Homework

What We Know About Homework

• Homework has been shown to have little academic benefit for elementary students and only minor benefits for middle school students. At the high school level, appropriate homework has significant beneficial outcomes for student learning.
• Homework can cut into valuable family and personal time.
• Too much homework can result in poor academic performance.
• Successful completion of homework may not be within a student's control.
• Homework should be authentic, meaningful and engaging to be an effective learning tool.
• Too much time on homework can actually make school less engaging for students which has a negative impact on learning.
• It is very difficult for a teacher to know whether the student completed the homework themselves without someone (parent/peer/internet) feeding them the answers.
• Parents with negative attitudes towards mathematics can inadvertently transfer those attitudes to their children by helping them with their homework. Negative attitudes towards a subject can greatly hinder motivation and achievement.

Appropriate homework is beneficial but should be balanced with other priorities in the home and at school. More time on homework does not necessarily mean more learning.

It is the procedure of D205 to only assign homework when it is authentic, meaningful, and engaging. Time devoted to homework should be minimized, especially at the middle and elementary levels. This procedure does not mean that homework will not be assigned. It means that homework will only be assigned when it is appropriate and beneficial, not simply as a matter of routine.

Homework will likely not be required every night for every student even when homework is available for the day's lesson in the student's math workbook. Teachers use a variety of tools to communicate homework expectations to students and parents from their class websites to homework folders to student planners, depending on the age of the child and preference of the teacher. If you are unsure how your child's teacher is communicating homework expectations, please reach out to them.

It is also important that parents not complete homework for their children. This can happen inadvertently when a well-meaning parent does the thinking or writing for their child. If homework is to support student learning, the student must do all of the thinking and writing.

Tips for parents around homework

• Ask questions, don't give answers or try to explain why or how. Its best for children to do their homework as independently as possible. The teacher is confident that your child can complete the homework independently, otherwise she/he would not have assigned it to them.
• Try not to get frustrated if your child isn't understanding. You can both take a break from the task and come back to it later. Sometimes all that is needed is a little space and time to think.
• If your child doesn't understand the homework, reach out to their teacher. Teachers don't know when students struggle at home unless parents or the student lets them know. Older students should take care of this communication without their parents intervening to build their own self-reliance. Instead of asking the questions directly, reach out to your child's teacher to check whether your child spoke with them about the homework and follow up with your child.
• Don't check your child's homework for errors and force them to fix them. Seeing these errors will help your child's teacher understand their learning better. Students tend to do worse on homework and at school when parents are seen as controlling or intrusive. Parents can do unintentional harm by not giving their child space and autonomy to do their homework.
• Don't write on your child's homework unless they have special accommodations due to an Individualized Education Plan. Students should do all of the writing and thinking required for the homework.