Homework

• Parents and Learning,Sam Redding, Educational Practices Series, no.2, 2000
  
  
• Classroom Instruction That Works; Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering, and Jane E. Pollock, ASCD, 2001

Homework is effective with all levels of learning

• Recall – for example, memorization of math facts, recall of states and capitals, factual information in any content area.
  
  
• Higher Order Thinking – for example, a comparison of two authors’ style of writing, an essay constructing support for our nation’s involvement in trade negotiations, accounting project, science project.
  
  
• Self-Directed Learning – for example, development of habits such as having a plan to accomplish the work, checking for their understanding of the information, using appropriate resources, monitoring and evaluating their own learning processes.

• Develops habit of studying at home.
  
  
• Creates independency in learning.
  
  
• Promotes "lifelong learning."

Homework develops family connections

• Provides the focus for family discussions.
  
  
• Shows parents what their student is learning in school.
  
  
• Does not involve the parent actually doing the homework for the student nor solving the problems the student has with the content.

• Frequency of homework seems to have greater impact than amount of homework; the amount should be different from elementary to middle and high school.
  
  
• Focus should be on what is being learned in class, with the emphasis on the content with which the students are familiar.
  
  
• The purpose of the homework should be identified; the feedback should support the purpose.
  
  
• Prompt feedback by the teacher is important to students’ learning.

• What is our school’s homework policy? How much time should I be expecting my student to study at home?
  
  
• How much homework should I expect my student will have from his/her teacher?

Teachers/Caregivers should ask...

• Have I established a homework policy or pattern that allows students to develop the habit of learning outside my classroom? Have I shared it with both the students and their parents and families?
  
  
   
• Do I regularly share the purpose of the homework?
  
  
   
• Do I provide a Homework Assignment sheet or planning tool?
  
  
   
• Do I consistently and promptly provide feedback on students’ homework?
   

Administrators should ask...

• What is our school’s homework policy? How much time should I be expecting my student to study at home?
  
  
   
• How much homework should I expect my student will have from his/her teacher?
   

Parents/Families should...

• Establish a set time for your student to focus on homework; this might be a set time every night or it may be the development of a weekly schedule based on the week’s activities.
  
  
• Establish a set place for your student to focus on homework; equip it with plenty of light and resources that include a dictionary.
  
  
• Talk to your student about his/her homework. Some questions you might ask include the following:
  • What can you do better now that you have completed the homework assignment? If practicing a specific skill, ask your student to share the steps with you and identify which are easy, which are difficult, and how he/she is going to improve.
    
    
  • What resources did you use/need to complete the homework?
    
    
  • What feedback did you get on the homework about...?
    
    
• Encourage your student to do his/her homework, but do not sit with him/her and do the homework.
  
  
• Contact your student’s teacher when he/she is unable to do the homework on a regular basis.

Teachers/Caregivers should...

• Establish a homework policy, addressing approximate amounts of time, role of parents and families in the homework, role of teacher in the homework; be sure to communicate that policy to students and parents in multiple ways.
  
  
   
• Create/Require an assignment planning tool that addresses purpose of homework, specific assignment, date due, and evaluation standards.
  
  
   
• Provide a purpose for the homework (e.g., practice a specific skill to increase speed and accuracy, prepare for a new topic to connect to prior knowledge, elaborate on material being studied in class to make additional connections).
  
  
   
• Share up front the skills or knowledge students need to have to complete the homework successfully.
  
  
   
• Provide promptly feedback based on the purpose of the assignment; avenues might include peer feedback using specific guidelines, rubrics, specific comments.
  
  
• Identify for yourself how you will check for the impact of the homework on the students’ learning and what you will do if students are not learning.
  
  
   
   
• Talk to your students about the role homework plays in their learning. Help them understand the impact homework can have on their grade. (Note: T.Z.Keith’s data indicate that if a student adds 30 minutes to his/her homework time each night, he/she can expect to raise the grade point .5.)
   

Administrators should...

• Establish a building homework policy, addressing approximate amounts of time, role of parents and families in the homework, role of teacher in the homework; be sure to communicate the policy to students, parents, and entire staff in multiple ways.
  
  
   
• Create/Require a building assignment planning tool that addresses purpose of homework, specific assignment, date due, and evaluation standards.
  
  
   
• Talk to teachers and students as well as parents about the role and effect of homework in their students’ lives, both now and lifelong.
  
  
   
• Identify for yourself how you will check for the impact of the homework on the students’ learning and what you will do if students are not learning in a specific class or grade level.
  
  
   
• Talk to your students about the role homework plays in their learning. Help them understand the impact homework can have on their grades. (Note: T. Z Keith’s data indicate that if a student adds 30 minutes to his/her homework time each night, he/she can expect to raise the grade point .5.)