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

Reteaching: a Few Considerations for Frustrated Teachers

Renewed vigilance includes renewed enthusiasm.

Teach it Again, Sam

Teachers are often frustrated when they think they have done an excellent job teaching a particular subject and the results of student assessments are much below what they expected. The frustration often leads to reteaching and another disappointing bunch of tests. What’s up?

The very first things to consider when reteaching are what you did and didn't do. Teachers who decide to reteach should carefully self-assess how they taught a topic the first time and look again at the assessment. Teaching the topic over again using the same methods and assessments is likely to produce the same results. One cannot assume that the initial problem was lack of attention and that the second time around students will attend better and learn better.

Break it Up

Although teaching standards in discrete components is always advisable, it is especially important in reteaching. Examine the standard and determine how best to present it in progressive parts that build as you teach.

Use More Formative Assessments

In order to check progress, add more formative assessments to verify progress. Use variety: worksheets, cooperative learning, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and some short and sweet techniques like questioning students individually to check for understanding. Individualized instruction will likely be advisable, so make appropriate arrangements depending on resources, which might include peer teaching. I’m not big on homework as a teaching method, but a single, key task that can be quickly accomplished is sometimes an appropriate use of homework. Remember, formative assessments are not for grading.

Don’t get Angry!

To take student failure personally and retaliate against students is wrong. If most of the class doesn't learn, then the teacher has received confirmation that the standard was taught poorly for that class. Accept it and move on to do better the second time. Don’t get preachy; don’t fuss at students; don’t give them the impression that you are reteaching because they screwed up. Have a serious discussion that will lead to an understanding of why they failed.

Grading the Second Attempt

There just isn't agreement in the nation or world about how to grade students. Unless there are specific guidelines that teachers must follow, I advise that the best grade from the first and second assessment  be recorded. Teachers spend a lot of time needlessly worrying about fairness in grading. In my experience as a teacher, principle, author, etc. I just can't say what works best, but I don't think it shakes the world for a teacher to replace a test score with a better one if it is earned. Be fair, be good, and do the best thing! You are the expert in your classroom – at least you should be.

Renewed Vigilance

The time committed to reteaching is valuable – don’t waste it! Be committed a new teaching approach that constantly monitors learning. Ask lots of questions, give better examples, make the standard as relevant as possible by connecting it to topics students can connect to. If management problems interfered with teaching be ready to correct those.

More:

Art and Science of Teaching / Reviving Reteaching, Robert J. Marzano

5-Step Procedure for How to Intervene or Reteach, Brenda Weaver

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.

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.