NJ.com, 8-Oct-17
By Amy Kuperinsky
If you're a parent of a child in grade school, you're likely familiar with the ordeal: You wrestle your child into a chair to finish his or her homework -- a bevy of assignments that are sometimes frustrating and occasionally incomprehensible. After an hour (or two, or three) of negotiation, occasional tears and shouting, everyone is exhausted.
And you're left wondering: Is all this homework really necessary?
For an increasing number of educators in New Jersey and nationwide, the answer is no. In recent years, Woodbridge Township, Princeton and West Windsor-Plainsboro school districts have experimented by either doing away with traditional homework or opting for "homework-free" days or weekends. The "no homework" movement is proving especially popular with parents (and -- perhaps not surprisingly -- young students), who see it as an opportunity for children to spend more time with family or pursue their own passions.
Experts say the movement is growing, even as conventional thinking still holds that homework is a good way for young students to establish an academic routine, and concerns remain about the ability of American children to compete globally.
Of course, who wouldn't like more recess and less homework?
Though no local studies have tracked the trend, New Jersey public schools have placed restrictions on homework since at least 2013, when students and parents reacted favorably to limits on homework in the Hopewell Valley School District. The district later extended the policy, setting specific time restrictions, like one that disallowed third graders from doing more than 30 minutes of assignments.
In 2015, Princeton schools began periodically implementing homework-free weekends, following the lead of West Windsor-Plainsboro schools (which began offering some homework-free nights in 2014). And last year, Robert Mascenik School #26 in Woodbridge Township deemphasized traditional homework in favor of reading. Administrators said children should spend the time playing and interacting with their families. So did Port Reading School #9, another elementary school in the same district.
In 2016, the no-homework movement went viral when Brandy Young, a second-grade teacher in Godley, Texas, sent a note to parents letting them know she wouldn't be giving any homework. Young explained that research didn't bear out the benefit of homework for young students, saying it was more important for them to play and get to bed early.
Parents are celebrating no-homework policies as a kind of forward-thinking approach to early education. Consider Jennifer Rittner, who felt that her son Theo's kindergarten homework was so unnecessary and detrimental that she was willing to put him in private school.
"I can't draw, I can't do math, I can't read," he would say. Rittner, who lives in Montclair, placed part of the blame on the "depressing" worksheets that followed Theo home after school. When first grade rolled around, he left for a private school -- the Montclair Cooperative School.
There, students kept nightly journals where they could log whatever they wanted to read. Later, they were assigned "ownwork," for which they performed and logged a weekly "self-initiated task." For Theo, now 7, that could mean playing darts or making a paper airplane.
"The work that we do with children needs to be productive, not just kill time," says Amanda Marchesani, Theo's former teacher at the school. She reconsidered her approach to homework after hearing Alfie Kohn, a scholar of progressive education known for his views on reward-based learning (no gold stars, please) and grading (it shouldn't exist), speak at a conference.
Does that mean teachers who see homework as indispensable -- even at a young age -- are wrong?
In 2006, Harris Cooper, a psychology professor at Duke University, published an analysis of research conducted between 1987 and 2003, finding that even a little bit of homework could have a positive influence. But the association held strongest in grades seven to 12; younger students did not demonstrate the same benefit.
Homework, he wrote, could trigger loss of interest in a subject or make students see school in a negative light. Despite this, he advised teachers to put stock in the "10-minute rule," the notion -- endorsed by the PTA and National Education Association -- that 10 minutes of homework should be added per grade level, starting with 10 in first grade and topping out at two hours in 12th.
So are worksheets like the ones assigned to Theo in kindergarten really going to help students get into Harvard one day? Rittner thinks the push to start so young is reflective of parental neurosis.
"I think it's generalized social anxiety that children in our country are falling behind children in other countries," says Rittner, who teaches social justice and design for graduate students at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Still, many educators believe that young children should do homework to foster a love of learning, says Kedra Gamble.
"Homework when done well is a wonderful place to do that," says Gamble, assistant professor at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education in New Brunswick.
She adds, "The function of school is very different than it was 20, 30 years ago. You can get content from everywhere. Now we're teaching them to think, to posit questions, to conduct research, to solve problems."
Steven Isaacs teaches a game design class at William Annin Middle School in Basking Ridge where he asks students to design their own games in the context of Minecraft, covering topics such as narrative and coding. A former special education teacher, he was never a fan of homework. Why? It changes the focus of school, he says.
"It's not about the learning, it's about the finishing the homework, and that really bothers me," Isaacs says. He frames his class as a "studio" where students pick passion projects.
"When a kid has agency and is excited about something, there's a good chance when they come home they're going to continue working on that," Isaacs says.
But in the face of school benchmarks, creative freedom isn't always a possibility. Not all districts have the resources of the Bernards Township School District, and priorities can be different in a disadvantaged school.
Moreover, in high school, hours of homework remain a necessary part of life as students move towards college. For those hoping to get into a top school, this can mean a fiercely competitive admissions process. If relieved of homework in subjects like math, history and English, would students become less desirable candidates for the academic rigor that awaits?
Well, no. But yes, too. Ashley Kollme is a college counselor for IvyWise, a New York college planning company that ministers to New Jersey students whose parents plunk down thousands of dollars for tutoring and advising -- in effect, giving them more homework.
Following a full slate of extracurriculars that creeps into early evening, students come home to so much work that they end up sacrificing sleep, she says.
"Something has to give," Kollme says. "There are only 24 hours in a day." An oppressive amount of homework doesn't necessarily mean better college preparedness, she says.
"Colleges are not focused so much on just the numbers -- what are your test scores and what are your grades," Kollme says.
The broader question: "Do you have a love of learning?"
