'No Homework' Debate Finds Support In New Jersey (VIDEO)

Children in some New Jersey school districts may soon be living nearly every student's dream: No more homework on the weekends.

Based on research, parent and teacher surveys, and recommendations from district officials, board members within the Galloway Township Public School District will soon consider discontinuing weekend homework forever. Officials believe the extra time will allow students to focus more on extracurriculars and spend quality time with their families, reports Press of Atlantic City.

Superintendent Dr. Annette Giaquinto said they want to make sure the work they do assign is meaningful, reports NBC:

"Many people believe that by doing homework, student achievement is increased. Well, in the early and primary grades, that is absolutely untrue."

While research has shown homework has the potential for both positive and negative outcomes on a student's academic learning, some parents and board members are fed up with the long hours children spend stressing over piles of books and what they feel is simply busy work.

According to CBS, this anger led some parents in Maplewood, N.J. to organize a movement to abolish homework altogether.

WATCH:

However, Sy Fliegel, education expert from the Center for Educational Innovation, isn't convinced, reports CBS:

"It's like someone saying to you too much food is no good for you, what's the solution? Let's not eat anything."

According to a study done by Harris Cooper, Department of Psychology at University of Missouri-Columbia, the relation between homework and academic achievement is determined by grade level. Cooper found:

"The effects of homework on elementary students appear to be small, almost trivial; expectations for homework's effects, especially short-term and in the early grades, should be modest...For high school students, however, homework can have significant effects on achievement."

Although some educators, including Cooper, tend to view homework as a positive force in building study habits, self-discipline, and better time management, other researchers believe it also has the potential to ruin a child's sense of curiosity. Alfie Kohn, author of "The Homework Myth," told TIME:

"It's one thing to say we are wasting kids' time and straining parent-kid relationships..but what's unforgivable is if homework is damaging our kids' interest in learning, undermining their curiosity."

Kohn, a supporter of eradicating all homework, believes our heavy workloads come from our obsession with standardized tests:

"The standards and accountability craze that has our students in its grip argues for getting tougher with children, making them do more mindless worksheets at earlier ages so that we can score higher in international assessments...It's not about learning, it's about winning."

The solution? Cooper suggests all schools use the "10-minute rule," reported the Los Angeles Times: add 10 minutes of homework each night as students progress from grade to grade. For example, a fifth grader should be assigned about 50 minutes of homework a night, including reading.

However, even this reasoning couldn't satisfy a fifth-grader named Ben Berrafato, who went as far as comparing homework to slavery back in 2009, reported CBS. In response, Berrafato took to the streets with a petition to have it removed.

WATCH:

Although New Jersey is not the first school district to consider assigning less work, their decision could affect homework guideline policies in additional districts state and nation-wide. Their discussion probes an age-old question, which is certainly relevant given today's uncertain academic environment: Do you think our students are assigned too little, or too much homework?

Comments

[sanfran55]

01:41 PM on 06/04/2011

No homework for the elementary years is just going back to "old school."

Young children need to be outside playing and having free time - not trapped on a computer or hours of busy work/rote memorization.

Could mean less meds and less obesity, too.

[UnRed]

04:56 AM on 06/03/2011

One word: Homeschooling. Keep your child away from these idiots.

[jolsen]

07:58 AM on 06/03/2011

Because every homeschooled student I've met has NOT been socially stunted....

[poeticjustice4all]

10:59 AM on 06/04/2011

Because we got all we need right here in this double-wide.

[drmindhealer]

01:16 AM on 06/03/2011

Learning occurs not just in the classroom but in the outside world. If students are not given problems to tackle on their own, they essentially "shut down" over the weekend and have forgotten what they learned previously. Homework is exactly that: homework. You take what you learned in class and apply it independently. Parents need to get over themselves and get involved in their child's education. You think they'll get away with no homework in college? Forget it. You need to study for those PSATs, SATs, GREs, and licensure exams. This doesn't serve them in the long run and is educational malpractice.

