Limiting homework: 'Parents want their kids back'

Enough with all the homework.

Parents around the nation and in Utah are protesting how much homework their children are being asked to do, and school boards have begun to vote to limit homework, even cutting back how many minutes a night is required in certain grades.

A New York Times story late last week began with the parent of a second-grader from New Jersey whose son had an hour of math problems one night. She complained to the superintendent, who said the school board was already discussing a proposal to limit weekday homework to 10 minutes starting in first grade and then adding 10 minutes on for each additional grade (i.e. first-graders would have 10 minutes, second-graders, 20 minutes). The proposal, which will be voted on this summer, also does not allow homework on the weekend, holidays or school vacation days.

The paper noted that part of the reason for this is "concerns that high-stakes testing and competition for college have fueled a nightly grind that is stressing out children and depriving them of play and rest, yet doing little to raise achievement, particularly in elementary grades."

One administrator in California told the Times that the school is cutting back on homework because "parents want their kids back." Other principals were quoted as saying that for kids under 11, the homework is mainly to help parents feel connected. And researchers told the paper that "there is no proof that most homework as we know it improves school performance."

In Utah, some schools like Bountiful Elementary in Davis have put a limit on the amount of homework a certain grade level can have. For example, first-graders are supposed to spend approximately 30 minutes a night on homework, four nights a week — 20 minutes on reading and 10 minutes on math, according the school's Academics and Homework Policy.

Other districts like Alpine have not stated a limit on homework in their district policy, saying "homework varies according to individual teachers and the subject matter."

One school district in New York has only set a minimum of time students are to do homework each night, according to PelhamPatch. Students in K-2 are to have at least 20 minutes of homework, while sixth graders are expected to have at least 60 minutes.

The author also quotes a study that "suggest(s) reading for pleasure is a better predictor of test scores than quantity of homework" and that "reading for pleasure drops sharply after age eight. The number one reason: too much homework."