Designing Effective Homework

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Designing Effective Homework
Presenter Debra Pickering
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The Homework Ate My FamilyKIDS ARE
DAZED,PARENTS ARE STRESSEDBY ROMESH RATNESAR
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The Case For and Against Homework
Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
Topics for Recommendations
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• On a day to day basis, how much time should
  students spend on homework?
• What is the role of parents when their children
  are working on homework? What should parents do
  if their children cannot complete the homework on
  their own?
• What do you consider to be the major purpose(s)
  of homework?
• What makes homework effective? What makes
  homework ineffective?
• How did homework impact you as a learner?

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The Case For and Against Homework
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
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stophomework.com
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
"Missing Out on Their Childhoods"
"The Creation of the Homework Potato"
"So Much Work, So Little Time"
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Headlines
Teachers mull ending
homework for pupils
After years of teachers piling it on, there's a
new movement to ... Abolish homework (San
Francisco Chronicle, October 8, 2006)
Other countries do better with less homework
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
In The Case Against Homework (2006), there is
page after page of heart-wrenching testimonials,
such as
I had to quit ballet and I dont get enough
sleep and I dont have time to read, says
Caroline, a fifth grader in a Memphis public
school who does seventy to eighty minutes of
homework each night.
My first grader would love to participate in our
familys Game Night with her grandparents, but
often cant because of homework
NO TIME TO SOCIALIZE Children fourteen and under
spend an average of only twenty-five minutes each
weekday socializing with family and friends
outside of school, according to a 2004 study
conducted at the University of Michigans
Institute for Social Research.
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
THE STUDY Changing Time for American Youth,
1981-2003 (Juster, Ono, and Stafford, November,
2004).
Studying 49 minutes
Playing 45 minutes
Computer activities 25 minutes
Watching TV 111 minutes
Skyrocketing Today Show
6-8 year olds went from 8 minutes a day spent
studying to 29 minutes a day in 2003. That
same group spent an average of 103 minutes a day
watching TV and engaging in other passive
activities and, another 74 minutes per day
playing.
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
From Kohn Most attentive parents can testify
that their children are chronically frustrated by
homeworkweepy, stressed out, and fed up
But only an individual squirreled away in the
proverbial ivory tower could denyand only
someone bereft of human feelings could minimize
the importance ofthe fact that an awful lot of
homework is emotionally trying for an awful lot
of children. (emphasis added)

There is no mention of the data Kohn knows well
that in a national poll of parents,
Percent Beliefs about homework 64 About
right 25 Too little 10 Too much (as
reported in Loveless, 2003)
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Misrepresentations and Valid Concerns
Are there valid concerns?

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Topics

• Purpose
• Feedback
• Time
• Parent Involvement
• Accountability

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Time
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Homework Assignments
Issue Time
Learning Goal Increase competency when
multiplying 3 digits time 3 digits.
Assignment Do all of the even numbered problems
on page 100-101. Bring your work to class with
you tomorrow morning.
Practice this skill tonight by using the problems
on page 100-101. Do as many as you can accurately
in 15 minutes tonight. Bring with you those you
were able to do in the 15 minutes.
What are the pros and cons of each approach?
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Harris Cooper 10 minutes x grade level??????
From The Case for and Against Homework, Marzano
and Pickering, Educational
Leadership within their analysis of homework
versus no homework studies Cooper, Robinson, and
Patall found studies at grades 2, 3, and 4
demonstrating positive effects for homework
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Harris Cooper 10 minutes x grade level??????
From The Case for and Against Homework, Marzano
and Pickering, Educational
Leadership The Cooper (1989a) synthesis reported
that for secondary students the benefit of
homework continued up to 1 to 2 hours per night.
After that the benefits decreased. Similar
findings were reported in the Cooper, Robinson,
and Patall (2006) study. Specifically, the
authors reported that 7 to 12 hours (per week)
produced the largest effect size. After that the
benefits decreased. They suggest that for 12th
graders the optimum amount of homework might lie
between 1.5 and 2.5 hours per night but caution
that no hard and fast rules are warranted.
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Issues and Recommendations

• Time

• Key points
• Time constraints should be identified when
  assigning homework.
• If students cannot complete the assigned work
  within the time constraints, they should have the
  opportunity to complete the work in class.

