Making Homework

an Effective Strategy

Objective for Today

• To begin looking at how homework can be effectively used to enhance student learning using strategies supported by research and shared by several national presenters.

• To begin a change process of how homework is used in your classroom to help students learn (and enjoy learning).

Looking Ahead• Priming the brain.• Fact or Fiction--What does research say about

homework. (Center for Public Education Research Summary)

• What do the experts say? • Running the tournament, how to make

homework more effective.

Google Homework

• “homework” has 52 million hits, 5 times as many for “sex education”, 15 times as many for creationism, 50 times as many for “standardize testing”

• “homework is bad” has 288,000 hits while “homework is good” has 373,000 hits

Essential Question for the Day

What homework practices lead to increased student

achievement?

“Is homework the hill you want to die

on with your students?”Bea McGarvey

HomeworkGrading

Keep An Open Mind

Resources

• Likes are provided on the EIS wiki

• Everything is on my web page

• http://lenny-homework.wikispaces.com/

Priming the

Brain

Rate yourself on the following questions using a 0 for not at all

to 4, most of the time.• I have a clearly articulated homework

policy that describes my expectations for students and parents.

• I clearly communicate my homework policy to students.

• I clearly communicate my homework policy to parents.

Rate Yourself from 0 to 4

• I clearly communicate the knowledge students will be learning.

• I have a specific purpose for the homework assignment.

• My students are aware of the purpose for the homework assignment.

• I comment or provide feedback on the homework assignment.

Fact

or

Fiction

Homework

• The envelope contains 10 statements from research related to homework.

• Decide by group consensus if the statement is fact or fiction and place in appropriate list.

• FROM Key Lessons: What Research says about the value of Homework

• The Center for Public Education

1. FICTION The link between homework and student achievement is far from clear. There is no conclusive evidence that homework increases student achievement across the board. Some studies show positive effects of homework under certain conditions and for certain students, some show no effects, and some suggest negative effects

2. FACT Older students benefit more from homework than younger students. Some studies have shown that older students gain more academic benefits from homework than do younger students, perhaps because younger students have less-effective study habits and are more easily distracted

3. FICTION Students from low-income homes may not benefit as much from homework as those from higher-income homes. Some researchers believe that students from higher-income homes have more resources (such as computers) and receive more assistance with homework, while low-income students may have fewer resources and less assistance and are therefore less likely to complete the homework and reap any related benefits

4. FACT Students with learning disabilities benefit from homework under certain conditions. Students with learning disabilities can benefit from homework if appropriate supervision and monitoring are provided

5. FACT Homework may have nonacademic benefits. Certain nonacademic benefits of homework have been shown, especially for younger students. Indeed, some primary-level teachers may assign homework for such benefits, which include learning the importance of responsibility, managing time, developing study habits, and staying with a task until it is completed

6. FACT Too much homework may diminish its effectiveness. While research on the optimum amount of time students should spend on homework is limited, there are indications that for high school students, 1½ to 2½ hours per night is optimum. Middle school students appear to benefit from smaller amounts (less than 1 hour per night). When students spend more time than this on homework, the positive relationship with student achievement diminishes

7. FACT The amount of homework completed by students seems to be more positively associated with student achievement than the amount of homework assigned by teachers. Some research has shown that students who spend more time on homework score higher on measures of achievement and attitude. Studies that have delved more deeply into this topic suggest, however, that the amount of homework assigned by teachers is unrelated to student achievement, while the amount of homework actually completed by students is associated with higher achievement

8. TRUE After-school programs that provide homework assistance may improve student behavior, motivation, and work habits but not necessarily academic achievement. Studies of after-school programs that provide homework assistance have found few definite links to improved student achievement. Several studies, however, noted improvements in student motivation and work habits, which may indirectly affect achievement

9. FALSE The effect of parent involvement in homework is unclear. Studies of parent involvement in homework have produced mixed results. Homework assignments that require interaction between students and parents result in higher levels of parent involvement and are more likely to be turned in than noninteractive assignments. Some studies have shown, however, that parent involvement in homework has no impact on student achievement. Other studies indicate that students whose parents are more involved in their homework have lower test scores and class grades—but this may be because the students were already lower performing and needed more help from their parents than did higher-performing students.

