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Some schools reconsidering their policies on homework

Homework, according to recent research, is one of many factors affecting student mental health, pushing some schools to reconsider their policies, Axios reported . 

Based on a 2020 survey led by Stanford researchers , 67%of 50,000 high schoolers surveyed said homework was a major source of stress. For students with at least three hours’ worth of nightly homework, that percentage was 80%. 

But a correlation between homework and academic achievement — if it exists — is hard to measure, Stanford education researcher Denise Pope told Axios.

Only 33% of the surveyed students believe most or all of their assigned homework contributed to their learning. 

“Am I giving homework so that I am keeping my administrators happy because I have to give homework?” Katie Trowbridge, a former Illinois high school teacher, posed as a hypothetical question to Axios. “Or am I giving homework because it is a meaningful exercise that kids need to do in order to establish learning and extend learning?”

In Herriman, Utah, Butterfield Canyon Elementary School has had a no-homework policy since 2020 to improve students’ social-emotional health, Axios reported. 

And the California Legislature recently passed a bill encouraging school districts to evaluate the mental and physical health impacts of homework assignments, Axios reported. 

The proposed legislation awaits Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

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What is california's no homework law.

By Teo Spengler, J.D.

August 20, 2019

Reviewed by Legal Expert

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• Pro & Cons of Child Labor Law

Don't get too excited, kids. "No homework" laws are not current California homework policy. But there was a "no homework" law in the state at the beginning of the 20th Century that the children of that era probably appreciated. Today the question of whether homework helps or hurts kids is widely debated in California.

No Homework Law in California

Is there a "no homework law" in California today? There is not today, but there was 100 years ago. The Ladies' Home Journal magazine crusaded against homework at the turn of the century, and medical professionals and doctors testified against it, saying that it was harmful to a kid's health. Some say that the actual reason society (and parents) frowned on homework was because school kids needed time to help with chores around the house.

As a result of that, a number of big-city school districts around the country eliminated homework from the school menu. California's three biggest cities – San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento – passed regulations forbidding teachers from assigning homework. And in 1901, the state passed a law banning all homework for school kids in kindergarten through eighth grade and imposing limits on the amount of homework that could be assigned to high school students.

California Homework Policy Changes

California's no-homework laws were repealed in the 1950s. That was the Cold War period and educators and politicians felt that the country needed better-educated students to create a skilled workforce, especially in the sciences. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 boosted the call for homework, since it appeared that Russian students might be more advanced than U.S. students.

The end of the Second World War also brought great changes to the United States and significant upheaval socially. Men in the military returned to their families, more people moved from agricultural lifestyle to urban areas and children were no longer expected to do as much physical work at home.

Since then, homework has crept back into the education system. People attacked progressive education as anti-intellectual, lax and dangerous for the nation. Then, in the 1980s, the United States Department of Education came full circle, publishing a pamphlet about the techniques that work best for creating smarter students, concluding that homework was a must.

California Homework Questions Today

Today, California kids from the youngest age through high school can expect homework assignments. But that doesn't mean that the homework/no homework debate is over. Various school districts or individual schools have eliminated homework in California, and while that approach makes some people happy, it makes others very unhappy.

Some educators and researchers argue that children would be better off if homework were abolished. They argue that the research does not demonstrate any tangible benefits for students, and this is especially true for younger students. In fact, studies have shown that elementary school students get no academic benefit from any amount of homework. And, the anti-homework crowd claims, excessive homework stifles a kid's natural curiosity.

However, not all parents agree. In the competitive atmosphere in schools today, just the suggestion of abolishing homework has some parents up in arms.

And high school students in the United States – who spend 5.5 to 6 hours a week on homework – are in the middle of their peers around the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 15-year-olds in Shanghai spend the most amount of time on homework, averaging 13.8 hours per week, while students in Finland spend the least time, at just 2.8 hours per week. It is noteworthy that Finnish kids perform just fine on academic tests despite the small amount of homework they do in comparison to teens in other nations.

• SF Gate: History of Homework
• SimpleGrad: Who Invented Homework?
• Time Magazine: Why I Think All Schools Should Abolish Homework
• The Telegraph: Homework Around the World

Teo Spengler earned a JD from U.C. Berkeley Law School. As an Assistant Attorney General in Juneau, she practiced before the Alaska Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court before opening a plaintiff's personal injury practice in San Francisco. She holds both an MA and an MFA in English/writing and enjoys writing legal blogs and articles. Her work has appeared in numerous online publications including USA Today, Legal Zoom, eHow Business, Livestrong, SF Gate, Go Banking Rates, Arizona Central, Houston Chronicle, Navy Federal Credit Union, Pearson, Quicken.com, TurboTax.com, and numerous attorney websites. Spengler splits her time between the French Basque Country and Northern California.

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Is Homework Illegal? (Arguments In Support and Against)

Homework is not illegal in the United States.

But from a legal standpoint, it is a really fun argument to make!

In this article, we’ll cover some points that you could use for or against the question of the legality of homework, whether you are the student, parent, or teacher in this debate.

Is Homework Illegal? (FOR and AGAINST)

The contents of this web page are for informational purposes only, and nothing you read is intended to be legal advice. Please review our  disclaimer about law/legal-related information on this website  before taking action based upon anything you read or see.

Legal vs Illegal vs Unconstitutional

People have argued that homework is illegal because it counts as a form of “slavery.”

It is illegal to restrict/control with force the movement/life of other individuals if you do not have authority to do so (as parents do with their minor children).

It is illegal to commit the other acts slavery is well known for (assault, harassment, and more).

Not everything that would be unconstitutional (or goes against the stated words in the constitution) would be considered illegal, and vice versa.

For example:

Perhaps then you could argue that forcing kids to do homework is an illegal act, assuming that the threats of consequences are coming from an individual or entity that does not have legal authority to provide the threatened punishments, or those punishments are themselves illegal.

If you want to argue that homework is illegal, look for a statute like coercion to support your argument.

And if you want to use the 13th amendment in support of your case against homework, argue that homework is “unconstitutional” rather than “illegal.”

Consent As The School’s Defense

One of the arguments that homework is illegal or constitutes slavery is that the children do not want to do the homework.

People under the age of 18 in the United States cannot make most decisions for themselves.

The parents have agreed on the children’s behalf to the homework.

The child might not consent to the homework, but in the end, the parents have given their agreement.

And since a crime like coercion requires that the act (the homework) be an act against the will or interest of the victim, a case cannot succeed because the will of the parents is substituted for the will of the child.

Arguing That Parents Did Not Consent

What if the parent was coerced to send their child to school, or to the homework?

In most states, there are laws covering the attendance of children at school.

Absent an exclusion or a valid reason to opt out (like homeschool), a parent could face criminal prosecution if he/she does not send a child to school.

Parents are under the threat of fines and jail time.

After all, a parent who goes to jail might lose his job, his driver’s license, or maybe even custody of his children.

A person cannot consent at the business end of a weapon.

State Laws Do Not Compel Homework, Just Attendance

Another fun wrinkle in this argument, especially as we get down into whether parents have consented or can consent to homework, is whether the applicable laws have any impact on homework.

But are there any laws that require children to complete the homework.

I mean, doing homework is important to getting a good grade.

But they can’t physically punish a child (like hitting him, in most cases), or prevent him from eating or drinking while at school.

