Earlier this week I spent a good chunk of time in a waiting room at Children\u2019s Hospital Boston.\u00a0 The patients ranged in age from infants to the early 20\u2019s. One thing was common for all the school\/college age children, everyone was doing homework and every parent, myself included, was trying to get their child to focus on schoolwork.<\/p>\n
I heard echoes of the following:<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease just get your homework done, I don\u2019t need another call\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are missing lots of school that is why they put you in the after school program\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you already know how to do this just do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
While some children were doing homework \u2013 parents were feeding them through feeding tubes.\u00a0 Other children were trying to untangle themselves from IV tubing so they can write in notebooks. The rest were just feeling lousy.\u00a0 These are chronically ill children.\u00a0 These families do not have \u201cfamily time\u201d or \u201chome time\u201d these family have \u201cmedical time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I just sat there dumbfounded.\u00a0 What are we doing?<\/p>\n
With all the pressure of accountability and the new evaluation system tied to student progress and in the future teacher pay, there is even more pressure being placed on teachers and therefore students and parentes to make progress. What we need to focus on are the things the actually effect learning and student progress.\u00a0 We assume more work, means more rigor and if students practice a lot things will be better.\u00a0 Is there evidence to supports this?\u00a0 What are we doing to our children?<\/p>\n
Are educators and schools passing on the pressure and stress we are under to our students and families?<\/p>\n
Food for Thought:<\/p>\n
Rethinking Homework<\/a>, Alfi Khon<\/p>\n Synthesis of Research on Homework<\/a>, Harris Cooper<\/p>\n