The End of Homework:
How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning
A Forum — November 20, 2000
At today’s forum, Dr. Etta Kralovec, author of The End of Homework (with John Buell), discussed her findings on the damage homework can inflict on families, the effect of homework on exacerbating income disparities and homework’s limited pedagogical value. Dr. Kralovec challenged the audience to reflect on why we as a nation almost universally accept and support the use of homework. "Why do we have homework?," she asked and then answered, "we often don’t know, but the school board says the parents want it and the parents say the school requires it."
Dr. Kralovec then provided some historical perspective by pointing out that in 1901 the California civil code forbade homework and in the 1920s five to six hours of fresh air and sunshine were considered preferable to homework. Then concerns over the Soviet launching of Sputnik led to more and greater acceptance of homework. A similar global competition drive in the 1980s, and continuing today, also led to increased standards accompanied by even more homework.
In part of her research, Dr. Kralovec conducted ethnographic interviews with over 50 young people and found that several factors influence the ability of students to complete homework, and by doing so to do well in school. These factors include the availability of transportation, youth and family health, income levels, and "levels of chaos" in the home.
According to Dr. Kralovec, homework actually pushes young people out of school. If a student cannot complete their homework, they may fail one or multiple classes leading to a desire to drop out of school. Homework can also have a negative and disruptive effect on children, families and communities. Rather than spending time building the child/family relationship, parents and children argue over homework. Time is also taken away from many important elements of life including: other family activities, meal time, leisure time, music lessons, or sports. This time is particularly precious in families with two working parents whose time with their children is limited. In response to a question, Dr. Kralovec was particularly disturbed with the use of "summer homework" as it robs young people of carefree summers with their families, or opportunities to work.
Homework also punishes poor children who may not have access to computers and the internet -- used to present polished, information-filled homework assignments. In addition, poor children may have more hectic family lives or have responsibilities for siblings or their own children that distract them from homework assignments. It would be unfair, however, to only assign homework to the young people with the resources to complete it. Greater family harmony and equity would be achieved by eliminating homework altogether.
Dr. Kralovec also questioned the pedagogical usefulness of homework, suggesting that teachers do not always have a reasoned plan for why they assigned homework and how it relates to learning. It is also hard to tell who did the homework -- did children have help from their parents or copy off their classmates? Good teachers help children to learn through observing their mistakes and addressing particular problem areas. Without knowing whose homework it is, it is hard to have children learn from mistakes. There is also so much homework that teachers do not have time to grade it all effectively. Dr. Kralovec asks, "While the importance of teacher training has been emphasized in policy circles, why is America willing to put so much learning in the hands of parents untrained in pedagogy?"
Dr. Kralovec then elaborated on and refuted what she called "three homework MYTHS":
- Well-motivated students do more homework. Some people also feel that doing homework can increase self-discipline and time management skills in students. However, this is not proven by research. In response to a question, Dr. Kralovec said that doing homework during high school has no bearing on successful study skills in college, because in college students have only a few hours of class a week and lots of daytime hours in which to study. She says the college schedule is nowhere near as grueling as a high school schedule.
- All students are not developmentally ready for homework. Dr. Kralovec feels that young people do not study well after a long day at school or after evening sports activities. The best place in which to study is at school during class time. That is when the topic is fresh in one’s mind and when one’s mind is fresh enough to grasp and comprehend the topic. In addition, teachers in some disciplines – like physics and foreign languages – have slowed down the use of homework because students actually study it wrong and have to spend class time correcting their mistakes. Classroom study time is also study time uninterrupted by TV watching, the telephone and loud siblings.
- Students in other countries do more homework. Internationally, other country’s 8th graders do less homework than U.S. children and schools spent more money on professional development. In other countries, teachers work together more, have longer school days and school year. Classrooms are a sacred space for study and there are no interruptions. Once young people get home, their parents can involve them in whatever they like. An audience member reminded the group that in some cases the parents may insist on academic study after-school, but it will be of the parents’ own choosing.
In answer to some of the audience questions, Dr. Kralovec suggested that some of the equity issues around homework could be eased through structured, well-resourced after-school programs. A few audience members suggested that the issue is not so much doing homework but where homework is done and with what resources that is the sticking point. She also reminded the audience to listen to the voices of children regarding their impressions of homework. In an experimental no-homework classroom model, students no longer hid from being called on because they had not done their homework. Everyone read and processed the same material and this put them all on equal footing in classroom discussions. In the end, there was little agreement about how to resolve the issues with homework.
This brief is from an American Youth Policy Forum held on November 20, 2000 on Capitol Hill as reported by Donna Walker James.
The American Youth Policy Forum is a non-profit, nonpartisan professional development organization for professionals working on youth policy issues at the national, state and local levels. AYPF attempts to present various perspectives on issues that bridge youth policy, practice and research. The opinions of our forum speakers are not necessarily those of AYPF.
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