A recent survey says...
A majority of high school students in the USA spend three hours or less a week preparing for classes yet still manage to get good grades, according to a study being released today by researchers who surveyed more than 90,000 high school students in 26 states.
The survey was done at Indiana University.
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6 comments:
Three hours per class multiplied by five classes is 15 hours a week. If you add extracurricular activities and sports to that I think that would make one very busy high schooler. That is not taking into account family time or social time. I think that if a student listens in class and uses class time wisely there would be no need to put more than a few hours of homework in a week.
One thing I do not understand about homework is the difference in the amount per class year. For example when my kids were in 5th grade the teachers were "preparing them for 6th grade." In 6th grade they have a horrendous amount of homework and projects (not even the same teachers for the 6th grade years). In 7th and 8th grades the homework is next to nothing (thank goodness because coaches can be very demanding). IMHO I think the 6th grade teachers (WMS) need to re-evaluate their policies. Some nights there are hours of homework plus the required 20 minutes of reading leaving the kids no time to relax. Think about a kid that gets off the bus at 4, has 2 hours of homework, 20 minutes of reading, dinner, shower and bed time at 9. That leaves very little time for extra-curricular activities, church, exercise and just time to play like the kids they are at that age. Maybe the teachers have forgotten they are children,not miniature soldiers and that they the teachers are supposed to be teachers not dictators.
I know that all teachers struggle with determining how much homework is appropriate and when.
We feel genuinely caught between a rock-and-a-hard-place juggling the rising demands of state academic standards - and providing a measure of family and church time.
Meanwhile, there is dance class, baseball practice, youth group....
Sigh - then there are those state academic standards again...
Whenever you have a question, remember to contact your child's teacher and they will be happy to discuss any concerns you have.
With all the homework and studying our kids do today it amazes me the simple things they cannot handle. For example making change without a cash register telling them how much to dole out, looking up words in a actual dictionary, looking up names or businesses in the phonebook, balancing a mock checkbook and figuring gas milage. It's time to get back to basics!!
Yes, we have standards. Yes, we will have homework. However, teachers have lost the idea of what homework is to be which is independent practice of a skill in which he or she has already had practice on. We, as teachers, give too much homework and too much of it consists of just "busy" work and not meaningful content in which students will be engaged and learn from. The results of this IU study don't surprise me.
The problem is that teachers are driven by standards, but also, by this burning desire to get grades into the grade book instead of obtaining true and valid assessments of what students really know. If it doesn't come in worksheet form, teachers don't want to do it. Research shows that this is not the best way to assess student progress or knowledge, yet we push pen and paper activities 99% of the time. Despite standards, teachers need to change the way we're doing things. Let's learn different ways to figure out what our students know and give students more time at home to be kids. I think we'd have more enthusiasm if we approached this in a different manner.
I think the first responder doesn't understand that the three hours per week is a total number of hours for all classes taken, not per class taken.
I think it would be good for those outside the High School building to come and see the time wasted by many during the school day. Many students waste at least 3 hours per week that if used wisely could reduce homework even more.
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