“…but first, I give them a quiz,” the 2nd grade teacher was telling me.
“A quiz?” I was surprised, “Why?”
“Well, how will I know they read their homework?” she responded.
“But…they are only in 2nd grade…so……” I trailed off; she blinked expectantly.I didn’t finish my sentence.
“So… this is how the madness starts,” is what I wanted to say.
Quid Pro Quo Assignments
Homework has always been a bit of an educational “quid pro quo“ (Latin). The “give something, get something” in schools where a quantitative grade marks the successful exchange of educational services, the teacher, to the student in a paper-or digital-transfer.
Quid pro quo homework follows a cycle: the homework worksheet is distributed; the homework worksheet is completed; the homework grade is entered OR the homework is assigned, and the student is quizzed to check compliance.Non-compliance can sometimes bring a punitive action.
This cycle does not facilitate trust between teacher and student.
The quid pro quo cycle of homework has been customary practice in the upper grades, but recent studies are raising concerns about the increasing amounts of homework in the elementary grades.
Increase in Homework for Elementary
The focus on back-to-school issues in the media such as the 8/12/15 issue of TIME magazine is bringing attention on the tripling of homework at the elementary level. The amount of homework raises concerns in policy and research:
From the National Education Association Research Spotlight on Homework
“In the last 20 years, homework has increased only in the lower grade levels, and this increase is associated with neutral (and sometimes negative) effects on student achievement.”
From Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003(Cooper, Robinson, Pattall REVIEW OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH )
“No strong evidence was found for an association between the homework–achievement link and the outcome measure (grades as opposed to standardized tests) or the subject matter (reading as opposed to math).”
From The American Journal of Family Therapy Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background
Family stress, measured by self-report, increased as homework load increased and as parent’s perception of their capacity to assist decreased.
One conclusion is that the increase in homework at the elementary level is not only academically ineffective, but also stressful, particularly for families with limited educational resources.
Long Term Consequences of Too Much Homework
A consequence of assigning homework as high stakes, rigorous, or graded practice in the lower grades sets up a disturbing paradigm that becomes ingrained in the upper grades. Homework becomes less about good practice in a discipline and more about student responsibility. In the upper grades, where homework does show academic value, the homework grade is often an average of the two.
Another consequence is how quickly younger students can be trained into a exhausting pattern of expecting a grade for each assignment. Once that pattern is set, students may require a grade for anything they turn in. They may not be able to discriminate between a grade for a long-term assignment or for busy work, and in the course of 13 years of education there will be a great deal of homework that is simply busy work.
Once that habit of quid pro quo homework has been established in the younger grades, it can become an addictive monster at every other grade level. For example, the 2nd grade student who will be met with a quiz for reading homework will be conditioned to associate reading with quizzing.
Constant quizzing could mean the student may never understand how to read for pleasure or grow to love reading. Ironically, reading for pleasure has been proven to be the one academic skill that will make that student successful way beyond that second grade classroom.
Of course, homework should receive feedback, an equally critical part of the educational process, but one that serves a different purpose than grading. Feedback on homework could be a positive experience for a student. It can be unexpected, encouraging, comforting, instructional, corrective, supportive-as opposed to a graded assignment….especially for a student in an elementary grade.
If the homework given in a 2nd grade class is to read, a quiz should not be the method to check to see if students did the reading; a sidebar conference or quick discussion about what was read might be a better assessment.
Not everything needs a grade.
When selecting homework assessments, teachers should consider the question “Is this homework simply busy work?” as well as other questions:
- Is a quiz necessary to see that a student has read a homework assignment?
- Is correcting this homework the best use of time?
- What does this homework assignment accurately measure ?
- How many times have I had students do this same homework assignment?
Homework is Practice
Teachers can measure a student’s performance through other forms of assessment. While a teacher, at any grade level, has little control over the conditions and support for homework once a student leaves the building, there are multiple opportunities for the teacher to monitor student progress while students are in the classroom.
Furthermore, homework’s design is to provide students the opportunity to practice, which raises the question: should student practice homework be assessed at all?
This school year, it’s time to halt the increase in elementary homework and the potential madness of its quid pro quo value.
Instead, educators should heed the research that shows students in elementary grades need less homework, and when they do have homework, the emphasis should be on practice.
Students -all students-need the practice more than they need the grade.
