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. 

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.

How Useful is Homework in Student Learning?

As an instructional tool the value of homework is severely limited. 

In one corner there are those who argue that homework is an essential part of instruction – it builds responsibility, improves study skills, etc. In the other corner, with equal vitality, are those who want to ban homework – it creates extra work for teachers and interferes with family plans. Homework still polarizes educators, and there is a broad spectrum of opinions between the poles. A heavy emphasis on taking school assignments home is a fairly recent practice. It's use began to take off in the years immediately following the launch of the world's first manmade satellite – Sputnik – by Russia in 1957. The U.S. was embarrassed by this loss in the space race and panic pushed educators toward improved practices, since the assumpton was that schools had failed. Decades later, homework has still not shown to be a great idea. 

Homework is not Simply Something that all Teachers Do

Individually posted teacher policies present a myriad of procedures to encourage students to turn in the assigned work. School and district sites sometimes place stern warnings for students to do their homework or face disciplinary procedures,

Homework is, to say the least, problematic. There are many popular Internet teacher sites where teachers can exchange ideas across the nation. A perusal of these sites indicates that homework is of great concern to teachers. Teacher policies about whether or not to grade homework, how much it should count, and other matters create unnecessary worries.. Homework is a formative assessment. That single fact can put an end to the homework quandary.

Homework Invites Controversy

Part of the divide has resulted from the fact that homework as an instructional tool has developed in an uncontrolled manner with few rules governing its application and correct role. There is no one thing called “homework,” and in many cases isn’t even done at home, but at the end of class. Another problem is the myth that everything that students do must be graded. Arbitrary “solutions” have been initiated by many schools and districts.

Chief among them are decisions to allow no grade lower than fifty – or some other arbitrary level to be recorded. This is a way to maintain student motivation and respond to the problems created by zeros, but it is simply a convenient invention.

The practice has become common across the nation. Humble, Texas includes the policy in its student handbook, as does St. Simon Stock School In Bronx, NY. Monroe Middle School in Monroe, NC forbids the "recording or averaging of any grade lower than 60." Variations of these policies are frequently posted on the Internet. These policies have troubled teachers who see it as grade manipulation, and it is, but with good intentions. School policies serve better when they are based on a logical process.

Homework Needs a Redefinition and New Purpose

An analysis of the problem reveals a possible real solution. First, teachers need to understand that homework tends to fall under the category of formative assessment – those things teachers do while students are learning a new topic or set of standards. Students must be retrained to believe that work has value even when it is not graded. Schools have become institutions that place too much emphasis on grades. Schools must dedicate themselves to emphasize learning for the sake of learning.

Teachers need to convince students – starting with students’ first-ever homework assignments – that homework addresses what they will need to know when they are assessed with quizzes and tests – i.e. summative assessments. It gives them an opportunity to study these things and review them the next day in class and make correction as needed. Teachers will quickly check off whether or not the student has done the homework in order to let parents know if students are doing homework. That’s it! No grading, no arbitrary methods of turning checks into grades, and no zeros.

Students should be encouraged to use homework as part of the material to study for assessments. Next a summative assessment is given. Some of the assessment should sample knowledge gained from homework. When the assessment is scored, the students who were serious about using homework as an opportunity to study will score better than those who didn’t, provided the homework assignments and the assessments were in agreement. In this way, what was learned from homework is finally graded.

The same factors that might have caused poor homework grades are still in effect for better or worse but significant positive changes will result:

• Those horrible zeros have been eliminated.
• Homework is now about learning instead of chasing grades.
• Homework is for practice and diagnosis.
• Fewer papers to grade.No need for special homework grading methods.
• The responsibility issue is still intact.
• The teacher can still see the relationship between homework and test grades.
• Bribes and reward systems are no longer needed.
• Copying homework is now no worse than copying notes.
• Student evaluation stresses summative assessment; evaluation “pollution” is reduced.
• Less stress for all.

Link:

The Homework Myth

Common Sense Issues in Grading Students

Will his grade make sense
 to him and his parents?

• Fifty grades are not needed for assessment – half that number or less will suffice if assessment tools are properly designed; 
• Keep it simple – a grading system should be easily understood and used; 
• Avoid unjustified and complicated procedures in grading that confuse students and parents; 
• Remember that students own grades, not teachers – teachers shouldn't manipulate grades; 
• Avoid grading on a curve to normalize grades ­– the best teachers will have students whose grades are skewed to the high end and that is what teachers should try to do; 
• Expect the worst student grades on early assessments while students are still learning how individual teachers write tests; therefore begin testing with easy assessments; 
• Grade assessments – not behavior – and grade for learning – not effort ­­and responsibility; 
• Report  – don't grade  –  behavior and responsibility;
• Try to avoid giving zeros, as they can have disastrous and often unjustified effects on grades; often zeros mean student grades are missing, not that the student truly had zero knowledge; zeros should never be punitive.
• Don't be surprised that many students seem to make no effort to improve; bad grades do not motivate most students to improve;
• Grade summative assessments, not formative assessments like homework.

Reasons for not Grading Homework

The most common reason for grading homework is because students expect it to be graded. But if one thinks about it, why would we give a grade on an activity that has all of the defects and problems of homework. 

• Homework easily can be copied from a classmate.
• Students do not have equal resources for completing homework.
• Some have Internet access, many do not.
• 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. Please don't grade effort!
• 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. Don't do it!
• If it is known that a student won't (or can't) do homework, continuing to assign it an giving zeros without intervention is wrong! 

Copyright Harvey Craft. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.

You might be a good teacher if you know...

Attribution theory.  The explanations that people tend to offer to explain their successes or failures.


Maslow's hierarchy. Describes how human needs must be satisfied in a specific order starting with basic survival needs. If these are not met then individuals cannot successfully advance up the hierarchy to needs that promote learning.


Summative and formative assessments. Summative assessments are formal test and quizzes on learned material and are graded. Formative assessments consist of a variety of activities (including homework) that are used to help students learn and are not graded.


Invitational learning. A model of education and counselling practice to promote people to realize their potential in all areas of worthwhile endeavors. Changes in student perception bring about changes in student behavior. Developed primarily by William Purkey.


Arcs Model of Motivational Design. There are four steps for promoting and sustaining motivation in the learning process: attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (ARCS).


Controversies about Homework. Homework does not enjoy universal acceptance or application. Opinions about its effectiveness are a subject of intense discussion.


Motivation theory. There lots of them-- probably too many, but being familiar with five or six helps teacher understand how to better engage students.


Student empowerment. The process of allowing students to offer more input about their learning process. This can be done individually and collectively. A simple example would be to allow students to select a homework assignment which they feel would best help them learn a specific topic.