Student Assessment Considerations

Assessment, Grades, and Homework

by  Harvey Craft

Student assessment methods need consistency across the nation. The typical method of assessment is a matter of grading student work and averaging the grades, but assessment involves much more than numbers. 

Assessment Quick and Dirty

Teachers are invited to read the points below, read the articles and links in this channel and offer opinions. Perhaps your contributions will help others improve grading and assessment. The points below are intended for kick-starting your assessment process-- how and why you assess.

Students Assessment Issues

What is the basis for your method of grading? (I.e., did you invent it, adapt it from another source, base it on reading and/or research?)

• Do you adjust grades for student behavior like being late to class?
• Do you have a test/quiz make up policy?
• Do you give extra credit to allow students to improve a period grade?
• How often do you give homework?
• Do you include homework as part of a period grade? If so, how much does it count?
• Do you grade all student work?
• Do you know the difference between formative and summative assessments?
• How many grades per student do you record in a typical grading period?
• Do you ever give true/false items?
• Do you give zeros?
• Do you give a variety of items on major tests like multiple choice, essay, short answer, or other tasks?

Perhaps I omitted something that you would like to include or encourage others to discuss. Leave us a comment? 

What Parents Need to Know About Teachers and Teaching

Parents, Teachers, and Schools #1

Parents want the best education for their children and many schools have splendid support from the communities their serve. “Good” schools are a major point taken into consideration by parents when seeking a home in a new town. But nice well-appointed, attractive communities do not always guarantee excellence in education. New buildings, computer labs, modern libraries, and the latest in technology does not necessarily equal school success.

No doubt, certain minimal material items contribute to a child’s education, but parents often confuse appearance with quality. Beautiful schools do help create an atmosphere conducive to learning, but there’s much more to instructional success. How good of an education depends profoundly on the knowledge and preparation of those involved in instruction – principals, teachers, aides, librarians, etc. Also, there are important roles filled by secretaries, custodians, and anyone who works in the school and those personnel who support the school at the district office. This article is focused on the instructional staff at the school who typically have greatest.

Bias and Local Schools

I’ve worked with teachers of all levels of skill and preparation, and in my experience great teachers are scarce. Parents tend to rate community schools higher than they do schools generally. This indicates a bias in favor of local schools. Such bias can lend itself to parents being less critical of local schools. Parents who attend carefully to school policies and procedures are assets to schools, although the school may not appreciate or value of well-informed parents.

Those not involved in teaching as a career typically trust teachers to do the correct things in the classroom, but good teaching is complex involving skills is the psychology of learning, child development, statistical procedures (for grading), test construction, behavioral psychology, and much more. Even teachers who study hard and learn well are influenced to some degree by what they observed when they were students themselves. Teaching is not correctly perceived by students, who see primarily the teacher presentation. They realize that teacher manage classes differently, grade differently, and vary in lecture style, but they don’t dwell on it – teaching is teaching.

Truthfully the student experience of teaching results in lots of old and incorrect methods being passed down through the generations. There is a large body of modern teaching principles that many teachers either don’t take seriously or don’t know. Teachers aren’t usually given salaries based on how well they teach but on how long they teach. Therefore, the reward is for longevity rather than improvement. Teachers are evaluated, but the evaluations are usually done by people they know and who are often friends. The major evaluative technique is based on watching a teacher present a lesson and checking off certain skills. Test construction, grading procedures, knowledge of new information, etc. are often ignored.

Common Bad Teaching Practices

The assumption that all teachers everywhere know what they are doing is risky. Parents need to be armed with some basics about good and bad practices in the classroom and be willing to address the issues teachers, administrators, and at school functions when appropriate. The major changes in education over the decades have been in what is taught, but how things are taught often remains perilously stagnant. To be fair, parents should research the topics below to gain a more comprehensive understanding.


You might be surprised that the subjects below are not well-understood by all teacher. Remember, that education is not a constitutional responsibility of the federal government. As public education has become available to virtually all citizens since the middle of the 19th century, states developed a variety of approaches. Many practices were not based on research – indeed, “common sense” assumptions about learning often provided the impetus for instructional practices and common sense can often be misleading or wrong.


Articles and links about the following topics will be provided as this page is developed.

No. 1: Reasons for not Grading Homework

by Harvey Craft

The most common reason for grading homework is because students expect it to be graded. This expectation is responsible for the teacher belief that, "If I don't grade it, they wont do it!" Grades are for assessment of learning, and much homework is not about learning rather, its about doing.


If one removes the expectation, why would we give a grade on an activity that has all of the defects and problems of homework? So, let's look at what's wrong with homework.

