Book Summary: Rethinking Homework

Rethinking Homework—Best Practices that Support Diverse Needs (Cathy Vatterott, ASCD 2009)

Chapter 1 The Cult(ure) of Homework

Vatterott is a professor of education and former middle school and high school teacher and middle school principal.  She begins by identifying homework as a long-standing tradition that began when school consisted mainly of reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Rote learning was the norm, and memorization and practice were easy for children to do at home.  But, homework has changed and now sometimes involves complex projects.  The problem is that learners are very diverse, yet most teachers continue to assign the same homework to all.  There have been research studies that give a positive effect size for homework (at least at the secondary level, see for example my book summary of Classroom Instruction That Works in which homework is one of the “notable nine”).  And there have been studies that don’t support homework.  So, who’s right?

Vatterott traces the history of American homework “policy” from the 19^th century to the modern day, explaining that it has gone back and forth from “there’s too much homework” to “there’s not enough homework.”  She refers to several books by various authors (Kralovic & Buell 2000, Kohn 2006, Bennett & Kalish 2006) that give an anti-homework stance.  Vatterott summarizes their arguments to conclude that the culture of homework is based on beliefs.

• Belief #1:  The role of the school is to extend learning beyond the classroom.
• Belief #2:  Intellectual activity is intrinsically more valuable than nonintellectual activity.
• Belief #3:  Homework teaches responsibility.
• Belief #4:  Lots of homework is a sign of a rigorous curriculum.
• Belief #5:  Good teachers give homework; good students do their homework.

Here are some more “beliefs” that influence our viewpoint on homework:

• Moralistic views:  Children are basically lazy and irresponsible.
• Puritan Work Ethic:  Hard work builds character.
• Behaviorism:  Homework completion can be controlled through rewards and punishments.

But, what if some of these beliefs are wrong?  Or, if not outright wrong, what if there’s more to the story with each of them?

     #1:  “Perhaps our role in extending learning beyond the classroom is to instill in students the value of learning and the joy of learning, and to expose them to the vastness of the universe—how much there is to learn.  Perhaps our role is to help students find something in life they feel passionate about and to help them find their purpose in society” (p. 10).

    #2:  “In reality, physical, emotional, and social activities are as necessary as intellectual activity in the development of healthy, well-rounded children” (p. 11).

    #3:  There is no research that supports that homework promotes responsibility, and really what people mean isn’t responsibility, but obedience.  In fact, homework doesn’t promote responsibility or time management because it has to be coerced by an adult.  To promote responsibility or time management we have to use tasks that give students responsibility.

    #4:  “More time does not necessarily equal more learning….  Rigor is challenge—but it is not necessarily the same challenge for each student” (pp. 12 – 13).

    #5:  This is a moral judgment based on faultily equating students who complete homework with being compliant and hardworking.  If a student lacks a supportive home environment to complete homework to the same standard as his peer, does that make him bad?

Chapter 2 Homework in the Context of the New Family

The context of school may have remained fairly stable over time, but families have changed greatly.  They are more economically and culturally diverse, family composition is more varied, and parenting styles and values may be “mismatched with the values of teachers and schools.”  With all of these changes it’s sort of ridiculous for schools (i.e., teachers and school leaders) to continue assigning homework in the same old way. 

Vatterott explores several ways in which parents (which in today’s family could mean grandparent, step parent, foster parent, sister, etc.) may hold different values than teachers:  not wanting to be a teacher’s “homework cop,” different beliefs about the place of academic work in life, balancing academics with family-chosen activities, the place of paid work.  And she explores the diversity of parent involvement in homework which often has a component of “haves” vs. “have-nots.” 

