Homework Stress
A University of Michigan study last year found homework increasing overall from 1981 to 1997, with the biggest increase falling on students aged 6 to 8, whose homework load tripled. Piscataway is one of many school districts to ban or severely limit homework across the country. The school board in this district of about 7,000 students limited it on weeknights, from 30 minutes in elementary school to two hours in high school, "discouraged" homework on weekends, and prohibited teachers from grading it or using it as punishment. The school board, which unanimously voted for the policy, said homework was putting too much pressure on students' already over scheduled lives, too often dragging parents into helping finish it, doing it and becoming a substitute for good teaching in the classroom. Some parents and teachers worry that fewer assignments will leave students less prepared for college. A few studies suggest that rigorous homework leads to better scores; but most researchers say there is no correlation. Experts say it is hard if not impossible to know how many school districts nationwide limit hom
Some teachers say they feel constrained by the limits, that the school board seems to be second-guessing their lesson planning. "A.P. parents expect kids to come home with homework," said Michael Modugno, who teaches senior English as well as the Advanced Placement class. "If they don't see books to read, plays to read, essays to write, I get calls asking what's wrong." The homework policy can be hard to monitor. Already, parents say assignments that teachers say will take a half-hour take two. And some high school students said teachers were finding ways around the policy, grading homework as part of class participation or saying homework assigned on a Friday is not "weekend homework." Several said they saw homework as a fact of life, policy or no. Parents complained that children were arriving home with four or five hours of homework, and that teachers were sending home assignments without teaching the concepts first, meaning parents had to brush up on their own skills or hire a tutor. Piscataway is notable for its economic and racial diversity. The district is about one-third black, one- third wh
Some common words found in the essay are:
Advanced Placement, University Michigan, Akron NY, Moon Bay, Nation Risk, Education Association, Health Association, Ronald Bolandi, York Chicago, Michael Modugno, school board, school districts, you're doing, homework increasing, limit homework, parents homework,
Approximate Word count = 750
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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