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Putting an End to the Battle over Homework.

2004; Project Innovation Austin; Volume: 125; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

0013-1172

Lorna J. Lacina-Gifford, Russell B. Gifford,

Diverse Education Studies and Reforms

Just what is has never really been in question. man many consider the foremost authority on homework, Dr. Harris Cooper of the University of Missouri-Columbia, defines it as tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be carried out during non-school (Cooper, 1989, p. 7). Cooper's definition is short, succinct, and to the point. Kids bring their work home and dutifully do it. End of story, or so it would seem. But according to a Public Agenda survey in 1998, almost half of reported having a serious argument with their children over homework, and a third of the reported that was a source of stress and struggle (Public Agenda, 1998). fact that there is a lot of for kids these days is not even in question. nation's mainstream media has even gone so far as to pick up on the negative feelings of students and parents. In early 2003, both National Public Radio (NPR) and CBS Sunday Morning aired extensive reports on the issue. NPR compiled a four-part report on for its flagship Morning Edition program. Both programs featured interviews with exasperated students and alike who say they just can't handle so much homework. has become a major battle in our homes. Cooper (2001b) even went so far as to write a book entitled The Battle Over Homework. Time magazine even devoted much of issue to the nightly battle (Ratnesar, 1999). Its banner headline reads, The Ate My Family. Proponents will argue that students should be given to improve their achievement (Cooper, 2001 a; 2001b; Bempechat, 2000) while opponents will argue that takes away valuable bonding time of families (Kralovec & Buell, 2000). As a result, parents are asking their school boards to reconsider the amount of their schools are assigning, while school administrators and others are questioning the quality of homework (Vail, 2001, p. 1). has been blamed for causing family problems and widening the achievement gap. Homework reinforces the social inequities inherent in the unequal distribution of educational resources in the United States. Some students go home to well-educated and have easy access to computers with vast databases. Other students have family responsibilities, who work at night, and no educational resources in their homes (Kralovec & Buell, 2001, p. 40). Kralovec (cited in Vail, 2001) also believes that Few adults who work all day would want to come home to hours more of precalculus problems or essay writing. Children need downtime just as do adults. Students are so busy during the day that they have no energy left to do anything but 'veg out' in front of the television (p. 10). Corno (2000) has another idea when it comes to homework. Corno believes, one unique role for in a modern era is to provide social communication and contact among peers, especially peers who live beyond the neighborhood school, thereby increasing a sense of community (p. …