Homework Policies

Descriptions, Definitions, Synonyms, Organizer Terms, Types of

Homework is traditionally work assigned by the teacher to the student to do outside of the classroom. Homework, in the general sense, can also be viewed as any assignment given to the student, whether it is done in class or outside of class. Some schools have block scheduling and some teachers use this format to allow students to start, and sometimes complete, homework in class. Homework begins at any grade level. Elementary students receive homework on a limited basis while high school students could recieve homework in every class.

Most elementary students have only one or two teachers in a smaller school setting. These teachers can easily work with each other to coordinate the amount of homework that is assigned to a child. As a student progresses through Middle School, Junior High, and High School, the buildings become bigger and more spread out, making it much more difficult for teachers to coordinate their homework efforts. As a result, many students at these grade levels feel overloaded with homework. It is not uncommon for a high school student to have homework in every class on any given day.

As a result, some parents and educators have called on schools to reduce the amount of assigned homework. Some schools have implemented homework policies but many have not. Often times no policy, or inconsistent policies exist between schools within the same district or between classroom within the same school and even within the same department. Most teachers want to be independent from other teachers and establish their own policies on several topics, including homework. While homework policies can be individualized to meet the needs of each teacher and classroom, we can all gain ideas and insight from other policies and best practice approaches.

This page looks at individual classroom homework policies in an attempt to become a collection of ideas on homework for use by teachers. The Classroom section is broken down into sub-sections related to assigning (and coordinating with other teachers), grading, accepting late work, and parent perspectives. Please add your homework ideas to all sections of this page.

For additional information on Homework, visit the Wikipedia site of Homework

Homework Policy Applications to the Classroom and Similar Settings

This section is divided into the following sub-categories: Assigning Homework, Grading Homework, Accepting Late Work, Is It Too Much?, and Parents' Perspectives.

Assigning Homework

Homework, as well as other assessment measures, measure the level of the learned skill. According to the behaviorist viewpoint, learning involves adding specific responses to one's repetoire. According to the cognitive viewpoint, learning involves making sense of the learning situation (Mayer, 2003).

Homework assignments differ from teacher to teacher and from subject to subject. As a high school math teacher, I feel that students need to practice the newly taught material, as well as keep their math skills from previous topics. As a result, I assign homework on most days. I try to allow class time to work on homework in my lower level classes, but provide very little if any time in my higher level classes. My higher level students can expect 30-45 minutes of homework each night.

Our school does not have a general homework policy and I do not usually know when students have major assignments in other classes. We also do not have consistent policies throughout our math department or even between teachers who teach the same subject. This has proven to be a problem when students want to switch from one teacher to another based on teacher homework policies. We have recently implemented a class file system where teachers share their list of assignments, tests, and quizzes for each chapter. Teachers who teach the same subject can use this information but are not required to conform to any other teaching method. While the class files proves to be a means of sharing information, no consistency exists between the classrooms.

The elementary teachers in my school were concerned for several years about the number of students not completing homework and the lack of parent support when it came to their child's homework completion. In response to this issue, we had several faculty meetings to devise a school wide homework policy that aligned with school district board policy, informed parents and students of the school's philosophy on homework, and explained to students, parents, and teachers of each person's responsibilities to ensure homework completion. The decision to design a homework policy was in response to parent surveys, a general agreement to be consistent at all levels within the school, and to align philosophical beliefs on the reasons why teachers assign homework and how much should be given.

As stated in the homework policy developed in 2004 by South Elementary faculty in Crystal Lake School District 47, "The purpose of homework is to enhance student achievement; to help students become self-directed, independent learners; and to develop good work habits." The policy also states, "Homework may be assigned to be completed outside of the student's day for Practice to help students master specific skills which have been presented in class; for Preparation to help students gain the maximum benefits from future lessons; for Extension to provide students with opportunities to transfer specific skills or concepts to new situations; for Creativity to require students to integrate many skills or concepts in order to produce original responses."