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Necessarysometimes difficult---conversations
When homework is assigned, to what extent am
I/are we confident that students are spending an
appropriate amount of time? How could we monitor
this?
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Purpose
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Homework Policies
Issue Purpose
You can expect homework each evening, Monday
through Thursday. It is your responsibility to
complete the assignments to be prepared for class
the next day.
There often is just not enough time in class for
each of you to study and practice what you are
learning. When it seems that there is a clear
need for further individual work beyond what we
do in class, you will have homework. For some
learning goals, frequent homework might be
assigned for others, there might be no need for
homework. When there is homework, it is your
responsibility to complete the work and be
prepared for class the next day.
Pros and Cons?
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Issues and Recommendations

• Purpose

• Avoid assigning homework simply as a matter of
  routine.
• Students need to understand the purpose of the
  homework.
• The purpose of homework should be to enhance the
  learning of essential learning goals.
• Homework assignments should be appropriate for
  the learning goals that are being addressed.

Expert teachersdo not report rigidly adhering
to regular homework schedules so much as flexible
use of what they view as a means for furthering
collectively defined curricular goals. they
see policies requiring rigid homework schedules
as undermining their ultimate curricular goals
(as reported in Homework is a Complicated
Thing, Lyn Corno)
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Issues and Recommendations

• Purpose

• Avoid assigning homework simply as a matter of
  routine.
• Students need to understand the purpose of the
  homework.
• The purpose of homework should be to enhance the
  learning of essential learning goals.
• Homework assignments should be appropriate for
  the learning goals that are being addressed.

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Clear Learning Goals?
Examples (adaptations) from The Case Against
Homework

• Read Chapter 5 and
• identify who said the following quotes
• find these vocabulary works, circle them, write
  a definition
• make a timeline of events

Read pages 62-66 in your textbook, and answer the
questions at the end.
Read chapters 6-10 in To Kill a Mockingbird.
On a 12 x 12 piece of plywood, nail one-hundred
nails (size shown in diagram) at precise
intervals at the same depth. Take six difference
colors of embroidery thread and weave it between
the nails in geometric pattern.
Circle all the words on this page that begin with
the letter A. Then write them out
Solve the fifty math problems on page 100.
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• United States map in 2056   
• Label the states (write them out)
• Write down the population of each of the 50
  states for the year 2056 (projection)
• 3. Write the title " United States Population
  Map in 2056".
• 4. Make a key of the following categories20,000,0
  00 or more15,000,000-19,999,99910,000,000-14,999
  ,9995,000,000-9,999,999Less than 5,000,000
• 5. Color the map
• Use black or blue pen to label

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Assignment Notebook
Assignment Due Learning Goal As a result of
doing this assignment, I should Know more
about? Understand better? Be
more skilled at?
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Issues and Recommendations

• Purpose

• Avoid assigning homework simply as a matter of
  routine.
• Students need to understand the purpose of the
  homework.
• The purpose of homework should be to enhance the
  learning of essential learning goals.
• Homework assignments should be appropriate for
  the learning goals that are being addressed.

