Growing up overseas, homework was NEVER part of our grade. Homework was mandatory and if you didn't do your thing, you stayed afterschool to do it. But it was never counted in the grade. We were graded on actual knowledge. We were told what to study for the next class and could had been called out int front of the class and quizzed on the material without any prior warning. Same with written tests. We only knew ahead of time about big tests but there were always unannounced quizzes. So we had to study for every class every time. Actually STUDY. And no multiple choice tests. All were tests with one answer questions we all had to know. Every missed answer would lower our grade (no percentage scale like in the US). Then I turned 16, came in the States as an exchange students and just about fell over when I saw the way things were done here. It took me less than a week to realize that all I had to do was to turn in my homework and do a decent job on the tests and I would get enough points to get an A in every class. All with minimal knowledge of English. by the end of the school year I was fluent in English and had A+ in every class. So, yes, there's definitely something wrong with the system here. I was fortunate enough to always have good self discipline and would get every extra credit available, etc. Then there's the opposite, kids like my now 20 year old stepson, who are really smart, know a lot but can't keep track of their assignments, lose their homework and in the end are failing classes because of it. Every single semester in high school was a wild chase in the end where all depended on him getting an A or possibly a B on his finals so he could squeak by with a D and that was after couple failed classes his Freshman year. He was a kid with huge problems with written output, unrecognized by the school (their term was he was "lazy") and back then I didn't know how the system works.
It's all about quantity but very little about actual retained knowledge.