To provide teachers with guidance about time allotments for homework, it was decided that Kindergarten would receive occasional assignments, Grade 1 would receive 20 min. of homework each night, Grade 2 and 3 would receive 30 min. of homework each night, followed by Grades 4 and 5 receiving 40 and 50 min. respectively of homework each night. These times were specifically stated on the policy. Finally, teacher, parent, and student responsibilities are listed with a place for each person's signature to show their awareness and agreement to the policy.

To inform parents and students of this homework policy and receive their feedback and support, the policy is discussed with students at the beginning of the school year and again on Parent Night. At Parent Night, two copies are distributed to each student's family with the teacher's signature under the section labeled, "Teacher Responsibilities." Parents are asked to take the copies of the policy home and discuss it with their child. If they agree to follow the policy, the parent and child both sign under their respective headings and one copy is returned to the teacher. The other copy is retained for the parent's records. If parents choose not sign the policy, a meeting could be set up to better understand the disagreements to the policy. Fortunately for my school, such an incident has not yet taken place.

Grading Homework

Grading homework is a form of feedback to the students. Teachers teach strategies for problem solving and solution integration. These solutions need to be monitored for effectivenss and the students given feedback on their learning process. Furthermore, feedback is necessary in both behaviorists learning and cognitive learning. In behaviorist theory, feedback is needed to help learners add the appropriate response. In cognitive theory, feedback is needed to help learners build broad rules or procedures (Mayer, 2003).

Some teachers in the elementary grades will look at homework and view it as one piece of the larger puzzle when determining future lesson plans and student needs. However, depending on the type of homework assigned, the teacher might not give a letter grade for the assignment for a variety of reasons. These reasons could include, but are not limited to: 1) the level of parent involvement in homework completion is different for each child, 2) the homework is to practice concepts learned in class and not to show mastery of the concept, and 3) circumstances beyond a student's control could prevent him/her from completing homework.

Grading homework seems to be a never ending battle, especially for math teachers who assign homework on most days. Many students feel that if a teacher does not check homework, they do not need to complete the homework. Others may get frustrated because they spend a lot of time on their homework, but receive little credit because the answers are incorrect. Every teacher seems to have their own method of checking and grading homework; some of us are still trying out various methods in hopes of finding one that fits our needs. Below is a list and explanation of several different policies encountered through various sources. Many teachers use a mixture of these approaches in their classrooms. Please add your grading ideas below:

• Collect and Grade. This method is the most time consuming on the teachers part but also gives the teacher the best picture of how well a student understood the taught material. Teachers who collect and grade homework usually have policies on showing work and whether or not they give credit for attempting a problem (math related).

• Completion Checks. This method is the easist to grade and takes the shortest amount of time. The teacher does a quick check for completion while the students are working on another task at the start of class. The downside to this method however, is that often times students are not really doing the homework but are simply writing down limited work and answers in hopes of looking complete to gain the credit. This method seems to work best in higher level classes and with students who generally complete their homework and want explanations to problems they were not able to complete correctly. Most teachers who use this method require work shown in order to recieve credit.

• Random Problem Checks. This method is a mixture of the previous two methods. In random problem checks, the teacher walks around and checks a group of selected problems for attempted work and accuracy. The students may think that the checked problems are random but the teacher usually has a predetermined list of problems based on the desired learned skills. While this method is very useful in determining learned knowledge for each student, it can be time consuming and eat into the amount of time allocated for the class lesson.

• Collecting Random Problems. This is a variation on the Random Problem Checks method. In this method, students pick up (or teacher passes out) half sheets of paper with space for their name, homework assignment and 4 boxes. The teacher then tells the students to close their books and write down all their work and answer to a selected set of four problems; one problem in each box. The students cannot use their books, so therefore cannot complete the problem in class during the homework check. The teacher then collects the papers to grade. This method does not take as much class time as the Random Problem Checks method, but does require out of class time for the teacher to check and grade the selected problems.

• Trade and Grade. This method has students grade each other's papers. The advantage of this method is quick grading; the disadvantage is that some students may feel uncomfortable having another student see their grade.