Vatterott has the following tough advice for teachers:

• Get real.  “Principals and teachers must accept that they are not totally in charge of a child’s free time and that they do not have the right to demand that parents be involved with and support homework” (p. 46).
• Resist the temptation to judge.  “Judging, blaming, and whining solves nothing.  Teachers must accept the limitations of parental involvement and find ways to work with the support they have” (p. 47).
• Revise expectations of parental support.  “Parents should not be expected to teach their child a new skill.  If the child has been given an assignment but has not yet acquired the skill, then the homework is inappropriate” (p. 48).
• Suggest (do not mandate) guidelines for the parent’s role in homework.  “Parents should be encouraged to be less involved with the child’s actual homework task and more involved in communicating with the teacher—writing notes when students don’t complete work, asking for adaptations, or documenting how much time the child spent on the task” (p. 48).
• Establish formal methods of parent-teacher communication.
• Set parents’ minds at ease about homework.  This refers to having a policy of no retribution against a student should a parent question a teacher about homework-related concerns, and a policy that no student can be failed because of incomplete homework.
• Endorse a set of inalienable homework rights.  (Quite frankly I’m still surprised that BHS has no homework policy when homework is such a ubiquitous and potentially harmful strategy if ineffectively used.)

Chapter 3 Homework Research and Common Sense

Vatterott examines several homework studies (some that are the same as those studied by Marzano and other meta-analysis researchers when they cite particular effect sizes).  She points out that the validity of the studies is problematic because of their design, and that any homework research should be weighed against common sense tenets.

• Tenet #1:  Quality Teaching Matters.  This includes organization and structure of the learning process, the teacher’s homework behavior, and the teacher’s attitude about homework.  That is, the effective of homework might greatly depend upon the general learning environment (is it orderly or chaotic, focused or distracting), how much and how often homework is given, if the homework is used to inform lessons, if nonpunitive feedback is given, and even a teacher’s comments or facial expressions in reaction to homework.
• Tenet #2:  Skills Require Practice.  Mastering a skill requires focused practice, but we must first make sure that students are practicing the skill correctly.  “We must give students adequate time to practice before we assume they have internalized the skill correctly” (p. 77).  We should use distributed practice instead of mass practice.
• Tenet #3:  Time on Task Matters.  But time spent on learning isn’t the same thing as time needed to learn.  If all students are assigned the same homework task, some will be disadvantaged.
• Tenet #4:  Task Is as Important as Time.  “Students make decisions about whether to attempt homework based on their assessment of the task.  Is the homework perceived to be interesting or boring, simple or tedious?” (p. 79).
• Tenet #5:  Learning Is Individual.  “Homework needs to be personalized to fit the specific needs of individual students” (p. 80).
• Tenet #6:  Children Differ in Readiness and Developmental Level.  Homework should be differentiated.
• Tenet #7:  Children Differ in Learning Style.  Teachers should provide choice and flexibility in homework tasks.
• Tenet #8:  Children Differ in Motivation, Persistence, and Organizational Skills.  Students who have a feeling of competence about learning are more likely to do homework.  This self-efficacy is strongly influenced by their past history of success or failure with homework tasks.  Students with self-concept are more likely to persist when faced with difficult tasks.  Those who have difficulty persisting might lack strategies or metacognitive skills. 
• Tenet #9:  Frustration Is Detrimental to Motivation and Desire to Learn.  Teachers should adapt homework assignments to provide opportunities for maximum success and minimum frustration.  Another idea is to make the assignment time-based:  the student is to work as much as she can in a given time, then stop. 
• Tenet #10:  Homework That Is Not Completed Doesn’t Help Learning. 

Chapter 4 Effective Homework Practices

The first half of the chapter discusses the “old paradigm” for homework which by now we know Vatterott claims doesn’t work.  For some students, it not only doesn’t work, but it’s outright damaging.  Goldberg (2007) discusses the “homework trap” in which late work or work not done leads to reduced points or zeros, which leads to lower grades, which leads to actions from parents and the school, which leads to counteractions by the students.  “The problem is cumulative and colors the experiences these children have with school, affecting their attitudes and performance in later years” (p. 92, citing Goldberg).  Stiggins (2007) reminds us that there is an “emotional dynamic” to assessment.  “Simply stated, the old paradigm short-circuits our long-term goals by allowing students to fail by not doing homework.  It creates practical and motivational obstacles that converge to form the perfect storm for student failure” (p. 94). 

