Principal with a clue
The preponderance of research clearly shows that homework for elementary students does not make a difference in student achievement. It is hard to believe that a strategy used so extensively has no foundation. Even the most ardent supporters of homework have only been able to produce evidence of associative rather than causal relationships. In addition, it is not surprising that there is no research that demonstrates that homework increases a child’s level of understanding, improves their attitude towards school or inspires a love of learning. For a large number of students we know the opposite is true– large amounts of homework stifle motivation, diminish a child’s love of learning, turn reading into a chore, negatively affect the quality of family time, diminish creativity, and turn learning to drudgery.
David Ackerman, principal of Oak Knoll Elementary School in Menlo Park, CA
The new homework policy in his school essentially boils down to this.
- Kids will be encouraged to read, but not necessarily assigned anything specific to read.
- Homework, other than reading, will be assigned when a specific need arises or when it’s necessary to practice a skill or complete important work.
Wow. Really, somebody give this guy an award. However, since he is so totally going against the standard practice, he’ll probably be lucky to keep his job.
Hat tip: Judy Aron – cross posted from ODonnellWeb as I help keep the lights on here while Daryl is drinking working in Germany.
One Response to “Principal with a clue”
 Comment by Karen E February 28th, 2007 at 9:19 am |
I agree. My kids’ third-grade teacher gave minimal homework because he said he felt they should be doing the work during the school day and after school was for family. He was an excellent teacher; if we were lucky enough to have a teacher like him every year I probably would have left them in public school. The problem is schools load every day with so much unnecessary nonsense it’s hard to get the basics done without homework. |