schools with no homework policy near me

Is it time to get rid of homework? Mental health experts weigh in.

It's no secret that kids hate homework. And as students grapple with an ongoing pandemic that has had a wide range of mental health impacts, is it time schools start listening to their pleas about workloads?

Some teachers are turning to social media to take a stand against homework. 

Tiktok user @misguided.teacher says he doesn't assign it because the "whole premise of homework is flawed."

For starters, he says, he can't grade work on "even playing fields" when students' home environments can be vastly different.

"Even students who go home to a peaceful house, do they really want to spend their time on busy work? Because typically that's what a lot of homework is, it's busy work," he says in the video that has garnered 1.6 million likes. "You only get one year to be 7, you only got one year to be 10, you only get one year to be 16, 18."

Mental health experts agree heavy workloads have the potential do more harm than good for students, especially when taking into account the impacts of the pandemic. But they also say the answer may not be to eliminate homework altogether.

Emmy Kang, mental health counselor at Humantold , says studies have shown heavy workloads can be "detrimental" for students and cause a "big impact on their mental, physical and emotional health."

"More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies," she says, adding that staying up late to finish assignments also leads to disrupted sleep and exhaustion.

Cynthia Catchings, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist at Talkspace , says heavy workloads can also cause serious mental health problems in the long run, like anxiety and depression. 

And for all the distress homework  can cause, it's not as useful as many may think, says Dr. Nicholas Kardaras, a psychologist and CEO of Omega Recovery treatment center.

"The research shows that there's really limited benefit of homework for elementary age students, that really the school work should be contained in the classroom," he says.

For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. 

"Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's taking away time from their friends, from their families, their extracurricular activities. And these are all very important things for a person's mental and emotional health."

Catchings, who also taught third to 12th graders for 12 years, says she's seen the positive effects of a no-homework policy while working with students abroad.

"Not having homework was something that I always admired from the French students (and) the French schools, because that was helping the students to really have the time off and really disconnect from school," she says.

The answer may not be to eliminate homework completely but to be more mindful of the type of work students take home, suggests Kang, who was a high school teacher for 10 years.

"I don't think (we) should scrap homework; I think we should scrap meaningless, purposeless busy work-type homework. That's something that needs to be scrapped entirely," she says, encouraging teachers to be thoughtful and consider the amount of time it would take for students to complete assignments.

The pandemic made the conversation around homework more crucial 

Mindfulness surrounding homework is especially important in the context of the past two years. Many students will be struggling with mental health issues that were brought on or worsened by the pandemic , making heavy workloads even harder to balance.

"COVID was just a disaster in terms of the lack of structure. Everything just deteriorated," Kardaras says, pointing to an increase in cognitive issues and decrease in attention spans among students. "School acts as an anchor for a lot of children, as a stabilizing force, and that disappeared."

But even if students transition back to the structure of in-person classes, Kardaras suspects students may still struggle after two school years of shifted schedules and disrupted sleeping habits.

"We've seen adults struggling to go back to in-person work environments from remote work environments. That effect is amplified with children because children have less resources to be able to cope with those transitions than adults do," he explains.

'Get organized' ahead of back-to-school

In order to make the transition back to in-person school easier, Kang encourages students to "get good sleep, exercise regularly (and) eat a healthy diet."

To help manage workloads, she suggests students "get organized."

"There's so much mental clutter up there when you're disorganized. ... Sitting down and planning out their study schedules can really help manage their time," she says.

Breaking up assignments can also make things easier to tackle.

"I know that heavy workloads can be stressful, but if you sit down and you break down that studying into smaller chunks, they're much more manageable."

If workloads are still too much, Kang encourages students to advocate for themselves.

"They should tell their teachers when a homework assignment just took too much time or if it was too difficult for them to do on their own," she says. "It's good to speak up and ask those questions. Respectfully, of course, because these are your teachers. But still, I think sometimes teachers themselves need this feedback from their students."

More: Some teachers let their students sleep in class. Here's what mental health experts say.

More: Some parents are slipping young kids in for the COVID-19 vaccine, but doctors discourage the move as 'risky'

Social Media

• Facebook Facebook Circle Icon
• Twitter Twitter Circle Icon
• Flipboard Flipboard Circle Icon
• RSS RSS Circle Icon
• Culture & Media
• Economy & Labor
• Education & Youth
• Environment & Health
• Human Rights
• Immigration
• LGBTQ Rights
• Politics & Elections
• Prisons & Policing
• Racial Justice
• Reproductive Rights
• War & Peace
• Series & Podcasts
• Supreme Court

At Least 210 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Operation to Retrieve 4 Hostages

This election season, we need tools for media literacy more than ever, lawsuit claims company knowingly and illegally dumped cancer-causing waste, hochul pressured to sign ny bill making big oil pay for climate adaptation, should us public schools eliminate homework.

Excessive homework is creating stress, not learning, for many U.S. students.

When Finnish students enroll in school at age seven, they can expect to take three or four classes a day. There are frequent breaks, plus a daily 20-minute recess. What’s more, when school is dismissed, there’s rarely any work to be completed at home. Nonetheless, Finnish students consistently rank among the world’s highest achievers in reading, math and science.

Experts attribute this to the country’s low ( 5.8 percent ) poverty rate, extensive social welfare system, 12-to-1 student-teacher ratio, and classes that fully integrate special needs students into general education classrooms. They also note that the Finnish government values teachers and encourages staff to prioritize collaboration, network building and the sharing of best practices.

Contrast this with the United States. Throughout the country, many elementary schools have completely eliminated recess. Eighteen percent of students live in poverty and approximately 1.3 million of the nation’s 50.7 million public school students are homeless.

And then there’s homework, which is increasingly assigned to students as young as five. In fact, by high school, the average time teenagers spend on homework is now 3 hours and 58 minutes a night, up from 2 hours and 38 minutes — an increase of 51 percent — over the past several decades.

The reason for this, say pro-homework teachers and administrators, is to raise the scores of U.S. students on standardized tests.

It hasn’t worked. While progressive educators agree that testing is not the only, or even the best, marker of academic achievement, it is still startling that the U.S. ranks 21st in educational outcome among the 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) competing countries, while Finland comes in third .

For their part, the National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association support assigning 10 minutes of homework per grade. Under this policy, first graders would be given homework taking no more than 10 minutes a day, while 12 th graders would be given up to two hours of daily work.

But many schools have sidestepped these recommendations, with kindergarteners, first and second graders often getting 25-30 minutes of work per night. Among older students, researchers have noted that excessive homework assignments have led to an increase in stress-related headaches, exhaustion, sleep difficulties and stomach ailments. They also suggest that it contributes to alcohol and drug abuse.

Abolishing Homework

It doesn’t have to be this way.

A Duke University study found that homework does little to boost elementary school achievement, a finding that has led a smattering of K-6 schools in California , Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Vermont to either eliminate homework completely or eliminate it during school breaks.

“Kids are terribly stressed about school, grades, peers, parental expectations and the known threats and ideation around climate change,” Nancy Romer, a longtime New York City activist and former psychology professor at Brooklyn College, told Truthout . “Many kids live in a state of impending doom.”

Add in other worries — about gun violence, racial bias, police brutality and sexual assault — and it is obvious that students of all ages have good reason to be fearful and anxious.

But can eliminating homework address even a small part of this anxiety-producing equation, increase academic achievement and lift morale?

The Upside to Homework

Jessie Winslow teaches sixth grade social studies at the Ephraim Curtis Middle School in Sudbury, Massachusetts, a wealthy community with a median household income of more than $170,000.

Winslow acknowledges that her students are coming into school with more anxiety and depression than previous academic cohorts. Nonetheless, she says she feels conflicted about the idea of skipping homework because she thinks that by middle school, students should be able to do some independent work at home. “Homework teaches time management and other coping skills,” she continues. “These kids are going to have situations that will cause them stress and they need to figure out how to handle it.”

Virginia Naughton, a grandmother in Brooklyn, New York, says she sees homework as the most direct way to know what’s going on in kids’ daily lives. “Homework is sort of a pulse, a starting point, to talk about classes, school friends and whatever else is going on,” she says.

Sid Kivanoski, a recently retired teacher at one of New York City’s highly competitive specialized high schools, is also a proponent of homework. He explains that because New York students have to pass Regents exams in English, math, science and social studies to earn a diploma, assigning homework ensures coverage of material that might appear on the exam, but that he was unable to address during class.

“I also gave homework to get them thinking about things that we’d talk about the next day, for example, why they thought the U.S. fought a war in Vietnam,” he says.

Barriers to Homework Completion

Still, Kivanoski knows that many of his students faced enormous challenges in completing their assignments. “I had one kid who would wake up at 2:00 a.m. to do homework because that was the only time it was quiet at home. Another went to the library on the way home every afternoon for the same reason. It was the sole place she could concentrate.”

Likewise, Chicago elementary school teacher Mariam Cosey sees the impact of poverty, hunger, and insecure or overcrowded housing in her classroom each and every day. “I always give my students a choice packet where they can choose which homework assignment they want to complete — word finds or word games, worksheets, or special projects — and it’s always due at the end of the week or on Monday, to give them the opportunity to get it done,” she begins. “Furthermore, I always make sure that there is something that every child has the ability to do.”

She does this despite mandates from the Chicago Board of Education dictating what should be taught and how much homework should be assigned for each grade level. In addition, Cosey offers incentives for her students to encourage assignment completion. The incentives help Cosey assess how a particular student is doing in a specific subject, and also give a window into her students’ home situations. “Kids can pick their prizes. When a child chooses gloves over candy, it tells me what’s going on in that child’s life. We love on these students, wash their faces, bring in clothes for them, and are compassionate. As teachers, we know that these kids need extra love and we give it to them.”

Homeless students face even greater hurdles when it comes to finishing their work. “There are so many barriers,” Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection , a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization that works to improve the educational achievement of homeless youth, told Truthout . Some are related to the living situation, with barriers like not having a quiet place to study or do homework, or no computer or internet access.

“But remember,” Duffield explains, “only 14.4 percent of students who are homeless are even staying in a shelter. Most are in hotels or motels, moving from couch to couch, or living on the streets. No matter where they’re staying, they may also be caring for their parents or younger siblings. Most are struggling to stay safe. They may be working 30 hours a week while going to school. The notion that homeless students have the time, space and consistency for good home study is seriously flawed.”

This is something that San Diego State University student Destiny Dickerson, the recipient of a SchoolHouse Connection scholarship (which grants post-secondary scholarships to students who’ve experienced homelessness), understands well. Six years ago, when Dickerson was in her first year of high school, her family was evicted from their three-bedroom home. For a short time, they lived with her grandmother, but severe overcrowding made this situation untenable and the family — four kids and two adults — ended up in a series of motels and hotels in and around Rancho Cucamonga, California.

“I would do as much homework as I could in school because there was no guarantee that we’d have WIFI at the hotel,” she explains. “In addition, all of my textbooks were stolen when someone broke into my mom’s car. My parents had told us to keep our homelessness quiet because it was embarrassing to admit that we’d lost our residence, so no one at school knew that I had no books. Some days I’d go to the library to do my homework and some hotels had a communal computer I could use, but sometimes I forgot about doing assignments because I was so focused on what was going on outside of class. I also missed assignments that were posted online since I did not have reliable access to a computer.”

Still, Dickerson maintained a B average throughout high school and reports that her teachers learned of her situation only after she won the SchoolHouse Connection scholarship. “They were shocked,” she says, “and the school cleared all the fees owed for the stolen textbooks and helped me pay for all the senior year activities.”

Dickerson considers herself lucky — she now has an affordable, stable, off-campus apartment, a laptop computer and consistent internet access — and expects to graduate with a degree in psychology in 2022.

Homework for Parents

Shomari Gallagher, a parent in Brooklyn, New York, says that while she appreciates that homework gives her a window into what her 10-year-old son is learning in school, it also often puts parents in the position of being teachers. “If the homework reinforces what they learned in school, fine,” she says. “But to have students struggle to learn something new without the benefit of a teacher’s instruction seems unfair. I sometimes look at my son’s math homework as if it’s a foreign language and have had to watch YouTube videos in order to help him. Homework is the only thing my son and I fight over. At the end of the school day he’s tired and gets frustrated.”

This set-up, Gallagher continues, also favors richer, better-educated parents who already grasp the subject matter, or have the time, research skills and English language proficiency to assist their kids. Moreover, she believes that homework serves an insidious function: “I think it trains kids to become adults who take work home from their jobs,” she says.