• Keep Them Guessing. This method varies from day to day. Any of the above methods are used (or no check at all) on any given day. While this method may keep students "on their toes", it can also be confusing and frustrating for many students, especially grade conscious students.

• Grade Tests and Quizzes Only. This method is often used in AP (advanced placement) classes. The theory behind this method is that the class is a college level class and most college classes do not grade individual homework but only grade tests and quizzes. This method works well for some students, depending on their maturity level. Other students have a difficult time keeping up with this method, because they often times do this homework last, if at all. When test time approaches, the students who has not completed regular homework assignments is likely to recieve a low grade. In some cases, their are so few recorded grades, that one bad test or quiz can have a drastic effect on the student's grade.

• Credit/No Credit Homework and Homework Quizzes. As a high school mathematics teacher, I struggle with how to grade homework. Time is precious in my classroom and I don't want to take the time in class to grade every problem in class or outside class. I have answer books available throughout the school and students are expected to check their own homework before they come to class. I then answer questions on the homework and collect it assigning a credit/no credit type grade. Of course, since the answer books are readily available, the students must show all of their work in order to receive any credit for the assignment. I also give homework quizzes. After the students have had a chance to ask questions on the homework, I will collect it and choose 2 or 3 of the exact homework problems and have them rework them for a quiz grade. This method helps me to make sure that they are actually understanding the homework not just going through the motions.

Accepting Late Work

Many schools have policies that allow students a day for every day of excused absense to complete any missed homework assignments. Aside from absent students, late work policies consist of those who accept late work and those who do not accept late work. Late work poses a problem because it is more time consuming to grade individual assignments when the main batch of assignments have already been graded. This is the reason behind most no late work policies.

However, if an assignment is meaningful and necessary in order for a student to achieve mastery then the most important thing is that the work gets done--even if it's late. Often times guidelines accompany this policy (regarding level of frequency late work is turned in by a student and time frame for handing the work in so that it remains valid to the lesson at hand) which still hold the student accountable. This is the reason behind accepting late work.

No late work policies hinder a student's academic progress because if a student forgets to do an assignment, leaves it at home and attempts to re-do, the assignment won't be done appropriately and information will not be retained, which is the purpose of homework. Therefore, a middle ground would be appropriate by accepting late homework until a certain time period and perhaps a penalty for late homework as well so that it does not become a trend. These types of compromises will benefit both the teacher and the student.

Is It Too Much?

How can schools and teachers within schools better coordinate their homework assignments with each other? Does your school have a general homework policy and what is it? How do teachers in your school coordinate with one another? Please comment below.

Parents' Perspectives

As a parent of two school age children, I can comment on my perspective, but it may be somewhat skewed by the teacher side of me. My daughter is just completing her most difficult homework year to date. It has definitely caused issues within our family and has been very time consuming on all of our parts. As a result of her homework load, she dropped some extra commitments and reworked her schedule at the start of the school year. While many parents complained, me included but as one of the less spoken ones, I feel that the results of the major homework year have been very positive. As we near the end of the school year, I can look back and say that this has been her biggest year for growth. And in looking back over my own schooling, I remember those teachers that gave lots of homework in a much better perspective than what I had in school.

Evidence of Effectiveness

How do we know if our homework policy is working effectively? There are several ways we can determine if the method of homework evaluation is working effectively or not.

To start with those who grade all homework for every class for every student, though time consuming, this is probably the most effective method of homework evaluation. You can see exactly what concepts students are having trouble with and what concepts are mastered. This will allow you to go back over things that seem troublesome and maybe not so in depth on other things.

For those who only grade quizzes and tests, if the quizzes are over specific problems off the homework assignments and the quizzes are done often this can be a very effective tool for evaluating a student’s progress. You will still be able to determine which concepts students need more instruction on.

For those that only check a few problems off the homework. If you choose a variety of problems that cover all the topics and not always the easy problems this can also be an effective method for evaluating students work. If you only choose the easy problems to grade you are not checking completely that students understand the concept.