10.FALSE There is little research on connections between specific kinds of homework and student achievement. Most teachers assign homework to reinforce what was presented in class or to prepare students for new material. Less commonly, homework is assigned to extend student learning to different contexts or to integrate learning by applying multiple skills around a project. Little research exists on the effects of these different kinds of homework on student achievement, leaving policymakers with little evidence on which to base decisions

IN CONCLUSION

• The central lesson of this body of research is that homework is not a strategy that works for all children. Because of its possible negative effects of decreasing students' motivation and interest, thereby indirectly impairing performance, homework should be assigned judiciously and moderately. Heavy homework loads should not be used as a main strategy for improving home-school relations or student achievement.

More Questions Than Answers

Today we will create more questions than answers.

HomeworkResources

on handout as well as my web pagehttp://lenny-homework.wikispaces.com/

• The Homework Lady

• Cathy Vatterott

• Rethinking Homework

• http://www.homeworklady.com/

The Battle Over Homework—

Common Ground for Administrator,

Teachers and Parents

by Dr. Harris Cooper

New Vocabulary

•Meta-analysis•Effect size

•Standard deviation

Sara Bennetthttp://stophomework.com/

• Sir Ken Robinson• The Case Against homework: How Homework is Hurting

Our Children and What We Can do About It.• “The Homework Myth; Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a

Bad Thing” by Alfie Kohn• Be willing to question conventional wisdom.

• Homework in and by itself is not beneficial.

• Classroom Assessment and Grading that Works

• By Robert Marzano

• Homework and grading will overlap to a great extent.

• How to Grade for Learning by Ken O’Connor

• Lee Jenkins from L to J

Doug Reeves

• Changing the Grading System

• 4 minute video on making grading fair and equitable.

• http://www.leadandlearn.com/multimedia-resource-center/video-library?video-topic=359

When the going gets tough the

tough get going.

• Some just give up and quit.• Because of a student’s dread of homework

it can lead to a lack of interest in learning.

Running the

Homework Tournament

Run the Tournament:

• Use a “tournament bracket” to decide which idea will make homework more effective in helping students learn.

1. Each group will receive a set.2. Line up the characteristics (randomly).3. For each pair, decide which should advance.4. Once a winner is decided, choose one

consolation characteristic from any of the other seven.

Homework is just one strategy. If this strategy is working for

your kids, keep doing it. If it is not working for some kids, stop

doing it.

Consider this New Homework Policy

No Homework Will Be Given

Unless

There is good reason to believe that a

given assignment is likely to benefit most

students.

Feedbackand

Homework

Providing Feedback

• Homework assigned but not commented on has an effect size of .28

• Homework is assigned and graded has an effect size of .78

• Homework is assigned and teacher provides written comments has an effect size of .83

Does this mean?

• Is it important to provide students feedback about their homework?

• Is it important that every problem on homework must be graded by the teacher?

• Is it important that homework is a significant part of a students letter grade?

Fox Trot by Bill Amend

Providing Feedback

• How do you handle feedback on homework?

• A quick check √+, √, or √- maybe a 1-5

• Grade a sample of the homework over a whole unit

• Give a quiz that contains some of the questions on the homework.

Sampling Student

Performance

Are You A Referee

or Coach?

Special Education

and Homework

A look at my web page

Homework as Practice

• Practice makes perfect.• Perfect practice makes perfect• Practice makes permanent.• Once learned it takes more effort to relearn or

unlearn the connections.• Homework should be clear and the probability

of success high• Homework should be started in class.• Practice is a time to learn

Consider

• Do your students– Differ in their readiness and developmental level– Learn in different ways.– Have a wide range of environments at home– Work at the different speeds– Require different number of repetitions to learn.

• Then should your homework be one size fits all?

One Size Does Not Fit All• There is no perfect assignment.• Differentiate or individualize

assignments to match different interests and capabilities.

• Allow students more input into how much or which assignments they spend their time working.

• Let students have some choice or initiative in how they want to extend the school day.

In Conclusion• Create a homework policy• Think quality and quantity.

– In the elementary especially error on the side of too little

• Homework must be started during class.• Think meaningful and relevant• Get parents on your side• Don’t assign more homework as

punishment or no homework as a reward.• Homework is formative, grade accordingly

Teachers should not abandon homework. Instead, they

should improve it instructional quality.

Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering

Educational Leadership March 2007 p 74-79

We are what we think. We can bring sunshine or clouds into a

room. We can encourage success or predict failure. We

can determine our own attitude or let others determine

it for us. We can build our attitude or simply absorb the

attitudes of others. Dr. Anthony F Bisciglia, Editor of “The Effective School Report”