• Homework easily can be copied from a classmate.
• Students do not have equal resources for completing homework.
• Many students do not have Internet access which is often needed for homework.
• Many students do not have the bare essentials like a proper place at home to study or parents who can or will help.
• Homework is often more of an indicator of effort than learning.
• Frequently homework is merely checked off if students have it but not graded. These checks are, by mysterious methods, "converted" into grades.
• Of all student work homework assignments are the most likely to receive zeros. The accumulation of zeros can unfairly skew the total grade fair below the total grade as indicated by tests.
• The effects of zeros on beginning learners can place many dangerously at-risk. Failure does not motivate, but frustrates and discourages.
• Homework is often assigned over weekends and holidays thereby interfering with family plans. Kids need a break.
• Many students have nights with hours of homework. This can be counterproductive, especially for young learners.
• Homework is often assigned for punitive reasons.
• If it is known that a student won't (or can't) do homework, continuing to assign it and giving zeros without intervention is wrong! 
• Homework is a formative assessment. Formative assessments are not intended to be graded.
• Teachers can save time by not grading homework.
• Teacher often don't coordinate homework assignments with each other and students may have multiple assignments due the same day.
• Many teachers assume that homework develops responsibility. Not so! Responsibility is primarily developed at home by good parenting. 

Parents may find it hard to believe that teachers have varying and often incorrect concepts about homework, but they do. When homework seems to be a problem, consider the list above and discuss your particular issue(s) with the teacher. You might be the only parent that the teacher ever talked to that had specific and valid points about homework.

THE HOMEWORK MYTH: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, (Da Capo Books, 2006)

Reconsidering Homework

What Teachers should Know about Homework

by Harvey Craft

The recent push for Common Core is, I believe, a good idea that has one major omission: even if teachers can agree on exactly what to teach, it will make little difference if they don't know how to teach. Inconsistencies litter the teaching profession and while there may be thousands of ways to teach, many of them are wrong. Teaching doesn't happen with the same consistency that doctors apply in treating specific diseases. That can be a problem.

After a century of assigning homework, there is still much disagreement on its effectiveness as a teaching tool. Specifically, there are three main issues: (1) What is does a "good" homework assignment look like? (2) Why is homework necessary? (3) What is the reason for grading homework?

Breaking these three issues down, there are at least fourteen reasons many teachers and administrators either discourage its use or limit its use. The reader may think that homework is necessary to the learning process, but I've yet to see conclusive evidence.

Fourteen Reasons to Reconsider Homework 

Teachers give homework primarily because that's what teachers do – they learned to give homework when they were students.They had homework and assumed their teachers knew what they were doing. They continued the practice when they became teachers. Perhaps times have changed, but during my formal education as a teacher and administrator, I cannot remember any discussion about homework, and I have attended four different colleges and universities.

My ideas about homework are based on experience and research. I believe homework is a poor instructional tool because:

(1) it is easy to cheat. Copying homework is common and easy.

Copying homework is common.

(2) Some students have parents who will oversee the homework, some have parents who don't care.

(3) The conditions at home do not equally favor completion of homework.

(4) A main reason teachers give for assigning homework is to "develop responsibility," but that is not supported by research. Responsible students are more likely to do homework, but they do homework because they are responsible; they don't become responsible by doing homework. 

(5) Teachers tend to assign too much homework to the beginning learners even though that is when it is least useful according to research.

(6) Homework is a formative assessment; meaning that it is a type of informal assessment given before students have mastered a standard, and it is not best practice to grade things before they are mastered – that's what tests and quizzes are for. I am still surprised at the number of teachers who don't know the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment.

(7) No student should fail because of low homework grades, especially if his tests and quizzes indicate that he has learned the material, but that can happen if homework is graded.

(8) Students who don't do homework tend to not do it despite bad grades – therefore we are using a teaching method with them even though we KNOW they will always fail it. 

(9) Stressing grades for a reason to do homework sends a message that school is about grades and we know that students (when taught well) don't need grades to learn. Also, learning should be the preferred reason for attending school. We talk too much about grades.

(10) The application of homework as a teaching method is highly inconsistent across the nation and we need to move toward finding consistently effective methods that everyone will use.

(11) Often, undone homework is a "personal" issue with teacher and they get angry because they feel that students are disobeying interfering with student/teacher relationships. 

(12) Homework doesn't have to be graded to keep parents informed – send a note home or give them a phone call.

Some parents can help with
homework, but many cannot
or just don't.

(13) if homework is linked to standards-to-be-assessed, then students will learn that homework raises grades on summative assessments (tests, quizzes). That sends a message that doing or not doing homework affects their grades on tests and quizzes and there is no need to grade it – test grades are sufficient. More teachers should make this connection. After all, if homework is given it should address things that will be tested.

(14) Homework is maximally effective when graded by teachers and corrections are made. This can be very time consuming and takes valuable time away from more worthwhile instructional preparation.

Homework is one of those ideas in education that is taken for granted since it became fashionable in the late 50's when Russia launched Sputnik. If homework was meant to improve learning as measured by standardized tests, it hasn't. 

Fourteen Considerations for Homework

What’s wrong with Homework – Quick and Dirty

by Harvey Craft

OK, as teachers, time is precious. Let’s cut to the chase. If you have doubts about homework and need to bolster your case against it, I have listed fourteen reasons below. If you have been a proponent of homework for years and need grounds to change then the same fourteen reasons apply. This short read that will validate what you do or criticize what you do – it depends on what you do. I would advise that you do additional research as time allows to find support for these brief rationales. I’ll provide links at the end.