Research and Theory on Homework

In Classroom Instruction that Works: Research Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, by Robert J. Marzano, Debra Pickering, and Jane E. Pollack, the authors give instructors a guide to utilize when assigning homework. Should homework be assigned, there are certain criteria an instructor must follow:

1) "The amount of homework assigned to students should be different from elementary, to middle school, to high school" (61). Students at lower levels should be given less homework than students at higher levels. Furthermore, the authors state that "the more homework students do, the better their achievement" (Marzano 63).

2) "Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum" (63). It is okay for parents to facilitate, but parents that help substantially can have negative effects on student achievement.

3) "The purposed of homework should be identified and articulated" (63). When homework is assigned, its purpose should be clearly stated and should directly relate to curriculum standards and content.

4) "If homework is assigned, it should be commented on" (64). When a teacher provides written comment and feedback, studies show that student understanding and achievement rises substantially.

Diversity Considerations

As homework is meant primarily as practice for helping a student master the subject at hand, there is a school of thought that promotes homework accounting for no more than 10 percent of a student's overall grade. This is difficult for many people to consider at first. When one looks at real world/college examples however, this appears to be more in tune with preparing the students for their careers. Undergraduates (at major universities) are often assessed on 3 or 4 large assignments, but do not receive credit for the late nights at the library or how well they take notes in class. Too, in the district wherein this author teaches, teachers are evaluated three to five times a year until they receive tenure. We are not necessarily evaluated for every great lesson that no administrator ever sees, nor are we penalized for having an occasional 'off' day (that just so happens to be the day an admin stops by).

Testimonies

I struggle with giving too much homework because I feel like a student's success in homework is greatly influenced by how much their parents are around to help them. It is hard for students who do not have that consistant base to help them out. I had to work out a system with one student who had no support at home to come in early in the morning every day. I do still believe in homework but I think it is unfortunate when it points out the weaknesses at home. --Annie Craig, 2nd Grade Teacher

I think the key with homework is to be consistent. I make a very strong effort to always get homework back the next class period. I do the same thing with my tests. This tells the students it is important and that I have taken the time to look at it. I usually grade for accuracy but I do occassionally grade based on completion. If the homework is a reading assignment we always check for understanding at the beginning of the next period. Sometimes this is a quiz sometimes not the students never know until they come to class. I try to limit homework in my history classes on a time period. We have a block schedule so they usually get time to start homework at the end of the period. This usually means that their out of class time for the work is no more then a half hour which I think is manageable. I have found that if I over assign homework the quality of the work decreases along with the number of not done assignments. By limiting the time for the homework I have found that I often get a better quality of work. Because their out of class time is not that great I also enforce a strict late work policy of 1/2 credit on all late work and they only get one day late to turn it in. Craig Johnson

- I use a variety of homework grading policies in each of my classroom. I recently learned of the Collect Random Problems method and plan to use it next year. This year, I alternated between collecting homework and doing completion checks. I still intend to collect some homework next year, but am dropping the completion checks for the random collections in my lower level classes. My higher level classes work well with completion checks because they all do their homework on a daily basis; my lower level classes vary on whether they complete their homework or get the answers from the back of the book (affectionately known as BOB). E. Morrison

- Grading homework is time consuming, and in block scheduling, as we have in our high school, time is precious. In the past, I have collected all the homework and graded a random, but fair problem. I used the 5 - 3 - 0 point system. To earn 5 points, the work must be shown and the answer correct to the random problem. Showing work and getting the problem wrong gained you 3 of the 5 points. Showing no work or not turning it in at all got you a zero. This past year I used the trade-and-grade system and had the daily homework grade worth 25% of the student's total grade. This kept the kids honest about their work and caused many to seek help when they needed it. Grades improved on the tests, and becasue the tests were weighted at 75%, the mistakes made on homework didn't hurt too much, but helped a great deal for preparing for the test. M. Uhls

When deciding on a plan for accepting late work I think each teacher should have a plan that suits their way of teaching. The real key to not having problems is being consistent in then enforcement of your policy. I realize that every situation for late work is unique and this of course should be taken into account, however for many cases it is best to stick to your plan. This may result in some very upset students, but I’ve always found that those same students usually learn their lesson about getting their work done on time.

