Fifteen years ago the report A Nation at Risk by the National Commission on Excellence in Education began an era of education reform. A number of other states have had diploma requirements for a long time. In 1999, California passed a law requiring passing an exit examination as a condition of receiving a high school diploma. Yet the idea is new to Californians. The Sacramento Department of Education announced last month the results of the first ever exit exam, given as a practice test. It was given to ninth graders, who will take it again in tenth grade and in eleventh and in twelfth. At that time, those who pass it will get diplomas. The others will get a sheet of paper saying they have attended school. When the announcement was made last month, newspapers had too much to do to take much notice.

Twelfth graders will need to pass an exam in English Language Arts with 60 or better, and an exam in Math with 55 or better. Eighth graders will need to pass those subjects in order to go on to high school.

In Sacramento and in our School Site Councils, teachers and families have been working backward from these two exams to figure out the details of accountability in each successive year. (For some norms for the entire twelve years, see the website of the State Department of Education.) What all this can mean to families can be, at least to some extent, what we make of it. It's at least possible that it's a chance to unclutter study habits and create accountability all around.

Take a moment to look at California's K-12 Content Standards. It will take you less than five minutes to read a detailed description of what your child is doing all day, and I think you'll find it's well worth the time. You may even want to bookmark the web site, so you can check back any time you can't get a straight answer to "What did you today?"

I'm a parent and grandparent myself. Being a grandma was a big deal when the grandkids were little. But they are teenagers now, and not nearby; so I hear more from their parents than I do from them.

There isn't one of us who doesn't want the best for the kids, both at home and at school. If we read something in the paper about an adult who can't read or can't do enough math to manage a checking account, we're appalled. We're also way too busy to take on the role of homework cop at the end of the day. Let's face it, there's MORE science to know about in this twenty-first century than there ever was when we were in school, and it takes MORE MATH to understand it.

Precisely because of our country's leadership role in the world, our kids will have to be able to cope. So let's cut to the basics, identify what skills have to be mastered in each grade, look at the time-frame we have to work with.

I know every parent has too much to do. I know also that the more active parents are in their schools, the more the school system has to respond. In the home as well, the more a parent knows about what's happening at school, the better are the chances that the homework hassles are minimized.

Here are a few things that some families have tried. You may want to see how they work for you. If you are already having issues around homework in your family, or if you're concerned for your child in relation to the norms for her grade-level, I'd suggest a short family meeting to air the problem.

Then take a breather of a couple of days, and see if you can get a shift toward "So what are we going to do?" Once there's even a little movement in that direction, you may want another meeting to get everybody's suggestions and brainstorm a plan.

Families I've worked with have told me they can't get anywhere without establishing a real space that's a HOMEWORK ZONE. It's not a different place every day that just happens. It's not in the middle of the activities of others. It's not adjacent to a radio, stereo, or television set. It's probably not even shared space. (Siblings only rarely share productively.) So talking about this as a family might begin with, "What are some of the ways you already have a homework zone in your house?" Then the job is smaller, because you're just going to figure out, together, how to expand the zone, reinforce the zone, and make it strong.

If this goes well, bring up the matter of TOOLS and SUPPLIES. What are some of the things you can use to keep things simple and organized? Does anybody use color-coding to find things? If not, could you try it? How would it work? Is there a little money available to experiment with this? Should you go shopping for stuff? When?

The biggest question defining tools is likely to be "Who uses a computer? How do you allocate time on that?" Jot down each person's best ideas, and decide who is going to be in charge of what. You may need to take a break, or all of you think about it and try to come up with some compromises.

But there's an even bigger question, and it's bound to come up: WHY WOULD YOU ALL WANT TO BOTHER GETTING CONTROL OF YOUR FAMILY TIME?

You may find this hard to believe, but I'm asking you to consider trying some things that have worked for other families so you'll actually have MORE TIME, as a family, for the things you like to do together. Here's where your strong family bonds can help you, because each member is a qualified player. I'm asking you to consider the investment, as a family, of the same quiet time every day, as early in the day as possible: 60 minutes in fifth grade increasing to about 90 minutes in eighth grade. Any time not needed on current assignments can be for reading and writing.

BENEFITS: I have seen families do this just as they might train for doing music or a sport together. I have seen students get the habits that, on a daily basis, make them strong and confident when tests or big assignments come up. They've held a friendly family meeting to get the whole family in on the reasons for this. They have together identified the skills needed, and detailed the steps to acquire them. They've planned a realistic time-frame. They've created a place. They've share their thoughts on the tools and supplies that can help them get organized.