The Homework Myth - Chapter 7

I just came across an article on Time.com about homework, and about this book. It's funny to see AOL cited as a source.

The "Tougher Standards" Fad Hits Home

Google.com defines rigor as

rig·or  

/ˈrigər/

Noun The quality of being extremely thorough, exhaustive, or accurate. Severity or strictness: "the full rigor of the law".

The Role of Homework

Affluent students are more likely to have parents who are able to help them with their homework. 
At my school, where most parents are non-native English speakers, I see a form of this. For us as a private school, most families are affluent. So parents who can help their students fall into two categories: those with time, and those who do not.

Parents with time fall into two subcategories: those who can speak/read English, and those who cannot. So what happens when kids whose parents cannot help them?

Over Christmas break I sent home a packet of English review worksheets hoping to help the students review  at home. I was afraid they would forget English over the holidays. All the students were able to complete the packet except for one boy. He brought it back with maybe one page finished. But there were also notes about vocabulary and the directions scribbled on it by his mom, so I could see that she was attempting to figure it out.

So I have instead tried to have them do projects at home that are connected to what we are learning at school (however, I want to try letting them create their own projects they are passionate about.)

Not Enough School Time
Kohn also addresses another reason teachers are giving more and more homework; a lack of time to cover (I do not like that word in terms of education - it does not imply anything useful) everything that teachers are expected to cover.

I definitely feel this one. I have often thought of how I would like an extra hour of class time a day.

The Chain of Assumptions

Kohn's chain of assumption (132):

1. Our primary concern ought not to be with the intellectual proficiency of individual children, but with aggregate measures of achievement. And that achievement can be measured with standardized tests.
2. International comparisons of the results of those tests reveal that the achievement of the U.S. students is shockingly low.
3. Assigning more homework will make children learn better and therefore raise those scores.
4. Our education system and our economic system are -- and should be -- linked. Prescriptively, the primary purpose of education is to train future employees to pump up the economy.
5. What counts most with respect to economic as well as educational matters is competitiveness; our chief goal should be to do better than other countries.

Winning Versus Learning

Instead of competing, why not try collaborating?

Quote of the chapter (133)

Trying to summarize all our students with a single number is rather like looking at an average pollution statistic for the United States to determine the cleanliness of 'American air'".