And once the child is at home with his homework, he is subject to the will of his parents or legal guardians.

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Legal Homework Rights: What’s the Limit on Homework?

Hi, I just read your article Titled “Can You ‘Opt Out’ of Homework?” ( Click HERE  for the original article. ) I enjoyed the article but I guess I need a more concrete answer to the question of my legal homework rights: CAN I LEGALLY OPT OUT OF HOMEWORK FOR MY CHILD? – Dawn, SOAR ®  Parent

The answer is a resounding, Yes!

You have legal rights to put limits on your child’s homework time.

When homework begins to erode family relationships and/or increases the students anxiety, its time to make modifications. First, try communicating and working collaboratively with teachers and administrators.  If that doesn’t work, then you do have legal homework rights…

Legal Homework Rights

You absolutely do have legal rights to put reasonable limits on your child’s homework time. The legal tool you want to use is called a 504. For a link that provides a quick overview to the 504 law, click HERE .

504: The Legal Homework Rights Tool

Basically, the 504 law refers to legal homework rights (known as “accommodations”) that must be made for a child’s “impairment.”  As you’ll read, “impairments” are defined very loosely throughout the law, and this is done purposely to accommodate all students’ various needs. If your child has a diagnosis of ADHD, Dyslexia, etc. that will help, but it’s not necessary.

I have seen the 504 law used throughout my career as an educator for students and families exercising their legal homework rights.  I have also used it with my own children to get schools to accommodate what I felt was appropriate.

The 504 Process

The actual 504 process includes paperwork and a series of meetings. The meetings typically include a school counselor, a teacher, an administrator, and you and your child. In the meeting, all of your concerns will be documented and specific actions or remedies (like limiting homework) will be recorded. This document becomes a legally binding contract that your child’s teacher and administrator are required to uphold.

Legal Homework Rights: What’s a Reasonable Amount of Time for Homework?

So, what is a reasonable recommendation regarding time spent on homework?

We support the “10 Minute Rule.”   That’s a maximum of 10 minutes times the grade-level of the child. So, 10-minute max for 1 st grade, 20-minute max for 2 nd grade, up to 120-minute max for 12 th grade.

The “10-minute rule” is a great accommodation for a 504, because it is set to increase the limit on homework time as the child progresses through school. We’re not talking about eliminating homework just to create an easy path for our children.  Parents that have significant battles over homework, that can easily last an hour or more, understand that homework reaches a point where it is not productive.

Too much homework is destructive t o motivation, self-esteem, and to family relationships.  So, don’t be afraid to exercise your legal rights. This is the point where we want to pursue our legal homework rights.

In addition to pursuing 504 accommodations, you may want to give your students better skills to handle the demands of school.  To learn more about the SOAR ®  Parent Products, click HERE .

Brian Winter, M.Ed.

Co-Author, SOAR Social-Emotional Learning Skills

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Why I Think All Schools Should Abolish Homework

H ow long is your child’s workweek? Thirty hours? Forty? Would it surprise you to learn that some elementary school kids have workweeks comparable to adults’ schedules? For most children, mandatory homework assignments push their workweek far beyond the school day and deep into what any other laborers would consider overtime. Even without sports or music or other school-sponsored extracurriculars, the daily homework slog keeps many students on the clock as long as lawyers, teachers, medical residents, truck drivers and other overworked adults. Is it any wonder that,deprived of the labor protections that we provide adults, our kids are suffering an epidemic of disengagement, anxiety and depression ?

With my youngest child just months away from finishing high school, I’m remembering all the needless misery and missed opportunities all three of my kids suffered because of their endless assignments. When my daughters were in middle school, I would urge them into bed before midnight and then find them clandestinely studying under the covers with a flashlight. We cut back on their activities but still found ourselves stuck in a system on overdrive, returning home from hectic days at 6 p.m. only to face hours more of homework. Now, even as a senior with a moderate course load, my son, Zak, has spent many weekends studying, finding little time for the exercise and fresh air essential to his well-being. Week after week, and without any extracurriculars, Zak logs a lot more than the 40 hours adults traditionally work each week — and with no recognition from his “bosses” that it’s too much. I can’t count the number of shared evenings, weekend outings and dinners that our family has missed and will never get back.

How much after-school time should our schools really own?

In the midst of the madness last fall, Zak said to me, “I feel like I’m working towards my death. The constant demands on my time since 5th grade are just going to continue through graduation, into college, and then into my job. It’s like I’m on an endless treadmill with no time for living.”

My spirit crumbled along with his.

Like Zak, many people are now questioning the point of putting so much demand on children and teens that they become thinly stretched and overworked. Studies have long shown that there is no academic benefit to high school homework that consumes more than a modest number of hours each week. In a study of high schoolers conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), researchers concluded that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance.”

In elementary school, where we often assign overtime even to the youngest children, studies have shown there’s no academic benefit to any amount of homework at all.

Our unquestioned acceptance of homework also flies in the face of all we know about human health, brain function and learning. Brain scientists know that rest and exercise are essential to good health and real learning . Even top adult professionals in specialized fields take care to limit their work to concentrated periods of focus. A landmark study of how humans develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work only about four hours per day .

Yet we continue to overwork our children, depriving them of the chance to cultivate health and learn deeply, burdening them with an imbalance of sedentary, academic tasks. American high school students , in fact, do more homework each week than their peers in the average country in the OECD, a 2014 report found.

It’s time for an uprising.

Already, small rebellions are starting. High schools in Ridgewood, N.J. , and Fairfax County, Va., among others, have banned homework over school breaks. The entire second grade at Taylor Elementary School in Arlington, Va., abolished homework this academic year. Burton Valley Elementary School in Lafayette, Calif., has eliminated homework in grades K through 4. Henry West Laboratory School , a public K-8 school in Coral Gables, Fla., eliminated mandatory, graded homework for optional assignments. One Lexington, Mass., elementary school is piloting a homework-free year, replacing it with reading for pleasure.

More from TIME

Across the Atlantic, students in Spain launched a national strike against excessive assignments in November. And a second-grade teacher in Texas, made headlines this fall when she quit sending home extra work , instead urging families to “spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside and get your child to bed early.”

It is time that we call loudly for a clear and simple change: a workweek limit for children, counting time on the clock before and after the final bell. Why should schools extend their authority far beyond the boundaries of campus, dictating activities in our homes in the hours that belong to families? An all-out ban on after-school assignments would be optimal. Short of that, we can at least sensibly agree on a cap limiting kids to a 40-hour workweek — and fewer hours for younger children.

Resistance even to this reasonable limit will be rife. Mike Miller, an English teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., found this out firsthand when he spearheaded a homework committee to rethink the usual approach. He had read the education research and found a forgotten policy on the county books limiting homework to two hours a night, total, including all classes. “I thought it would be a slam dunk” to put the two-hour cap firmly in place, Miller said.

But immediately, people started balking. “There was a lot of fear in the community,” Miller said. “It’s like jumping off a high dive with your kids’ future. If we reduce homework to two hours or less, is my kid really going to be okay?” In the end, the committee only agreed to a homework ban over school breaks.

Miller’s response is a great model for us all. He decided to limit assignments in his own class to 20 minutes a night (the most allowed for a student with six classes to hit the two-hour max). His students didn’t suddenly fail. Their test scores remained stable. And they started using their more breathable schedule to do more creative, thoughtful work.