Teachers give homework primarily because that's what teachers do; they learned to give homework when they were students. But if one thinks about it, homework is a poor instructional tool because:

(1) It is easy to cheat on homework.

(2) Some students have parents who will oversee the homework; some have parents who don't care.

(3) Conditions at home do not equally favor completion of homework for all students.

(4) A main reason teachers give for assigning homework is to "develop responsibility," but that’s not supported by research.

(5) Teachers tend to assign too much homework to beginning learners even though that is where it is least useful – supported by research.

(6) Teachers often sign too much homework without regard for family time for recreation.

(7) Homework is a "formative assessment," meaning that it is a type of informal assessment given before students have mastered a standard, and it is not best practice to grade things before they are mastered – that's what tests and quizzes are for.

(8) No student should fail because of low homework grades, especially if his tests and quizzes indicate that he has learned the material, but that can happen if homework is graded;

(9) Students who don't do homework tend to not do it despite bad grades. It is ethically questionable to use a teaching method when we know a student will fail.

(10) Stressing grades as a reason to do homework sends a message that school is about grades and we know that students (when taught well) don't need grades to learn. School is about learning.

(10) Application of homework as a teaching method is highly inconsistent across the nation and we need to move toward finding consistently effective methods that everyone can agree on.

(11) Often, undone homework is a "personal" issue with teacher and they get angry because they feel that students are disobeying and it interferes with student/teacher relationships;

(12) Homework doesn't have to be graded to keep parents informed.  Send a note home or give them a phone call.

(13) If homework is linked to standards-to-be-assessed, then students will learn that homework raises grades on summative assessments (tests, quizzes), then doing or not doing homework affects their grades on tests and quizzes and there is no need to grade it. Test grades are, therefore, also homework grades.

(14) Grading homework often isn’t really grading; often it consists of a check-off method indicating that the assignment is done, partly done, or not done. These checks are magically changed into some kind of subjectively obtained number of questionable accuracy and no feedback about correctness.

More:

The Homework Myth, Alfie Kohn

Homework: An Unnecessary Evil?  Alfie Kohn

Issues Concerning Homework,  Molly Sadler

Why gifted kids don’t want to do their homework, Dr. Barbara Klein

Common Sense and Homework, Harvey Craft

Does Homework Encourage Cheating?

For decades I have been encouraging teachers to take a second look at homework policies and its place in effective instruction. In case you don’t know, my view of homework is generally negative for various reasons. I believe homework can damage instruction primarily because teachers fail to use it formatively and, as such, it should not be graded.

But many teachers grade it (or attach a grade to it) to “encourage” students to complete it. The problem is that students who are not prone to be bribed by grades simply watch their averages decay. When teacher continue the grading of homework despite continued refusal by some students to complete it one might conclude that homework, as a graded practice, if defective. Simply put, if any instructional practice always negatively affects a certain group of students why would a teacher want to continue using it?

The answer to this question may lie in a teacher attitude that refusal to do homework is personal as it demonstrates (to the teacher) disobedience. After all, students were “told” to do their homework, and are continually told and some (usually the same ones) don’t obey. The zero recorded is the punishment they get for being insubordinate.

Desperation

As additional pressure is applied by calling parents of assigning detention, some students may ask for help from parents who may comply by offering too much assistance. I.e., they complete all or most of an assignment. This is helpful to parents as well because it gets the teacher off their back and helps bring their child’s grade up, but their actions send a message that “help” on homework is sanctioned. The teacher records a positive grade, smile in approbation and reinforces the developing belief.

Too much homework can create desperation.

Of course, some parents help out of desperation caused by too much homework. It's due! It has to be done! My child needs help! Under these circumstances one can understand why parents simply pitch in to get their children into bed for a good night's sleep.

. 

The pressure applied in essential to the tendency to find help with homework. For some students nothing will get them to budge, but for others the solution is easy – find friends who will allow them to copy and assignment and avoid a wrathful teacher. After all, the teacher doesn't know who did the work, unless it is taken up and corrected. For teachers who check homework off and literally give some kind of grade cheating can work well.

The really sad thing is that for students who cheat grades on summative assessments may continue to drop if homework addresses items on future tests and quizzes, because it is on these summative assessments that knowledge should be assessed and graded. If the students have merely copied homework, they will not likely have learned it and will continue to fail.

That is the tragic flaw is stressing grades above learning. The message from the teacher should be that homework assists the learning process which will be assessed. Consequently, the student faces a double or triple threat: fail the homework and fail the same thing on tests and quizzes. So, some might say, they deserve to fail.

The issue of fairness might arise? Is it fair for obedient students who do homework to not receive a grade for their efforts while those who don’t do homework are not penalized? I say, “Yes, it is fair, because students who don’t do well-conceived, relevant homework are missing a chance to prepare for assessment. Consequently, their grades will suffer.”

Bottom line: de-emphasize grades as the goal of education and reemphasize learning. Missing homework should not be offensive, but a cry for help. 

Homework: Good, Bad, Too Little, Too Much?