The second half of the chapter deals with a “new paradigm.”  Its practices are:

• Designing quality homework tasks
• Differentiating homework tasks
• Moving from grading to checking
• Decriminalizing the grading of homework
• Using completion strategies
• Establishing homework support programs

Each practice is explained in quite a bit of detail.

Chapter 5 Homework Completion Strategies and Support Programs

This chapter deals with the last two practices of the new paradigm.  First, teachers will need to confront a fairly typical attitude that “all homework must be done.”  But, is that really true?  If we’re concerned with learning, shouldn’t our attitude be less about finishing work and more about demonstrating learning?  (p. 125)  Second, teachers need to change their question when they encounter students who don’t complete their homework.  It shouldn’t be “How can I make them do it?” but rather “Why aren’t they doing it?”  Possible reasons are:

• Academic—The task is too hard or too lengthy for the student’s working speed.
• Organizational—Getting it home, getting it done, getting it back
• Motivational—Overload, too much failure, frustration
• Situational—Unable to work at home, too many other activities, no materials available at home
• Personal—Depression, anxiety, family problems, other personal issues

Next, Vatterott gives several suggestions for how to improve the rate of homework completion:

• Limit homework to one assignment or one subject per night.
• Take time to discuss the homework assignment and give students a few minutes to begin in class.
• Avoid giving homework assignments at the end of the hour, when students are focused on leaving.
• Set a maximum amount of time that the student should work on each assignment.
• Provide peer tutors or study groups for some students.
• Assign students homework buddies.
• Give assignments further in advance of the due date.
• Provide homework packets or lists of weekly or monthly assignments.
• Establish intermittent due dates for parts of long-term projects.
• Allow some homework to lag two or three weeks behind the introduction of a concept to check for understanding.
• Make sure all students have the necessary materials at home to complete specific assignments.
• Use home-based strategies (e.g., parent or student feedback checklists, Home Study Plans, Taylor’s Homework Chain, Home Schedule Card) including providing a copy of the book to store at home or  giving parents specific guidelines on how to help.
• Be careful about using incentives.
• Force students to practice responsibility, not by using late policies and failing grades, but by requiring all homework to be completed.  The most effective support programs kick in when a student is missing just 2 or 3 assignments, not after they’re already far behind.  Also, effective programs aren’t punitive, for example they don’t cause students to miss their lunch with friends or to miss out on recess.  At BHS we’ve already accounted for this in the redesign plan with the creation of 7^th period, a 40-minute daily opportunity specifically to support students in completing the work assigned that day.  A related accommodation is for the school to develop a homework policy (e.g., each teacher would commit to not assigning more than 7 minutes of homework each day except in special and approved cases).  I say 7 minutes because if a student has six teachers during the day and each gave this amount of homework, then that would require 42 minutes of work time, already 2 minutes in excess of what 7^th period provides.  The challenge for teachers is to make the 7 minutes of homework/practice/study/reflection a worthwhile exercise for students.  And, since the 7^th period teacher’s effectiveness at being “homework cop” is probably not going to be any better than when parents try to be homework cop, classroom teachers will also have to pay attention to the other ideas mentioned in this book, to ensure that homework tasks are appropriate and engaging for students.

Remember, our overriding goal at BHS is to change our academic culture and this certainly includes moving to a culture where assigned tasks are completed, not avoided.  Each teacher needs to do his or her part to progress toward this goal including adapting homework policies and practices as needed.

All in all, this was a thought-provoking book and personally challenging for me since I’ve been a proponent of giving lots of homework in math class over the years.  But, I’ve found the arguments compelling, and I think BHS teachers should engage in some thoughtful reflection and dialogue about this issue.  We may find that there’s strong reason to change how we approach homework at our school.