A Different Way

The debate over the efficacy of homework is not new. Nonetheless, the U.S. has a long way to go before consensus is reached.

Gin Langan, a mother and substitute teacher in Hayward, California, who is also an active member of the Bad Ass Teachers Association, is an outspoken critic of excessive homework. Nonetheless, she told Truthout that she is distressed by the lack of organizing on this issue.

“Many people are under the impression that homework is something that has to be done,” she begins. I talk to people about this all the time, and I always stress the social inequities in education. I speak about how inappropriate and ineffective it is for homework to be given in lower grades, and how difficult it is for kids who don’t have a quiet place to work. I discuss why we need to shift away from a white middle-class paradigm. But many parents have bought the line that homework is necessary for their kids to be competitive and get into a good college.”

Even worse, she says, in locales like Fremont, California, the district has mandated that homework be given in every grade, K-12, five nights a week.

Nevertheless, Langan believes that fact-based conversations about reducing or eliminating homework are the best way to chip away at the conventional wisdom.

Thankfully, she has the Duke University study and other research to draw on.

A white paper composed by Challenge Success, a California-based educational advocacy group, is one such resource. The paper, “ Changing the Conversation about Homework from Quantity and Achievement to Quality and Engagement ,” offers concrete recommendations for schools, school administrators and parents.

Teachers, the paper concludes, should assign work that students can do on their own, without adult intervention. Moreover, it argues, this work should be doable — not too easy, not too hard, and not too time-consuming — to give the students a sense of accomplishment. Furthermore, the paper suggests that instructors give students a clear overview of the assignment before they leave for the day, and try to focus as many assignments as possible on tasks that can’t be completed at school.

For example, the paper suggests having students conduct interviews that will later be used to compile oral histories or require them to collect soil samples or other materials for a science experiment. Lastly, they caution against busy work, recommend quarterly “no homework nights” for middle school and high school students, and support the elimination of summer and vacation assignments.

As for parents, the paper reminds them that different kids have different study and learning styles — and that they should not elevate one modality over another. To wit: kids who like to get their work done in one sitting immediately after school ends are not inherently superior to kids who prefer taking breaks, working to music, or completing tasks late at night. They also remind parents not to overschedule their children, hover over them, or do the work for them.

But the gold standard may still be the model developed by Finnish educators. There, 15-year-olds spend an average of 2.8 hours a week outside of class doing homework and typically use their free time to play team sports, read, volunteer or socialize with family and friends.

Thank you for reading Truthout. One brief but important thing before you go.

For over 20 years, Truthout has been publishing boldly honest journalism like the piece above – stories about and by grassroots activists, reports from the frontlines of social movements, and unapologetic critiques of the systemic forces that shape all of our lives.

Monied interests prevent other publications from confronting the worst injustices in our world. But Truthout remains a haven for transformative journalism in pursuit of justice.

We simply cannot do this without support from our readers. At this time, we’re appealing to add 23 monthly donors before midnight tonight. If you can, please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly gift today.

• Grades 6-12
• School Leaders

NEW: Classroom Clean-Up/Set-Up Email Course! 🧽

Should We Ban Homework?

The cons of homework are starting to outweigh the pros.

Recent research shows that teenagers have doubled the amount of time they spend on homework since the 1990s. This is in spite of other, well-documented research that calls the efficacy of homework into question, albeit in the younger grades. Why are students spending so much time on homework if the impact is zero (for younger kids) or moderate (for older ones)? Should we ban homework? These are the questions teachers, parents, and lawmakers are asking.

Bans proposed and implemented in the U.S. and abroad

The struggle of whether or not to assign homework is not a new one. In 2017, a Florida superintendent banned homework for elementary schools in the entire district, with one very important exception: reading at home. The United States isn’t the only country to question the benefits of homework. Last August, the Philippines proposed a bill  to ban homework completely, citing the need for rest, relaxation, and time with family. Another bill there proposed no weekend homework, with teachers running the risk of fines or two years in prison. (Yikes!) While a prison sentence may seem extreme, there are real reasons to reconsider homework.

Refocus on mental health and educate the “whole child”

Prioritizing mental health is at the forefront of the homework ban movement. Leaders say they want to give students time to develop other hobbies, relationships, and balance in their lives.

This month two Utah elementary schools gained national recognition for officially banning homework. The results are significant, with psychologist referrals for anxiety decreasing by 50 percent. Many schools are looking for ways to refocus on wellness, and homework can be a real cause of stress.

[contextly_auto_sidebar]

Research supports a ban for elementary schools

Supporters of a homework ban often cite research from John Hattie, who concluded that elementary school homework has no effect on academic progress. In a podcast he said, “Homework in primary school has an effect of around zero. In high school it’s larger. (…) Which is why we need to get it right. Not why we need to get rid of it. It’s one of those lower hanging fruit that we should be looking in our primary schools to say, ‘Is it really making a difference?'”

In the upper grades, Hattie’s research shows that homework has to be purposeful, not busy work. And the reality is, most teachers don’t receive training on how to assign homework that is meaningful and relevant to students.

Parents push back, too

In October this Washington Post article made waves in parenting and education communities when it introduced the idea that, even if homework is assigned, it doesn’t have to be completed for the student to pass the class. The writer explains how her family doesn’t believe in homework, and doesn’t participate. In response, other parents started “opting out” of homework, citing research that homework in elementary school doesn’t further intelligence or academic success. 

Of course, homework has its defenders, especially in the upper grades

“I think some homework is a good idea,” says Darla E. in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. “Ideally, it forces the parents to take some responsibility for their child’s education. It also reinforces what students learn and instills good study habits for later in life.”

Jennifer M. agrees. “If we are trying to make students college-ready, they need the skill of doing homework.”

And the research does support some homework in middle and high school, as long as it is clearly tied to learning and not overwhelming.

We’d love to hear your thoughts—do you think schools should ban homework? Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, why you should stop assigning reading homework.

You Might Also Like

15 Things Educators Should Stop Doing, According to Principals

Their answers might surprise you. Continue Reading

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. 5335 Gate Parkway, Jacksonville, FL 32256

• Share this —

• Watch Full Episodes
• Read With Jenna
• Inspirational
• Relationships
• TODAY Table
• Newsletters
• Start TODAY
• Shop TODAY Awards
• Citi Concert Series
• Listen All Day

Follow today

More Brands

• On The Show
• TODAY Plaza

Some elementary schools are getting rid of homework — and experts say it's OK

Second grade teacher Brandy Young gained national attention in 2016 when a note she wrote to her class parents was posted on social media.

"There will be no formally assigned homework this year... rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success," she wrote. "Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early."

Two years later, Young is teaching second grade at a new school, A.G. Elder Elementary School in Joshua, Texas. She is still not assigning formal homework — though she has tweaked her policy a lot, she told TODAY Parents, since she wrote that note.

The no homework policy has worked great, she said, but it has been a learning process for her. Young found out that some of her students really do want homework, for one thing. She will also send work home with a child who needs more practice on a specific skill from time to time, but when she does, she communicates with the parent and sends an answer key to ensure the practice will be effective.

"Also, not assigning homework doesn’t change the fact that the kids who need extra practice the most usually don’t have the necessary support at home," said Young, who has three young boys of her own with her husband Klint. "It’s a battle that educators are used to fighting, and it isn’t going away any time soon."

Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parents newsletter! Sign up here.

Young said her experiences in the classroom for the past two years have only reinforced the idea that effective teaching is all about relationships.

"I want my students to know that I care about them at every second," she said. "I want parents to trust me and let me into their family. I want open communication lines between us so that I can better understand their children and help them succeed."

For that to be possible, Young said, "Student work, regardless of when and where it's done, should be meaningful, engaging, and relevant. No packets ever. Period." Her second grade students approach learning enthusiastically as a result — even at a Title 1 school where nearly 70 percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced lunch prices.

"Kids can conquer mountains when given encouragement, choices, and support!" said Young. "They want and need to be nurtured as a whole child. I believe the no-packet theory supports that effort."

Young was not the first nor the last teacher to implement a classroom policy eliminating homework. In 2017, Marion County, Florida, School Superintendent Dr. Heidi Maier announced she was banning homework for the 31 elementary schools throughout her school district. At the time, Maier said her plan called for "no traditional homework, no work sheets, no endless pages of workbooks. Instead, our children are reading aloud with their parents at least 20 minutes a night.”

A year later, the Ocala Star Banner reported that under pressure from her teachers — 86 percent of whom did not support the ban — and school board members who called the policy "micromanaging" and blamed poor test results in part on it, Maier loosened the guidelines. She is asking that any homework be "meaningful" and not "busy work."

However, Alfie Kohn, author of "The Homework Myth," told TODAY Parents, "It is important to realize that no research has ever found any advantage to any kind of homework before kids are in high school — and newer studies are questioning whether it's necessary even in high school."

Kohn — who has written 14 books covering parenting and education and lectures on those topics at universities, parenting groups, and corporations — is a well-known critic of homework. He said that though some defend the concept of homework as having non-academic advantages like teaching kids responsibility, work habits, or independence, "To the best of my knowledge, not a shred of evidence supports those claims."

What evidence does show, he said, is the disadvantages of homework, some of which parents are already familiar. "It causes frustration, unhappiness, and family conflict; it often makes children less excited about learning and leaves them with less time to pursue other interests and just enjoy their childhoods," he observed.

"But we seem to assume it's worth it to force them to work a 'second shift' after they get home from a full day in school," he said. "We take on faith that the academic benefits must outweigh the substantial costs."

Though many parents support homework, others say they would love for their children's teachers to adopt no-homework policy. Omaha, Nebraska mom Ashley Austrew said she is relieved her first grade daughter has less homework this year than she did in kindergarten.

"Her only homework is whatever she doesn’t get done in class, which I believe is the teacher’s way of saying she doesn’t give homework," she told TODAY Parents. "I am a fan of no homework policies because I think its mostly busy work at this age level and they work hard enough all day."

Julie Burton from Overland Park, Kansas, said she gets annoyed with her fourth grade daughter's math homework even though it is usually just one sheet a night. "If she ever has a question, sometimes we are stumped too," she said. "I feel bad emailing a teacher in the evenings. I’m slightly annoyed at homework in general because I don’t know what the teacher taught."

Kohn said that even small amounts of homework can still be frustrating and damaging to children's attitudes about learning for reasons like Burton's. "The bottom line is that research fails to support the practice of giving any amount or any kind of homework to a 12-year-old, let alone to a 6-year-old," he said. "Making kids unhappy about learning is more likely to undermine than to promote academic excellence."

He encouraged parents to speak up on behalf of their children. "If your child's teacher never assigns homework, take a moment to thank them for doing what's in your child's best interest — and for acknowledging that families, not schools, ought to decide what happens during family time," he added. "If your child is getting homework, organize a bunch of parents to meet with the teacher and administrators — not to ask, 'Why so much?' but, given that the research says it's all pain and no gain, to ask, 'Why is there any?'"

11 Black history facts to teach your kids

Siri Daly shares the energy-boosting after-school snacks she makes for her kids

Paqui pulls ‘One Chip Challenge’ from shelves

Keep back-to-school meal prep simple with 3 dietitian-approved recipes

Eat better today.

From teen mom to new teacher: See the moment she thanks the guidance counselor who changed her life

Mom who went viral with hilarious back-to-school rules appears on TODAY with son

Schools struggle with hot classrooms, not enough air conditioning in record heat waves

As a teacher of 42 years, here’s the one thing I’d never do with my own kids

'Mommy, is there something wrong with me?'

Joy Bauer shares her better-for-you back-to-school recipes

Amid Growing Debate About Homework, One School Bans It

Some research questions the value of homework prior to high school.

— -- More than 550 students at a Massachusetts elementary school will have less to carry home in their backpacks this year.

There will be no homework.

Kelly Elementary School in Holyoke has banned homework for the year with the intention of giving students all the instruction and extra help they may need during the school day.

“We want kids to go home tired; we want their brains to be tired,” Jackie Glasheen, principal of the school, whose kindergarten through 8th-grade students are nearly all poor and Hispanic, told ABC News. At home, she said, “we want them to engage with their families, talk about their school days and go to bed.”

Glasheen and the team of teachers who came up with the idea to end homework are among a growing number of U.S. educators and parents questioning the value of having children do schoolwork at home.

A Texas elementary school teacher last month drew wide attention by eliminating homework.

Brandy Young, 2nd-grade teacher at an elementary school in Godley, wrote parents in a letter shared widely on social media, that after "much research over the summer," she would not assign any homework except for uncompleted classwork.

"Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance," she wrote in the letter handed to parents at a meet-the-teacher night Aug. 16.

"Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success," she wrote. "Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside and get your child to bed early."

Texas Teacher Announces No-Homework Policy for Class

Nj teacher writes encouraging messages on students' desks before their exam.

Kelly Elementary School eliminated homework under circumstances uncommon in most schools.

Beginning this fall, nearly all schools in the Holyoke district, which has among the lowest standardized test scores in Massachusetts, are extending their school days by two hours. Elementary school students now go to school from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., instead of the previous 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Principal Glasheen said her school surveyed its teachers, parents and students before implementing the homework ban.

"The toughest stakeholder group was the teachers," she said. "Some of them felt [students] need that extra practice. They need that extra work."

But Glasheen said the longer school days will give students more instructional time.

“Face time with a teacher … is going to impact their learning more than doing skill-and-practice work at home,” she said.

Not many schools are lengthening their school days by as much as the Holyoke district. But even without the longer days, a number of educators and researchers say homework is more of a hindrance than a help to students.

Author and education researcher Alfie Kohn says homework routinely produces frustration, exhaustion, family conflict, a loss of time for other activities and diminished excitement about learning.

“In classrooms and schools where little or no homework is assigned, results have been extremely positive in terms of students’ academic performance as well as their attitudes about learning,” Kohn told ABC News. “‘No homework’ should become the default, with homework assigned only on those days when there is compelling reason to believe that a given assignment will benefit most students.”

Kohn, whose books include "The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing," said research has failed to demonstrate any benefit to assigning homework, at least until students are in high school.

But Robert Pondiscio, senior fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education policy think tank in Washington, D.C ., said the question of homework's value is not cut-and-dried. Pondiscio, who is also an adviser at Democracy Prep, a New York City charter school network, said homework may have a greater benefit for low-income students than affluent students.

“I still think we’re in a situation in this country where we have a far greater problem of expecting too little -- not too much -- of kids, and homework falls into that,” Pondiscio told ABC News.

The benefits of assigning homework also depend on what you want it to achieve, Pondiscio said. Homework may not lead to a higher grade on a test within six months, he said, but it can encourage behaviors and foster skills that yield long-term benefits such as practice in time-management

“Whenever I hear ‘homework doesn’t work,’ my first response is, ‘Well what do you want homework to do?’” Pondiscio said. “We always want to press the easy button in these discussions, and there isn’t one.”

Kelly Elementary School Principal Glasheen has heard from some critics of her school's homework ban who echo Pondiscio, telling her, "'You're letting kids off the hook,'" she said.

But she's also gotten support. The far-flung responses she's received suggests how widespread is the debate over homework's value.

“I have heard from principals from southern California, Dallas, Brazil," she said.

This school without grades or homework has a 98% college acceptance rate

• Copy a link to the article entitled This school without grades or homework has a 98% college acceptance rate
• Share This school without grades or homework has a 98% college acceptance rate on Twitter (X)
• Share This school without grades or homework has a 98% college acceptance rate on Facebook

How’s that saying go again…too many cooks?

That’s what Diane Tavenner, co-founder and CEO of Summit Public Schools, discovered was happening in her own kitchen.

Tavenner and her husband initially had a great idea: have their teenage son, Rett, cook one of the family’s meals per week. This would give them a night off and help Rett gain a pretty important life skill.

But, being pretty good cooks themselves, they soon found themselves not so much guiding Rett through the cooking process as much as doing things for him.

“We forgot what it was to be a novice,” Tavenner says, “and so, he would ask a simple question, and next thing you know, one of us is in the kitchen doing it for him. And he’s sort of standing back and on the side, and we realize we just took over, we weren’t actually supporting. We were just doing it for him.”

Pulling back, they gave Rett tips, but let him take charge.

“I had to take the initiative,” Rett says.

Sure, there were burnt dishes and some undercooked dishes, but there was also the chance to learn how to learn; a chance to improve by building off his mistakes.

As the weeks progressed, Rett saw his skills develop. He returned to recipes he cooked in the past, and saw how his techniques had gotten better—  this family chore had turned into a real-world, edible aptitude test.

Tavenner, a former teacher, saw this “spoon-fed” approach to learning as being a problem not just in her family kitchen, but in the American educational system. 

So, she created Summit Public Schools, a charter school system with a new approach to education: students have numerous opportunities to improve their grade.

What they don’t have? Assigned homework.

A New Recipe 

It begins with the will to start something new.

“If we want to truly prepare our kids to have a chance to live their best life, we need to radically rethink the education we grew up with, and the message it’s sending,” Tavenner says. 

To keep it in the kitchen, think of the traditional public education system as handing students a recipe and the ingredients.

The message is: here’s what you need to know and if you’re successful, you’ll get an “A” on your first test. 

But in the real world, things aren’t so straight forward — so, Summit takes a different approach.

Students “have the ingredients, but we must learn how to make the recipe,” Rett, who was also a student at Summit, says. 

“People can help you along the way with learning the recipes, but ultimately you must take center stage. That is what self-directed learning is.”

At Summit, students are given the opportunity to change a grade over time if they show continuous improvement.

By allowing students to continue working on subjects to improve their grades, Summit builds in the chance to “fail forward” — to learn from your mistakes. (Like, say, making sure to grease a pan the next time you cook.)

Each student is mentored weekly by an assigned teacher. The mentors stay with students throughout their academic career, providing continued support and offering parents a constant point of contact. According to Tavenner, research has found that mentoring improves a student’s sense of belonging and success beyond grade school.

Those mentors help kids actively engage in their hands-on, project-based work. Through these projects, students may design a house to put principles of geometry to work, grow their own plants, or build a model rocket.  

“Project-based learning is real world learning,” Tavenner says. “Authentic learning. It’s the type of learning where kids are getting really hands-on. They’re asking big questions.”

In addition to its regular curriculum, Summit offers an eight week guided learning program where the students choose the field they’re interested in and get to ask the big questions they want to ask — a freedom not always found in the current public education system. 

The foundation of all of this is giving students agency and autonomy in their educational journey. 

“When you give kids responsibility, they become invested because they actually know that what they are doing means something and that it’s dependable and accountable and all of that leads to growth,” Rett says.

Finding the Ingredients

While attending Summit, Rett felt he had space to learn — the ability, and responsibility, to shape his learning in ways that best fit him. 

Learning how to learn was one of the central aspects of my learning environment.

That environment allowed him to explore one of his passions: history. In one class, Rett and his classmates were split into eight groups representing different countries on the eve of World War I. Each country had its needs, goals, and certain rules to follow, but the students had the freedom to interact among themselves. 

Pushing and pulling against each other made the events come alive: it stopped being just events and dates on a textbook page.

“I think I remember the causes and effects of World War I…far better than I would have if I were in a traditional environment,” he says.

Summit’s ten West Coast campuses have drawn plaudits from the tech industry, and earned her a seat on the board of trustees at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The public charter schools are free to attend, with enrollments on a rolling basis. 

Summit’s approach to education may not work for every student — and Tavenner says that’s ok. She says asking whether an approach to learning can be applied across the board to all students isn’t the right question to be asking. 

“The question we should be asking ourselves is, ‘does what work? For whom? Under what circumstances?’” Tavenner says. 

“And the power of those three questions is actually asking about each individual student.”

• youtube Subscribe to our Youtube Channel
• instagram View our Instagram feed
• Visit our Facebook page
• View our Twitter (X) feed
• Transportation
• Consumer Tech
• Robots & AI
• AR & VR
• Challengers
• Just Might Work
• Video Library
• About Freethink
• Partner With Us
• Privacy Policy

Thinking About a No Homework Policy? Here's What You Should Know

Homework has been around since the early 20th century and so has the debate of whether or not homework is a healthy policy for students. This editorial piece explores homework, its history, and its purpose so that you can decide if the no homework policy is right for you.

Homework or No Homework?

Taking a stand to implement a no homework policy should be based on the needs of the students and not the opinions of fellow teachers or parents. However, teachers who want to put an end to homework assignments often have to deal with the strong opinions of administration, teachers and parents.

If you're thinking about implementing a no homework policy for your students, it's a good idea to do a little research into the homework debate to decide if you're making the right choice. And if you choose to do away with homework, you'll need an arsenal of facts to make your case. Here's what you need to know ahead of time.

Historical Facts

The idea of homework has been debated since it was first conceived in the early 20th century. In the 1930s the idea of ' exercising a child's brain like a muscle' was quite popular. Homework was just another form of exercise outside of the classroom. In the 1940s, educators began to question if homework interfered with home life. After all, many students had to work on the family farm or in the family business. Family life and activities outside of school were of great importance, and homework began to fall out of favor.

The 1950s saw the world outside of the U.S. charging ahead in education and technology. In order to stay ahead of countries such as Russia, education in the U.S. was revamped. Homework became a means of stepping up the game and furthering the educational success of children .

The homework debate reversed again in the 1960s out of fear that it caused extreme amounts of stress on children and parents. However, the 1970s and 1980s again saw a change in public opinion when the Japanese began to surge forward economically. This brought back the fear that the U.S. was falling behind in education. Homework was once again accepted as a means of strengthening the educational system and creating smarter and brighter minds.

The Real Reason Behind the Debate

After taking a look into homework history, it should be no surprise that the debate continues into the 21st century. What is surprising is that, according to Duke University psychology and neuroscience professor Harris Cooper , the percentage of people for or against homework--and the actual amount of homework given--has hardly changed over the centuries. So why is homework still a hot topic? Simple: Homework is merely the center battle in the growing war for better education.

Homework is just a small part of the educational system, and it has become a weapon to drive teachers apart further apart as well as parents and administrators. It's a 'lose-lose' battle for everyone involved. Teachers who work hard to maintain homework are criticized, as are those in favor of the no homework policy, and the two are often pitted against each other. And let's not forget the students--they are the ones caught in the crossfire.

Homework As It Was Meant to Be

Homework was created as a way to encourage educational growth and discipline. Studies show that homework has indeed accomplished this over the years. In fact, it has excelled at its goal by aiding in the improvement of study habits, attitudes toward school, independent problem-solving skills and more.

Historically, homework has been guided by what some refer to as the 10-minute rule. Although not set in stone, this rule has gained support from the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association. The guideline recommends a 'daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level' . For instance, third graders should be assigned 30 minutes of homework each night, while high school seniors should have about two hours of homework each night.

Keep It About the Students

Although studies show the success of homework, those same studies also reveal that, at times, homework causes unnecessary stress and tiredness in children and in parents. Homework is obviously not perfect and is need of adjustments, but those adjustments are not black and white. Throwing our homework across the entire education system isn't the solution. Too much research has shown the positive effects of homework. But overuse of homework cannot be ignored either.

The solution to the homework debate should be centered on the students. What works for one classroom does not always work for another. The teacher decides the amount of homework to be given and should do so based on the classroom's and school's needs. After all, all schools are different because no one school serves the same exact type of student. In any given class, a no homework policy may be adapted one year and put on the shelf the next. It's about what the students need.

No matter what decision you make regarding a no homework policy, make it in the best interest of your students and not in the best interest of fellow educators or other outside influences.

Never miss an update

Should More Schools Adopt a “No Homework on Weekends” Policy?

“No homework tonight!” From time to time, some teachers surprise their students with that announcement at the closing bell of class. In some schools, though, that’s becoming the norm rather than the exception—at least on specially designated weekends.

A Seasonal Gift for Some

Fall is the season to give thanks and be merry. It’s also the countdown to college admissions due dates. And it’s a great time to land a seasonal job and make some extra money at the end of the year. In states such as Maryland , several schools have designated homework-free weekend periods this fall. It allows over-stressed kids to catch up with other responsibilities—or simply take a breather. The main reason for the break, though, is that college priority and early admissions deadlines for many top colleges in the region occur in the fall.

Schools in Princeton, New Jersey, began implementing one homework-free weekend each semester in 2015, in part to give students more time to pursue interests and passions outside of school. Other New Jersey schools limit the number of minutes students should spend on homework each night. In Hinsdale, Illinois , one high school began offering seniors one homework-free weekend in October “to give harried seniors a little break to prepare for their futures . . . and make sure they have enough time to work on their college applications.” Similarly, schools across the country offer a no-homework weekend at year’s end.