Timothy Zorn

I have had a negative experience with homework being limited in the schools. I had worked at an elementary school as a general music teacher. The school had a policy that regarding the amount of time a student should be spending on homework a week. The amount of time varied by the grade level. I assigned homework for the students to complete in one of my classes. The majority of the work had been done in class already and the students were to continue studying for the upcoming test. Aparently this put the students over the 2 hour per week homework cap. While the students did the homework and received high marks on the test, I was told not to assign homework again. While I understand the benefits of this time cap, I think that the cap needs to be flexible. -Chris Royer-

I am a great proponent of homework, even at younger ages (although in smaller quantities) as it helps develop discipline and responsibility, as well as aiding in academic achievement. I would really like to use the random problem method, but have found many students complain about this. If I grade every problem, their percentages are much higher (than say 60%, for doing work but not getting it correct). Perhaps a higher test emphasis in their grade would be the way to go. I dislike the completion check as it takes so much time, and doesn't really tell me if students understand or not...One thing I wonder is whether students can use their books, etc. In other words, can they just copy down the problem and then do the work in their heads as they "write down" the response? In other words, what is really being assessed? Understanding of math? Homework actually done? It's an interesting issue... --Emily Cox

One of my favorite teachers in high school had a homework policy that I plan on adopting in my classroom. At the end of each chapter, there was a chapter test, and students were required to hand in all of their homework for the chapter, which I believed was spot checked for completion. However, if students recieved a 90% or above on the chapter test, they did not have to turn in homework for the following chapter and automatically recieved full points for it. As a student, this is a great incentive to do well, as well as it's great for the teacher because she then has less to grade. Her reasoning behind this policy was that if you recieved an A on the test, then your study habits obviously work for you and who was she to tell you how to study. I completly agree with this and I will definitely use this in my classroom. -Maggie Schlosser

Many teachers believe that colleges and universities do not assign and grade homework. This could not be farther from the truth. Although homework may not always be in the form of "drill and practice" problems, as a graduate student, I still have homework to complete in the majority of my courses. As a teaching assistant, all of the courses that I have taught required students to turn in homework. I have had to completely grade the entire assignment for one class and spot check for another. It would be unfortunate to reduce high school students’ homework load because of the no-homework-in-college myth. In fact, it might be advantageous to students to learn time-management skills before heading off to college. ~Mindy Waters

Our homework policy creates a great deal of paper work for the teachers. It requires that the students take notices home to parents for signatures every time an assignment is not completed. It also requires that if the notice is not brought back the child is issued a detention. By the 4th notice the parent is called in for a conference. Beyond that the consequences are In School Isolation. The major problem I have is that with junior high students our policy really does not prepare them for high school or the real world. B McArthur

As a primary teacher, I often wonder about homework. How much should I give? How much is too much? How should homework be graded? Should it be graded for accuracy or if it was completed or not? These are all questions I find myself asking as I check my students' homework folders each night. I usually give homework Monday through Thursday, and pick and choose the assignments I grade for accuracy and completeness. My biggest problem has become how to grade homework for the students who do not have the home support that much of the homework requires for completion (this is especially, in our Everyday Mathematics Home Links). Should I still grade based on the same requirements? Or should family support and involvement be a factor? I am not sure there is a good answer to any of the questions. -D. Jacob (June 2006)

As an elementary teacher, I view homework as a way to teach my students responsibility. I check to make sure that it is completed and returned on time. I know that my students will be moving on to middle school and will need to be prepared for taking homework home, completing it, and returning it. I try to prepare them for that by having an expectation that is the same. I do not grade homework, however. I do not believe that homework can be used as an assessment. Many children have parents, older siblings, or after school programs that will help them complete the homework, therefore it is not a true reflection of their ability. I believe that if I can help my students create good homework habits, they will be better prepared for the rest of their educational career. --Amanda P.

