My Homework Policy.Practice

Problem: Homework is sent home with the expectation that there is someone at home who can help the students decipher it, resulting in further inequities for students whose parents are less able to help.

Kohn argued that policies encouraging increases in homework have been shown to not raise test scores for students and increased the likelihood of disadvantaged students furthering their disadvantage because of an assumed home helper, time. He did not, however, argue how homework should be used. Beegle added to the argument about homework's potential for negative impacts. She said it should not be used as assessment because students in poverty do not have as much opportunity to do homework in a supported environment.

Homework, however, can be assigned and used in more positive ways. Delpit indicated that it should always be assigned with a clear purpose in mind. Alaskan Native families she interviewed were not encouraging their kids to do the homework they were assigned because there was no clear reason for it. Homework is an opportunity to extend newly gained knowledge, whether by acting on it in some way, or reinforcing it in some way. This ensures that students are prepared to be able to do the work without assuming some parental support. It also gets at what Freire calls praxis (the combination of theory, reflection, and action), as students are either reflecting on the learning or acting on it. Homework may also be in preparation for a learning experience to come, such as a short reading, an initial response to a question, or an interview of someone outside of school. The homework should never be the only opportunity to learn something, it should never take a lot of time to complete (unless a long-term project), and should never be graded if not given time to revise and work on it in class.

Sources:
Beegle, combarriers.com
Delpit, Other People's Children
Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed
Kohn, Rethinking Schools (fall, '06)

My self-assessment Rubric: Is My Homework Policy Equitable and Purposeful?
Problematic

• I expect all students to have support at home for successful completion of homework
• I grade every homework assignment I give

Working on it

• Homework given only as an extension of what we’ve learned or as preparation for future learning
• I do not grade homework

Transformative

• Homework given as extension or preparation only
• Homework not graded
• Homework always given with a clear purpose