WILMINGTON, MA — At a recent meeting, the Wilmington School Committee unanimously voted to create a homework policy subcommittee to examine the district’s current policy, which hasn’t been seriously looked at since 2012.
The Subcommittee, which will be chaired by Assistant Superintendent Sean Gallagher, will consist of School Committee members Jennifer Bryson, Peggy Kane, and Manny Mulas, as well as teachers and administrators representing each school. School Committee Chair Steve Bjork will serve as an alternate.
Based on initial discussions, the Homework Policy Subcommittee will create district-wide surveys on homework issues that will be sent to teachers, parents, and students. The Subcommittee will also review the work done by the previous Homework Policy Subcommittee, whose recommendations were never adopted back in 2012.
School Committee members were quick to emphasize two points — no changes are guaranteed and any change will take time.
“We’re just starting to look at [the homework policy] again. This is not a switch that’s going to be thrown overnight,” cautioned School Committee member Julie Broussard. “When kids return to school in the fall, yes, they’ll still have hewomrok. It takes some time to make some big changes.”
“And no one should assume we’re taking any homework away or changing anything. No one should make any assumptions,” quickly added School Committee member Peggy Kane, to which Broussard agreed.
“We have a homework policy on the books. I want the policy to be accurate and meaningful,” said Chair Steve Bjork. “This is not a 2-month project. I want teachers and administrators involved. I want a district-wide survey to teachers, parents and students. I want to do this right… My vision is obviously not an overnight process.”
Bjork did, however, express some uneasiness with the high school homework policy, which permits up to three hours of homework per night. He questioned how a student could realistically complete 180 minutes of homework after school, play a sport, be involved in a couple of clubs, and work a part-time job.
School Committee MJ Byrnes seemed to indicate she’d like to find a balance between too much homework and no homework at all.
“I’m trying to find that happy ground — kids do need time to disengage in order to be ready to learn,” she said, noting she looks forward to reading studies and research.
Assistant Superintendent Sean Gallagher stressed that any policy adopted would need to be embraced by the teachers on the ground. He also noted that the homework policy may need to be revisited frequently as innovations in education occur.
“[Creating a new homework policy] is going to be a long process. We’ll be working with principals, administrators, faculty and curriculum team leaders, collectively talking about it, doing different surveys, receiving feedback, and THEN developing a policy that works,” said Gallagher. “We’re moving into a 21st century learning environment. What homework looked like in 2011-2013 may look totally different now. Homework may continue to change.”
Gallagher also stressed the importance of differentiation, outlining a scenario where two teachers are covering the same lesson, but one of those teachers may not assign homework if they feel their students understand the material well, while the other teacher may choose to assign homework if they feel their students are struggling a bit.
Two parents in the audience voiced their concerns over any potential homework policy changes.
“You’ll never hear me tell a teacher they gave one of my four sons too much homework,” said Lisette Packer. “If you think your kid is going to an honors class or AP class in high school, they need to know how to sit at a desk for hours. If you want your child to go to a competitive college, they’re going to sit in the library for hours. If we don’t start training them early on, you can’t expect a kid in high school to go to an honors class and succeed.”
“We need a policy, but at the same time, we need to remember that every child works at their own pace,” said Christine Nally, who would like to see the policy continue to include suggested amounts of time. “And if parent sees a child [putting the time in, but not completing the homework], they should be able to write a note and that be acceptable…. As we move into an inclusion model, teachers will have to deal with assigning homework to students that are on IEPs up to AP students.”
A timeline for the Homework Policy Subcommittee has not been established. The meetings will be directed by and called by Assistant Superintendent Sean Gallagher. As a start, the Subcommittee is likely to reach out to past members of the 2012 subcommittee to see if they’d be interested in rejoining the revitalized process.
After the Homework Policy Subcommittee offers its findings, it will be reviewed the School Committee’s Policy Subcommittee, and then – ultimately – the full School Committee. Members offered assurances that there will be plenty of opportunity for feedback from teachers, parents, and students.
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