Inform Article

How Much Homework is Too Much?

08.21.2012
Posted by Leon Fooksman of yourPBC.org

Parents hear it all the time for their children: I have too much homework!

Many students are up until 11 p.m. doing work. Or, they're devoting entire weekends to class assignments.

So should there be a limit on how much homework students should have?

Before you answer that, let's get a little context.

Turns out, many American students aren't challenged in school, a recent survey found by a Washington think tank. The popular notion that all students are drowning in schoolwork is simply untrue. Most students, in fact, are not in a pressure-cooker environment in school.

Still, plenty of students complain about the constant flow of take-home reading logs, math worksheets, science projects, and social studies reports.

With global ranking of American schools on the decline, the role of homework has come under significant scrutiny. The question of how much homework is enough on any given night is widely debated. It was even the focus of a 2009 documentary Race to Nowhere.

According to a recent article in the Smithsonian magazine, a team of educators found: "In countries with the most successful school systems, like Japan, teachers give small amounts homework, while teachers in those with the lowest scores, such as Greece and Iran, give a lot...The United States falls somewhere in the middle."

So, what should be done in Palm Beach County - lessen the load of homework or increase it? Or, as the Smithsonian piece suggested, "lessen the quantity while improving the quality of homework by using it to complement classroom work?"

Share your thoughts below.

You can also post your ideas on Twitter using the hashtag #ParentalInvolvement and on our Facebook page.

Your input is very important. We'll be sharing your comments with policy makers who are interested in school reform issues.