That’s the way we will get to a sane work schedule for kids: by simultaneously pursuing changes big and small. Even as we collaboratively press for policy changes at the district or individual school level, all teachers can act now, as individuals, to ease the strain on overworked kids.

As parents and students, we can also organize to make homework the exception rather than the rule. We can insist that every family, teacher and student be allowed to opt out of assignments without penalty to make room for important activities, and we can seek changes that shift practice exercises and assignments into the actual school day.

We’ll know our work is done only when Zak and every other child can clock out, eat dinner, sleep well and stay healthy — the very things needed to engage and learn deeply. That’s the basic standard the law applies to working adults. Let’s do the same for our kids.

Vicki Abeles is the author of the bestseller Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation, and director and producer of the documentaries “ Race to Nowhere ” and “ Beyond Measure. ”

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A homework ban law has been passed in America – we need the same here

One child every three minutes is referred to mental health services and a third of secondary school pupils avoid classes due to anxiety. it is time the government declared a national emergency and started introducing some radical solutions, says mental health expert horatio clare, article bookmarked.

Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile

E very morning you see them now, walking, riding, or waiting for the bus – the next generation of our children are back at school . Some like Shakespeare’s “creeping like a snail unwillingly”, others horsing happily about, many on their phones .

The sight of jolly schoolkids lifts the spirits, just as an unhappy face or a lonely figure makes you quail inside. But the ones we really worry about are the ones we do not see. Although many are a-bounce with the joys of the start of a new term and seeing all their friends, a truly alarming number of children are refusing school altogether.

Earlier this year, a survey found that almost three in 10 secondary pupils are avoiding going to school because doing so would make them anxious, missing 10 per cent of school. It’s a doubling, post-pandemic, reflected in the same increase, to 17 per cent of pupils in primaries.

More than 93,000 pupils lose more than half of their education through absence. They face their days dark with resistance or fraught with misery. They plead, yell or vanish. They refuse to go. A report last month showed that 500 children a day in England are being referred to NHS mental health services for anxiety , more than double the rate before the pandemic began. To put this into perspective, this means one child every three minutes is being referred to mental health services in England, almost 4,000 a week.

And that is when they can get access to those services. NHS figures show that 28 per cent were still waiting for support from mental services months after trying to access it, while 39 per cent had their referral closed before accessing support.

Over 1.6 million school days begin with disputes and stand-offs, with beseeching, insisting and rowing, and all for nothing. In many cases, children’s life chances start to die right there.

Our children’s wellbeing elucidates serious problems with how we live and what we teach. While the reasons for the current distress of our young are wide and varied, there are core themes experts keep pointing to that include intensifying academic pressures and stresses related to the influence of social media and the cost of living crisis.

Our children require immediate action in how we understand and educate them. We know that teaching towards testing, rather than for the sake of fascination and discovery, has taken the life and vim out of classes and schools. Even worse, this is delivering poorer educational results.

In effective systems, like Finland’s, mothers are better supported by the state and are given a choice between work and early years childcare. Finns also have the world’s happiest and least-stressed children because they are assessed by teachers over a number of years, rather than drilled towards our hopelessly limited SATs at the end of year 6 when physical and mental development can still vary hugely.

“Reforms” to the national curriculum and ideological meddling by successive secretaries of state for education (there have been five in the last two years) have forced teachers to fill children like buckets with facts to be tested. The solution to falling standards in recent years has been to add more work but this has simply increased anxiety and stress for everyone.

Increasingly unmanageable levels of admin and box ticking have beaten freedom and joy out of teaching. Hardly surprising, then, that a quarter of all teachers quit within the first three years of qualifying, a third after five. The pressure is pushing children and their parents and teachers to breaking point. Interestingly, California has just passed the Healthy Homework Act which we would do well to copy here.

Aimed at reducing homework and cutting ill-designed assignments and excessive testing, the law is a reaction to 52 per cent of Californian parents and children reporting that much of the homework being set was doing more harm than good. It increases anxiety which throttles learning and, in many cases, it simply backfires. These American parents have had enough.

Anxiety is a ghastly condition. There is no inherent reason for it to be widespread among our young but the foundations of good mental health have been internationally established by researchers at the University of Nottingham, summarised in the Chime framework. It stands for Connection, Hope, Identity, Meaning and Empowerment.

Worryingly, so many of these core pillars for good mental health are becoming increasingly fragile for our young.

We have not shown them how many paths there are to making their ways in this world, and just how imaginative, creative and brilliant they can be. No wonder so many refuse school

Too much of a focus on communications technology has damaged their connection with each other, overloading them with distractions and social media, pushing them down algorithm-led wormholes; introducing them to pornography and violence while their brains are still developing.

If comparison is the thief of joy, the key years to establishing an adult personality are now being spent in environments of performative one-upmanship where self-worth is driven by likes and other spurious forms of affirmation. The result is a generation of children growing up insecure about their looks and spending their most vulnerable years in a world where cyberbullying is rife.

Schools in France, Hungary, Holland and parts of Belgium have banned smartphones. Many British private schools already confiscate them for the duration of the school day . Smartphone-free schools should be national policy for the state sector and the change should happen now. The evidence from Dutch children and teachers is unambiguous, yet Britain could still take years to make a simple improvement that could be enacted tomorrow.

Defeating anxiety means giving children hope. Our post-Victorian education system, designed to turn out factory workers, labourers and administrators, robs many children of hope before they finish school.

Our creative industry is one of Britain’s global strengths. But decades of hostility towards the arts, music and drama in schools and beyond means funding has been cut and provision for creativity which can bring so much joy – as well as money to the economy – is on life support.

I struggle to explain to my boy why he should spend weeks doing fractions that a calculator will do for him in seconds, while lessons on Shakespeare are reduced to confusing “bitesize” encounters designed as test material, rather than the reading and performance of the world’s greatest plays.

Why drill our children in tasks that AI will do for them while stunting their creativity, their imaginations and their senses of possibility? By doing so, we are simply robbing them and society of hope for a successful future.

The other foundations for strong mental health, as researchers at Nottingham found, are identity, meaning and empowerment – the very gifts that painting a picture, acting in a play, banging drums, throwing pots or singing in a band guarantee you. Being creative requires you to have a sense of curiosity, insight and self.

The upcoming reform of the Mental Health Act is a chance for Sir Keir Starmer, Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting to take out a national insurance on our children’s wellbeing. This should be treated as a national emergency and they can start tackling these problems in a very real way. Not only can fundamental reforms around school testing and smartphone use be introduced, we can develop a wider understanding of neurodiversity, and how this affects a child’s needs.

We have also known for decades how well vocational and practical education works in Europe, since well before those EU influxes of Polish builders, Slovak electricians, Bulgarian plumbers and Romanian mechanics apparently “stole” the jobs we could not do.

For decades, we have failed to explain to our young who they are or where they come from. We have not shown them how many paths there are to making their way in this world, and just how imaginative, creative and brilliant they can be. No wonder so many refuse school.

The government is bound to increase funding for child and adult mental health services (Camhs), which are in dire trouble, and for more special educational needs and disabilities (Send) support in schools. However, it needs to recognise that most distress, anxiety and depression are not markers of fundamental damage or difference but rather normal signs of sensitivity to a mentally challenging world.