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Necessarysometimes difficult---conversations
What is the learning goal? Given the learning
goal, is this assignment the right one? Is this
worth the time? Are there aspects of the
assignment that require knowledge/materials not
available to all students?
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Mission Project
The Alamoc
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Learning Goal Understand the concept of a mole
in chemistry--6.02 x 10 23 Avogadros number
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My students at xxxx High School are required to
create a Mole Day project. The projects are
graded based on creativity and originality. I
have seen many excellent ideas every year and
hear about many others through the letters which
I receive. Here are some project  ideas that I
have seen or used in the past.  The students
are told about the project at the beginning of
the school year.  They have about three weeks to
decide what they are going to do.  By the
middle of September that have to confirm in
writing to me what their project is going to be. 
They are allowed to work in groups of up to four
students if they want.  Project are due one week
before Mole Week starts (usually the week that we
have parent conferences) so that I have time to
grade them, take pictures,  and place them
strategically around the school building (glass
display cases, windows of the school store, on
walls in main hallways, etc.)    
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Learning Goal Understand the concept of a mole
in chemistry--6.02 x 10 23 Avogadros number
Assignment Make a mole from the pattern your are
given. Create an environment/costume for the mole
that plays on the word mole.
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Finding Nemole
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Moliver Twist
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Molesen Twins
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Mole-hammad Ali
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Mole-na Lisa
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Games of the XXVIII Moleympiad
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Mole-by Dick
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Cirque de Moleil
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Le Mole-vaix Chois
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Remember the AlaMole
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http//www.youtube.com/watch?v8vaaRPBXHgM
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MOLE DAY PROJECT RUBRIC STUFFED MOLE   Obituary
1. Typed single -spaced on a 6 x 4 index card
(10 pts) _________ 2. Card is completely
filled- (5 pts) _________ 3.   The
information is in obituary form (10
pts) _________ 4.  The obituary is original
with accurate data about the Scientist- it is
not plagiarized (10 pts) _________  Stuffed
Mole 1. The mole is at least five and a half
inches or larger (5pts) _________ 2. Costuming
and props are present (20 pts) _________ 3.  The
mole is original and creative. It is obvious
that a lot of time and thought was put into the
making of the mole.(25 pts) _________ 4. The
mole depicts the scientist accurately and the
scientist came from either the physics,
chemistry, engineering, or mathematical
disciplines or inventor (10 pts) _________   P
resentation of mole 1. The students name is
found on the mole. (5pts) _________     TOT
AL POINTS OUT OF 100 _____________   LETTER
GRADE ____________      
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Molympics -  An Olympic competition which may
consist of any Mole-related events such as  Pin
the Nose on the Mole, Javelin Throw, and the 6.02
Relay Mole-opoly - create your own special game
board Create a "Moletin Board" - post important
events relating to Mole Day Activities Host a
Mole Pun Contest Write a Mole Day song - be
original Make Mole Day "campaign signs" - like
you do for class president, student council, etc.
Notify your local media as to your Mole Day
festivities - invite the local papers to come and
take part in the activities of the day.  Also
contact local radio and television stations about
what you are doing. Encourage your local
community to be part of your school activity.
Exchange Mole Day greeting cards - Send Mole Day
greetings to chemistry students in a different
school, or even in a different state. Mole
costume party - Who can make the best mole
outfit? Decorate with Mole-biles - Hang them
form the ceiling of various classrooms.  Create
interest for future years. Scavenger Hunt -
Create a list of household items but use
chemistry terms for the items you want.  Such as
Something that contains NaHCO3 Write a Mole Day
poem, story, or cartoon  Make a Mole Day flag -
Run it up the school flag pole on Mole Day. 
(Make sure you have permission first!) Make a
mole pinata or a stuffed mole Make Mole Day
treats Moleasses cookies, Avogadro Dip, or
Taco-mole sauce  
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Chemistry Mole Project Choose one of the
following to determine and sign up for it on the
board. You and your partner should find the
needed information and calculate your answer
using the factor-label method showing all of our
work on a large sheet of paper. You will need to
present your work to the class too. 1.Do the
oceans contain one mole of water drops? 2.If you
were to stack a mole of pennies one on top of the
other, how many round trips to the sun could you
make? 3. If you had one mole of rice grains, how
many kilograms of rice would each person on earth
have to eat each second of their life? 4. If you
had a mole of MMs, how many times could you
cover the surface of the earth? 5. If you had a
mole of sheets of paper stacked on top of each
other, how many round trips to the moon could you
make?
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Chemistry Mole Project 6. If you placed a
mole of skittles side by side , how many trips
around the Earths equator could you make? 7. If
you covered the state of Indiana with a mole of
dimes, how high would the dimes stack up? 8. If
you had a mole of pennies, how many dollars would
each person on Earth have if you shared your
pennies with them? 9. If you had a mole of small
paperclips chained together, how many times could
you wrap the chain around the equator of
Jupiter? 10.If you had a mole of large paperclips
chained together, how many trips to Pluto would
it make? 11.If you had a mole of quarters, how
many moons would it take to equal the mass of the
mole of quarters? 12.How many people would it
take to make a mole of heartbeats in 75 years?
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Special Topic School Projects
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Issues and Recommendations

• Purpose

• Avoid assigning homework simply as a matter of
  routine.
• Students need to understand the purpose of the
  homework.
• The purpose of homework should be to enhance the
  learning of essential learning goals.
• Homework assignments should be appropriate for
  the learning goals that are being addressed.