Not Without Downsides

Unfortunately, homework-free weekends sometimes create an unwelcome side effect: extra-homework weekdays. Teachers are still tasked with finishing their lesson plans, and homework is often an important part of that. For students who are working on projects with pending due dates, not working on those projects for an entire weekend may not be feasible. And there’s always the risk that students who are afforded extra time to catch up on college admissions and pursue positive endeavors may simply waste the free time bestowed upon them.

Is homework helpful or harmful?

Some teachers and school districts have taken a blanket approach and banned homework entirely. The value of homework as a whole has been a topic of much debate. In one study , researchers at University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education concluded that math and science homework didn’t lead students to achieve better grades , but it did lead to better standardized test results.

A Stanford researcher concluded that excess homework increases kids’ stress and sleep deprivation. She emphasized that homework shouldn’t be assigned simply as a routine practice; it should have a concrete purpose and benefit. Homework, especially thoughtful homework, is valuable, and eliminating it entirely may be counterproductive to the goal of attending school in the first place: mastering the subject matter.

What do you think?

It’s a safe assumption that most students would strongly favor a homework-free-weekends policy. We’re curious how parents feel about the idea. How would you feel if your child’s school implemented a “no homework on the weekends” policy? Would you worry that your children might fall behind peers in other schools without a similar policy? Or do you think it would encourage your children to engage in more valuable extracurricular activities, get jobs, spend more time completing their college admissions packets, or simply catch up on much-needed sleep? We’d love to know what you think.

Related Articles

Easy Science Experiments For Kids To Do At Home This Summer

May 31 2024

4 Ways to Get Healthcare Experience in High School 

May 29 2024

5 Strategies for Keeping Students Engaged in Online Learning 

May 21 2024

How Parents Can Prevent Isolation and Loneliness During Summer Break

May 14 2024

The Ultimate Guide to Gift Ideas for Teachers 

How to Thank a Teacher: Heartfelt Gestures They Won’t Forget   

Six Ways Online Schools Can Support Military Families

7 Things Teachers Should Know About Your Child 

April 30 2024

Countdown to Graduation: How to Prepare for the Big Day 

April 23 2024

How am I Going to Pay for College?

April 16 2024

5 Major Benefits of Summer School 

April 12 2024

Inspiring an Appreciation for Poetry in Kids 

April 9 2024

A Parent’s Guide to Tough Conversations

April 2 2024

The Importance of Reading to Children and Its Enhancements to Their Development

March 26 2024

5 Steps to Master College-Level Reading

March 19 2024

10 Timeless Stories to Inspire Your Reader: Elementary, Middle, and High Schoolers

March 15 2024

From Books to Tech: Why Libraries Are Still Important in the Digital Age

March 13 2024

The Evolution of Learning: How Education is Transforming for Future Generations

March 11 2024

The Ultimate Guide to Reading Month: 4 Top Reading Activities for Kids

March 1 2024

Make Learning Fun: The 10 Best Educational YouTube Channels for Kids

February 27 2024

The Value of Soft Skills for Students in the Age of AI

February 20 2024

Why Arts Education is Important in School

February 14 2024

30 Questions to Ask at Your Next Parent-Teacher Conference

February 6 2024

Smart Classrooms, Smart Kids: How AI is Changing Education

January 31 2024

Four Life Skills to Teach Teenagers for Strong Resumes

January 25 2024

Exploring the Social Side of Online School: Fun Activities and Social Opportunities Await

January 9 2024

Is Your Child Ready for Advanced Learning? Discover Your Options.

January 8 2024

Online School Reviews: What People Are Saying About Online School

January 5 2024

Your Ultimate Guide to Holiday Fun and Activities

December 18 2023

Free Printable Holiday Coloring Pages to Inspire Your Child’s Inner Artist

December 12 2023

Five Reasons to Switch Schools Midyear

December 5 2023

A Parent’s Guide to Switching Schools Midyear

November 29 2023

Building Strong Study Habits: Back-to-School Edition

November 17 2023

Turn Up the Music: The Benefits of Music in Classrooms

November 7 2023

A Parent’s Guide to Robotics for Kids

November 6 2023

Six Ways Online Learning Transforms the Academic Journey

October 31 2023

How to Get Ahead of Cyberbullying

October 30 2023

Bullying’s Effect on Students and How to Help 

October 25 2023

Can You Spot the Warning Signs of Bullying?

October 16 2023

Could the Online Classroom Be the Solution to Bullying?

October 11 2023

Bullying Prevention Starts With Parents

October 9 2023

30 Books to Add to Your Reading List in High School

January 1 2014

Do Kids Get Too Much Homework?

January 9 2017

Back to School: Best School Supplies for High School Students

July 31 2014

Join our community

Sign up to participate in America’s premier community focused on helping students reach their full potential.

Welcome! Join Learning Liftoff to participate in America’s premier community focused on helping students reach their full potential.

Editorial: How can kids learn without homework and rigid deadlines? Quite well, it turns out

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

The usual system for grading students is, bit by bit, going by the wayside in favor of one that emphasizes learning over traditional measures. It’s a healthy shift, though traditionalists no doubt are raising their eyebrows and muttering darkly about lowered standards and kids skating through school. The skepticism is especially likely now that the changes are being hastened by the realization that the current system puts students of color and those from lower-income households at a distinct disadvantage.

So-called mastery-based grading and a very similar method known as specs (for specifications) grading have been written about in academic circles for decades. But schools have stuck to an outdated system that relies heavily on students’ compliance — completing homework, behaving in class, meeting deadlines and correctly answering questions on a one-time test — as a proxy for learning, rather than measuring the learning itself.

That’s been a disservice to all students, whether they are academically gifted or struggling. It rewards students for grade-grubbing and has them feeling like failures when conditions at home — such as crowding, the need to work a part-time job to help the family finances or caring for younger siblings — make it especially hard to meet all the course requirements on a rigid deadline.

If there were a valid reason for this, that would be one thing. But obeying arbitrary and sometimes unfair rules doesn’t translate into better learning. The goal should be assessing the skills and knowledge students gained and how well they think. Mastery-based education and specs grading, and some of the elements that go with them, put the emphasis back on learning. Imagine that.

It shouldn’t matter, for example, whether students get a sterling grade on the first chapter test on human anatomy, or if they learn from their mistakes and go on to ace a second test. Students who redo an essay, even two or three times, in ways that show they’ve grasped concepts of research and critical thinking, and can write cogent and well-organized sentences, are showing that they’re gaining important skills. That willingness to try and try again until a skill is mastered is something to celebrate, not penalize with points off for multiple efforts.

It sounds vague and perhaps airy-fairy, but education experts point out that, in some ways, this kind of grading is more rigorous. Under the specs model, students are graded pass/fail on their tests, but they don’t pass unless they do well — usually at a minimum level of 80%, or a low B. There’s no passing with a C or D. It’s the opposite of skating by; students don’t move to the next level of skills with minimal grasp of the material.

Rather than being given a grade or a comment that they failed to meet a couple of deadlines, students receive specific information about their progress and what they need to do to move forward. This system transfers more of the responsibility for learning to the student.

Several states, including Vermont and Maine, already have adopted this model for their public schools. A middle school in Brooklyn, N.Y., witnessed phenomenal improvement in students’ scores on standardized tests after a few years of mastery-based learning, even though it is in ways the antithesis of a one-time, standardized test. And in case this seems like just the latest instance of touchy-feely liberal thinking limited to the Northeast, Idaho adopted mastery-based education in 2015.

The concept’s roots lie in the 1960s work of Benjamin Bloom , an education psychologist at the University of Chicago who said that given the right conditions, almost any student could achieve at high levels. Now the Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness that traditional schools are assessing the learning of students — especially Black and Latino children — in ways that both discourage them and fail to hold them to high expectations. In addition, more than a year of remote learning has familiarized students with how to use technological tools to learn; in the classroom, those can be used to individualize instruction so that teachers have a chance to work with small groups.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is shifting toward this new model of grading this year by encouraging teachers to give kids a chance to redo tests or reports and to base grades on what students have learned, not on their work habits. It’s off to a slow start, but that’s the better way to go when introducing an era of assessment so radically different from how it’s been for the last century.

Teachers need time to understand, embrace and start incorporating these practices. And they’ll need training, administrative help and aides to help instruct small groups and track progress.

In other words, careful implementation is as important as the reform. This is where new education initiatives tend to fall apart. Too often, L.A. Unified has used changes in course and grading requirements to lower its standards. Kids can’t infinitely skip school and miss deadlines; that’s not how college or the work world operate. Students should be given extra time to learn, but the schools can’t keep a student in middle school indefinitely, while he or she builds crucial skills.

Mastery-based learning gets students to think about their own progress and encourages them to take their skills as far as they can. If done right — and not as an excuse for lack of progress — it could reinvigorate classrooms and give students a sense of control over their own educational destiny.

More to Read

Letters to the Editor: No, the ‘science of reading’ isn’t just about teaching phonics

March 2, 2024

Opinion: Should California schools stick to phonics-based reading ‘science’? It’s not so simple

Feb. 26, 2024

Editorial: The science of reading works. California should require it

Dec. 19, 2023

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor: It’s OK to pay kids for good grades. Just know when to stop

Nov. 19, 2023

Abcarian: Is your kid getting bad grades in math? I found a simple, questionable tactic that works

Nov. 15, 2023

Editorial: We know how to turn students into better readers. Why doesn’t California do it?

Nov. 3, 2023

Letters to the Editor: The state of LAUSD? Falling test scores. Declining enrollment. Chronic absenteeism

Oct. 24, 2023

Most California students fall short of grade-level standards in math and reading, scores show

Oct. 18, 2023

Test scores show L.A. students still struggling to recover from pandemic setbacks

Oct. 17, 2023

A cure for the common opinion

Get thought-provoking perspectives with our weekly newsletter.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Times’ editorial board determines the positions of The Times as an institution. It operates separately from the newsroom. You can read more about the board’s mission and its members at About The Times Editorial Board .

More From the Los Angeles Times

Editorial: California’s next school bond should include money for grass, trees and green spaces on campuses

June 9, 2024

Editorial: Senate contraception bill vote is a preview of next fight over reproductive rights

June 7, 2024

Editorial: It’s a shame California voters won’t be able to dump this racist anti-housing policy in November

June 6, 2024

Editorial: Clean California is ending. So are jobs for formerly homeless and incarcerated people

• Our Mission

Do No-Zero Policies Help or Hurt Students?

No-zero policies spur serious—and productive—debate among teachers. We look at the big insights on both sides of the argument. 

With a no-zero grading policy, the glass is always half full.

The controversial grading policy—which is rising in popularity across the country—sets the lowest possible grade for any assignment or test at 50 percent, even when students turn in no work at all.

Schools systems like Fairfax County Public Schools and the Philadelphia School District have adopted similar approaches in recent years, arguing that they give all students a chance to succeed. These changes in grading policy are moving in tandem with national efforts to abolish letter grades  and minimize the value placed on AP exams and SAT scores in favor of assessments focused on students’ skills, competencies, and work samples.

“I think grades oftentimes become an indicator of ‘completion’ and not necessarily a movement toward proficiency of content standards,” Jennie Frederiksen wrote on Facebook. “Teaching is hard work. Let’s have grades that reflect actual learning.”

But others feel differently. A no-zero grading policy allows students to do minimal work and still pass, pushes students forward who haven’t mastered the content, and doesn’t teach students the real-life consequences of not meeting their responsibilities, according to many of the 300 members of the Edutopia audience who reacted to our Facebook post “ Is Our Grading System Fair? ”

“We are creating a generation of entitled people who are hitting the colleges and the job market with major holes in their abilities to survive,” wrote Tom Bannan on Facebook, reflecting on the lack of forgiveness for poor or unfinished work in real-life work environments. And the actual cause of failing grades isn’t tough grading systems or pitiless educators, according to many who joined the Facebook thread. “Zeros don’t create holes,” said Lara Morales. “Kids choosing not to do their work creates holes.”

Giving Students a Second Chance

For many in favor of a no-zero grading policy, it comes down to equity. Many educators argue that home-life factors create barriers to student learning, that low grades encourage struggling students to give up, and that teachers who can’t get their kids to comply use grades to punish rather than to assess knowledge.

There are a wide variety of home-life factors—like learning disabilities, learning English as a second language, or working a job to support their families—that impact students’ abilities to succeed academically, teachers noted. If a student misses a major assignment or assessment due to a home-life situation and receives a zero, that’s much more difficult to come back from academically than a 50.