Is it Useful and how do You Know?

by Harvey Craft

When I began teaching back when the earth was still cooling, my opinion on homework was based largely on my experience as a student in public schools. I remember completing lots of homework in school, and I didn't particularly care for it. Student attitudes didn't count for much so it seemed — teachers ruled and parents stood firmly behind them. As a high school teacher I gave homework frequently — that’s what teachers do.

My professional opinion began to shift as homework became both a pain and a puzzle. I couldn't correct all of those papers — I was overwhelmed!  So I did what many of my peers did and marked homework as done, not done, or incomplete and figured out a way to convert those marks into grades. But there were lots of students who just didn't do homework and some of them were otherwise excellent students, and there was something that just didn't feel right about recording zeroes for homework.

Enlightenment

I was a high school science teacher and was trained to be curious about such issues as proof, cause and effect, and fundamental truth. I had an annoying habit of analyzing the results of test grades for clues to improve instruction. The homework thing really bothered me. I couldn't detect any real benefit.

As the years passed it seemed to me that the main complaint teachers had about missing homework was like my initial reaction — it was personal, not about academics. But there was another issue.

One day during a planning period I was walking to the office when I saw the school principal walking toward me with an uncharacteristic scowl. He was an educator of unusual skill and knowledge — a true mentor. When he saw me, he stood directly in my path stopping me long enough to say, “I wish teachers didn't feel like they had to teach responsibility!”

He hurried off clearly on a mission to manage one of dozens of problems he deftly confronted every school day. I would later find out that his bad mood was the result of a parent angered because her son’s grade in one class was lowered because — according to his teacher — he lacked responsibility. Specifically, the young man had numerous zeros from missing homework, although his test grades were very good.

The realization that my principal and I were of similar mindset gave credibility to my emerging beliefs about homework — there were valid issues, and at least one competent person other than me knew it.

There was no official policy in my school or district about homework and as time passed I assigned less and less. I could discern no difference in learning as measured by my tests. Grades improved somewhat because I was recording fewer zeroes. As time passed I rarely gave homework and stopped counting it as part of a grade.

The Search for Solutions

I began to read professional journals. Could it be that there was a flaw in the hallowed practice of homework? I had already observed that homework could be and often was copied by students. I knew that the home environment was a factor that affected student’s pursuit of academics away from school.

Eventually I acquired a position in a middle school as assistant principal for instruction. My views on a variety of issues were sometimes viewed with suspicion. One morning before class a new teacher came to my office and leaned limply against the door jamb. She taught a group of students who were grouped together as “low achievers.”

“My students won’t do homework,” she said, clearly frustrated and wanting a solution. “The zeroes are killing their grades.”

“Do they need homework?” I asked.

She seemed unable to respond — not believing what she had heard.

“Don’t give them homework! That should take care of the zeroes,” I added.

“But don’t we have to? I mean, doesn't everyone need homework?” she added.

“Students need what helps them learn. It’s up to you to find out what that is. If homework is causing them to fail, clearly homework isn't something good for them.”

The common sense response was unexpected, but she agreed to consider my suggestion.

The Battle Continues

I have fought the homework battle for over 20 years. I am pleased that more educators are realizing the appropriate role of homework — diagnosis and practice, but it doesn't have to be assigned. It is a formative assessment— as such it should not be graded. Homework has not always been a major part of American education. The new emphasis on homework came with the launching of Sputnik in 1957. The nation panicked at the idea that we were lagging behind the Soviet Union and homework increased exponentially.

Did it help? Well, look at the SAT scores and other measures of educational progress. Look at how we compare with other nation in science and math, keeping in mind that many of the nations ahead of us assign little or no homework.

Why do so many teachers give it? To develop responsibility of course, but there is no sound evidence that makes kids responsible. Many very bright kids don't do because they don't see the need for it, and believe in their ability to perform well on summative assessments--i.e., test and quizzes without homework. Are these students irresponsible? No-- they just know what they need to know and have acquired their own sense of responsibility that transcends teacher expectations. They often refuse to do something they don't need. Gifted kids often feel that they know best, and many do.

Why do teachers grade it? It gets personal. "If I don't grade it they won't do it." And why is that? Because we have taught students that the most important thing about school is the grade, not the acquisition of learning. In fact, homework is always graded. Every time a test or quiz is given homework (assuming it was related to tested material as it should be) is graded. Why give a separate homework grade if it will be covered on a test?

I think that for most courses most of the time homework is overdone. You just can't beat
a good teacher with a good lesson plan who knows how to pull students into the lesson! One might even ask how a class would change if homework review and checking were eliminated. It just might have to be replaced with more creative planning and instruction— more interaction with students, more differentiated instruction, and borderline students get a big break by avoiding those zeroes.And what of the students who don't do who homework? Is it right to continue to expose them to a method of instruction knowing they will fail? I think not, but many teachers just keep on putting those zeroes in the grade book, despite the fact that some students in the same class copied their homework from someone else 15 minutes ago and get 100 — or they had parents who helped, or found the answers on the Internet which some students don't have. Homework lacks inherent fairness. Would we give unit tests and ask students to take them home and bring them back the next day. No! Why would we send any assignment home and ask students to bring it back the next day and count it as 10%, 20%, or more of a grade? That's what we do with homework, and many students can thank their best friend, or mom, or dad for all those 100's on homework! Did they learn responsibility or the value of cheating?

