Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Teachers who don't grade any homework...new trend?

Yes, the students are kept in for recess if they do not hand it in (so they have to do it), but it never will return to them with any sort of acknowledgement or comments. The letter was from a group of second grade teachers - not just one teacher.

In the scheme of my DS's academic life at the moment, I suppose that I am more concerned about him learning something this year (the schools seem staunchly opposed to anything resembling acceleration and other such issues), than I am about comments or acknowledging his homework. So perhaps in the scheme of things, I need to pick my battles. I am just shocked that this is acceptable. It seems to make doing the homework a complete exercise in futility for DS.

In second grade, they sent home a form that we had to fill out about who (at home) was g oing to be the "homework buddy". They collected the assignments but never graded them. If a kid was consistent about never returning the homework the teacher might have eventually said something to the parent, but it didn't seem to matter much to them. In first grade and second grade I just completely disregarded the homework for DS, claiming he refused to do it because it was too "babyish" (DS's words) and they stopped sending it after a while. So imagine my shock, when in fourth grade, all of a sudden kids were reprimanded if the teachers discovered that a parent had helped a student with an assignment. It was like the kids were high school students. That was the GATE program, not sure what things were like in "regular" fourth grade or whether the "homework buddy" system was done by then.

I don't think it's new. The teachers in my daughter's school don't grade homework in early grades either. I think it is just practice and parents are expected to help. I do think it is probably bad if kids don't have parents who can look at the homework and make sure they understand it, but maybe teachers look over the work of those students? I wouldn't know; we don't have that issue.

I always looked my daughter's over and just made sure she understood everything. I never thought the homework or the request was excessive.

But this year the teachers have cut all homework except for reading and spelling. Other work is pointed out as potential homework, and kids are supposed to take it home if they personally think they need the practice. If kids need to learn something, teachers send that home, request a signature, and I imagine they grade it. I love this system!! My child is dysgraphic and now she can spend all of her homework time (and effort) on the writing journal that goes along with her reading--and that's what she needs. The rest was just junk. If I'd had seen how well this works, I would have pushed for it earlier.

If the whole grade has the same homework policy, maybe you could get a group of parents together to 1) ask what the purpose or objective for the homework is and then 2) suggest that the school change the homework policy to better meet the needs of the teachers and students if the current homework doesn't meet its purpose or if there is no purpose? If teachers don't have time to grade homework or it is assumed that students know the material so well that they don't need feedback, it sounds like homework isn't purposeful or meeting needs. (I know some schools give homework just because there are parents who request it. If the purpose is to appease homework-loving parents, there may be a way that satisfies more people.)

Not a new trend - the teacher never checked homework in grades k, 1 and 2 - homework had to be checked by the parent (or not). Homework was graded for "completion" and not accuracy. DS was in an academically rigorous private school and they claimed that the homework time was a "bonding time" for parents and kids so that the parent could get to know what the child was doing at school and have discussions based on them while checking the homework (which I never did)! They had weekly class tests and they graded the students based on those instead of homework.
But, this year (in another school), the teacher goes through the homework in class as part of a group discussion and asks the children to correct their own homework using a red pen. They are still graded for homework completion, but not for accuracy.

DS7's teachers explicitly told parents not to help with homework, not even if the kids don't understand the assignment. (If they don't understand it, they should go to the teacher and get clarification so that the teacher can get feedback about how the assignment is written.)

The teachers also provide feedback to the student on the homework if they are expecting to see something that he isn't providing. So that's not exactly grading but it's what I would expect at this age.

My kids experience is starting around Junior high homework is mostly only graded by completion. Teachers simply don't have the time. They will go around and check they kids did the work and then maybe go over it in class. This is not a big deal as long as homework is only a small portion of the grade and the kids get feedback on how they did and a chance to know what they did wrong. Homework should be for practice.

Never heard of a school that expected the parents to go over homework with their kid. Or to start this practice this young. One of the purposes in giving elementary kids homework IMO is so they learn that homework is expected and the executive skills in completing it and turning it in.

I expect I've mentioned before that the research on homework at the elementary level is that it has negligible effects on academic achievement. (Over two hours a night and time on homework actually has an inverse relationship with achievement. Though that may be confounded by children with learning challenges.) Either you know it when you leave the instructional setting, and don't need the practice, or you don't know it, and don't benefit from practicing it incorrectly on your own. The data appear to support the primary value of homework (and even that is debatable) as one of work ethic.

Just as in the well-known aphorism:

"Work harder, not smarter!"

One of my kids' teachers gave those same directions, and we ignored her. In that case, her teaching methods were so poor, my kids wouldn't have learned any math if we had just sat on the sides and done nothing.

I suspect that many kids can't always know if they didn't understand something (they could just do it the wrong way and think everything was fine, and not grading the homework would just exacerbate that problem). I also suspect that a lot kids wouldn't go to the teacher for clarification even if they didn't understand.

ETA: I agree with aeh! The situation I'm referring to was in 5th and 6th grades
where the expectation that kids should do homework was a bit more reasonable (but only a bit!). I completely agree that in lower grades, children should be able to simply learn it in class.

We've had a mix of homework for our K-4 experiences so far, totally dependent on the teacher as to whether it was required and how closely s/he looked at it. Right now, DDs 2nd grade teacher sends home math game suggestions once in a while for family time play and to reinforce math fact fluency. No worksheets, no grading, optional for skill building. In 4th, there is 3-4 times a week a page from a the EDM booklet that takes DS less than 5 minutes to do and always has. He actually wishes the homework were harder. I just wish the classwork was harder (and we're getting there).

In upper grade levels, due to standards based grading, all graded work is supposed to be done in class, including writing, which would drive me CRAZY. I would hate to think my best work had to be done IN class, particularly essay writing. It might have to do with cheating, but they say it's about class time hours and standards. We're not there yet, so I haven't investigated more, or determined how it figures into the higher demanding AP classes that include homework.

My child's teacher does not grade homework, though the teacher checks if the homework is turned in or not. I honestly think this checking in of homework but not really checking the content is pointless, from the kid's perspective. Also, the homework does not seem to be checked for completeness -- just whether it is turned in or not. I really wonder what kind of a message is being sent to the kids.

I know this is not related to homework, but unfinished classwork comes back home as well. I really wish they would let my kid test out of the classwork or, just administer pre-tests to the entire class, and give appropriate work based on that.


I agree, in theory. In practice, though, this needs to be broken-down into steps for my child, and it is taking him a very, very long time to develop automaticity.