Homework:

Why, How, and When?

Why?

There are a number of research studies on homework and they reach different conclusions.

Harris Cooper, 2000

A typical homework-completing high school student will outperform students who do not do homework by 69% on standardized tests.

Debbie Reese, 1997

“Homework-completing junior high students outperform homework non-completers by 35%.  There seems to be no difference in scores in the elementary grades.”

Kohn, 2006

Kohn concluded that research fails to demonstrate homework's effectiveness as an instructional tool and recommended changing the “default state” from an expectation that homework will be assigned to an expectation that homework will not be assigned.

What they ALL agree on?

“According to Kohn, teachers should only assign homework when they can justify that the assignments are “beneficial” ideally involving students in activities appropriate for the home, such as performing an experiment in the kitchen, cooking, doing crossword puzzles with the family, watching educational TV shows, or reading.”

How?

Effective homework is standards-based, motivating, engaging, inquiry-based, addresses misconceptions, and provides timely feedback.

Examples of “good” homework

When?

If a high school or middle school teacher has 180 students and assigns one class and one homework assignment per day, that is 1,800 papers to grade per week! Elementary teachers have 1/5 the students but teach them more subjects and all day.

Tips:- Don’t grade every

problem on every homework assignment

- Don’t grade every homework assignment

- DO provide feedback on every assignment

When?

Tips:- If the assignment isn’t

important enough for feedback, don’t assign it!

- Assign long-term projects- Assign labs and collect

notebooks periodically- USE RUBRICS!

When?

Tips:−Use the computer to

record grades−Student work is intended

to monitor learning, not to assign grades. Use whiteboards and “clickers” for immediate feedback

When?

Tips:• Give options (i.e.- You

have one week to prove to me that you understand acids and bases any way you wish.)

• Give options (poster, essay, interview, podcast, PowerPoint, video)

When?

Tips:• Have students work in

groups in person or online and collect one paper per group.

When?

RubricsRubrics are valuable for several reasons:

1)They ensure that the teacher is clear on his/her expectations

2)They allow students to be clear on the teacher’s expectations

3)They allow for consistency when grading

4)They SAVE TIME!

5)They provide for more effective feedback for students

Rubrics

-Websiteshttp://www.rubrician.com/science.htmhttp://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/sciences/

-BooksRubrics for Assessing Student Achievement in Science Grades K-12, Lantz Hays

Teacher materials provided with your textbooks