If our children are to face their schools and the worlds beyond them with their heads high and hearts hopeful, they need to know and feel that we understand them, that we are making changes, and that in times of trouble, our systems can and will help them through.

Horatio Clare is a mental health campaigner and the author of the recently published ‘ Your Journey, Your Way: How to Make the Mental Health System Work For You’

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For the first time, California law will protect students’ right to recess

This is Part Two of a two-part series. Read Part One here.

A new California law is set to protect young students’ right to recess for the first time in state history.

That law, Senate Bill 291 , defines what “recess” really means: free, unstructured time to play and socialize. It also requires that elementary students receive at least 30 minutes every day and makes it illegal for educators to take that time away as punishment.

The law will go into effect next school year. But San Diego Unified and other local districts were not yet ready to talk about their plans to meet these requirements.

These changes come at a critical time for young Californians. The way kids play has quietly transformed over the years, with full schedules of activities replacing the freewheeling lives of older generations. And experts worry about the repercussions on kids’ mental health.

School, and recess in particular, has remained one of the few places where kids still have access to free, unstructured time. Every day, blacktops and playgrounds across the country transform into places where kids invent games and bicker and learn to find resolutions.

But recess has slowly been gnawed away. Over the last 20 years, schools nationwide have been quietly cutting back on recess times in favor of more time in the classroom, reducing it by as much as 60 minutes per week, according to one analytics firm .

It’s difficult to say definitively how much recess has changed in San Diego County. Recess times and bell schedules are decided by individual schools, and districts largely said they don’t keep that information from past years.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents and educators have grown increasingly concerned about play and what it means for kids’ mental health. Now, they hope that California’s new law could change the direction for schools in the nation’s largest state.

“I'm really glad that the law is going to come into effect,” said Ana Cordova, whose 3-year-old son could start Transitional Kindergarten next year. “They're just kids — so they have all their lives to not have recess.”

‘A sea change’

Recess, experts say, is more important than some might think. It is often kids’ main source of time to play freely and without structure — something that is crucial to kids’ development of social skills, creativity and long term mental health. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends that elementary students receive at least 20 minutes of recess per day.

“That interaction is an incredibly important part of child development,” said Rebecca London, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

But recess has also been under threat for decades, with critics calling it a waste of school time and contrary to the mission of the education system.

Experts say much of that motivation to cut back recess times stems from a Cold War-era push by the federal government to keep pace with other countries by sharpening public schools’ focus on academic performance.

California districts and other schools across the country started cutting recess away in favor of class time, London says. In some cities, like Atlanta, Baltimore and Chicago, officials eliminated it altogether .

“We are intent on improving academic performance. You don’t do that by having kids hanging on monkey bars,” Atlanta superintendent Benjamin Canada told The New York Times in 1998.

In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act brought new, sweeping changes. Schools with low academic performance now risked losing federal funding, and could even be shut down. It was, London said, “a sea change.”

“It was not, ‘you get bonuses if you do well,’” she said. “It was, ‘you lose financial support if you don't make this progress.’”

Educators were suddenly under tremendous pressure. They responded by focusing on academics, sending students home with more work and lengthening the school year. Since the law went into effect, at least a fifth of U.S. school districts have also cut back recess time .

In California, London and other researchers tracked these changes in poorer schools. London analyzed a sample of low-income schools from a 2020-2021 state survey. Only half said they gave students more than 20 minutes of recess.

Researchers also found that these changes also fell more on Black and Latino students. An analysis of federal data on students from 1998-1999 found that more than 77% of white students had some recess, but just 41% of Black students and 62% of Latino students had access to that time.

“Recess in school has really just filled the void of the kids being able to exercise that sort of free will,” said Dennis Lim, a San Diego parent. “We need to do whatever we can to make sure they get as much time for that.”

New protections in California

In California, the decline of recess was possible in part because the state had no laws regulating recess. Instead, the state law’s approach was to direct the Department of Education to “encourage” elementary schools to provide recess time.

“The law was effectively silent,” said California state Sen. Josh Newman, D-Fullerton, who chairs the state Senate’s Education Committee.

California wasn’t alone. Just nine other states actually mandate that schools offer recess time every day, and most only offer simple recommendations or don’t address it at all. Districts nationwide also collect very little information on recess time .

Then came the pandemic. Across the state, schools closed down, isolating elementary-aged children from each other. When schools reopened over a year later, London said students were at a loss on how to cooperate or solve conflicts.

“One of the things that we heard from elementary school staff when the kids came back that first year was, ‘they don't even know how to interact with each other anymore,’” she said. “That was a year of development that children didn't get.”

For Newman, that was the turning point.

“We probably needed to explore this question about recess anyway,” he said. “But it seemed like it was really imperative to do it now — and hopefully do it right.

Newman sponsored the law adding new protections for California students’ right to recess. It defines recess as supervised, unstructured play time separate from both lunch and more structured physical education courses. It requires schools to offer 30 minutes of recess time every day and bans educators from taking that time away as punishment.

London, who testified in support of SB 291 before the Education Committee last year, is cautious about celebrating too hard. But she is certainly optimistic.

“It’s a huge change,” she said.

Are school districts ready?

Many San Diego-area schools already meet the requirement of at least 30 minutes of recess. But most district officials wouldn’t give interviews on how they intend to ensure schools follow all parts of the law.

KPBS reached out to four different San Diego-area school districts — San Diego Unified, Chula Vista Elementary School District, South Bay Union and National School District — and most declined to give interviews with top district officials or did not respond to a request for comment.

San Diego Unified, the state’s second-largest school district, did not agree to provide an interview in time for publication. A Chula Vista Elementary School District spokesperson said they did not have enough information on the law to answer any questions. National School District did not respond to a request for comment.

Still, many schools in the San Diego region say they do already meet the new minimum requirements for recess time this year, including South Bay Union School District in Imperial Beach.

Officials there said South Bay Union does collect bell schedules from each school, and that the district planned to review them to make sure that all schools were following the requirements of SB 291 for next year.

“Our K-8 daily schedule already includes 30 minutes of recess, so there will be no change next year,” wrote South Bay Union School District spokesperson Amy Cooper, in an email. “We value the importance of recess time in which students have the opportunity to interact with peers.”

Many parents are optimistic about these changes, including Cordova, whose son Nolan could be in Transitional Kindergarten next year. Nolan was born right after the beginning of the pandemic, and Cordova said he still has a hard time playing with other kids.

“Even still in preschool, when they have recess, he tends to keep to his own,” she said. “The teachers tell us it takes him some time to warm up.”

“And I cry,” Nolan added from the couch nearby.

Still, Cordova hopes that recess in elementary school will give Nolan another chance to keep learning those skills.

“We just want him to keep learning how to get along with different personalities and find his own group of friends,” she said.

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Will less homework stress make California students happier?

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A bill from a member of the Legislature’s happiness committee would require schools to come up with homework policies that consider the mental and physical strain on students.

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Update: The Assembly education committee on April 24 approved an amended version of the bill that softens some requirements and gives districts until the 2027-28 school year. The full Assembly passed the bill on May 21. Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups.  

Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride. 

While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo ’s daughter, then nine, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.

Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked her if she could make a law banning homework.