[Jason Fournier]

10:33 PM on 06/02/2011

In my math classes, I follow a simple structure. Classwork is given usually with time to finish in class. If for whatever reason the students do not finish, then it is "classwork" that needs to be finished somewhere other than my classroom. I try to put up to 5 problems that vary on depth and difference. I put up to 3 problems based on the previous lessons for students who missed class and/or had a lot of questions about the previous days lesson. I put up to 2 problems of old stuff. All questions are hand picked. I never want my students doing very much on their own because if they are making mistakes, I don't want them to have that way of thinking engraved in their heads.

I wrestle with work outside of my classroom since there are now websites that will show kids how to solve any problem step-by-step. This is making me think two ways. Do I assign more in depth project-like work that really makes the kids think or do I make my assessments weigh more? It seems as if in class we can do project-like work because we have great discussions as to why this math works and how, but when the kids leave, they don't want to talk about these things or even think about them. Assigning them problems that will help them understand the discussion fundamentals seems a little more practical and less intimidating.

[LilacFields]

06:16 PM on 06/07/2011

We need more teachers like you.

[SmallTownMarm]

10:00 PM on 06/02/2011

This is just the kind of thing that makes me laugh. We teach them how to take tests, but not how to spell, create complete sentences or add three digit numbers together. Our country is falling far behind other developed countries in education, and now it seems like the system is going to tell students that there is enough time during the school day to teach them next to nothing. Don't worry about retaining any knowledge accidentally picked up in class. Don't use any new knowledge in a way that might actually put it into your long-term memory. Just let it all go. We are raising very dumb people.

[fred merwin]

04:53 PM on 06/02/2011

it depends a lot on the subject... i teach social studies, and have not given homework for over a decade... i found i could cover the material and get the students to learn without it.... however, a think for the tougher subjects like math and science, students should be working all the time to improve... bottom line... you want you child to succeed in school- reinforce what the teacher are trying to do... if you are the type of person/parent that thinks there child is entitled to be a free spirit... so be it... but just stay out of the way of those who believe that hard work, not creativity, equals success.

[armstrong st]

05:46 AM on 06/02/2011

I think homework has to be because otherwise student's won't remember the material learned in schools. Homework shouldn't be difficult though and students don't have to spend long hours stressing over the piles of books. Homework helps students get organized and develop their skills.

Steve from www.essaytask.com

[O K Ali]

02:07 AM on 06/02/2011

All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten - Robert Fulghum

[tazmodious]

06:11 PM on 06/01/2011

My policy, which is spelled out very clearly to my students throughout the year is this: If you don't get it done in the class time I have given you, then it is your job to figure how you are going to get that assignment turned in on time.

That puts all time management skills development on the student where it belongs.

[FunctionOfTheCrisp]

05:35 PM on 06/01/2011

If we want to send the message to students that schoolwork which reinforces what is taught in the classroom, then the worst thing to do is make it "home"work. It should be done while kids are still at school! I doubt any of us really would like to know the actual percentage of kids who do homework while distracted by the 'net, TV, or otherwise at home while concurrently doing homework. I admit that I sometimes did homework in front of the TV.
One of the essential reforms to our schools needs to be a lengthening of the school day so that schoolwork is done in school, while kids are in an academic environment and able to access teachers. For longer, more comprehensive assignments such as research papers, it would be appropriate to expect that these are done at home over weekends, etc.
It makes no sense to let kids out of school early in the afternoon so that they can do homework in their distracting home environments.

[Quixosis]

03:03 PM on 06/03/2011

I disagree. I think part of what our students need, particularly high school students, is a more independent sense of responsibility.

In my opinion, spending more time with teachers in an environment that requires them to get their work done is very much teaching them to only perform when an authority is making them do it. In order for kids to learn to be successful adults, they will have to figure out how to self-regulate while submerged in a world of distractions. A child's schooling years are precisely when those lessons need to be learned; it is an environment in which the consequences of failure are mitigated by the interventions of teachers and parents.

[FunctionOfTheCrisp]

02:27 PM on 06/04/2011

I agree. This is why I differentiate between busy work - type assignments and more comprehensive ones.

[been2there]

04:43 PM on 06/01/2011

Part of the problem is that what is appropriate for one student may actually be busy work for another. My children entered first grade as proficient readers, so ALL language arts work was busy work for them. That does not mean that no students needed it; in fact most students do need it. With larger classes comes less chance for individualisation, and we all lose.

