Homework Rationale

Entry #10

All homework should be meaningful.  Homework should be used as a means to practice skills already taught in the classroom, but where repeated practice will be necessary.  Homework can be used to apply knowledge and skills previously taught.  Also it can be used to research information that is needed for a future lesson.

Students should be told the reasons why homework and independent practice is beneficial to them, to increase motivation and sense of purpose. 

All students should be able to work on homework independently.  Therefore the homework should be clearly explained before it is taken home so that students know what is expected of them.  Homework expectations need to be differentiated to match the ability levels of students so that they are all able to be successful with the independent work.  Parents will need to interact with their child if this is the request of the teacher, for instance when emergent readers have to share books with their parents at home to develop reading skills.

English Language Learners will require accommodations to be made so that they are successful with homework.  These include making sure all directions are clear and short.  Give them time to ask questions and to receive further explanations.  Offer visual organizers to help record their work and therefore cut down on the amount of writing to produce.  Reduce the expectation of the student output, and match this output to their language proficiency level.  Reduce the task complexity as appropriate.  Increase the time to finish the homework.  Offer native language support. 

Students must receive feedback on how they got on with their homework.  The teacher should vary how the feedback is given.  This can be written feedback on the homework itself, stating positives and also one area to work on for next time.  Feedback should also be done orally from time to time, with a one to one between teacher and student.  This is also an opportunity for the teacher to check in with the student on attitudes to homework.  Peers should provide feedback and see the work of others.  Prior to this, students should receive coaching on how to give effective feedback to classmates.  Each week the teacher can fill in the dated section in the student’s homework folder, to show that homework was completed on time and received, and to show a brief comment that the parents will see.  To prevent a language barrier being a problem, the teacher can utilize a translation program, such as http://translate.google.com/  to communicate with parents about homework.

Teachers need to communicate to parents on their role in supporting their child to be successful with homework.  This includes ensuring their child has a dedicated space and resources, with no distractions for the time needed to get work completed.  Parents should help by supervising to ensure work is started and finished, provide prompts as needed, and give feedback to finished homework.  Encourage parents to use their native language to discuss homework so that explanations are detailed.  This can be detailed in the homework policy.

Teachers should provide a homework policy to parents and students at the start of each year.  It should include details about the purposes of homework for the grade level, expectations, the amount of homework that will be given, types of homework to expect, guidelines for the amount of time to spend on homework, consequences for not doing homework, and ways parents can support.  Translated copies should be provided in families’ home languages.  Parents should know that if there is a problem with their child completing homework, for any reason, then they should communicate this to the teacher.  At the start of the year it is also useful to give out the Checklist for Helping Your Child with Homework (U.S. Dept. of Ed., 2005), as part of the homework policy, which will emphasize to parents their role in supporting their child with homework, and will show the teacher’s expectations.  This can be downloaded from: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/20476/

References

Hill J.D. & Flynn K.M. (2006).  Classroom instruction that works with English language learners.  Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

U.S. Department of Education (2005).  Homework: The basics.  Retrieved from: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/20469/

U.S. Department of Education (2005).  Checklist for helping your child with homework.  Retrieved from: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/20476/