Procedure No. 2423P

 

Homework

To the extent that the board of directors believes that homework can be of value to the educational experience, the board further adheres to the following tenets as described in Rethinking Homework by Cathy Vatterott.

1. Quality instruction is paramount.
2. Skills require practice.
3. Time on task makes a difference.
4. The task is as important as the time.
5. Learning varies among learners.
6. Children differ in readiness and developmental level.
7. Children have different learning styles.
8. Children differ in motivation, persistence and organizational skills.
9. Frustration is detrimental to the motivation for learning.
10. Homework not completed does not help learning.

When planning and assigning homework the teacher will consider the following:

1. Design quality homework tasks, not quantity.
2. Differentiate homework tasks based on items 5-8 above.
3. Use homework for monitoring student progress not grading.
4. Identify parent homework resources.

Homework should only be assigned to enhance one of the following purposes:

Pre-learning: the homework assignment is an introduction to a new concept, topic, lesson or unit.

1. Comprehension Check: the homework assignment is a small number of sample problems that the teacher will review to ensure the student understands the learning target.
2. Practice: when assigning homework as practice, quality is more important than quantity and it is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that it is practice not new learning.
3. Enrichment: the goal of enrichment is for the learner to reflect on his/her experiences or concepts that have previously been taught.

All homework assigned must be relevant, at the appropriate level of difficulty and promote a positive attitude towards learning.

 

Adopted: February 22, 2010