“I work with students that don’t always know where they are sleeping or whether they will be eating when they go home,” says Polly Pennington Wilson. “Sometimes there are outside factors that affect student success. Grades run second to those concerns.”

But the equity argument was just one dimension of the criticism leveled at zeros. A significant number of teachers simply considered it draconian arithmetic—a grading strategy that, once triggered, torpedoed any record of progress and learning across the remainder of the grading period.

“If you are using a 100 point system, 0’s are unfair,” said Edutopia audience member Stephan Currence. “Which student has demonstrated greater mastery: student A: 100, 100, 100, 100, 0, or student B: 75, 80, 90, 80, 90? Mathematically, it is student B with an 83 average, but student A has clearly demonstrated greater mastery.” Even demonstrating consistent mastery for months can be undone by a single zero, in other words, and for many teachers that feels unjust.

Still, some educators assume that giving very low grades—zeros, in some cases—communicates to students that they need to work harder. That’s not how students see it, explains Sarah Duncan, the co-director of the University of Chicago’s Network for College Success , an organization that works with high schools to improve grades and graduation rates for entering freshman.

“Instead of working harder, the vast majority of students who get an F tend to withdraw, try less, and come to school less because they’re taking an F for what it actually stands for: failure,” said Duncan, refuting the argument that zeros create greater accountability in students. “They interpret an F as ‘You do not belong in this environment.’”

The research tends to corroborate that perspective: According to a 2014  literature review that explored the history of grading spanning almost 200 years, grades increase anxiety and decrease the interest in learning for students who struggle.

Finally, a few teachers worried that no-tolerance grading policies are often used as a classroom management strategy—and they’re the wrong tool for the job. “I feel like teachers are not being equipped with the tools to address behavior so they are using grades as a way to try to get kids to comply,” said Currence. “This does not help the child, or parent, understand where they are in terms of learning and what is necessary academically to succeed.”

Just Passing Through

Several of the educators participating in the conversation had direct experience with no-zero policies, however, and felt that in practice they simply didn’t work well.

“[Our 50 policy] had unintended consequences that undermined instruction. Many students learned to subvert the system and would do nothing two quarters [of the] year, collect their 50s, and do well during the next two quarters and on the final,” said Rachel Kent of her school’s adoption of the policy. “In essence, they were smart kids who didn’t want to do the work (or didn’t want to come to school) and knew they could take half of a year off and still pass.”

The same logic drove Leominster Public Schools in Massachusetts to rescind their no-zero grading policy. “We really felt that after years of doing it that way, kids just weren’t learning to be responsible,” said Sky View Middle School Principal Tim Blake, as reported by the Sentinel & Enterprise News .

While teachers who spoke in favor of zeros recognized that the grade can dampen enthusiasm for learning, they suggested that no-zero approaches had a similar effect—with potential long-term consequences for students.

According to these educators, a no-zero grading standard allows students who haven’t mastered the content to slip by, and then move on to increasingly harder subjects, the next grade level, or even to college completely unprepared, putting students in a hole they might never climb out of.

“Why boost a kid’s GPA when they clearly don’t know the subject and lack determination?” said Alo Torres. “If they aren’t ready for the next grade, let them fail. It isn’t a punishment. On the contrary. It is help. It is making sure a child will be successful by not just passing them along before they are ready.”

According to Christina Arenas, a community college professor, high school students are often shocked when they get Ds and don’t move on or coast through. “If your boss gives you a deadline and you miss it, what happens?” asks Arenas. “At some point, our job as educators has to be to prepare them for the real world.”

Maybe It’s Not a Zero-Sum Game

Given the complex range of factors to consider, perhaps both strict pro-zero and no-zero strategies are too inflexible. Giving students productive feedback requires nuance—all children are different.

Already, there is evidence that teachers are starting to find their way back toward the middle. According to our audience, some educators in schools with a no-zero policy give a slightly higher grade to students who put in effort. Teachers with more flexibility say they give slightly lower scores to students who don’t try at all. Others put students’ original scores on their papers, but mark 50 percent in their gradebook so students and their caregivers know the grade that reflects their actual understanding.

To help him remember the reason behind every 50, Jimmy Araujo, a high school biology teacher, uses place markers in his gradebook to note distinctions in student performance.

“NM stands for non-mastery. AB for absent. NHI for not handed in regarding homework assignments. DNA for did not attempt,” Araujo wrote on Facebook. “These allow me to communicate to students and parents better to distinguish where the student needs help.”

Overall, according to the experts, neither no-zero nor zero policies are silver bullets. Grading is more about the feedback provided and expectations set by the teacher to contextualize the grade.

“If you hand me an essay that’s really lousy, do I say ‘F, do better next time,’ or do I say ‘I’m not going to grade this. I expect a much higher quality of work from you. I wrote comments on it. Come to my room at lunchtime, and we’re going to work on it together, and then I need you to turn it in next week,’” Duncan said. 

Get the Reddit app

/r/StLouis is dedicated to the news, events, and weird food of the Greater St. Louis and surrounding areas. Please check out our sidebar and wiki for a plethora of knowledge.

No homework policy schools

Does anyone know if there are schools or districts in St. Louis or St. Louis County that have a no homework policy?

• Watch the latest ABC7 newscast here Full Story
• ABC7 Bay Area 24/7 live stream Watch Now

Teacher creates no-homework policy so students can enjoy family time

GODLEY, Texas -- Kids across the country are heading back to school, but in a small Texas town, one second-grade teacher is making a big promise.

Brandy Young, a teacher at Godley Elementary school, says this year, her students will have no homework.

Not tonight. Not any night.

Young passed out a letter to every parent at "Meet the Teacher Night" before school started to explain her no-homework policy.

The letter reads:

"After much research this summer, I am trying something new. Homework will only consist of work that your student did not finish during the school day. There will be no formally assigned homework this year. Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance. Rather, I ask that you spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early."

Samantha Gallagher's 7-year-old daughter Brooke is in Young's class. The mom posted the teacher's letter to Facebook with the caption, "Brooke is loving her new teacher already!"

"I am very grateful Brooke has an innovative teacher who is willing to adopt new policies for the benefit of her students and their families," Gallagher said.

The note is opening up a great conversation about education, our kids and our future.

Gallagher says her family is thrilled by the new homework policy - especially little Brooke.

Dozens of parents in the Godley school district and outside the district praised Young's policy on Facebook. Gallagher's post has since been shared more than 67,000 times.

