Homework Blues? - No Worries

Recently I had an opportunity to listen to the Ditch that Homework presentation by Alice Keeler on the Ditch that Textbook Digital Summit. Keeler said, “It’s a little like you ask people to stop breathing when you talk about homework because it’s so embedded in what we do.” I wholeheartedly agree. The topic of homework is one that I have very strong feelings about. Everyone I know seems to have an opinion on the subject too.

It teaches responsibility or does it? One of the strongest arguments I’ve heard for assigning homework is that it teaches responsibility. Keeler said, “There’s no research that shows that homework teaches responsibility. Ultimately, what we’re teaching is kids. We’re not teaching responsibility. Ultimately, at the end of the day, I’m an algebra teacher and I’m supposed to be teaching algebra.” I do think that homework measures the skill of responsibility. But if we are not teaching that skill why are we measuring it?

Where’s your homework? Did you do your homework? Keeler believes that educators are spending a lot of time talking about incomplete homework. She said, “We don’t have conversations about, “How can we help kids better understand? What can we do to make kids more comfortable?’ Instead, we dismiss those conversations by saying, “Well, they’re not doing their homework.” Frankly, I think we write off a student who is struggling with statements like, “He’s just lazy that’s why he doesn’t do his homework,” and “She just doesn’t see school as a priority and neither does her family.” We pass judgment on the behavior of “missing homework” instead of digging in to why the student didn’t complete the assignment.

Students, get out your homework so we can check it. Keeler talks about how much class time is wasted focusing on collecting and discussing homework. She says, “If I don’t talk about homework, if I don’t go over homework, if I don’t collect homework, if I don’t do anything with homework, that’s a lot of classroom time that I just captured back to do the independent practice, because independent practice is important.” Giving students time to practice in class gives you the opportunity to see who understands and who needs more support. Giving students time to practice in class and in groups gives peers the opportunity to support and teach each other.

What does research say about homework? Keeler says, “Homework research is tricky. A lot is correlational. Correlation does not mean causation. Example: The kids that did their homework did better on the test. Does that mean that homework was the cause? When I stopped giving homework, the same kids did better on the test. There are a lot of qualities and reasons that go into that. I’m very skeptical of causal research. Even with cause and effect research, the effect of difference (the percent) is very low -- about 2 percent.” WOW! Two percent? Not much bang for your buck there!

Solutions? During the Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit both Matt Miller and Alice Keeler talked about a number of practical solutions and strategies to reduce or eliminate homework. Miller and Keeler recommend using peer feedback, online formative assessment tools, and asking a question digitally through Google Classroom.

Now What? Keeler, Miller, and others have opened a door to discussions about homework’s value and place in education today. I am eager to be a part of these discussions. We need to talk about homework.