WILMINGTON, MA — Last year, the Wilmington School Committee approved drastic changes to the district’s homework policy, eliminating time guidelines for all grades.
Under the old policy, the following daily guidelines were suggested:
- Kindergarten: Occasional Assignments
- Grade 1: 15 Minutes (Monday-Thursday)
- Grades 2: 30 Minutes (Monday-Thursday)
- Grade 3: 30-45 Minutes (Monday-Thursday)
- Grade 4: 45-60 Minutes (4 times per week)
- Grade 5: 60-75 Minutes (4 times per week)
- Grades 6-8: 75-120 Minutes
- Grades 9-12: 90-180 Minutes with an average of 30 Minutes per course
The new policy, instead, lays out characteristics of homework best practices:
The five characteristics of best homework practices are:
- Purpose of assignments = should be meaningful to student learning / extension of the classroom
- Efficiency of assignments = does not take a long time to complete, but requires critical thinking
- Ownership of assignments = give students choices connecting homework to their interests / real world
- Competence of assignments = differentiate homework to the appropriate level of difficulty
- Design of assignments = promotes engagement, innovation and creativity
There are many other learning activities in the life of a student besides homework. For example, as participating in school activities, pursuing cultural interests, participating in family living, and exploring personal interests should be considered when assignments are given.
The research suggests that individual students may require less or more time for assignments. If students are consistently spending significantly longer on assignments, families should consult with the teacher(s) to let them know of their child’s struggles.
Despite these changes, some parents are reporting — on social media and elsewhere — that the homework policy is simply not being followed by their children’s teachers. Homework workloads remain too high, some argue, and inconsistent between classrooms.
At last week’s School Committee meeting, Superintendent Dr. Glenn Brand updated the School Committee on how the implementation of the new homework policy has gone over the past 15 months, acknowledging there has been issues with the rollout.
“Given the timing of these changes and my arrival of the district, I did not have the capacity to provide full attention to the rollout of these changes,” Brand told the Committee. “However, not only do I recognize that policy implementation ultimately falls to my oversight, but – even more importantly – I recognize that the central theme to this policy holds importance for our students and their academic progress.”
“Despite the information distributed last year [about the new policy], there wasn’t sufficient attention given to making impactful changes with staff,” admitted Brand. “This homework policy continues to be work in progress, in full disclosure.”
Brand has recently taken four measures to ensure that teachers are following the new homework policy:
- At the staff meetings on October 9, 2019, each school principal provided a thorough presentation on the new homework policy to their teachers.
- At the leadership team meetings in August and October, the homework policy was discussed in-depth.
- At the suggestion of the leadership team, Brand approved the formation of homework policy guidelines — practical information that teachers can use to guide planning and practice on a day-to-day basis. Guidelines will address expectations around the types of homework, when homework should NOT be assigned (e.g., holidays, long weekends, etc.) and guidance on collaborative planning amongst colleagues to ensure that the total homework load is reasonable. The guidelines will provide all teachers with one document on how to approach homework.
- Brand will disseminate more of the current research — articles and books — on current best practices surrounding homework at the local building and teacher level.
Brand pledged to continue to report back to the School Committee on the implementation of the homework policy.
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