Related Topics

• BACK TO SCHOOL
• U.S. & WORLD

Top Stories

1 dead, multiple hurt after shooting and stabbing in Napa Co.: sheriff

• 32 minutes ago

Disneyland employee dies after falling from moving golf cart

Greenville Fire burning in Alameda Co. 100% contained

29th Pink Triangle installed for SF Pride

San Francisco celebrates Juneteenth in heart of downtown

• 12 minutes ago

Here's where SF's Harvey Milk Plaza redesign stands honoring icon

Howard University revokes Diddy's honorary degree

Preliminary magnitude 4.5 earthquake strikes NorCal, USGS says

> > > ] Search Forums   Search Blogs Go to Page... ( ) or search site with  ( ) 10-07-2013, 11:34 PM   times Advertisements 10-08-2013, 05:33 AM   times 10-08-2013, 07:08 AM   times 10-08-2013, 07:08 AM   times 10-08-2013, 07:10 AM   times 10-08-2013, 08:27 AM   times 10-08-2013, 02:56 PM   times 10-08-2013, 02:58 PM   times Search for unschooling if the choices seem too religious. They're mixed in there. 10-08-2013, 03:06 PM   times 10-10-2013, 10:59 PM   times Please to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned. Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: . City-Data Forum Message   Quick Reply The following errors occurred with your submission Search this Thread   > > > Fun Elementary Schools or Charter Schools in Phoenix , Phoenix area, 15 replies difference between public schools & charter schools ? , Phoenix area, 4 replies Charter Schools...Help Please , Phoenix area, 0 replies Charter Schools in PHX area , Phoenix area, 2 replies What's the deal with charter schools? , Phoenix area, 14 replies Charter Schools , Phoenix area, 3 replies "); - - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - Subscribe or renew Which Schools Have No Homework? Parent q&a. Select any title to view the full question and replies. Any schools that hand out little to no homework? Hi Parents! I realize that this goes against most teaching philosophies, but does anyone know of any schools in Berkeley, Oakland or SF that give their students little to no homework in the evenings? Some of these schools that I’ve been touring just seem like overkill on what kids need to do at night. Any advice would be much appreciated! You don't mention what grade level you're looking at, and it does vary by elementary/middle/high school. At my child's public high school, there is a policy about no more than 20 min/night/class, except for AP or Honors classes. We've been happy with that, although most teachers are very inflexible about late assignments (they don't accept them). At our other child's private middle school, there is no stated policy and it varies by teacher and subject quite a bit, although they all say there's lots of flexibility for turning it in late. If you're looking at K-3rd grade, I agree with your drift that there should be zero homework, with exceptions for bigger projects and/or nightly reading (as long as they make it not a chore). And I'm sure you can find schools that will explictly say that's their policy, just as I'm sure you will run across individual teachers who don't follow it. My children are both at Rosa Parks Elementary in Berkeley and have, essentially, no homework. We/they are asked to read regularly, and occasionally have a project to work on for holidays or special occasions, but they don't have anything regularly. It's wonderful! For elementary, Walden Center & School gives out very little homework, which is line with their teaching philosophy, as well as the most current research on homework's benefits & costs (i.e. all the other things children could be spending the time with, including play!). In 2nd grade, we get a small packet of worksheets to be done over the course of the week - but it's not a big deal if it doesn't get done. Occasionally there's a bit more - e.g. in preparation for science week (which includes a science fair) the kids get small assignments each week, but it's meant to provide scaffolding to allow them to think through the steps of their planned science experiment and complete the work & poster by the time science week rolls around.  Overall, we've been very happy with the project-based academics at Walden, and especially the way they're structured to connect with socioemotional learning & social justice. As an example, my 2nd grader's class as been doing a project on people with disabilities, and how our society succeds and fails in various ways to support people with disabilities. In social studies/english they've been learning about athletes with disabilities and reading/writing about different individuals. In science & math they're working on engineering spaces that are accessible to "clients" with varying disabilities & preferences - how would a house need to be designed to accomodate an electric wheelchair user who also has a dog? What sort of square footage is needed in the garage? How would charging facilities for the wheelchair need to be designed?, etc.). It's pretty fantastic how the teachers weave this type of learning into everything they're doing! You didn't say how old your kid is, but if you're looking for a more balanced elementary school school experience I would thoroughly recommend the Waldorf model. Our kid is in first grade at Wildcat Canyon Community School in El Sobrante (near Richmond) and has absolutely 0 out of school responsibilities. I believe that in third grade kids start being expected to do instrument practice outside of school but nothing else. Having unstructured time to play, do chores, etc. is really important to the Waldorf model. Happy to talk more about the school if you're interested--feel free to PM me! Berkeley Arts Magnet gives very little homework. I have a third grader and sixth grader who graduated last year. In K through 3rd, the homework is mainly just reading on your own or with a parent. There also is some math homework in 4th and 5th grades, but not a lot. My sixth grader attends Black Pine Circle. There is homework most nights, but not more than an hour or so of work. They say the number of minutes of homework matches the grade times ten (60 minutes for sixth grade, 30 minutes for third grade, etc). My daughter is very happy there. Berkwood Hedge has very little, at least in our child's experience. Most days he has none.  I'll be interested to read the responses. I have heard of charter middle and high schools that do not have evening homework, rather the school runs an extra 1-2 hours in the afternoon for supervised independent study, but I don't which schools specifically. In my experience as a student in the Berkeley Public Schools of the 1970s, I had pretty much no homework K-3, and then 4-6 were weekly writing journals and project-based homework. This seemed great at the time, but turned out to be a huge disservice when I got to 8th grade and school got really hard really fast (algebra and Shakespeare!) and I had no good study skills or homework habits. Most of the students who did well had older siblings so their parents knew from experience what to expect. Homework, although it is a huge time-suck for many years, does teach more than the material itself. The components of learning time-management, organization, how to work independently as well as part of team projects, are critical life skills. My child attends Urban Montessori, a charter school in Oakland (she's in second grade and started in TK during Covid). They don't have homework, even in the older grades (the oldest child there I know is in 5th grade and they have no homework, but they are allowed to take home work if they need to catch up -- but not many do). This does not go against most teaching philosophies as homework has not been found to be effective in the lower grades at least. We are very happy with her school and the Montessori system and I don't feel that her learning has been hindered because of no homework. In fact, the opposite. She's also able to participate in several extracurricular activities and play outdoors every day.  My kids go to Crestmont School in Richmond/El Cerrito Hills. They don't have any homework until 4th grade when then have one weekly reading response page (very reasonable). Mentoring Academy High School in Berkeley has a "no homework" policy. They also have a 9am starting time. The only drawback is the school day ends at 5pm (3pm on Fri).  Our son goes there and is very happy with it.  The "homework" assignments are handled in the afternoon (after tea time) with the staff present to assist. Yes the day is long but once he is home the time is entirely his to game etc. Archived Q&A and Reviews Elementary schools with no homework? Not sure these exist, particularly in the public school domain, but worth a shot: Wondering whether there are schools out there, either public or private, that do not give elementary school children homework. I don't mean the current trend of ''flipped classrooms,'' where homework is done in class and instruction at home (though I think this is a worthy innovation when kids are older), but rather where there is no work to be done outside of the classroom. With the intention that children are free to play and structure their own time outside of school as they wish. This seems rather utopian when I write it, but as this is the Bay Area, there has to be somewhere that adheres to this type of philosophy, right? Or, perhaps not in the Bay Area that people have heard of? It's that important to us that we would consider moving to find the right educational environment for our children. We currently live in Oakland. Thanks. educational utopian If you are looking for a school with no homework, check out Sudbury schools. I don't know if there are any in the Bay Area but there is one in Denver. Www.alpinevalleyschool.com Check out Beacon Day School: www.beaconday.org Oakland independent school, NO homework until 5th grade, year round school, terrific arts program. My children were very happy there until we moved to Berkeley and public school. They regularly debate whether they would trade summer vacation for no homework, but from an educational perspective, the no homework year round program is excellent for all kinds of learners. Happy former Beacon parent I read that the private school, Hacienda in Pleasanton is year round and does not give homework. I dont recall every detail but I believe they go up to 8th grade. Good Luck! http://www.headsup.org/menuhu/campuses/haschool.html -Rose No homework in elementary school is no utopia! The school you are looking for is Beacon Day School, a K-8 private school by the Oakland Embarcadero. It assigns no homework until 5th grade so that children are free to be with their families and/or pursue their hobbies after the regular school day is over. Also, the school is year-round so there are 40+ extra school days over which to stretch the curriculum. This allows the students to engage in academic practice, i.e., ''homework'', IN school and supervised, with immediate feedback from the teachers. Beacon Day School believes wholeheartedly that young children should be allowed to be creative and be given time for play and leisure, not to mention the arts. Beacon also offers a strong music, visual art and dance curriculum. Our daughter loves Beacon. She has attended Beacon for the past 4 years, and we find that the developmental-progressive and wonderfully warm and diverse school culture has allowed her to thrive both academically and socio-emotionally. Please check out Beacon: www.beaconday.org. For further questions about our family's experience, please feel free to ask the moderator for my contact information. A happy Beacon Day School parent Check out Beacon Day School in Oakland! No homework for kids in grades K through 4. Our daughter is in the third grade and we have been delighted with this very sensible policy. Beacon is a year-round school running on a trimester system, so kids get 225 days of school a year (50-60 more days than other schools). Take a look at Beacon's website for more information. Ann B Hands-on, no-homework private/charter elementary? We're looking at private and charter schools for our son entering kindergarten next fall. While I haven't entirely formed my philosophy about elementary school, I'm leaning towards hands-on, interactive, project-based schooling with no or very little homework. I like elements of Montessori and emergent curricula. Focus on non-cognitive/social skills is a must. Field trips, language, arts, science - yes! Sitting stuck at a desk all day doing worksheets - no! If it's a private school, lower tuition would definitely be a big plus. We will apply for financial aid, but doubt we would get enough to make it work once our younger son heads to elementary. I'm exploring schools on my own, but thought I would throw out this general question to see if any hidden gems emerge. Also, my husband is interested in Catholic school for the cost savings, but I can't imagine those meeting the criteria above. Please let me know your recommendations for private/Catholic and charter schools. North Oakland-Richmond area (I-80 corridor) preferred. Thank you! The search begins.... Hi. I don't know about an elementary School that fits your interests. The East Bay School for Boys in Berkeley sounds like it would be an ideal School for your family, however, its a middle School (Grades 6-8). Perhaps you can contact them. I'm sure they would have insight into elementary schools with a similar philosophy/programming. They also host a speaker series called Boys 2 Men that hosts panelists from like minded Schools/programs. You could always get on their mailing list. Happy EBSB parent Urban Montessori is the school you want then. A public charter school in Oakland, the school was founded on Montessori/Design Thinking philosophies. Hands on, project based with no homework is pretty much the exact model of the school. For more information visit http://www.urbanmontessori.org/about/our-mission UMCS parent Why don't you take a look at Prospect Sierra ? There is an unbelievably good social and emotional program, and virtually no homework in K. Homework starts in first grade, but it takes my kid only ten minutes a night (at most) and he enjoys it. The academics are superb; and he is making art and friends to boot. They also have a very generous financial aid program. If your kid is a good fit, I'm sure they'll make it work. Happy PS Parent Please consider Archway School in Oakland. My son started there last year in kindergarten and is now in first grade. It is a truly amazing school. It is small, intimate and wonderful. The teachers/staff are absolutely the heart and soul of the school. They are devoted, motivated, kind and loving. We came to Archway from a very well-known montessori-based school.....and Archway is light years better. Please call Michelle, Admissions Director, at (510) 547-4747. You need to do a tour and meet the teachers....you won't get a feel by driving by campus. The facility is irrelevant. The teachers are everything. Very happy mom You should put Walden School on your list. It's a very small K-6 school established in 1958. It's near downtown Berkeley and it definitely qualifies as a ''hidden gem.'' The tuition is lower than average because of the light-weight administrative structure of the school, and scholarships are available, so there are many families at the school with modest means, especially young artsy families. Wealthy families are there too but I would say they are in the minority. The homework policy at Walden was described to me as ''gentle'' when we first visited - it was a priority of mine, too. This has turned out to be very accurate. But at the same time I have been impressed with the amount of knowledge and academic confidence that our son, now in the 6th grade, has acquired. The best part about Walden is the teachers. Unlike most other schools, Walden does not have a director or Head of School or principal -- the teachers collectively share in the decision making, so they really believe in the mission and are dedicated to a degree that I have not seen in any of the schools my 3 kids have attended, both public and private. Most are ''lifers.'' And by the way, the performing arts program at Walden is like none other in the Bay Area and has been a major factor in our child's growth. It's an incubator for local highschool-level theater groups. Walden is a school that really walks the walk -- what you get is way more than what you see. Walden isn't for everybody, but if it's right for your family, you'll be in paradise! GO I want to recommend Crestmont Cooperative . It meets all your criteria with a special emphasis on hands-on learning, nature-oriented exploration, family involvement, social/identity development, and project-based curriculum. There are plenty of field trips and opportunities for children throughout K-5 to interact with each other, including a buddy exchange. The tuition is about half tha of many private schools, and you can even ''participate'' to get a further tuition deduction if you don't qualify for financial aid. It is a diverse, warm and friendly learning environment in the Richmond Hills. A Happy Parent and Child I can highly recommend checking out Crestmont School on the Arlington in the Richmond View neighborhood! I have had 2 daughters go there (youngest is a current 5th grader) and the balance of field trips, language arts, reading, spanish, music, and PLAY time is fabulous. The teachers are creative, fun, and get the kids out into the world to explore and experience their community. It is a parent owned co-op, so the community is very strong and involved, which means every child is seen and heard. For your husband concerns, the cost is 50% less than other private schools because of the co-op structure. We LOVE the Kindergarten teacher, who is so warm and caring and fun (we actually love ALL the teachers!!). A great way to enter elementary school. One of the best parts of Crestmont is the ability to adapt to each child, and their learning needs. The homework for a 5th grader is less than 15 min a night, and then reading each day.. no pressures or 3 hour evenings of homework. My other daughter, who graduated from Crestmont, is an 8th grader and is thriving educationally, as well as socially, and loves going to her school, which I credit Crestmont in helping give her the love of learning, and the environment to grow. scott Hello, I think Walden Center & School in Berkeley may be a good match for your description. This is a small, arts-based, project-oriented school. There is a some homework but it's not excessive. My daughter in 2nd grade has one assignment each week, and my son in 4th grade has homework 2-3 times per week. As I recall, in kindergarten there may be homework such as: once a week, 'draw a picture of a story you're reading.' The teachers are thoughtful, engaged, and creative. Education is integrated between arts & academics. For example, in first grade my son's class had an Ancient Egypt segment that integrated history, visual arts, language, math, and even a dress-up event. The kids bring