I teach college level mathematics. I used to always collect homework for every section assigned and grade all the problems. This became extremely time consuming. In some semesters I have as many as 90 - 100 students. I felt like all I was doing was grading homework and spending little time on class preparation. I had to change things. Now I only collect full assignments for my developmental classes. I fell they really do need to know if they did each problem correctly and where they went wrong. For my college algebra classes and higher, I only collect a few selected homework problems to grade. It is a compromise, the students are still getting a homework grade and I am not grading thousands of problems each week. It works well for me and my students.--M. Smith

I am a junior high and high school math teacher. I am always at a struggle of how much homework to give. In my Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry classes, the problems take a while to do. So, I try to give only about 15 a night. In my 7th and 8th grade classes, the students are doing basic problems. I generally give them about 30-40 a night. I grade every problem. I tried collecting random problems, but I feel that my students are losing out. My first year of teaching was awful, I had about 4 hours of grading every night. Now that I have my answer keys made out and I have gotten my lesson timing "down", I usually get most of my grading done at school. I grade at least 120 papers a night, but I am not complaining. The teacher whom I replaced got fired because she didn't grade math homework. I want to keep my job, but that is not the only reason that I grade homework. I need to see what my students are learning and what they are not learning. ~J. Herrmann

I am currently in my fourth year of teaching and I have handled homework different every year. My first two years of teaching I graded everything! This was so time consuming that I felt I spent more time grading homework than developing curriculum. My third year of teaching I graded about half of the assignments and then gave effort grades for the other half. Now in my fourth year, I do a 2-1-0 grade for homework. 2- they did every problem, and showed all work. 1- they did only half of the problems or showed no work. 0- they didn't do the homework. Every Friday I give the students a 10 point quiz that contains problems from the weeks homework. I grade this and it gives me a very good idea of who is doing the homework to understand and who is doing the homework to get a grade. At first I thought I wouldn't like this system because the students wouldn't be trying on their homework, but I have found the complete opposite to be true. The first time you teach a lesson, a student may not completely get everything. Homework should be a chance for the student to practice the material. It is practice and mistakes will be made. Most of my students really like this system and take it upon themselves to correct the problems they missed, thus learning from their mistakes. M Hafenrichter

I instituted a homework contract this spring in my low level Algebra class. This class is provided from students who struggle in a regular classroom setting. There are only 12 students in this class. If students do not get an 85% homework completion score, they will not be allowed to continue on in this program. As a result I have seen:

1. improved homework scores.
2. better classroom participation.
3. better test and quiz scores.

R Fruin-High School Math

I also have handled homework different each year I've taught. This year I'm allowing students to turn homework in one day late for half credit. While this means the student will not earn better than 50% of the credit, the student will still benefit from the practice of the exercise. I use multiple methods for grading, sometimes credit/no credit, sometimes I grade the whole assignment, sometimes I collect and grade a select few problems, sometimes I don't collect the assignment and I give the answers to the students to assess his/her own mastery. Sometimes I collect an assignment and view it as an assessment and then don't quiz on that concept. Of course this can be unfortunate for the student that fails to complete his/her homework. My assignments usually don't take longer than 15 minutes for students to complete, and sometimes I let the student start on it a minute or two before class ends. I'm really interested in trying the method in which students copy their answers for a select few problems and write it on a sheet of paper to turn in. This method would really catch my students off-guard. My biggest pet-peeve is when students complain that if I assign homework and the kids put forth the time and effort to complete it, I should collect it for a grade or else it is just a waste of time. I always respond that the assignment is for the students' benefit and if I don't collect it, then that means they will get immediate feedback, which is better than turning it in and getting feedback days later (and possibly losing credit for incorrect answers). My philosophy is that students should do all their homework all the time and then they won't have to worry about their homework grades. J. Adams