“It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”

Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while Assembly Bill 2999 — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework. 

Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness , led by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon .   

“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.” 

The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.  

The organization also reported in 2020 that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep,” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.

Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. An English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and 2024’s California Teacher of the Year , Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.

In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo says that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments. 

Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said. 

The bill says the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.

The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo says she has received bipartisan support and so far, no official opposition or support is listed in the bill analysis. 

The measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent culture war disputes between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. Because homework is such a big issue, “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.

Nevertheless, she says she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to cut spending on mental health services for children with the passage of Proposition 1 .

Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework has raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.

“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”

Lawmakers want to help California be happy

Lynn la newsletter writer.

Lynn La is the newsletter writer for CalMatters, focusing on California’s top political, policy and Capitol stories every weekday. She produces and curates WhatMatters, CalMatters’ flagship daily newsletter... More by Lynn La

Homework Gap Could Be Back in Full Force If Lawmakers Don’t Act, Education Groups Say

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Millions of students who were unable to participate in virtual learning because of poor home internet connectivity when the pandemic struck a year and a half ago were handed a temporary lifeline, thanks in large part to federal COVID relief funds, which helped cover devices and broadband access for students in need.

But that money will likely run out after this school year, potentially leaving students in the lurch. Fifty-seven education organizations—including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association—asked congressional leaders in an Oct. 7 letter to provide $4 billion in additional relief in an ambitious budget bill that lawmakers are scrambling to find agreement on.

The legislation—whose price-tag could be in the trillions of dollars—may also encompass many of the Biden administration’s priorities , including expanding universal free pre-kindergarten and offering students two years of community college for free.

The so-called “homework gap” —which disproportionately impacts poor students, students of color, and those living in rural areas—has been a persistent problem since long before the pandemic struck in March 2020. In fact, as many as 16 million students and 400,000 educators lacked sufficient connectivity to participate in online learning since COVID-19 began, according to an Oct. 7 letter the groups sent to congressional leaders.

But when kids were completely unable to attend school because they didn’t have access to virtual learning, the federal government allowed districts and schools to use a portion of the more than $180 billion in federal COVID relief funding to purchase devices and hotspots that could be used to help connect teachers and students at home, among a broad range of other purposes.

Congress also provided an additional $7.1 billion for an Emergency Connectivity Fund, which flows through the E-Rate program, long used to connect schools and libraries. So far, districts have applied for about 70 percent of those funds, or a total of $5.1 billion. The money has been used to pay for 9.1 million connected devices and 5.4 million broadband connections, the letter says.

But when those dollars stop flowing in June of next year, it’s an open question where money will be coming from to continue kids’ and educators’ home connections.

“Schools and libraries will have to come up with some way to pay for it themselves, which they haven’t budgeted for,” said Jon Bernstein, president of the Bernstein Strategy Group, which represents the American Federation of School Administrators and co-chairs the Homework Gap Big Tent Coalition.

Local and state governments may be able to help pay for the extension out of leftover COVID relief dollars or other funds. But if that doesn’t happen, “kids will lose access again,” Bernstein said.

That means, the letter said, that “students could find their online courses interrupted, their research projects and homework assignments impossible to complete, and their relationships with educators and peers shut down.”

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The end of homework? Why some schools are banning homework

Fed up with the tension over homework, some schools are opting out altogether.

No-homework policies are popping up all over, including schools in the U.S., where the shift to the Common Core curriculum is prompting educators to rethink how students spend their time.

“Homework really is a black hole,” said Etta Kralovec, an associate professor of teacher education at the University of Arizona South and co-author of “The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning.”

“I think teachers are going to be increasingly interested in having total control over student learning during the class day and not relying on homework as any kind of activity that’s going to support student learning.”

College de Saint-Ambroise, an elementary school in Quebec, is the latest school to ban homework, announcing this week that it would try the new policy for a year. The decision came after officials found that it was “becoming more and more difficult” for children to devote time to all the assignments they were bringing home, Marie-Ève Desrosiers, a spokeswoman with the Jonquière School Board, told the CBC .

Kralovec called the ban on homework a movement, though she estimated just a small handful of schools in the U.S. have such policies.

Gaithersburg Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland, is one of them, eliminating the traditional concept of homework in 2012. The policy is still in place and working fine, Principal Stephanie Brant told TODAY Parents. The school simply asks that students read 30 minutes each night.

“We felt like with the shift to the Common Core curriculum, and our knowledge of how our students need to think differently… we wanted their time to be spent in meaningful ways,” Brant said.

“We’re constantly asking parents for feedback… and everyone’s really happy with it so far. But it’s really a culture shift.”

It was a decision that was best for her community, Brant said, adding that she often gets phone calls from other principals inquiring how it’s working out.

The VanDamme Academy, a private K-8 school in Aliso Viejo, California, has a similar policy , calling homework “largely pointless.”

The Buffalo Academy of Scholars, a private school in Buffalo, New York, touts that it has called “a truce in the homework battle” and promises that families can “enjoy stress-free, homework-free evenings and more quality time together at home.”

Some schools have taken yet another approach. At Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Illinois, teachers do assign homework but it doesn’t count towards a student’s final grade.

Many schools in the U.S. have toyed with the idea of opting out of homework, but end up changing nothing because it is such a contentious issue among parents, Kralovec noted.

“There’s a huge philosophical divide between parents who want their kids to be very scheduled, very driven, and very ambitiously focused at school -- those parents want their kids to do homework,” she said.

“And then there are the parents who want a more child-centered life with their kids, who want their kids to be able to explore different aspects of themselves, who think their kids should have free time.”

So what’s the right amount of time to spend on homework?

National PTA spokeswoman Heidi May pointed to the organization’s “ 10 minute rule ,” which recommends kids spend about 10 minutes on homework per night for every year they’re in school. That would mean 10 minutes for a first-grader and an hour for a child in the sixth grade.

But many parents say their kids must spend much longer on their assignments. Last year, a New York dad tried to do his eight-grader’s homework for a week and it took him at least three hours on most nights.

More than 80 percent of respondents in a TODAY.com poll complained kids have too much homework. For homework critics like Kralovec, who said research shows homework has little value at the elementary and middle school level, the issue is simple.

“Kids are at school 7 or 8 hours a day, that’s a full working day and why should they have to take work home?” she asked.

Follow A. Pawlowski on Google+ and Twitter .

7 Research-Based Reasons Why Students Should Not Have Homework: Academic Insights, Opposing Perspectives & Alternatives

The push against homework is not just about the hours spent on completing assignments; it’s about rethinking the role of education in fostering the well-rounded development of young individuals. Critics argue that homework, particularly in excessive amounts, can lead to negative outcomes such as stress, burnout, and a diminished love for learning. Moreover, it often disproportionately affects students from disadvantaged backgrounds, exacerbating educational inequities. The debate also highlights the importance of allowing children to have enough free time for play, exploration, and family interaction, which are crucial for their social and emotional development.

Checking 13yo’s math homework & I have just one question. I can catch mistakes & help her correct. But what do kids do when their parent isn’t an Algebra teacher? Answer: They get frustrated. Quit. Get a bad grade. Think they aren’t good at math. How is homework fair??? — Jay Wamsted (@JayWamsted) March 24, 2022

As we delve into this discussion, we explore various facets of why reducing or even eliminating homework could be beneficial. We consider the research, weigh the pros and cons, and examine alternative approaches to traditional homework that can enhance learning without overburdening students.

