Education Law

Homework ... do I have to?

Homework. Whether it's school kids in full avoidance, or parents in lockdown mode (maybe even flashbacks of our own homework-doing days), the word itself gets us all knotted up inside. So how much homework are kids being asked to do anyway?

According to a report released yesterday by the U.S. Department of Education, a fairly good amount, at least at the elementary level. Department researchers looked at the amount of time elementary teachers expected their students to do at 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades. They found that nearly 70% of 1st grade teachers expected their students to do more than 20 minutes of homework in reading/language arts, and 32% wanted that much time devoted to math homework. By 5th grade, about nine in ten teachers were asking students for 20 minutes or more of homework in both subjects.

Keep in mind this is what teachers expect. If you want to know how much homework students should do, take a look at What research says about the value of homework over at the Center for Public Education. We'll give you a hint. Your first graders have a right to complain.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on December 03, 2008 (boomark / email).