Brandy Young, a teacher at Godley Elementary School in Texas, is trying something different this year. She will not be giving her second graders homework this year. Young says that homework does not improve performance in the classroom, and that time outside the classroom can be better spent with family.
Samantha Gallagher, a mom of one of Young’s students, posted the note sent home on her Facebook. Instead of hours of nightly homework, Young would like her students to spend their time outside of school with their families: eating dinner together, reading, and playing. Encouraging these activities will spark learning that couldn’t happen through a homework assignment. Young says these things are “proven to correlate with student success.”
Both the National PTA and National Education Association agree that students should spend ten minutes on homework per grade level, for all their classes. According to this model, Young’s second grade students would be assigned about twenty minutes of homework each night.
The Center for Public Education provides an analysis on the research surrounding this homework debate, in wake of the huge support Young has received online. Recent backlash against homework has stemmed from the amount of homework kids of all ages are receiving. Work should depend on the age of the child, among other things. The type of assignment, amount of work, and time spent on work has been a hotly debated topic since the 1800s.
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