[am10]

02:20 PM on 06/02/2011

I'm pretty fortunate that while my kids' classes have 20 kids in them, the teacher gives them different homework than the rest of the class if the regular homework would be busy work. There's usually about 3-4 kids were above the rest of the class.

[jimmyjack frankentoast]

04:31 PM on 06/01/2011

i agree with this kid and nancy kalish, and if you haven't read john gatto, do yourself a favor. school is, as hes says, 'dumbing us down'. homework is a form of surveillance and authorized learning that prevents people from engaging in autodidactism, and is a violation of privacy. schools are corporate training facilities that inculcate obedience and propaganda. scores on assignments and tests are, as kohn says, about winning. and if you don't win the emotional and intellectual dependency established by this inculcation is activated to reduce one's self worth. mistakes are stigmatized rather than embraced as a tool for learning. no subject is studied in depth and asking questions is demonized. free speech is virtually non-existent below the college level, and an endangered species in higher levels of education. there is a difference between schooling and education. what we have has nothing to do with learning, but merely getting a job. educational inflation compounded by the economy is making it even more miserable.

[grammasher]

05:39 PM on 06/01/2011

I think you should have paid a little more attention in English class. It looks like you missed the learning part there.

[brianartstar]

08:15 PM on 06/01/2011

Give me a break, it is the writing police. I hope you didn't miss the content of jimmyjack's post. He is right. High school students don't get to evaluate their teachers the way college students do. Student evaluations have a direct impact on tenure decisions for college professors. I know many high school teachers who would rather not give so much homework. It is work for them and and for the students with limited return for all the effort.

[UnRed]

05:07 AM on 06/03/2011

Remember (then) Gov. Sanford's proclamation that "we don't need no Federal money for education" (yep, he *really* said that). Jimmyjack, evidently, is cut from the same cloth: Butchering the King's English while discussing education is sort of a credibility killer.

[tultican]

02:02 PM on 06/01/2011

Ten years ago when I first read Alfie Cohn’s analysis of homework, I was quite skeptical. Now that I have spent these past 10 years in the classroom, I am moving more and more toward the same conclusion. If a student is taking 6 classes which is the normal load, a 20 minute assignment in each class would represent 2 hours homework. So that means there is very little time for high school clubs, plays, sports and volunteering in the community all part of an education. As far as students making progress toward understanding, my experience is that the top students get value, but from most students I get copied work and work that shows a complete lack of understanding. If I have students do more work in class, using grouping strategies, more learning occurs. In general, I use homework to complete things that could have been completed in class. At the high school level, many students move on to more rigorous courses where self-study is required – courses such as AP calculus or honors chemistry or IB literature. I think that is totally appropriate and necessary.

[jolsen]

01:19 PM on 06/02/2011

Agreed mostly, except that self-studying is a skill that needs to be taught, as well.

[Laura Thompson-Schaeffer]

12:17 PM on 06/01/2011

The 1st thing that needs to be abolished are SCHOOL PROJECTS which are primarily done by the parents

[am10]

05:25 PM on 06/01/2011

You can do that by simply not doing your kids' project for them. Yes when my daughter was in kindergarten and did a simple paper airplane data analysis for the Science Fair, it looked primitive next to the other six year old's Power Point presentation. However, she actually learned something and is the better student for it.

[PowerPridePinstripes]

12:11 PM on 06/01/2011

Jersey moms are leading this battle?! - um, ok.

But, I think I agree with them. For instance, you're at work all day and when you get home the last thing you want to do is work. So - kids are at school all day - learning -- so the last thing they may want to do is formal school work/homework.

[daughterusmc]

04:04 PM on 06/01/2011

so don't do it.
why does no one ever say "well, you're a really talented athlete, you don't need practice" or, "you have an affinity for music, don't practice"?
it's bs. people don't want to do it...fine, but don;t act like less study and drill is the key to obtaining better skills...it is ludicrous.

[brianartstar]

09:12 PM on 06/01/2011

Daughter,
I'm not sure that is the whole story. Clearly in math and music "practice makes perfect". Yet there are legit claims of enough is enough. Much of the home work ought to be done under the watchful eye of an educator. If teachers expect learners to learn at home what they have not learned in class, then they are mistaken. Balance in everything. That is not to say, as you eloquently imply, that real growth results from sustained focus and work..