Just For The Record…
I’ve been reading the second part of The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish. And, after sitting in the neurologist office for 4 and a half hours today, you can figure, I made some good progress.
Anyway, one of the most important parts of Part Two of this book is this, “KNOW YOUR SCHOOL SYSTEMS POLICY ON HOMEWORK”. I’m sure you can see that it all starts and ends with that simple bit of information.
So, I came home and went straight to the “handbook”, you know the one they mailed me a page out of because my child was kept out of school and marked unexcused…yea, that “handbook” and it took me about 3 seconds to locate the topic “homework” in the front of the book.
Off to page 37 I go, looking for some information regarding MY SCHOOL SYSTEMS POLICY. I was expecting something substantial. Here’s what I got:
Homework
The classroom teacher shall be left with the authority to determine actual homework assignments consistent with Walker County Board of Education Policies and Guidelines.
So, I am now in search of “Walker County Board of Education Policies and Guidelines” which….as of yet….doesn’t exist. If this handbook that I’m looking at that is labeled “2008 - 2009 Student Handbook Walker County Schools” is not the same thing as “Walker County Policies and Guidelines”, I’m not sure where else to look?
I’m no dummy. This is their way of ducking the issue. If a parent complains (and I’m sure she (me) will), she will be told that the homework assignments are left to the authority of the teachers within the guidelines of the WCBE Policies and Guidelines which says that the teacher has the authority to decide.
See, if I were a dummy, I couldn’t have even typed that last sentence and expected someone to think it made sense. Go figure!
October 10th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Now that is interesting. You’d think that educators would know best about references to resources that don’t exist. Anyone who’s written a good research paper knows the importance of sources that lead somewhere… somehow, it seems, your school system doesn’t.
Good stuff [smile].
~Luke
October 11th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
WOW! I am thrilled that I found your blog and all of this great discussion about homework! Sara Bennet’s book is fabulous, and if more educators read it, oh what a better world it would be for millions of families. I speak to parents every day, and it’s the same story, “My daughter used to like to read, but now she hates it because she has to do so much homework.” Or, “My son no longer goes to karate because he has too much homework.” I know that parents are afraid to stand up and question homework policies, but they must do it. So many children have become reluctant readers, unhappy learners, and little stressed-out scholars. Sorry to go on and on! Keep up the discussion! http://www.family-homework-answers.com