Recently the Superintendent of the Galloway Township School District in New Jersey, recommended to the school board that schools should only assign students ’homework Monday through Thursday. The superintendent also recommended that students receive no more than 10 minutes of homework multiplied by a student’s grade level per night
The rationale for this recommendation is to “ensure students are not assigned busywork and to give them time for family and extracurricular activities[i].” The recommendation to give less homework is puzzling at a time when national confidence in education is at an all time low. As documented in recent reports, last year 1.3 million students failed to earn their diploma[ii]. This report combined with the fact that US students have fallen behind their international peers in reading, math and science, Galloway Township School Districts might want to reconsider their stance on weekends without homework.
With US education wallowing in mediocrity, school districts, specifically small and suburban need to stop thinking their district is not contributing to the educational mediocrity. According to the documentary, “Waiting on Superman”, the top 5% of US students’ rank 23rd out of 29 developing countries. It is time these districts to understand they no longer have the luxury to believe the fate of poor performing districts will not impact them.
The recommendation by the Superintendent to not assign homework to students on weekends is not based sound research or best practices. The idea that no homework on weekends will give more time to spend with family is counter to current research. There is a plethora of evidence that shows that families are spending less time together. Research has shown that an alarming number of youth are spending a majority of their time watching tv and playing video games.
Lastly, the idea that a Superintendent would recommend not assigning students homework over the weekend to give them more time to be involved in extracurricular activities is appalling. With a mountain of evidence that show an increase in juvenile diabetes, obesity, and hyper tension because youth are not being physically active, not assigning homework on the weekends may not cause an increase in physical activity.
At a time when the US economy is projected to become second to China in the global economy within a few years, a school districts focus should be on how to ensure their students’ are prepared to compete academically with their global peers and focus more how to decrease the loss of instructional retention by students. Giving students no homework over the weekend is not the answer.
[ii] Wittenstein, Rebecca (2010). Progress on Graduation Stalls: 1.3 Million Students Fail to Earn Diplomas
(www.edweek.org)
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