Occasional homework might be justifiable, but we need to teach students that its real purpose is to enhance the acquisition of knowledge, not to get a grade. When the tests are returned point out the items that were assigned as homework— that makes the case for completing it. We must teach students that learning is what school is about, not grades. 

  

Assessment Issues for Teachers

Teachers should think about how to assess students. Don't just "invent" a system without considering some essential issues about assessment.

Assess yourself on how you grade students. 

1. What is the basis for your method of grading? 

A. statistical
B. course in grading
C. knowledge of rubric design
D. suggested by others
E. what your teachers did 

Consider: The influence of your peers and past experience as students have a great influence grading methods teachers use. Statistical justification or knowledge of assessing techniques are rarely involved.

2. Do you “adjust” grades for any of the following?

A. tardiness
B. behavior
C. return or failure to return signed papers
D. responsibility issues

Consider: Grade “adjustments” for a variety of non-academic reasons are common. If grades are contaminated with non-academic modifications, students and parents receive inaccurate feedback. Where do we draw the line in deciding how we may tamper with grades? 

3. Do you have a test/quiz make up policy?

Consider: Second chances are common in life (drivers’ licenses, college entrance exams, and attempts to become as a teacher are good examples). Re-teaching and retesting are proper tools in the instructional process. 

4. Do you give extra credit to allow students to improve a period grade?

Consider: Extra credit all too often involves tasks that are poorly connected to instructional objectives. If a teacher believes in extra credit, then retaking tests and quizzes on failed non-mastered objectives is a good tool. Extra credit as it is traditionally used is but one more way of grade-tampering? 

5. If you grade homework do you

A. take it up, correct it, and return it
B. check it off without taking it up C. count it as more than 10% of the grade 

Consider: Homework is but one teaching tool, but only when teachers take the time to assign it appropriately and validate it. Homework merely checked off for credit does not qualify as an assessment to be included as part of a grade. The value of homework as an instructional tool varies widely. Care must be taken to be certain that it reinforces learning objectives. Also, homework is generally a formative assessment. 

6. In your opinion how much homework should students in middle school have each night (total for all classes)?

Consider: Many teachers do not consider that students have homework in other classes. The amount of homework should increase with increasing grade level, but more than 1 to 1 ½ hours per night (middle school) may place too great a demand on students and parents. Also, is weekend/holiday homework really needed? 

7. Do use grading rubrics for projects?

Consider: Rubrics are an important way of assessing tasks that have multiple parts (e.g., science projects). The derived scores tend to agree better with standardized tests scores that simply assigning points. However, training is important for the development of proper rubrics. 

8. Do you give different grade categories (tests, quizzes, etc) different weights?

Consider: Weights should not be determined strictly for teacher convenience (E.g., all categories have the same weight). Is homework reasonably weighted so that it places the student in jeopardy. 

9. If a grade of 70 is required to pass for a grading period, can you justify passing a student with a 68?

Consider: A grade is a sampling statistic. There is a "margin of error." An average score should not be viewed as an absolute. A 69 is not a line in the sand. Negative grades do not usually motivate poorly performing students to try harder.  Grading is inherently subjective. There is no single method of grading that has universal acceptance. Also, teacher judgment is involved in writing or selecting the assessment, deciding how to grade the test, how much the grade will count, etc.

Teaching Mistakes Teachers should Avoid

Teachers continue to make the same old teaching errors and ignore opportunities to improve. Student achievement suffers as a result.

Common instructional mistakes that teachers just won't give up.  

1. Incorrect use of homework. Homework is a formative activity -- i.e., it is assigned to help        teach new material. As such it should not be graded. If students see it as clearly related to learning they are more likely to do it. There should be no need to grade it; if homework is clearly relevant student grades will be lower on their tests. Why give zeros for missing homework if the student will receive a lower test grade because he did not use 

the learning opportunity homework offered. Tell parents about the missing homework.

2. Giving poor assessments. Teachers should understand formative and summative assessments and grade only summative. Also, teachers should not depend heavily on published assessments-- they might not agree with teacher vocabulary or syntax. 

3. Grades are for assessments, not behavior. Teachers should not deduct points for misbehavior or add points for behavior not related to learning. 

4. Avoid extra credit. If parents or students want extra credit allow them an opportunity to retake an alternate version of a failed assessment.

5. Screaming at students teaches them that you don't mean it unless you scream. 

6. Don't expect students to act like your children. Respect individuality.

7. Rewarding students with material "things" will not necessarily improve learning. There are problems with this practice. Dr. Marvin Marshall, an expert on motivation writes, "External controls are manipulators that set up students to be dependent upon external agents." 

8. Punishing the entire class. Would you want to pay a fine because your neighbor has a wild party? The practice turns peers against one another, while demonstrating that teachers have a right to be unjust.

Grading Take-at-Home Tests???

Taking tests at home! It's being doine virtually everywhere.

The take-home test. Is it an idea whose time has come? It's being practiced widely already. Sometimes it counts as much as 25% of a student's grade. 

