Teachers often use the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for information, and most of us receive their free periodical. The latest one asks us to think seriously about homework. There's a pullout centerfold for teachers containing the introduction and self-assessmenttool from their online "Toolkit for Reflection". I found it worth my time.

In the introduction, they're abstracting for us, for our consideration, three articles on the issues we all know. The first is Put an End to Homework Horror by Cara Belle (full text at www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr306.shtml It draws on research of Nancy Paulu of the U.S. Department of Education which shows that today students have more activities, parents have less time, and teachers see fewer students completing homework assigned. Suggestions are made on providing choices of assignments, and varying style and format to add interest. There are also vignettes about schools where homework plans are in place and working.

The second is Homework: Time to Turn it In? from the National Education Association. (full text at http://nea.org/neatoday/9904/scoop.html) This focuses on the changing structure of families, wide variations in student goals, teacher workload, and parent involvement. We're asked to make assignments short, simple, and of high interest. Not rocket science here.

The third is End Homework Now by Etta Kralovex and John Buell (full text at http://www.ascd.org/publications/ed_lead/200104/kralovec.html) These authors are basically telling off the educators: we should stop usurping valuable family time for homework. Going further, they then make the case that homework contributes to the socioeconomic imbalance in how educational resources are distributed. They ask us to find issues that will produce genuine reform. This is a point to bear in mind (if I haven't lost you yet) because the full-text version includes three student vignettes worth noting.

Maddie is a 4th grader, oldest of three, living with aunt who's a single-mom of two, in an unstable neighborhood which is sometimes dangerous. She manages to attend school regularly, and does the best she can to hand in her homework, maintaining a C average.

Jessica is a 13-year-old active in four sports and a serious piano student (her mom teaches it at the local conservatory). Both her parents facilitate her heavy schedule of activities, and regard them as important. She participates actively in class, but often falls short on homework and on preparing for tests. She tells her teachers she simply doesn't have the time. Her parents agree.

Antonio is a motivated 11th grader, until recently an honors student, the son of a librarian and a physician's assistant, who are both actively involved with his school. He skips a lot of homework assignments and some quizzes: he says he doesn't need them. His parents agree, and urge his teachers to accommodate him.

So much for the three articles: I don't think anyone would dispute that any homework coming into these homes is a troublemaker. See what your approach would be.....

ENC's Personal Assessment Tool asks teachers:

1. Do you give homework? Why or why not?
2. Is it you choice to give homework, or is it mandated by your school/district?
3. How often do you give homework?
4. What kinds of assignments do you give?
5. What do you do with it -- how do you use it to determine student understanding, modify student grades, refine your instructional approach?
6. What do you intend students to gain from the assignments you give? How do you know they gain that?
7. How do you ascertain whether or not a student's homework is truly his or her own?

I found all but the last one thought-provoking. (The last one, any teacher will tell you, is relatively easy to check out: when you have suspicions, you see what the kid can do in class. Three or four checks should tell you. In the upper grades, plagiarism can be hard to uncover, however, and a number of web resources for teachers are very helpful.)

In math and science, teachers everywhere are now expected to cover far more material than they did even a decade ago. That limits the in-class review time, and puts bright students who work slowly at serious risk of falling behind. Most homework is aimed at fixing concepts by repeated practice, hopefully in a quiet, supportive setting free of pressure.

I've known a lot of parents with zero free time. That's the kind I was, too. I've never known a parent who doesn't want the best for kids. But how we can get it is just not getting easier. I'd love to hear what works for you: jradcli [at] mystudybuddy [dot] org