I read Amanda Cockshutt’s letter to our local newspaper last week, and now Sara Bennett at Stop Homework has posted it in its entirety. The pressure that Amanda, and others, have put on school authorities has had some effect on one school:
In the winter, Amanda persuaded the principal of her children’s elementary school to have two separate one-week trial periods without homework. When it was over, the school did not abolish homework, but it did institute some homework policy changes, including no homework the nights of major events and two weeks per year where there would be no homework other than reading.
We’re still seeing too much homework, for all the wrong reasons, at the higher grades though. Once again, I have to reiterate that homework is not an effective method to promote learning, or even get better test performance, and it robs students of their personal time.
