November 17, 2011

Dear Families,

This week we write about homework, a topic about which everybody seems to have an opinion and is apparently an expert.  There are those who believe that children should not have homework and those who think that there’s never enough.  The public debate is often about whether or not to give homework and how much is the right amount. We hear far less discussion about the content of homework and what it is we are asking children to do when they leave our school doors.   

As always, we welcome your feedback,
Alyce and Anna

From Alyce
Like many people of similar age and profession I have experienced homework as a student, parent, teacher and school leader. From fifth grade through high school and much of college, I remember leaving homework assignments to the last possible moment, even doing assignments for one class while sitting in another. As a parent I did my very best to stay in touch with my children’s teachers, to be aware of their assignments, and to provide enough supervision and support to make sure homework was done well. Sometimes it worked out well and at others... well..., these are not memories of a happy agreeable family.

When I taught grades 2, 3 and 4, at BNS, I assigned nightly independent reading, journal writing, math review, and often social studies or science; I required students to do weekly handwriting practice and to study spelling words at their level. Though there was no official homework policy; most grade level colleagues gave the same or very similar homework. I did not reproduce commercially made sheets; I wrote my student’s assignments and provided a weekly assignment overview that I stapled into each student’s homework notebook. Most of my students did their homework regularly and I told parents to let me know if it was too much or too difficult. When children came to school with incomplete homework, I had them eat lunch with me and helped them finish. They missed recess. I thought that the homework I assigned was helping students to build skills they would need in middle and high school, develop responsibility and independence, and show me whether they had mastered skills I taught in the classroom. In this role I saw homework as an equalizer – an experience that would be the same for all of my diverse students.

Occasionally,  a few parents would complain that they preferred their children to have more free time or family time and I would share my thoughts about the value of homework. I did not tell them I worried that some students’ families might not encourage their children to read independently or might let them watch television or play hours of video games if I did not assign homework – which I saw as a better use of children’s time.

When I made the transition to the leadership of BCS, l I saw immediately that homework was a powerful variable in student performance, teacher-student, parent-child relationships, and parent-school relationships. Founding teachers, parents and I did not create a school-wide homework policy or develop a sense of uniform grading practice related to homework. In the absence of such guidelines, teachers created individual homework practices and policies that included using homework in a formula to calculate grades, i.e. 30% homework, 40% class work, and 30% tests and quizzes. Whether and how much homework was a factor in grading, varied from teacher to teacher. Some teachers did not count homework at all because they did not know how much support students received in doing it and others placed so much emphasis on homework that it was impossible to pass their classes without doing it regularly and well.

For the past three years BCS has engaged in a gradual transition to mastery grading, assessing whether students have met clear skills, knowledge and reasoning learning targets.  Mastery is determined though multiple means and opportunities for assessment rather than proportional formulas like the example above.

I share my experiences with homework to let you know how they have expanded and shaped my perspective. I understand the value of thinking time, resting time, and down time - and know we all need periods to disconnect and stop working. I also know that homework affords students essential opportunities to independently (without the support of teachers) practice and expand on the work they do in school. When they reach college, virtually all of their work will be done outside of class and will include heavy reading and writing loads that enable them to participate in their classes. What’s the best way to gradually prepare students for this - in grades K-12? We must consider the ages and developmental needs of our students, provide adequate support - including materials, individual instruction or tutoring, explicit teaching of study and time management skills, and make sure students regularly read for information and pleasure. And - we must partner with parents, some of whom can provide their children with lots of academic support and others who cannot.

Have we, as a school, done all we should to support students with homework? Unfortunately, I would have to say no - because we do not have the budget to offer daily after school tutoring to every child who needs it - or does not have an adequate space, materials, including computers and internet access, or support at home to do homework assignments.  I welcome your ideas about how to create such a program, including offers from volunteer tutors and grant writers.  I also encourage all families to write to me (alyce@bcs448.org) sharing your thoughts about homework in general, and your child’s homework at BCS.

From Anna
At the Brooklyn New School, homework becomes a part of yours and your child’s life gradually.  There is no homework in kindergarten and very little in first grade.  Only after your children have made it to the third floor and second grade does homework begin to be a part of their academic life.  And even then, there’s not too much. In third grade, there is generally something to do every evening and an expectation that it gets done.  But that something to do is relevant.  It’s related to the work of school and in fact, in this case, homework becomes the link between school and home.  If you pay attention to your child’s homework, you will learn a little bit about what he or she is studying whether that subject is China or light and shadow.

So why give homework?  Basically there are three simple reasons.  The first is that link, the connection between home and school.  The second is the need for practice.  There are only six plus hours in a school day and sometimes a little reinforcement at home is not a bad thing.  And the third and most important reason is that homework requires children to be responsible, to remember to do something without the teacher by their side.  At first, you, the parent, will find yourself monitoring the homework, ensuring that each assignment is done, but eventually you ought to be able to step back a little.  Homework requires some self-monitoring.  It is a small step on the ladder towards independence.  When a child does homework, not because of nagging, but simply because it must be done, that child is well on his or her way to taking on the many responsibilities of life in general!

In the debate about homework, we find ourselves talking about what the child should or should not do after school.  We leave out the part about the parents.  Parents also have school homework.  You need to be checking the backpack and the folders, looking for notices and communications from the school.  You need to be filling out forms and sending in papers.  And you need to be noticing what is hard for your child and what is easy.  There are math games you can play with your children and books to be read to them.  There’s dinner to be prepared and household routines to be established and bedtime hours to be enforced.  Ah, yes, once again, it is the parent who has the most homework of all!

Quote of the Week:
After going with Amy Brown’s class to Central Park, Jeremy Weissfelner exclaimed, "I just had the time of my life!!"

Please see our

calendar

for all upcoming events.

 Contact Us · Research Portal · Teacher Portal · Parent Portal · PTA · Shop · Afterschool Program · Weekly Letter · Alumni · BCS Press