home so much art I have nowhere to put it all! The school has a strong music and drama program as well. Also, Walden is cheaper than most private schools. To keep costs down, there is mandatory volunteer work - parents maintain the grounds, clean the school, handle administrative tasks and more. Many families get financial aid. You can find tuition and admissions info on the website, here: http://www.walden-school.net Good luck! Walden parent The description of what you are looking for in a school fits very well with what our family has experienced at Berkwood Hedge . The biggest strength of this school is its teachers, every one of whom seems beautifully in tune with both individual children's development and the social and emotional needs of groups of children as they progress through elementary school. It is a place where both children and adults can bring their passions and interests into the curriculum. My third grader has come home recently discussing the impacts of plastic downcycling on what can be reasonably recycled, and he was the person who made sure our family watched the presidential debate so he could better understand the U.S. political process. But as important as those topics are, and as passionate as he has become about them, he was even more excited about creating Balobbyland, an imaginary world for centimeter tall creatures (and in so doing he became more fluent in multiplication and measurement). The teachers really ''get'' children, and this is evident in the excitement with which the kids take up challenging projects and ideas. Art, music, and PE are treated as necessary and important parts of education rather than as extras, and my children love all of their specialist teachers (in addition to those three, there are also Spanish and environmental science specialists). The social environment of the school is really sweet, both because the school is small and because of how the teachers work to support social development. My kindergartener comes home telling me about her third grade friends. The fact that a crew of third graders will happily play with the kindergarteners at recess (and teach them how to braid, do cartwheels, and a host of other things) is both surprising and heartwarming to me. There is a real sense that everyone at the school cares for everyone else. You mentioned preferring no homework, and there is in fact some at Berkwood Hedge. But I'm a no homework supporter myself, but I don't find the limited homework inappropriate or overly time consuming. The teachers use homework judiciously, for specific purposes. Good luck in your school search! I hope you find a good match for your family as we have for ours. Happy BH Parent Well, a charter school right in your target zone is NOCCS. However, over the past few years, it has shifted to an intensive homework/teach to the test school. Just a suggestion to ''do your homework'' so to speak (no pun intended) and go beyond the hype of various schools' advertised claims and find out what's really happening on the ground. Good luck! Educator One school you will want to look into is Crestmont School in Richmond View. Our son graduated from Crestmont four years ago. After coming from a school that emphasized frequent and escalating test-taking, we were looking for a school that had instead a hands-on, experiential learning focus. We found that focus at Crestmont, where there were wonderful field trips, hands-on projects, and creativity incorporated into the daily learning. There was also a community focus at Crestmont, and the mixed-age classrooms (he was in the 2-3 class and then the 4-5 class in his 3 years at Crestmont), excellent teachers, parent involvement, small class size, and many community events really added to his (and our) experience at this school. As working parents, we were also very appreciative of the caring environment of the before/after school program. Crestmont Alum Family We were in your position last year, searching for a Kindergarten for our son with many of the same qualities you're seeking. Archway School in Oakland has been a wonderful fit for our family and I hope you'll take a look at it. Archway is an independent, progressive school with two campuses: K-4 in Oakland and 5-8 in Berkeley. Classes are small and multi-age with a maximum of 16 students, so there is no possibility of falling through the cracks. Archway is a warm, tight-knit community and our son is really thriving there. All the students know one another and the older kids look out for and mentor the younger ones. If you read the school's goals on their website www.archwayschool.org you'll see that one is to prepare students both academically and socially. Particularly at the K age, the school recognizes how crucial social-emotional development is and actively fosters it. Across all grades there are community building efforts, both at the school level, then at the surrounding community level, and of course, the larger world. There is no homework in K and the homework for other grades seems very reasonable, with no busywork assigned. The ''h'' in Archway stands for ''hands-on learning'' and project-based learning is key to academics at the school. In my son's class there is plenty of opportunity to move around, both in the classroom and at recesses, plus there is scheduled PE time. In addition to the math, reading, writing, social studies, and science that are part of the K/1 curriculum, all students also have Spanish, music, and art classes. We've been very pleased with the enthusiasm and creativity of all the instructors at Archway. Our biggest problem is getting our son to leave school at the end of the day and reassuring him, when he wants to go to Archway on the weekends, that Monday will come soon enough. Call(510)547-4747 to reserve your spot at the K-4 information meeting on Sat., Nov. 10, 10AM-12PM. Free childcare is provided. You can also sign up for a K-4 school tour (adults only) on many Thursdays, including Oct. 25, Nov. 1, 8, 29, Dec. 6, 13, and Jan. 10, 17, 24. Best of luck in your search. Happy at Archway Wow, you could be describing Crestmont School ! My son is in 2nd grade at Crestmont, and I can tell you it has everything you are looking for. The curriculum is hands on and project based, fostering critical thinking and engagement. Class sizes are small, allowing teachers to work with different learning styles and not be forced into a ''one-size-fits-all'' approach. There are 1 to 2 field trips every month! There is no homework in K or 1st grade, and very little in the other grades. Art instruction is integrated into the curriculum, and there are Spanish classes, PE and music several times a week. There is also a learning specialist. There is a very high importance placed on social-emotional learning at Crestmont; the teachers create this curriculum together based on current research and proven practices. My son feels very safe and respected at Crestmont, and has displayed some impressive conflict resolution skills. Because Crestmont is a parent cooperative, the tuition is around half that of other independent private schools. There are coop responsibilities each family has to fulfill, but they are not onerous, and there is a real sense of community that develops from the coop structure. And, Crestmont is minutes off I-80 in the hills of Richmond. There are upcoming tours and information events; see our website (http://crestmontschool.org/). I hope you'll check out the school, I think you will love it! Crestmont parent You mentioned that you weren't sure about the educational philosophy that most appeals to you. Given your interest in emergent curriculum and project-based schooling, you might want to explore progressive education. Reading Alfie Kohn's books / articles are a great place to start. Here is a wonderful list of his writings from his website:http://www.alfiekohn.org/books.htm. There are a number of schools in the East Bay with a progressive education philosophy. We were similarly interested in a creative, engaged learning environment and ended up choosing Aurora School in Oakland off Broadway Terrace. Aurora is dedicated to progressive education, has multi-graded classrooms (K/1, 2/3, and 4/5 -- students loop with the same teacher for two years), fabulous specialist teachers (music, art, Spanish, movement, PE, woodshop, computers, library), an INCREDIBLE library (10,000 volumes -- the same size as or bigger than many large public elementary schools with five times the number of students and an amazing librarian who sat on the Newberry Medal committee two years ago), and a lovely community of families. A few of the reasons Aurora appealed to us (and why we've been so happy with the school) include: *Aurora's very strong emphasis on social and emotional development which is an integral part of the curriculum and culture of the school. Children learn who they are as individuals and as part of a community. They are supported in discovering what kind of learners they are and where their interests lie. There is also a conflict resolution process, and all the kids learn how to express their feelings and resolve conflicts. My son has felt so safe there and has such a beautiful sense of belonging. *There is no rote learning, no teaching to the test, and no worksheets at Aurora. The curriculum is very creative, and children are actively engaged in student-centered, hands-on learning. *No homework in kindergarten and first grade. Starting in second grade there is a weekly homework packet that takes a total of 30-90 minutes per week (depending on the week and the child). There is more homework in 4th and 5th grade, but it is fairly minimal, relevant, and the intention is to prepare students for middle school homework. I am not a fan of homework in general, and we haven't found it to be particularly burdensome at all (my son is now in 4th grade). *12:1 max student:teacher ratio. Every classroom has two full-time teachers. This is a huge advantage in my opinion. So much of the time in younger grades is spent managing behavior (even if the kids aren't particularly unruly, they have to transition from one activity to the next, listen, focus, etc.). When you have two teachers, one can TEACH and the other can help children settle and/or manage any difficult behaviors without constantly interrupting the flow of the lesson. *Multi-grade classrooms: this means your child stays with the same teachers for two years. This is wonderful for the child who becomes really well known by his teachers. They are able to cater to his learning style and give him support where he needs it and challenge him where he needs it. *Aurora is a small school with a cozy, nurturing environment, but it also has a large enough social pool to allow for lots of connections and friendships among the kids. There are many opportunities for older children to mentor younger children, and many kids develop friendships across grade levels (the multiage classrooms help with this too!). *Aurora's art, movement, music and Spanish programs are wonderful and fully integrated into the curriculum. For example, when the kindergartners are studying tress, they might sketch trees in their art class or use bark and leaves in creative ways, learn about different kinds of wood in woodshop, and learn songs and dances about trees in music and movement (Aurora has woodshop which is a much loved, wonderfully creative part of the curriculum and a huge favorite among the kids). *There is a genuine culture of kindness among the children at Aurora. The older kids are so gentle and sweet with the little ones, and many younger children count older children among their friends. We love that aspect of the school. The best way to know whether a school would be a good fit for your child and family is to visit. Aurora is having an open house on Thursday, November 8 from 7 pm to 9 pm, and tours are scheduled from November through January on Wednesday and Friday mornings. You can just come to the open house, or feel free to contact the admissions director Lisa Piccione at (510) 428-2606. Like you, we were looking for an elementary education for our children that would expose them to all the highlights of the youngest years of learning: a focus on core elements of science and math, an immersion in art, an introduction to music and the foreign languages, AND we wanted it all tied together in a community that would surround and envelop my son with a smart mix of warmth, encouragement and the teaching of real-world decision-making skills. We found that, and have been for six years at Crestmont School on the Arlington Ave. in the Richmond Hills/El Cerrito boarder. Though we considered homeschooling, what changed my mind was the breadth of focus at Crestmont: the abundance of fieldtrips, the chance to study and play outdoors in a multivenue learning environment, the focus on the fact that different children learn differently and the ability to tailor teaching methods based on that principle. There's also a strong focus on taking care of one another and genuinely welcoming those around us, no matter how different they may be. Last week was anti-bullying day, and every child wore bright orange to show that not only are they against bullying, but more importantly, they can recognize what it is and take a stand against it. Crestmont is a parent teacher co-op, so there's a real hand-in-hand aspect to building the right kind of environment together. It's been a hidden gem. Shhhh! Susie A I highly recommend The Berkeley School (formerly Berkeley Montessori School) in Berkeley. Our son is in 3rd grade and has been at TBS since Kindergarten and we absolutely love it. The teachers, administrators and community of families at this school are incredible. There is a lot of emphasis on reading and writing in the early years as well as hands-on experiences for science and math. There is virtually no homework, tests or sitting behind desks in the first few years. What we appreciate the most is that they teach the kids how to learn and why learning is empowering and important. To do this they give the kids the freedom and personalized guidance to build on their gifts and confront their challenges.The school is located on University Avenue just a few blocks from I-80. Check out the website (http://www.theberkeleyschool.org/) for more information. -Arash Sara In addition to the many wonderful schools mentioned last week, you should pay a visit to The Berkeley School (formerly Berkeley Montessori School). We interviewed many of the schools that were recommended, and were impressed by the thoughtfulness and dedication of each one, but TBS stood out for its deeply pragmatic pedagogy (not the last time you'll hear that word...), its continued investment in its teaching staff, and the integrity of its administration. Mitch Bostian (head of school) and Zaq Roberts (K-5 division head) are each your favorite English teacher, ever, now having moved into administrative roles to bring their experience and amazing talents to bear on the entire school. TBS is both well-funded and well-managed enough to offer significant financial aid to support an economic diversity of families. To us, it felt like home. See if it feels the same to you. A TBS Family I highly encourage you to check out Montessori Family School . It has both a Preschool (in Berkeley) and a K-8 campus (in El Cerrito). Both of our children started in the preschool and are now in elementary school. We didn't start our search looking for a Montessori school, but feel so lucky to have found it. The Montessori philosophy has all of the elements you mention Cb and through that, our children have grown in so many dimensions that I couldn't have anticipated. Check out the video on the home page: www.montessorifamily.com to see how MFS puts Montessori into action. It is really a wonderful spot. Highly Recommend MFS Seeking schools that have no homework, or much less We're looking for elementary, possibly middle, & possibly high schools that do not have homework or much less than the standard school. I've heard Beacon Day School doesn't have any for the K-5 years. Are there any others? Is it possible that any public schools follow that policy? How about middle school or even high school? I keep reading more articles about the growing realization that homework does not make that much of a difference in how kids learn and test on various school subjects. As a parent of an elementary school child, I can see the benefits of learning time management, but frankly, the homework seems overly redundant and more like busy work. I'm also really feeling like homework takes away from the experiences outside of academics that really help to shape us as well rounded, critical thinkers. Would love to hear of any schools that parents have found recognize that and have worked out a curriculum for that. DONE with homework Check out The Renaissance School if you want a school that gives no homework. It's a pre-school through middle school Montessori school located in the Dimond District in Oakland. We too were appalled at the amount of homework even Kindergarteners get in many schools, both public and private, and have felt that The Renaissance School is refreshing in its approach to education. The Renaissance School has a wonderful program, including strong foreign language, music, and art. The elementary kids start their day at 8am with a half an hour of singing. The regular school day ends at 3:30pm for the elem kids, but they can stay as late as 6pm either continuing to work on things from earlier in the day, or engaging in many addition interesting activities. The only thing the elementary children are required to do outside of school is regular reading which we think is a good thing. TRS Parent I assume that many have viewed the excellent film ''Race to Nowhere'' as it raises the issue of overworked kids. I'd recommend it to anyone who shares your concerns about saturating a young student's time. I am a college professor (15 years teaching) and I have seen in the past ten years freshmen students' capacity for reflection and unstructured problem-solving diminish severely and alarmingly. And, I think much of this problem is due to incredibly structured formative years -- homework, grades, and too many after school classes/activities at the expense of ''free'' time. I will be looking at the posts regarding your question about middle and high schools because I have the same concerns as you. My own child attends Crestmont School (El Cerrito/Richmond hills). It is a K-5 Cooperative and supports the idea that kids and their families do interesting and educational things during free time. The cooperative nature of the school means parents are engaged in the education of their children and work with the teachers on all aspects of the school. Homework is limited in scope, it increases slightly by grade level to gently introduce the concept of organizing one's time and meeting deadlines as preparation for middle school. But the work is often given in a weekly packet (not daily) and is more