Insights from Teachers and Education Industry Experts: Diverse Perspectives on Homework

Here are the insights and opinions from various experts in the educational field on this topic:

“I teach 1st grade. I had parents ask for homework. I explained that I don’t give homework. Home time is family time. Time to play, cook, explore and spend time together. I do send books home, but there is no requirement or checklist for reading them. Read them, enjoy them, and return them when your child is ready for more. I explained that as a parent myself, I know they are busy—and what a waste of energy it is to sit and force their kids to do work at home—when they could use that time to form relationships and build a loving home. Something kids need more than a few math problems a week.” — Colleen S. , 1st grade teacher

“The lasting educational value of homework at that age is not proven. A kid says the times tables [at school] because he studied the times tables last night. But over a long period of time, a kid who is drilled on the times tables at school, rather than as homework, will also memorize their times tables. We are worried about young children and their social emotional learning. And that has to do with physical activity, it has to do with playing with peers, it has to do with family time. All of those are very important and can be removed by too much homework.” — David Bloomfield , education professor at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York graduate center

“Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. In high school it’s larger. (…) Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking in our primary schools to say, ‘Is it really making a difference?’” — John Hattie , professor

”Many kids are working as many hours as their overscheduled parents and it is taking a toll – psychologically and in many other ways too. We see kids getting up hours before school starts just to get their homework done from the night before… While homework may give kids one more responsibility, it ignores the fact that kids do not need to grow up and become adults at ages 10 or 12. With schools cutting recess time or eliminating playgrounds, kids absorb every single stress there is, only on an even higher level. Their brains and bodies need time to be curious, have fun, be creative and just be a kid.” — Pat Wayman, teacher and CEO of HowtoLearn.com

7 Reasons Why Students Should Not Have Homework

Let’s delve into the reasons against assigning homework to students. Examining these arguments offers important perspectives on the wider educational and developmental consequences of homework practices.

1. Elevated Stress and Health Consequences

2. inequitable impact and socioeconomic disparities, 3. negative impact on family dynamics.

The issue is not confined to specific demographics but is a widespread concern. Samantha Hulsman, a teacher featured in Education Week Teacher , shared her personal experience with the toll that homework can take on family time. She observed that a seemingly simple 30-minute assignment could escalate into a three-hour ordeal, causing stress and strife between parents and children. Hulsman’s insights challenge the traditional mindset about homework, highlighting a shift towards the need for skills such as collaboration and problem-solving over rote memorization of facts.

4. Consumption of Free Time

Authors Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish , in their book “The Case Against Homework,” offer an insightful window into the lives of families grappling with the demands of excessive homework. They share stories from numerous interviews conducted in the mid-2000s, highlighting the universal struggle faced by families across different demographics. A poignant account from a parent in Menlo Park, California, describes nightly sessions extending until 11 p.m., filled with stress and frustration, leading to a soured attitude towards school in both the child and the parent. This narrative is not isolated, as about one-third of the families interviewed expressed feeling crushed by the overwhelming workload.

5. Challenges for Students with Learning Disabilities

In conclusion, the conventional homework paradigm needs reevaluation, particularly concerning students with learning disabilities. By understanding and addressing their unique challenges, educators can create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment. This approach not only aids in their academic growth but also nurtures their confidence and overall development, ensuring that they receive an equitable and empathetic educational experience.

6. Critique of Underlying Assumptions about Learning

7. issues with homework enforcement, reliability, and temptation to cheat, addressing opposing views on homework practices, 1. improvement of academic performance, 2. reinforcement of learning, 3. development of time management skills, 4. preparation for future academic challenges, 5. parental involvement in education, exploring alternatives to homework and finding a middle ground, alternatives to traditional homework, ideas for minimizing homework, useful resources, leave a comment cancel reply.

Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]

Is Homework Beneficial?

Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [ 10 ] Read More

Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More

Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More

Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More

Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More

Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).

2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).

3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.

2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.

3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More School Debate Topics

Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.

Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.

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Never Mind the Students; Homework Divides Parents

By Kyle Spencer

• April 25, 2017

Last spring, when Public School 11, a prekindergarten through fifth-grade school in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, banned mandatory traditional homework assignments for children up to fourth grade, you might have expected universal acclaim. Rather than filling out worksheets, students were encouraged to read nightly, and a website offered tips for parents looking for engaging after-school activities.

Instead, war broke out among the parents. Those who wanted to keep homework accused the anti-worksheet group of trying to force through a policy supported by a select few. Some privately called the plan “economically and racially insensitive,” favoring families with time and money to provide their own enrichment. There was a series of contentious PTA meetings and jockeying to get on the school’s leadership team, a board that some schools have had trouble getting parents to join. At least three families left the school.

Robin Broshi, a former education technology consultant, a parent of a third grader and one of the architects of the plan, said the changes gave students time to discover the things they were “really passionate about.” Homework time with her son used to be a “huge battle,” she added, but he now spends hours after school with innovative software programs that enthrall him.

But Ashley Sierra, an executive assistant and a single mother with three children at the school, said the policy had created an unwelcome burden on her and other less affluent families that could not afford extra workbooks, or software programs to supplement the new policy. “I hate it,” Ms. Sierra said.

Researchers who study academic history said they were not surprised that debate over young children and homework had resurfaced now. Education and parenting trends are cyclical, and the nation is coming off a stress-inducing, federally mandated accountability push that has put standardized testing at the center of the national education debate. Further, many parents say that homework has become particularly stressful since the arrival of Common Core, a set of rigorous and often confusing learning goals adopted by many states.

Tom Hatch, a professor of education at Columbia University’s Teachers College and co-director of the National Center for Restructuring Education, Schools and Teaching , said homework wars were really a proxy fight about what constitutes learning. He added that they were intrinsically linked to the debates over standardized testing that have fueled the national “opt-out” movement.

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Pros and Cons of a No Homework Policy

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To assign or not to assign? That is the question. Weigh the pros and cons of a no homework policy.

What Is a No Homework Policy?

As the name suggests, a no-homework policy is your promise as a teacher (or, in some cases, a school, district, or even a country) to never assign homework.

If you institute it as a policy, you follow it each and every day.

Math problems, essays, and projects are completed in class.

Homework is not a component of a student’s final grade.

This article contains affiliate links to things that you might like.

The No Homework Debate

A no-homework policy is an educational trend internationally.

Countries like Finland, South Korea, and Japan assign little to no homework to their students.

Even in the US, certain school districts are banning homework on certain days or eliminating it altogether.

Some schools make it optional.

Before you pick a side, consider the pros and cons of a no-homework policy.

Benefits of a No Homework Policy

A no-homework policy has distinct benefits.

Homework Stresses Students

Many students say that homework is their most significant stressor.

Today’s students are often overscheduled and overburdened, balancing extra-curricular activities, family help, and even jobs with their schoolwork.

Homework is an added burden that causes tension in students.

Critics of homework say any benefits of homework are outweighed by preserving a student’s mental health.

Homework Can Do More Harm Than Good

What happens if you do a math problem incorrectly and repeat that mistake dozens of times?

You are actually practicing the mistake and making it a habit.