It is said to promote responsibility as a bonus. The idea has mixed reactions from students primarily because they see it as an invasion of time spent with friends and family. Also, the use of the tests includes the risk of a zero grade if not turned in on time. 

But many like the idea because it levels the playing field somewhat. Lower achieving students can seek help from friends, books, and parents. With dedication students can bring their grades up by quite a bit. 

Some educators complain that being able to earn 25% of your grade without supervision of a teacher is risky. Some claim that it teaches some children to cheat. If some children copy the papers of friends their is often no way to know.

Many teachers are outraged, but the take-home test is a popular in many schools. You may be more familiar with it than you realize. The testing method is more commonly referred to as "homework." If you grade homework, it's pretty much equivalent to grading "take-home tests."

Some of the Worst Instructional Mistakes Teachers can Make

Many teachers spend a career doing the wrong things. What's worst is that some are aware that much of what they do is poor teaching and teachers continue because they are unable to adapt to new ways, or some are just "wrong-spirited" and seem immune to new ideas.

#1. Grading formative assessments. Homework, for example, is generally for diagnosis and practice. It has two serious defects as a gradable assessment: (i.) it can be -- and often is -- copied; and (ii) it often violates the principle of grading something  that has not yet been thoroughly taught -- that's why it is designated as a "formative" assessment.

Likely, the most common reason for grading it is personal deriving from the notion that the teacher told students to do it and feel as though the student disobeyed by not doing it. The grade is a punitive action for the disobedience and a reward for compliance.

 

A picture of a mother teaching
responsibility.

Perhaps equally common is the belief that "If I don't grade it, they won't do it." That is due to the fact that many students have been    "taught" that school is about grades and learning is secondary. Students often do not understand that well-conceived homework is about learning and not grades. After receiving a few grades for homework students expect it. 

Finally, many teachers believe that homework develops responsibility. Actually, responsibility develops homework. The seeds of responsibility are planted and nourished at home and responsible students do homework because their parents engendered positive habits. Students with parents who don't nourish children get penalized. 

Suggested reading for #1        

#2. Over-Reliance of Punishment and Rewards. Teachers often face a genuine dilemma when students  misbehave or violate class rules. They often turn to some type of punitive retribution that may or may not bring about positive changes in student behavior. Punishment can create as many problems as it solves and may be effective at temporally stopping bad behavior but useless at creating long-term positive changes.


Rewards to increase positive behavior or enhance learning can likewise create serious and unexpected consequences. To believe  that material rewards are necessary for learning is simplistic and incorrect. 

Careless use of rewards by teachers
may discourage charitable behavior.

Most of us are raised on a reward/punishment routine by our parents, so it seems OK to apply the same techniques in class, but there are ethical and behavioral issues with both. Punishments have been briefly discussed above. As for rewards, teachers should know that rewarding expected behavior is equivalent to giving a payoff for doing things that are simply right and should not be rewarded. Charitable behavior, for example, is something we want people to internalize as "a right thing to do." It becomes an ethic, and the "reward" should not be an expectation of a prize, but a good feeling from within. 

Suggested reading for #2.

#3. Poor Evaluation Techniques. No. 1 (above) addresses the issue of grading homework, but there is a large class of student work that need not be graded. They are generally called "formative assessments" and include lots of written classwork (like worksheets) which students complete while they are learning something new. Getting students used to completing work that they know will not  be graded may seem difficult, but the solution lies in convincing them that what they do helps them learn the material for formal testing (summative assessments). That also means that teachers must plan and select class activities that actually do help students learn. 

The big bonus for teachers is that there are fewer papers to grade, since students can correct answers in class. Teachers must help students see the relationship between formative work and summative grades. Parents should be kept up to date about whether or not students are completing formative work-- not because it is graded, but because failure to complete formative assignments can result in lower grades on tests.

Many teachers record 40 or more grades per student per grading period. Some of  these grades are for non-academic work like returning important papers with parental signatures, scores for good behavior, deductions for tardiness, etc. Grades or unfortunately used as bribes, rewards, and punishments. Lots of teacher do it, but it is still wrong.
Suggested reading for #3.

#4. Poor Discipline. Often during class two or three students might continue to talk or be disruptive despite the teacher’s warnings. A common practice is to announce that if unless everyone behaves that the entire class will be punished in some way. This is equivalent to arresting everyone present in a bank even though all of the evidence makes it clear that only one person committed the crime!

Use positive discipline to develop trust  and cooperation.

The intent of this type of negative discipline is to create resentment toward the offender and turn peers against one another. Often the one or two guilty students aren't the most popular kids in school anyway, and punishing the class distances them even more from good role models who typically behave. Holding each member of a class responsible for controlling the behavior of all makes little sense. It is a Machiavellian power approach -- the ends justify the means. If it works, it is deemed "good." 

What these teachers fail to understand is that creating resentment in students is not a good idea. The teacher has made a judgement call that "bad" students deserve to be disliked by peers. Also, students correctly see this technique as unfair and are more inclined to label the teacher as unfair. 

