No More Homework?

The latest assignment for teachers: Figuring out whether homework is a good thing. The question has returned to prime time recently, as complaints from parents about homework loads grow. Whether you believe homework is scourge or sound practice, you can join in on the debate.

Education critic Alfie Kohn’s new book, The Homework Myth, gives good grades to those of us who don’t pile on the take-home assignments. Homework is mostly useless, frequently harmful, and rarely a good idea, he says. Teachers should say no to routine homework assignments and save them for special occasions.

On the other hand, if you think homework is a must-do, you’ll still find plenty of support—so long as you keep the load moderate. Duke University homework guru Harris Cooper still recommends the (NEA-endorsed) 10 minutes per grade rule, which he first heard from a teacher. With that, a first-grader gets 10 minutes, while a high school freshman could toil at home for up to 90 minutes.

Cooper and Kohn agree the daily serving for small children—6- to 8-year-olds—has been growing, despite scant evidence that elementary homework does any good. From 1981 to 2002, the proportion of young children reporting homework on any given day climbed from 34 to 64 percent.

Many teachers assign it in the early grades to teach good work habits, Cooper says, which he agrees makes sense. (Kohn insists elementary-age homework just makes kids hate school.)

What do you think? Speak your mind at www.neatoday.org/neatoday/readersv.html. Also visit the site for Cooper’s advice on what kind of homework—and how much—to assign.