8th Grade's Philosophy About Homework Revisited

In response to a parent email about 8th grade homework, Darin, Bert and I realized that it might be appropriate to reiterate our shared approach to homework, first presented at September's Curriculum Night – seeing as we pretty much share a brain with regards to our attitudes and policies towards that rather controversial topic. (Just hearken back to the Seattle PI’s 2006 front page coverage of the debate among pundits on this hot topic!) Basically we are in agreement with educational researcher and analyst, Dr. Alfie Kohn, as well as others who question the efficacy of "homework for homework's sake." (See http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/hm.htm if you're not familiar with Dr. Kohn's work and/or you're interested in learning more. I do own a coveted copy of his latest book, "The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing" which I'd be willing to share with those who want more after investigating the website!) According to Kohn's (et al) survey of the research, studies show that prior to high school, homework has, at best, a neutral effect, while other studies indicate that it has a detrimental effect on learning as well as students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. There are no studies showing any positive effects of regular homework prior to high school.

As we see it, whether or not a given student will get anything meaningful out of homework depends on three factors:
1. the cognitive/emotional maturity of the student as she seeks to investigate information through homework (usually through an independent learning experience)
2. the meaningfulness/ appropriateness of the type of work assigned as homework (...this is individual as well.) Can the student accomplish the assigned tasks without adult/parental intervention AND does it seem intrinsically meaningful to the student and thus worthy of her after-school energy?
3. the quantity of assigned homework such that it does not detract from other significant areas of life...like family relationships, sleep, exercise, and very important "down time."

Interestingly enough, (and at the risk of promoting my own agenda!) three types of homework manage to make it through the research gauntlet: independent, student-selected reading (as in the independent reading program that we run in 8th grade through our Reading Workshop), projects that require students to directly and meaningfully interact with family members (as in the interviews some 8th graders have chosen to conduct with family members for various projects), and the occasional continuation of a process/project begun in class (such as the continuation of peer editing, or the practice or completion of math/science problems that have been thoroughly explained in class, for example...)

Thus, you should not have seen an impressive amount of "homework for homework's sake" coming home with your 8th grader this year (other than the type of considerations mentioned above.) We believe that in our shared eight hours each day, we should be able to accomplish the academic tasks and intellectual explorations we've assigned ourselves. We echo the Roman physician, Galen's dictum: "Primum non nocere" - "First, do no harm!" with regards to homework, and value not only family time but also family relations (which copious amounts of demanding homework tend to undermine.)

As always, do feel free to communicate with any or all of us about this or any other issue, concern or appreciation.

(Note: At the risk of contradicting myself with regards to homework, I do expect that each SGS 8th grader is actively maintaining her Word-of-the-Day journal with an entry for each day that school is in session…AND the thirty minutes of reading per day expectation remains firmly in place!)