The responsible, well-behaved students in the class may  behave better because they fear the irrational actions of the teacher, not because they respect  the teacher. Those students who cause the problem initially feel great-- they may not like others in class and have found a way to manipulate the teacher. If the resentment created is strong enough, the offending student(s) may become targets of physical violence if the mistreated students decide to take retribution.

Suggested reading for #4.

#5. Too many Notes. Notes are a pat of the learning process, especially as students get older. But teachers who depend on notes and lectures daily are making a big mistake. Some teachers learn that giving notes can help bring quiet to a noisy class by giving them something to do. I.e., students who are busy writing are not as likely to get involved in misbehavior. 

This does not mean that the students who are busily copying notes are involved in a learning activity. It means that they have something to do. It's like "doodling," and compliance in note-taking helps defeat the boredom of sitting quietly and paying attention. There is no guarantee that students will use notes to study. Indeed, they may never look at them again.

Before using notes teachers should offer tips to students about taking and using notes.

• Listen to what is said by the teacher. Be confident about listening skills.
• Writing word for word is not necessary. Key words and concepts can be studied later.
• Abbreviate liberally. Develop unique shorthand symbols.
• Don’t copy what is already known well.
• Ask questions for clarification.
• Students should organize notes in a way that they understand.
• Use highlighters to emphasize key points.
• Have a designated notebook for notes. No loose-leaf paper that ends up stuffed into a book bag.
• Review notes soon after taking them. Compare them with classmates.

There are many ways for students to take notes. Teachers should not dictate a precise method. The important thing is that the notes are meaningful and useful to the student. 

Notes have their place, but teachers who use them as the main instructional method on a daily basis run the risk of being boring and ineffective.

Suggested reading for #5. 

#6. Failure to Know and Treat Students as Individuals. One size does not fit all. Cookie-cutter teaching does not reach everyone. The expectation that all students will react identically to one method of teaching is flawed. 

Teachers need to know something of significance about each students. They need to know something of their families, their hobbies, their reading and math abilities. This does not mean  we delve into their personal lives for sordid details, but the social  grapevine in schools is fruitful and paying attention to it can provide insights into behavior and academic progress. 

Differentiate instruction when possible. With cooperative work, mix the groups frequently rather than allow the same students to work together all the time. 

If students are failing assessments due to particular deficits in basic skills, make tests that are fair to a broad group of students. Be sure vocabulary is appropriate and sentence structure is appropriate for the entire class. 

Talk with parents to gain understanding of students. No need to pry, but parents are usually anxious to share issues that might become barriers. 

Take time to engage each student in polite conversation as time allows. Make each one feel welcome and noticed. Validate their existence as persons of worth. You may be the only person to do so. 

THE HOMEWORK DILEMMA: PART 2

Homework or home torture?

The Homework Dilemma: Part 2 

My Opinion for What it’s Worth

Before continuing I am obliged to make it clear that I do not believe in the abolition of all homework. I believe that if it is well-conceived some homework can be useful. I believe in the abolition of bad homework assigned for the wrong reasons.

So how do we determine the value of homework as a teaching tool? A simple question will suffice. “How do I know it works?” That straightforward query allows us to screen new and old instructional methods. If no answer is forthcoming then professional responsibility requires that we find one.

Disagreement on Homework is Common

Teachers don’t need to be researchers. They don’t have to commit to spending hours each week involved in reading journals and searching the Internet. What is needed is healthy skepticism about teaching methods that prods them to ask the question above.

Regrettably, many teachers believe that more homework is the answer to improving learning and pile it on. Some of these teachers have observed that students who do homework make better grades than those who don’t, but drawing a conclusion from that observation is not justified.

There is also the personal factor that is exemplified by teachers feeling that students have disobeyed by not completing an assignment. Kids are supposed to do as they are told, so not doing homework gets personal. The result is often a zero which makes some teachers feel better but does little to improve learning. Finally, there is a prevailing belief that many students will not complete homework unless it is graded. That is because we have taught many students that grades are more important that knowledge. This is the result of overemphasizing grades to the exclusion of learning.

These problems are entrenched, and I won’t attempt to try to solve them here. Part of the problem is the overuse of rewards and awards doled out for grades. In the U.S. we have come to believe in the power of the reward. Albert Einstein was no dummy. He said, “If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.” I agree with Albert.

Real Problems with Homework?

Likely the most common error teachers make regarding homework is grading it. Homework is a formative assessment. Formative assessments are those non-graded activities that students do while they learn something new. If we believe — as experts generally do — you don’t test what you haven’t taught, then we use homework for diagnosis and practice.

“If I don’t grade it they won’t do it!” Well, perhaps not, but if teachers spent more time convincing students that homework has value as a learning tool by making sure that homework addresses standards and therefore will appear on test and quizzes, then the real value of homework will be more clearly established, and the homework is graded when the test is graded.

OK, are you sitting down? Many students can and do copy homework. That single fact renders homework as invalid for grading. Related to copying is the fact that some parents help and some don’t. And as long as I’m talking about parents — please remain seated — some parents just aren’t very good at parenting. Some don’t frankly care whether or not Junior does his work. Knowing this, why punish Junior?