Students can spend time completing homework incorrectly if they do not have direct supervision.

Not only is this a time-waster, but it can also form habits of thinking that are time-consuming and frustrating to undo.

Not All Students Have Internet Access

In this day and age, most homework requires internet access.

Modern education often relies on technology, such as accessing online assignment platforms, completing research, and writing in online word processing programs.

Not all students have laptops, tablets, or even internet access.

By assigning homework, you may be further disadvantaging low-income students.

Students Have More Time for Activities, Relationships, and Rest

Students attend school for seven to eight hours.

Critics of homework argue, “Isn’t that enough? It is as much as a full-time job. Why do overtime?”

Homework hours don’t appear out of nowhere; they are robbed from other activities.

Students should be playing outside and pursuing sports, music, and other personal interests outside of school.

They should enjoy their friends and family.

After a long day at school, students are drained. They should go to bed at a decent hour to get adequate rest for the day ahead.

This will help them to be at their best for the next school day.

Homework Burdens Parents

Let’s be realistic. Parents often need to help students with homework.

Many children today do not have a stay-at-home parent available for after-school homework help.

Instead, working parents stay up late helping their students with homework (and, in some cases, doing it for them because the homework load is so heavy).

Moreover, some children do not have parents who are willing or available to help with homework.

This means that some students struggle alone while others benefit from at-home help. It is hardly fair.

Teachers Control the Learning with a No Homework Policy

As a teacher, you are not just teaching subject knowledge; you are teaching methods and skills.

When you assign homework, you lose control of how students complete problems and find solutions.

Students may devise their own methods, which can be time-consuming or even counter-productive.

Worse, students may become frustrated and turn off to learning in general.

When you consolidate learning into your in-class time, you are right there to assist students and keep the process frustration-free.

Drawbacks of a No Homework Policy

Advocates of homework point out that a no-homework policy has drawbacks.

Homework Provides Lesson Reinforcement

Homework is extra practice in the skills learned during class time.

The more students interact with content and skills, the faster they learn.

Homework is a valuable reinforcement tool for in-class learning.

Homework Prepares High School Students for College

College requires that a student know how to learn independently and complete homework outside of college lectures.

How will students succeed in this model if they don’t have practice?

High school students need homework so they are ready and able to take on the college learning environment.

Homework May Improve Test Scores

A 1989 study drew a link between the students who complete homework and those with higher scores on standardized tests.

This link was only found in middle and high schoolers; there was no such correlation for elementary students.

Homework Develops Study Habits for All Students

Homework is at-home study and review. It allows students to learn good study habits, which are tools for lifelong success.

Homework Grades Reward Students Who Try

Not all students are great test-takers. Without a homework grade, these traditional forms of assessment may make up 100% of a student’s grade.

When teachers make homework a part of the final grade, they reward students for their consistency and effort.

Whether or Not to Institute a No Homework Policy

Before instituting a no-homework policy, consider consulting your students, parents, administration, and colleagues.

Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of a no homework policy.

If you proceed with the policy, you don’t have to do it all at once.

Consider a semester-long trial. Or assign minimal homework per week or no homework on certain days.

Use your best judgment when determining if a no-homework policy is right for your class.

You May Also Like:

• How to Help Students Who are Discouraged
• The Flipped Classroom: What Is Flipped Learning?
• What Is Tasked Based Learning?

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THE SUSPENSION OF HOMEWORK IN THE PHILIPPINES

• Temps de lecture : 16 min de lecture
• Auteur/autrice de la publication : education_south
• Publication publiée : 2 juin 2022
• Post category: Pédagogie
• Commentaires de la publication : 3 commentaires

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By Joreen Domingo Varly

To the 29 000+ Filipino readers/viewers over the past 3 months, Maraming Salamat po!

INTRODUCTION

Homework or homework assignment has been an inevitable part of a pupils’ academic journey. An academic task that includes a period of reading, writing that has to be completed, textbook exercises to answer, Mathematics problems to be solved, some information to review for the previous or next lesson, and some activities to practice skills.

The primary purpose of giving a homework is to reinforce and increase pupils’ knowledge and improve their learning abilities. This will encourage pupils to engage in active learning. This also promotes a pupil-parent communication and collaboration between pupils.

 But many schools are rethinking homework, some have cut down on the amount they give each week, and others no longer allow weekend assignments. Some have eliminated homework entirely.

Source : OECD (2014)

THE PHILIPPINES’ Suspension of Homework

In September 2010, a memorandum from the Department of education was circulated (and passed on to all the bureau directors, regional directors, school division/city superintendents and Heads of Public elementary school). The   Deped Memorandum No.392 S.2010 highlights the suspension of homework during the weekend. This is to address the concern of parents regarding the amount of time the pupils consume in accomplishing their homework, instead of having an enjoyable and quality time with their family. This memorandum also intends to ease the pupils’ burden about the thought of doing plenty of homework.

In August 2019, the 118 th Congress – Senate Bill No. 966 (authored by Senator Grace Poe) or the proposed “No Homework Law” has been filed. This is a senate bill banning teachers from giving homework to students from kinder to Grade 12 on weekends.

The bill stated that all primary and secondary schools in the country shall not allow teachers to give any network or assignments to students. Under the proposed measure, teachers may only assign homework to students on weekends provided that it be minimal and will not require more than four hours to be completed.  The policy will be applied on both public and private schools.

“Further, it looked at homework hours around the world and found that there wasn’t much of a connection between how much homework students of a particular country do and how well their students score on tests” , the bill read.

Citing a 2014 study from the OECD based on PISA data, the senator noted that additional time spent on homework has a negligible impact on the performance of students after around four hours of homework in a week.  In OECD countries, for example, advantaged students spend 5.7 hours per week doing homework, on average, while disadvantaged students spend an average of 4.1 hours per week.

No homework policy

The Department of Education (DepEd) expressed its support on this filed bill of “No homework policy” saying that it would help learners find balance between personal and academic growth. Since they had been advocating for an all-inclusive learning regime for Filipino students, to include out of the classroom schooling, a policy that will, in effect, restrict teachers from giving homework to students from kindergarten to Grade 12. In hopes that the concept will enable Filipino learners “to find balance between their academic development and personal growth by having ample time for enjoyable activities with family.”

Up to this date, the proposed bill is not yet approved. Apparently, there is need to be circumspect and judicious. The DepEd memorandum of 2010 is still the ruling guideline on giving homework to pupils.

Summary of pros and cons of homework

Let’s look into the summary of homework’s pros and cons:

Source : Joreen Domingo-Varly

NEWS : SEAMEO Secretariat and the Department of Education, Philippines commit to the next phase of SEA-PLM Programme

The SEAMEO Secretariat Director, Dr Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela, and the Secretary of Education, Philippines, H E Dr Leonor Magtolis Briones, signed the Memorandum of Understanding to spearhead the implementation of activities under the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) 5-Year Strategic Plan, including the SEA-PLM 2024 Survey. The MoU signing ceremony took place in the Office of the Secretary Building at the Department of Education in Manila on Monday, 02 May 2022.

Survey on the suspension of homework in the Philippines

Teaching English in Algeria

Curricula analysis in francophone africa, cet article a 3 commentaires.