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Examples Nonlinguistic Representations
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Examples Reflection with Two-column/Cornell Notes
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Example of reflection Two-column/Cornell Notes
Homework
Class Notes
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Class Notes
Homework
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Fun and Enjoyment are similar because they
both ________________. ________________. ______
__________. Fun and Enjoyment are different
because Fun is ___, but Enjoyment is
___________. Fun is____, but Enjoyment is
___________. Fun is ____, but Enjoyment is
___________.
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A win and a victory are similar because they
both ________________. ________________. ______
__________. A win and a victory are different
because Win is ___, but Victory is
__________. Win is ___,but Victory is
________. Win is ___,but Victory is ________.
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Fractions and Decimals are similar because they
both ________________. ________________.
________________. Fractions and Decimals are
different because Fractions __, but Decimals
__. Fractions __, but Decimals __.
Fractions __, but Decimals __.
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A monarchy and a dictatorship are similar
because they both ________________.
________________. ________________. A
monarchy and a dictatorship are different because
a monarchy___, but a dictatorship____. a
monarchy___, but a dictatorship____. a
monarchy___, but a dictatorship____.
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??
_____ in The Outsiders
is to
???????????
Relationship
as
_____ in Romeo and Juliet

is to
??
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Analyzing Perspectives the process of
identifying multiple perspectives on an issue and
examining the reasons or logic behind each.

• When you are examining an issue about which
  people disagree, identify one perspective.
• Next, explain the reasons or logic for that
  perspective.
• Identify a different perspective, and repeat step
  2.

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Constructing Support is the process of
developing a network of support for assertions.

• Determine if you are offering a fact or an
  opinion
• If you are offering an opinion, and if the
  opinion is important enough to support it,
  develop and communicate support.
• Consider appropriate use of facts, evidence,
  examples, and appeals.

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• Fact or Opinion
• I am the best, most qualified, candidate for the
  job.
• I have been serving in the legislature for six
  years.
• My opponent has not served in a public office
  before this.
• My opponent is too inexperienced to be ready to
  do the job on day one.
• President Bush was wrong to go to war in Iraq.
• My opponent voted for the war.
• The wealthy should pay higher taxes than they do
  now.
• 10 of the people pay 65 of the income taxes in
  this country.
• Global warming is being caused by human activity.

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Fallacies Arguing from ignorance My claim is
justified because you cant prove the
opposite. Arguing against the person You are
wrong because you are stupid and unethical.
Appealing to emotion Agree with me because of
this sob story. Appealing through force and
fear Agree with me or else you will be sorry.
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Practice
Question If I can show that I can do this, why
do I have to do 20 problems.
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2 4 X 4 5
2
0
2 4 X 4 5 0
2
16 10
2
2
8
8
2
10
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5 6 6 X 3 7 5
3
0
5 6 6 X 3 7 5 0
3
42 35
8
3
755 X 348
0
5 6 6 X 3 7 5 0 0
18 25 42
8
3
9
8
5 6 6 X 3 7 5 3 0 0
18 35
9
9
6
2
5 6 6 X 3 7 5 2 3 0 0
6
21
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Practice

• Skills are most useful when learned to the level
  of automaticity.
• Mastering a skill requires a fair amount of
  focused practice.
• While practicing, students should adapt and shape
  what they have learned

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Skills and Processes (Practice)
Learn the Steps
At this point it really is just information.
This is when the learner understands the skill or
process and takes ownership.
Shape and Adapt
The extent to which this happens will determine
the learners control and retention of the skill
or process.
Practice for Automaticity/ Fluency
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Massed Practice
Distributed Practice
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13
15
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Calculate the area of the parallelogram__________
12th Graders that gave correct answer-
8
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Practice Chart Trial Number of items picked
up and (30 seconds each) moved 12 inches without
dropping 1 2 3 4
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Necessarysometimes difficult---conversations
What is the learning goal? Given the learning
goal, is this assignment the right one? Is this
worth the time? Are there aspects of the
assignment that require knowledge/materials not
available to all students?
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Parent Involvement
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Teaching Responsibility??
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Issues and Recommendations

