{"id":855,"date":"2012-09-07T08:41:01","date_gmt":"2012-09-07T14:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/billintheblank\/?p=855"},"modified":"2012-09-07T08:41:01","modified_gmt":"2012-09-07T14:41:01","slug":"why-schools-should-get-rid-of-almost-all-homework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2012\/09\/why-schools-should-get-rid-of-almost-all-homework\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Schools Should Get Rid of Almost All Homework"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I hate homework. Not as much as I hate yellow-jackets, but that\u2019s another story<\/a>. As a successful K-12 school leader and principal for a dozen years,\u00a0I bring a unique voice of experience to this relatively new educational nuisance we call homework.<\/p>\n

Schools should get rid of almost all of it. It\u2019s evil.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. Evil.<\/em> What else should\u00a0I call something that robs us all of that most precious resource \u2014 time \u2013and often gives\u00a0nothing but hatred for learning in return? Before too many of my fellow educators\u00a0hyperventilate, let me emphasize the word almost.<\/em> Some homework can be helpful and meaningful. But most could go away tomorrow and we\u2019d only see more enthusiastic students, less distressed teachers, and more engaged parents.<\/p>\n

This recent story from Maryland reminded me of the bane that homework can be:<\/p>\n

DC Breaking Local News Weather Sports FOX 5 WTTG<\/a><\/p>\n

Key Graphs:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really started evaluating the work that we sent students home with,\u201d\u00a0 explained Principal Brant. \u201cWe started looking, and really, it was a lot of\u00a0 worksheets. And the worksheets didn\u2019t match what we were doing instructionally\u00a0 in the classroom. It was just: we were giving students something because we felt\u00a0 we had to give them something.\u201d <\/em>[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n

\u2026..<\/p>\n

We asked [a student] if she misses doing those math problems at home.\u00a0 \u201cWe do [the math problems] in school,\u201d she explained.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Out of the mouths of babes\u2026.<\/p>\n

Been there. Done that.<\/h3>\n

If your demanding hard data and research to support my positions, you won\u2019t find it here. Not today. That\u2019s what Google\u2019s for. There is a growing supply of both. I\u2019m just offering common-sense, anecdotal evidence that you can significantly reduce homework levels without sacrificing true learning in schools.<\/p>\n

For the last dozen years in our college-prep school, we actively worked to eliminate it as much as possible. Parents always loved our approach. Teachers often did eventually, even though it went against everything they had been trained to do and that they experienced themselves as students.\u00a0In spite of, or perhaps because of, our approach, we achieved tremendous academic success whether you\u2019re measuring by:<\/p>\n