It is also a question that has become divisive. Some people feel that homework is an effective way to reinforce the concepts that were learned at school. Others feel like the time that homework demands would be better spent with a meaningful activity that brings the family together. Is homework important? Is it necessary?
Is Homework Good for Kids? Here's What the Research Says
Does Homework Work? - The Atlantic
While there is extensive research on the pros and cons of homework, such as whether it improves student achievement or erodes family time, new voices need to be brought into the debate about how time is spent by students when they are not engaged in study after the school day ends. Some educators suggests that less time spent in frustration over extended classwork may actually encourage potential drop-outs to stay in school. Kohn insists that "data don't show that homework is responsible for higher achievement," concluding that the negative aspects of homework, such as frustration, family conflict, time lost for other activities and maybe a loss of children's interest in learning, are all valid reasons to be critical about whether the institution of homework should be abandoned altogether. He reported that every student interviewed cited homework demands as a major reason in the choice to leave school.
Down With Homework!
Author: Bethany Spencer. Homework as a concept has been around for hundreds of years, and today is considered the norm for modern schools. At secondary level, schools set regular homework via a whole-school homework policy.
America has long had a fickle relationship with homework. A century or so ago, progressive reformers argued that it made kids unduly stressed , which later led in some cases to district-level bans on it for all grades under seventh. This anti-homework sentiment faded, though, amid mid-century fears that the U. The 21st century has so far been a homework-heavy era, with American teenagers now averaging about twice as much time spent on homework each day as their predecessors did in the s.