? Are you texing? Are you IMing? Writing this article? Reading other stuff? Zoning out? Because all of that will add a lot of time to your homework that shouldn't be counted in the "Ten Minute Rule."


on Apr. 7 2011 at 10:43 pm
allybymyself SILVER, Fullerton, California
7 articles 0 photos 13 comments

Favorite Quote:
And miles to go before I sleep- Robert Frost

I will help with the REVOLUTION!!

I know that sometimes when I say "LESS IS MORE" it's because I am a lazy student. True, so who is better quailiifed to have an opinion??

Parents and teachers put too much emphasis on tests instead of actual learning. Most things we learn are for the test, no one remembers the lesson in another year.

At my school SO much is about test scores and GPAs it defines a person. Most people hang out with people that have similar grades because those are the ones in your classes. It's almost as if there is a caste system and its very difficult to rise in rank. Those in honors or IB look down at those who are not even if they are smarter... and they have a life not just a number.


on Apr. 2 2011 at 4:32 am
OneBlackGirl BRONZE, Indianapolis, Indiana
2 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love the difference!

At my school, we get homework and oftenly take home schoolwork. Practicing something wrong over and over and over and over, doesn't teach you how to do it right. And if you know how to do it right, why are you getting homework. I believe quizzes (which we take daily anyway) would be a more reasonable way to spend time. Not me doing something wrong repeatedly and finding it out three days after I get my quiz back that told me I was doing it wrong already.

on Apr. 2 2011 at 4:27 am
OneBlackGirl BRONZE, Indianapolis, Indiana
2 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love the difference!

(complete sarcasm) Yes, doing something wrong over and over and not knowing it, will definately teach me the right way to do it.