The Case Against Homework

[S]choolwork assigned to be done outside the classroom (distinguished from classwork)

Dictionary.com definition of homework

There has been a lot of discussion lately about homework at the elementary level. Studies have repeatedly shown that it is not useful. However, at the secondary level, I would argue that it is just as useless.

For context, I work with academic-level students, which means not honors/accelerated/AP. So my focus is always on what THOSE studies need and will benefit from. But I think the argument applies to higher level classes as well.

So what is homework for? Remember from my first post: if they’re not learning, I don’t consider it teaching. So what are they supposed to learn from homework?

Two Philosophies

There are two philosophies behind homework: practice and prep. They are both essentially useless for the average learner.

The philosophy of practice homework is that you send the students home to repeat the skills they learned in class. If a student is struggling, this will only frustrate them further, as they are unable to complete the practice without the help of the expert, the teacher. At best, they will do it several different ways, accidentally finding the correct answer on occasion. At worst, they will be too overwhelmed to even attempt it, giving up before they begin, frustrating the teacher who assigned the work thinking it would “help”.

If a student is not struggling, this “practice” is unnecessary to reinforce the skill and will be seen as busy work. At best, they will complete it while their creative and engaged souls die little by little. At worst, they will refuse to complete it, once again frustrating the teacher who mistakenly believes they “need” to do it.

The philosophy of prep homework is that if you give students work to do at home, you can move through material faster. This can work for advanced students at times, who excel at compliance and can often do the work independently.

With an academic population, however, this is very dangerous. In the average academic classroom, roughly a tenth to a third of the students will not do the work for a variety of reasons: extracurricular activities, home responsibilities, stress, inability to complete the work without help, etc. (I work in an affluent district: the percentage is much higher where students are burdened with adult responsibilities in lower income districts.)

Now when they arrive, they are not only punished for not completing the work with a 0 in the grade book, they cannot keep up with what is happening in class, losing out on the information and grades of classwork, racking up 0 after 0 until they are under a pile of failures. I have seen more students convinced that they are stupid because of “prep” style homework than I care to count.

So this is my case against homework: it’s not helping the students who can do it, and it’s actively destroying the confidence of the students who can’t. You’d be amazed what students can accomplish given work time in class, when all of their peers are also working silently and the distractions of home are nowhere to be found. I move faster through material than ever before since eliminating homework and building work time into class.

Deadlines are still OK!

Before I leave you to your pitchforks, I want to add one last caveat: I tell my students that I give deadlines, not homework. Students who need more time for any reason are welcome to complete work at home. This is my modification for many of my students who need extended time on work, and because the bulk of the work still happens in my presence, they are typically able to finish independently what we start together.

In addition to this, it becomes a strong motivator for the students who might not have done the work in class, but definitely will not at home: they don’t want homework, so by saying they need to complete it at home if they do not finish, students will often focus significantly more.

So working at home is not the problem; homework is.