• Parent Invovlement

• RESPONSIBILITY
• Students need to be taught the skills of
  organization, time management, stress management,
  goal setting, etc.

when parents systematically help support this
goal through structure and supervision around
homework, then homework can foster personal
responsibility.
In short, experience with homework, of itself,
does not teach children responsibility However,
better-mediated experiences on the part of
parents or tutors may yet bring the myth that
homework shapes responsibility a bit closer to
reality.
Xu, 1994, as reported in Lyn Corno, Looking at
Homework Differently, (Elementary School
Journal, May, 2000) Lyn Corno, Homework is a
Complicated Thing Educatonal Researcher,
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Issues and Recommendations

• Parent Involvement

• Key points
• Parents might be able to help students develop
  skills related to responsibility.
• Parent involvement should be kept to a minimum.
• When parents are involved, it should be as an
  interested and supportive resource, not as a
  substitute for the teacher.

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Issues and Recommendations

• Parent Involvement

• Key points
• Parents might be able to help students develop
  skills related to responsibility.
• Parent involvement should be kept to a minimum.
• When parents are involved, it should be as an
  interested and supportive resource, not as a
  substitute for the teacher.

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..from Classroom Instruction That Works.
While it is certainly legitimate to inform
parents of the homework assigned to their
children, it does not seem advisable to have
parents help their children with homework.
Specifically, many studies show minimal and even
negative effects when parents are asked to help
students with homework.
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When your child has worked hard but cannot
complete the assignment in a reasonable time, and
you are thinking about sitting down and helping
her.STOP. Get out a piece of paper and write
the teacher a note.
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Feedback
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Issues and Recommendations

• Feedback

• Key points
• The feedback research applies to homework
  assignments.
• Feedback should help students understand if their
  work contributed to their achievement of learning
  goals.
• Feedback should be timely.

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If homework is assigned, it should be commented
on.
FEEDBACK
Whole class Small group One-on-one
Correct answers Sample answers Criteria to apply
Oral Written
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Homework Assignments
Issue Feedback
You will receive a homework packet on Monday it
will be due on Friday. Schedule your time
carefully so that you do not have too much to
complete on any single evening.
You will receive a homework packet on Monday with
homework assignments designated for each day of
the week. Each morning, you will work in groups
to go over the assignment due that day and
clarify any confusions. I will monitor the
groups to record who completed the homework. You
have the entire weeks assignments so that you
can schedule your time and work ahead if you know
that a specific evening is already busy for you.
Pros and Cons?
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Accountability and Grading
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Homework Policies Issue
Accountability and Grading
If you do not do your homework, you will (not be
allowed to go to recess) OR (you will have
homework club after school the next day). You
will work until the assignment is completed.
Each homework assignment not completed will be
recorded as a 0. Each 0 will be averaged in as
part of your grade in _________
You, and I, will keep track of whether you
complete the homework and a homework completion
grade will be ____ of your overall grade in
____.
You, and I, will keep track of whether you
complete your homework. If your assessments
indicate you are not progressing toward the
learning goals, we will have a conference to
determine why. If we decide one reason is that
you have not been completing homework, we (and
perhaps your parents) will figure out how to help
you to complete your homework.
What are the pros and cons of each approach?
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Issues and Recommendations

• Accountability and Grading

• Key points
• The major emphasis of accountability should be on
  the learning, more so than on the doing.

• If homework completion is to be a factor in
  students overall grade, the weight of that
  factor should be consistently applied, clearly
  reported, and aligned with the schools mission.

• Homework should not be considered a reliable
  assessment of students learning.

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Academic Grade
??????
Non-Academic Grade Homework Completion? Work
Completion? Class Participation?
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Issues and Recommendations

• Accountability and Grading

• To maximize learning, all students should have
  scheduled breaks (recess, lunch, free period)
  during every school daywhether they have
  completed their homework or not.

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Topics

• Purpose
• Feedback
• Time
• Parent Involvement
• Accountability

Policy?