Félicitations à Joreen d’évoquer un problème en émergence dans les pays africains. Au Cameroun où je passe la majorité de mes observations, le problème de” saturation des activités intellectuelle” gagne du terrain, encouragé par cette frénésie de faire avancer les enfants sans respecter le rythme bio-physiologique des enfants. Tenez par exemple, les congés c’est à partir du 10 juin au primaire. Immédiatement, les “saturalistes” ont déjà programmé des cours de rattrapage pour le mois de juillet. Quand est-ce que le cerveau de ces enfants va se reposer? Commençons à mener des réflexions dans ce sens. Châpeau Joreen/

Thanks! Actually I’ve been looking if it has been approved or not yet, then I saw you blog. I know the Finnish almost 100% do not give homework. As a math teacher, in my class, I started not giving them homework (years before the pandemic) even though the bill has not been passed yet.

https://news.yahoo.com/theres-only-far-them-why-123134730.html

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Sen. Poe’s Version of “No-Homework Law” Based on Findings

Senator Grace Poe filed her version of No-Homework Law thru Senate Bill No. 966 -An Act Establishing A No-Homework Policy for All Primary and Secondary Schools in the Country. It was read on First Reading and Referred to the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture last August 28, 2019. Legislative status: Pending in the Committee (8/28/2019).

According to her:

Not only that more homework does not translate to better student performance, It also gives additional stress to students, teachers and parents. More homework gives additional workload to our already overworked teachers and takes away valuable time that could have been spent with family and other activities. Hence, this bill aims to limit the homework given to students from Kinder to Grade 12 during weekdays and prohibit the same on weekends to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds. This bill, when enacted into law, will institutionalize and expand the Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum Circular No. 392, s. 2010 which advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school pupils on weekdays and to refrain from giving homework on weekends. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBUC OF THE PHILIPPINES First Regular Session

SENATE S. No. 966

Introduced by Senator Grace Poe

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A NO-HOMEWORK POLICY FOR ALL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY

Explanatory Note

According to Francesca Borgonovi, one of the authors of the study titled, “Does Homework Perpetuate the Inequities in Education?”, there is an advantage for putting extra hours in homework. She noted that when you look within countries at students who are learning in the same educational system and do more homework, those students do much better in school.1 However, data shows that there are diminishing marginal returns to homework after several hours of it.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD PISA) found in 2009 that after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on students’ performance. Further, it looked at homework hours around the world and found that there wasn’t much of a connection between how much homework students of a particular country do and how well their students score on tests. The best example of this is Finland. Finnish students do only about three (3) hours of homework per week yet in 2012 they scored sixth highest in the world in reading and 12thhighest in Math on the OECD’ international test, PISA.Finland is also known to rank high in the international rankings for education systems.

Not only that more homework does not translate to better student performance, It also gives additional stress to students, teachers and parents. More homework gives additional workload to our already overworked teachers and takes away valuable time that could have been spent with family and other activities.

Later on, OECD also found out that whatever benefit homework has Is relevant only for measuring student achievement within each country, and that It tends to reinforce the achievement gap between the rich and the poor.5 Specifically, in all 38 countries included in the OECD study, they discovered that homework hours vary by socio-economic status. According to the study, it is not Just poor kids are more likely to skip their homework or do not have a quiet place at home to complete it, schools serving the poor kids also do not assign as much homework as the schools for the rich. Often, poor students also have limited access to resources necessary to complete their homework.

Hence, this bill aims to limit the homework given to students from Kinder to Grade 12 during weekdays and prohibit the same on weekends to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds.

This bill, when enacted into law, will institutionalize and expand the Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum Circular No. 392, s. 2010 which advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school pupils on weekdays and to refrain from giving homework on weekends.

In view of the foregoing, the Immediate passage of this measure is earnestly sought.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “No Homework Law”.

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the State to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds.

Sec. 3. Scope. – This Act shall apply to both public and private primary and secondary schools.

Sec. 4. No Homework on Weekends. – All primary and secondary schools in the country shall not allow teachers to give any homework or assignments to students from Kinder to Grade 12 on weekends. Assigning homework to students will only be allowed on weekdays; Provided, that such homework shall be minimal and will not require more than four (4) hours to be completed.

Sec. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days from the date of effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall formulate the rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act.

Sec 6. Separability Clause. – If any portion or provision of this Act Is declared unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect

Sec. 7. Repealing Clause. – Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive order, letter of instruction, rule or regulation Inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Sec 8. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following Its complete publication In a newspaper of general circulation.

Copy of Senate Bill No. 966 An Act Establishing A No-Homework Policy for All Primary and Secondary Schools in the Country.

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Bill aims to give students ‘no homework’ weekends

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MANILA, Philippines — Saying children are “overworked” with 10 hours spent at school on weekdays, Tutok to Win Rep. Sam Versoza has filed House Bill No. 8243 — the proposed “No Homework Law” — to stop teachers from giving homework to elementary and high school students during weekends so as to allow students to “rest and recharge.”

A 2010 Department of Education memorandum circular advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school students to a reasonable quantity on weekdays, while no homework is to be given on weekends. HB 8243 sought to institutionalize this for all elementary and high schools across the country.

Since the 17th Congress (2016-2019), lawmakers have tried to institute a no homework policy on weekends, but such measures remained pending before the House basic education and culture committee.

Versoza, in a privilege speech on Monday, said students work extra hours to accomplish their homework. In some instances, parents themselves would finish their children’s tasks.

“The Filipino youth are overworked and yet the Philippines is trailing behind other countries,” Versoza said in his privilege speech.

He cited recent reports that the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Filipinos was 81.64, while the global average IQ was 100. The Philippines ranked 111th out of 200 countries in terms of average IQ.

“This is alarming and proves that the Philippines is in the middle of an educational crisis. If the system is not working, let us improve the system,” Versoza said.

He noted that Finland, China, South Korea, Japan, and other progressive nations already cut back on giving homework to students and that the Philippines should consider this as well.

Versoza said an hour of homework a day was “sufficient to achieve satisfactory results” and that increasing the number of hours for homework “may cause stress to students and their families.”

The lawmaker also pointed to the disparity between the rich and poor in completing school tasks.

“Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connection, dedicated areas to do schoolwork, and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with their homework,” Versoza said.

On the other hand, children from disadvantaged homes are more likely to take on after-school jobs, be at home without parents’ supervision, or take care of siblings instead of doing homework.

He also cited data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, which showed that the Philippines had the highest dropout rate among Southeast Asian countries, with a lack of interest in school as one of the reasons cited.

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“This only shows that school is not fun anymore,” Versoza said.

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Deped to issue ‘more precise’ guidelines on students’ homework policy, homework ban to promote ‘holistic approach’ among families — solon, deped: no-homework plan to help students attain school-life balance.

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• Phone: (727) 954-8676

Turning Point

An emergency intervention shelter and inebriate receiving facility that provides emergency intervention shelter services for homeless adults with substance abuse issues and accepts inebriated adults directly from the street. Clients may also be linked to community-based health and human services including temporary shelter, nourishment, shower facilities, case management, supportive counseling, skills-building groups and 12-Step meetings.

• Website: rehabnow.org/center/west-care-turning-point-saint-petersburg-fl
• Phone: (727) 823-7811

Pinellas County Emergency Shelters

For a full comprehensive list of Pinellas County emergency shelters, visit: Homeless Resource Guide .

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