A new policy that caps homework as a percentage of a student's overall grade has been suspended.
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy announced Wednesday that the policy, which limited homework's weight to 10 percent of a student's grade, was enacted without enough public input. The policy went into effect July 1.
The homework rule was originally designed to allow for heavier emphasis on in-class assignments, tests and papers. But the policy was put in place by administrative order and lacked input from the community and Board of Education.
"We cannot and will not implement a policy of this magnitude without actively soliciting and incorporating recommendations from our constituencies," Deasy said in a statement, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
Chief Academic Officer Judy Elliot told the Los Angeles Times that the 18-month process of drafting the rule aimed to ensure that students were being graded based on their mastery of the subject matter rather than homework completion. Officials were distraught to find that students with high test scores were failing some of their courses, she said.
Officials are looking to develop a new, agreeable, district-wide policy following meetings parents, teachers and administrators, KABC reports. They plan to present a proposal to the Board of Education next spring.