creative than the worksheets that I see friends' children doing nightly for public school. My third grader is able to adjust his homework around other activities and he has time to play and relax after school. He actually has time to engage all of the educational toys and books that we have amassed over the years and that he works on self-initiated creative projects -- plus a little homework -- tells me that balance is there for him. My third grader chooses to film and edit his own movies, composes music, reads books, and builds ridiculously complicated Lego structures --all after school because he has time to do it. Crestmont honors the spirit of childhood encouraging fantasy, play, and imagination which I think allows each child's spirit to flourish in his or her young years and beyond. Crestmont has no formal grades nor tests and assessment is performed in written narratives, progress matrices, and parent-teacher meetings. If there are doubts about this style of education, Crestmont can show that our kids have historically done very well when they have matriculated to traditional academic settings in private or public middle schools. If you are interested in K-5, you can find more info about Crestmont at crestmontschool.org Parent at Crestmont I'm glad you also asked about public schools, for there definitely are some that are actively moving away from having tons of homework. We have a 4th grader at a BUSD school in which the admin and teachers have made a school-wide commitment toward reducing homework for all the kids. Of course the actual homework will be somewhat dependent on the teacher, but I know that it's discussed, encouraged and facilitated at our school. Our son, for example, has reading to do and music he should practice daily, but other than that, he has about 15 minutes a day of something from a weekly packet. Occasionally he'll have a short math review page as well. He has plenty of time to play and relax after school and on weekends, which is absolutely essential for his mental health. [ours as well] Ask the principals/directors of the schools you tour, and ask about the policies per grade, and even if teachers have some leeway in what they assign. You may find out more specifically if a school has a ''no homework'' policy or actually just a ''minimal homework'' policy. Good luck! -happy BUSD parent You should definitely take a look at The Berkeley School . I share your views on homework, and you will find that the teachers and administrators at TBS feel the same way. There is basically no homework prior to 4th grade, and very manageable amounts for 4th through 8th grades. More importantly, the homework that is sent home is always thoughtful, and builds on something being done during the school day/week rather than just being busy work. Our Head of School thinks that kids' homework should actually be ''the work of the home,'' as he calls it -- kids helping out, being with family, recharging their batteries. I am happy to talk to you personally about our experience at The Berkeley School if you would like. j.s The Montessori Family School (MFS), 7075 Cutting Blvd., El Cerrito, 510-236-8802, has a very reasonable approach to homework. There is very little outside work in the early grades and it increases in a way that is manageable. I have relatives who attend public school in Berkeley and the West Contra Costa School Districts and the amount of homework they have from even kindergarten is very excessive. It really cuts into family time during the week when things are busy anyway. I was so happy to learn about MFS's policy of not piling on the homework so that students can enjoy their families and participate in activities that are educational within the context of family activities. I am relieved to know that we will not be robbed of family time while my child is a student at MFS. Give them a call and learn more. The school is great. Happy parent I want to recommend Walden School in Berkeley as a school with a ''gentle'' homework policy. I am not sure what happens in K-3 at Walden because we have just started this year for the 4th grade. But homework in 4th grade is MUCH more reasonable and also MUCH more thoughtful than what we have experienced in public school or other private schools. There is reading a book of his choice every night, as in other schools. There is a weekly project due on Weds. customized to tie into instruction for the week. Example this week is writing about pros/cons of California's aqueduct system. Then there is one short nightly assignment which alternates between math and language arts that takes an inattentive, distracted kid 30-45 min., for example a couple pages in the math workbook. There is no busy work, no brainless discouraging stuff, none of the xeroxed sheets we'd grown used to in the past. Sometimes homework still doesn't get done, and the Walden teachers will sit with my son the next day to work on it. They also check his assignment book every day, adding notes as needed. I really like the way they do things at Walden. G. Looking for schools with no homework policy I'm encouraged that there are now discussions taking place about homework for grade school children. My daughter will be entering kindergarten in 2 years, and I am now researching schools, both public and private. Ideally, I would like her to be in a progressive school that does not assign homework for children until 6th grade. I know that Beacon Day School has such a policy, and I am wondering about others. Please share your knowledge of various schools' policies on homework, and at what grade assignment of homework begins. Thank you! Looking for recommendations This is a very timely question. There was an essay by Peggy Orenstein in yesterday's New York Times magazine about finding an East Bay school for her child that does not give homework in kindergarten - see ''Kindergarten Cram'' http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03wwln-lede-t.html?ref=magazine I asked this question when I was looking at kindergartens three years ago, because I have already been through the homework nightmare with two older kids and was anxious to avoid it for as long as possible. At that time, Head Royce didn't give homework till 2nd or 3rd grade, and St. Paul's until 2nd. I'm sure there must be others as well (and you already know about Beacon.) But if you don't want your 4 or 5 year old to have homework, then you probably are not going to like public school. My friends with kids in Berkeley and Oakland public schools have all been dealing with homework since the get-go. And there are some school districts that are even crazier. We have friends in the San Ramon school district whose kindergarter proudly showed us her homework, which was to write a story about what she did over the weekend and illustrate it. This was in the fall, at the beginning of the year! She did a lovely job, obviously a bright and talented child. But I was trying to picture my own son dealing with this assignment -- he could barely write his name legibly in kindergarten and couldn't compose a sentence until halfway through the 2nd grade. How would a kid like mine feel about daily pressure to do something he is not developmentally able to do? I imagine it would be very stressful and defeating. My son is now in 2nd grade at St. Paul's, which we chose partly because of their homework policy, although it turned out that halfway through first grade, the kids began to get homework ''to prepare them for 2nd grade''. Argh. The homework assignments are modest, and expected to take only 15 or 20 minutes, but my child is not exactly Mr. Speedy when it comes to math and spelling, and who wants to come home from ''work'' anyway and do more work? Many days, resistance and procrastination can easily stretch a 15-minute task out to hours, often extending the school day well into dinner time. This is not fair to my kid or to our family life! I honestly don't see the point of homework until 4th grade at least. I hope others on the list have suggestions for you about schools that are more enlightened about homework. Tired Mom Ah, homework. Yeah, we hate it too, kind of. As far as the policies in different schools go, our own public school experience has been that it largely depends on the teacher. Our school [a small BUSD school] sends home a sheet at the beginning of the year letting parents know what's expected and why, and honestly, I was surprised that it wasn't more. [I was told to expect a lot and, for my 2nd grader, it states 10 - 25 minutes]. In Kindergarten, my son had no homework to speak of, while the other class had a little packet of coloring that was due at the end of the week. First grade was the worst for us. While the other class had one or two [very easy] worksheets, my son's class had a [thoughtfully done] note of instructions, which required him to actually write stuff himself instead of just filling in worksheet blanks. For a kid who hates writing, it was the worst. This year, he has one or two worksheets [still only M-Th] which take him minutes to do. While I think they demand way less imagination than last year, they're also way easier. And, like last year, he's expected to spend some time reading. The idea of homework - letting us know what they're up to in class, and developing habits that will take a kid into later school years - is OK with me. However, I'd like more clear flexibility and communication between parents and teachers about it. In first grade, for example, when my son had such a hard time due to his ''blank page'' anxiety, I wish the teacher had made it clear earlier on that we could help with the parts that were structurally difficult for our kids. It took us a long time to figure out that we, his parents, could turn his blank page into kind of a worksheet, which wasn't then so intimidating for him. And about the time expectations - of course that's going to end up different for every child. My kid would take hours last year just fighting the process. Once he began it, the work itself didn't take long. We learned not to sweat it too much. His teachers seem to care more about it this year, although a lot of kids in our class still don't do it. One last note: at our school, the afterschool program has a guided 'academic hour' [after an hour of enrichment] during which the separate grades read and work on homework. When my son goes, he almost always finishes his work, with no complaints. -j My experience at Berkeley Montessori has been no homework until 4th grade, and not a ton of it then. Even better, when my kids were in first through third grades the teachers would talk to them about ''homework'' being the work you do at home, and encourage the kids to talk about the kinds of things they did at home as contributing members of their family. Setting the table, making their beds, helping with dishes, emptying the waste baskets...kids all had different things that they did that varied with their ages and their families, but I really liked how talking about it this way both set an expectation about kids helping out and honored their contributions. Ann Like you, we don't feel that homework is helpful to our young kids. Happily, we have found a school that doesn't assign homework until 4th grade (and then not very much), and de-emphasizes testing and grades, while emphasizing individualized learning. The school is Berkeley Montessori School , which has a campus for 3- and 4-year-olds and another for K-8. Their website is http://www.bmsonline.org/. A happy BMS family that enjoys our homework-free evenings together 142 IMAGES No homework policy for CBSE and ICSE board No Homework Policy Elementary School Pays Attention To The Research And Does Away With 5 Alternatives to Traditional Homework in 2021 Fed up with the tension over homework, some schools are opting out Why I’m against the no-homework policy that schools are adopting COMMENTS Schools try no-homework policies amid complaints about overload College de Saint-Ambroise, an elementary school in Quebec, is the latest school to ban homework, announcing this week that it would try the new policy for a year. The decision came after officials ... If Elementary Schools Say No to Homework, What Takes Its Place? The so-called "no homework" movement is focused on elementary grades, but framing the choice as "no homework vs. homework" is misguided, according to Maurice Elias of Rutgers University and co-author of Emotionally Intelligent Parenting and The Joys and Oys of Parenting. "Ideally, we want children to understand that they are always learners. Students' mental health: Is it time to get rid of homework in schools? For older students, Kang says, homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night. "Most students, especially at these high achieving schools, they're doing a minimum of three hours, and it's ... Here's Why No Homework Policies Don't Work The Argument for No Homework Policies. The most common argument made for no-homework policies is that homework does not improve academic achievement. A Duke University meta-analysis of homework ... Should US Public Schools Eliminate Homework? In fact, by high school, the average time teenagers spend on homework is now 3 hours and 58 minutes a night, up from 2 hours and 38 minutes — an increase of 51 percent — over the past several decades. The reason for this, say pro-homework teachers and administrators, is to raise the scores of U.S. students on standardized tests. No Homework Policy At The Country School, children have no homework until the second trimester of 5th grade. There is no evidence of a clear connection between homework, improved test scores and academic achievement in the lower grades. Traditional homework also limits valuable family time, and may even be detrimental to students' mental health. Once homework ... Should Homework Be Banned in Schools? Bans proposed and implemented in the U.S. and abroad. The struggle of whether or not to assign homework is not a new one. In 2017, a Florida superintendent banned homework for elementary schools in the entire district, with one very important exception: reading at home. The United States isn't the only country to question the benefits of ... Homework is pointless. Here's what you should do instead But ultimately, the best replacement for homework is, simply, a parent or caregiver's attention. "Spend time with them and see them as people. At school, they operate as a herd, and as hard as ... Teachers, parents just say no to elementary school homework Two years later, Young is teaching second grade at a new school, A.G. Elder Elementary School in Joshua, Texas. She is still not assigning formal homework — though she has tweaked her policy a ... Amid Growing Debate About Homework, One School Bans It A Texas elementary school teacher last month drew wide attention by eliminating homework. Brandy Young, 2nd-grade teacher at an elementary school in Godley, wrote parents in a letter shared widely ... This school without grades or homework has a 98% college ... Tavenner says. "And the power of those three questions is actually asking about each individual student.". No homework. Grades you can change. This school is challenging everything about our approach to education - and it's working with a 98% college acceptance rate. Thinking About a No Homework Policy? Here's What You Should Know The teacher decides the amount of homework to be given and should do so based on the classroom's and school's needs. After all, all schools are different because no one school serves the same ... Should More Schools Adopt a "No Homework on Weekends" Policy? Schools in Princeton, New Jersey, began implementing one homework-free weekend each semester in 2015, in part to give students more time to pursue interests and passions outside of school. Other New Jersey schools limit the number of minutes students should spend on homework each night. In Hinsdale, Illinois, one high school began offering ... Editorial: Kids can learn well without homework or rigid deadlines Mastery-based or 'specs' learning bases grades on what kids learn, not on whether they behave well. And now it's starting up at L.A. Unified schools. More Seattle schools adopt 'no homework' policy Updated:7:39 PM PDT September 9, 2016. The no-homework movement is growing in Seattle. A letter went home to parents at Whittier Elementary notifying them of the new school-wide "no homework ... Do No-Zero Policies Help or Hurt Students? July 3, 2018. With a no-zero grading policy, the glass is always half full. The controversial grading policy—which is rising in popularity across the country—sets the lowest possible grade for any assignment or test at 50 percent, even when students turn in no work at all. Schools systems like Fairfax County Public Schools and the ... No assignments. No tests. No grades. It's "no problem" for Bothell school Since Clearwater is a democracy, and all students have rights no matter how old they are, both votes are counted. Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or [email protected]. Linda Shaw: lshaw@seattletimes ... No homework policy schools : r/StLouis Homework doesn't have "devastating effects on home life" lol. At worst it has no impact on educational outcomes. There is also evidence that working from home is good for employee productivity, but if your employer asks you to come to the office, you can't just not do it and expect to keep getting a paycheck.... Teacher creates no-homework policy so students can enjoy family time Kids across the country are heading back to school, but in a small Texas town, one second-grade teacher is making a big promise. Take Action SF: Mayor, city leaders on the future of city Full Story Charter schools without homework? (Phoenix, Mesa: fit in, homes Are there any very challenging charter or public schools on the west side with a "no homework" policy for elementary school students? 10-08-2013, 05:33 AM observer53 : Location: Metro Phoenix, AZ USA. 17,914 posts, read 43,404,840 times Reputation: 10726. I'll be curious to see what you find. ... Which Schools Have No Homework? Archway is an independent, progressive school with two campuses: K-4 in Oakland and 5-8 in Berkeley. Classes are small and multi-age with a maximum of 16 students, so there is no possibility of falling through the cracks. Archway is a warm, tight-knit community and our son is really thriving there. Is a 'no homework' policy beneficial for students? A Review of Educational Research published in 2006found homework does have a positive effect on student achievement but the correlation depends on the student's age. Homework has a more positive ... Elektrostal Pool «Kristall» - school of the Olympic reserve: diving, synchronized swimming, swimming. Home arena hockey team Kristall Elektrostal - Ledovyi Dvorets Sporta «Kristall» in 1995 year. The city ice hockey team Kristall Elektrostal was established in 1949 and plays in the Junior Hockey League Division B. Notable people Nikolay Vtorov Street essay homework paper phd project resume review speech study thesis