The ACSA Board of Directors recently adopted a position paper on homework. The paper is intended to help administrators create policy, work with staff to implement best practices, dialogue with parents, conduct action research, and address challenges.
Highlights of the paper include:
ACSA believes homework can be an effective strategy for improving student learning when meaningful feedback is provided in a timely manner. Homework assignments should be connected to specific important learning objectives and should be of a reasonable length.
To ensure effective homework strategies, ACSA encourages districts to adopt and publish a homework policy. These policies will provide district-wide consistency and provide site administrators tangible documentation to share with teachers and parents. Parents should know that all schools and teachers will follow the same conceptual framework regarding homework.
To ensure consistency and coordination of homework assignments, district and site leaders should promote teacher collaboration. ACSA encourages districts to adopt a “10 minute per grade level” rule. (i.e., 5th grade: 5 x 10 = 50 minutes). The emphasis should be placed on the quality of the homework assignments.
Purposeful assignments clarify what students are expected to do and how the work relates to the outcome of what they are expected to learn. Purposeful homework assignments may include practice skills that have been introduced. They also may extend learning by elaborating on information already introduced and provide opportunities for students to expand their learning interests.
ACSA encourages districts and sites to provide interventions and support programs for students struggling to complete homework both correctly and independently. Allowing students to complete homework assignments with additional support and assistance will better enhance the possibility of success.
ACSA believes that homework can enhance learning if all students have the opportunity to complete quality homework. Students must be given timely feedback about the quality of homework that has been completed.
ACSA's Homework Position Paper