I assign homework basically every night. The only time I do not assign homework is on quiz or test days. When I grade the homework, I check if it is complete or not. If it is complete, the student receives a stamp. If it is not complete, the student does not recieve a stamp but can still get partial credit if they finish their homework before it is collected. On the test day, I then collect that chapter's homework, look it over, and check to see how many stamps they have. If they have a stamp, they get full credit. No stamp, but the homework is complete, they get 1/2 credit. If there is no stamp and the homework is missing, they get no credit. I feel that the stamps add a little extra fun to the students. They can pick out the picture and color. R. Monterastelli

As a high school math teacher, I assigned some sort of assignment almost every day. My first couple of years of teaching, I pretty much collected everything and graded everything. I found that I was quickly becoming burnt out as all I ever did was teach and grade. I learned a new strategy for grading homework at a math teacher conference. It is called the homework quiz. Daily, I no longer collected or checked the homework. We always went over questions on the homework in class though. After every 4 assignments, I would give a homework quiz. I would pick 1 problem from every assignment and the students would need to copy their work from their assignments. Each problem was worth 5 points (my assignments were always worth 5 points each). This reduced the amount of time required for grading. It also encouraged students to have their assignments 100% complete and accurate. It probably is not a perfect system, but I found it works very well and I got to keep my sanity. J. Linnenburger (2009)

I am one of those high school math teachers that still grades homework every night. Call me crazy, but I feel like I owe it to the students to give them feedback on the concepts they are learning so that they can work on what they are struggling with. I have nothing against the other methods of grading homework, but at this point in my life and career, I am able to handle the grading workload, while also "having a life." Eventually, when I start a family, I can see myself using the homework quiz method and also the random problem check. As for homework completion, most of my students are motivated enough to do homework when it is assigned. My low level Algebra Concepts class last year, however, had a difficult time turning in homework. Therefore, I instituted a 75% homework completion rule. The students had to have at least 75% of their homework done when they got to class, and if they did not, then they had to serve a 15 minute lunch detention. During this detention, they had to work on their homework, and I helped them through most if not all the problems. After a few weeks of this new rule, I had a higher homework completion rate because students hated to give up part of their "social time" at lunch, and their grades improved dramatically. - A Clow

I teach high school special education math class, and it is very hard to get our students to complete any work at all. I started giving completion points for homework. Students either receive full credit for doing all of it, 1/2 credit for some work, or no credit for no work. This seems to work very well with all of the students. I will put up an answer key and if students need specific questions asked, I will go over those problems only. To keep them guessing, I will do 1 homework assignment a week where I will collect everything and grade for each problem correct. However, at the district I work at, homework can only be 10% of a students overall grade. So even if a student does not do their homework, they still have a chance to earn an A in the class. C. Grice

The homework I assign is atypical of other middle school teachers, and definitely what I remember as a middle school student. I assign students to complete reading logs each week. Students are required to read for 30 minutes a night, five times a week, allowing them to not have homework on the weekends or to use the weekends to catch up on reading they missed during the week. This allows students to become independent readers, requiring them to read within their level. This has become a department-wide policy, and we have seen great gains in our students' reading this year. -S. Becker

I have struggled with the idea of a Homework Policy since I began teaching four years ago. My school has implemented a homework policy that forces teachers to give students credit up to 3 days late. This is also common among all Social Studies teachers. I don't give homework every day, and more often than not their homework is to do a portion of a larger project that is due at a later date. I rarely give worksheets as homework assignments. I have many students who are intelligent, but do not complete their work, and therefore fail the course. Perhaps we should look at a model similar to the one mentioned above where the students were only required to turn their homework in if they did not receive an A on the test. In high school I feel like the students need to start learning how to become more self sufficient. - M. Allen

References and Links

Homework help links:

Homework Center

Homework Tutoring

Homework Spot

Beehive Homework Help

Sylvan Learning Centers

Homework links for teachers:

Homework Hero

References:

Marzano, Robert, Debra Pickering, and Jane E. Pollack. Classroom Instruction that Works: Research Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2001.

Mayer, Richard E. (2003). "Learning and Instruction". Pearson Education: New Jersey