Aside from mom and dad, other factors can make home an unsuitable place for homework. Love and concern may be present, but the home can be collapsing under the weight of dad’s recent arrest, Uncle Bubba’s visits while under the influence, mom’s job loss, etc. Dysfunctional homes are all too common.

Thankfully most homes function well, but homework is often boring. I know it’s true; some of my brightest students told me early on that homework was boring. How dare they! I never promised them a rose garden! Time for zeros! The problem is that negative grades don’t motivate students who aren’t motivated by grades, and they are the ones that are most likely to not do homework. That’s why so many students accumulate strings of zeros. It doesn’t matter! If teachers are interested in motivation, try — really try — to give interesting homework.

Homework should never be assigned as punishment. When my son was in high school he brought home an F for algebra on his first interim. He had an A average on tests and quizzes. His teacher told me that she thought a failing grading was proper punishment and would motivate him to work harder. Duh!

My son’s aversion to homework was born out of his need for down-time. How selfish! Don’t ruin weekends and holidays with homework. Students need and deserve time with friends and family. If you mess up parents’ time they won’t like you either. Remember that other teachers are assigning homework. One of my granddaughters is in the fourth grade. Two weeks ago she called my wife — a former math teacher — for help with a math problems. My wife asked me for help! After missing a new episode of House, we finished, and my granddaughter went to bed with social studies homework not yet done!

In using homework, apply compassion, be empathetic, and don’t let it get personal. A caring, kind, and congenial teacher will affect grades positively more than all the homework ever assigned. There are times when homework is needed, but have specific occasions for assigning it.

Of course you may choose to agree or disagree with the above. You can do all of that homework checking and recording homework grades and calling parents, etc.

But, “How do you know it works?”

Dysfunctional families interfere with homework completion.

 

The Homework Dilemma: Part 1 

My Opinion for What it’s Worth

Teachers give homework — it’s part of what they do. I gave it when I was a teacher back when the earth was still cooling. Eventually I gave very little homework — mostly to encourage studying before tests, but sometimes not even then. Homework didn’t seem to work in the best interest of my students, and I thought I was using it incorrectly — based on what I now know, I was.

I stopped grading homework long ago. After all, it results in lots of zeroes and my students didn’t need those. Really, if an assessment is consistently producing zeroes, shouldn’t teachers wonder what about its usefulness? In those days we didn’t talk about formative and summative assessments. Assigned work was about grades.

I know it is popular to assume that students are being irresponsible when homework is not done, but teachers are supposed to be able to find what works. We are not supposed to call the student irresponsible, stupid, bad, lazy, etc. and move on — we find a way, not a way out. Sometimes we fail and the student fails, but we must commit ourselves to get better and adopt better methods rather than apply the “same old, same old” and expect students to adapt to us. Teachers are the experts — or should be — where teaching methods are concerned.

I never saw any real evidence that it made students more responsible, although some teachers continue to claim it is so. Research on homework is inconclusive. There certainly are no landmark studies that show unequivocally that homework is essential to teaching and learning, although there is some pretty good evidence that it is of little or no value for elementary students. There seems to be some benefit for high school students from homework, but it’s limited.

Let me be clear— I didn’t just ride into town on a turnip truck. I know the language of research. I understand correlation, meta-analysis, and z-scores. I have read the works of Harris Cooper, Robert Marzano, Thomas Guskey, and many others. I have a well-founded professional opinion on homework and I have a personal one.

What do the Polls Say about Homework?

Although parents often hold opinions on education that don’t necessarily reflect best practice, their opinions must be respected simply because schools educate their children. Regrettably, a clear understanding of what parents think about homework is hard to ascertain. My experience as a teacher and administrator has convinced me that parents generally support, or at least accept, various instructional methods — especially those applied the schools their children attend.

Surveys and polls produce a bewildering variation in results. A mumsnet.com survey from October 2008 had a reasonable sample of 1,036 respondents to the question “Are you happy with the amount of homework your child is required to complete?” Fifty-six percent responded, “Yes it's just about right,” while 27% said, “No they get too much.”

Mumsnet is a site for parents, and surveys offered by websites are generally not conducted with scientific controls for validity, but provide information of interest to a specific group at a specific time.

On the other hand, smartgirls, a website that attracts a wide age-range of young females conducted a survey concerning a number of school issues. The poll is over a decade old, but of the 484 respondents, 274 — about 57% — responded that they had too much homework. Interestingly, about 27% admitted to cheating on homework at least “sometimes.”

A November 18, 2011, Timeforkids poll was in close agreement with Smartgirls, with 57% claiming too much homework. Again, there are no controls to assure reliability.

Harrisinteractive displays the results from a poll from March 2008 that seems to have some scientific controls, although an exact description of the polling process is not described. The results show that 60% of the parents and 81% of the teachers agreed that the amount of homework given was “about right.” There is also close agreement on the “importance of doing homework.” Fifty-six percent of parents said doing homework is “very important,” compared with 50% of teachers.

Polls don’t give us much information about homework. They lack validity and depth.

The most important issues about homework concerns how educators apply what they know — or should know — about teaching and learning.

That will be the topic for Part Two.