Homework Survey Results
By Head of School Michael Dewey
At the conclusion of the second semester, we asked our students to complete a short homework survey providing feedback on how much time they are spending on work each night, as well as where they see their greatest challenges. We do this each year for several very important reasons.
First, as a school that emphasizes academic rigor, we know our program is challenging. However, rigor does not necessarily equate to more homework. As an educational team, we are continually evaluating assignments and assessments to ensure that we are emphasizing deep thinking and critical thinking, and not busy work. On the basis of these survey responses, we held a Professional Development Day on February 14 focused on evaluating homework practices and looking for ways to help our students find greater balance in their lives. Since student feedback indicated that assessments and project deadlines were tending to come at the same time, teachers met in grade level meetings to better coordinate assessment and project dates, spreading them out in an effort to lighten student loading. Both Mrs. Byre and Mr. Dewey believe this is one area where we need to greatly improve.
Second, while studies regarding homework in high school consistently reinforce its importance in student learning, they also clearly show that spending more than 2.5 hours a weeknight on homework is actually counterproductive. This is why our Academic Course Catalog indicates the amount of homework each course generates on a weekly basis. We do this so that our students will take homework into consideration when selecting their course schedule. Signing up for two honors classes and three AP courses will always result in greater amounts of out-of-class work and study. But we also do this to hold ourselves accountable. Survey feedback indicated that as a whole, students are hitting that 2.5-hour mark. But we also asked students to specify specific courses or assignments that tend to push them over that limit. For these classes and assignments, we are working with teachers to help reduce the amount of out-of-class work.
For example, students overwhelmingly indicated that reading and annotating constituted the bulk of their homework time. As a program that is intent on emphasizing both of these skills, faculty discussed ways to specifically reduce the amount of time spent on annotations. As a result, we are working to provide better student training on annotating texts, including providing exemplars of what is sufficient to meet grading standards. We are impressed with the quality of annotations that our students are providing, but many are going above and beyond what is expected. Our goal is to help students get the most from textual annotations, without having them feel like they have to do more. We are also evaluating reading requirements across all departments to ensure that assignments fall within our stated standards.
Finally, we conduct this survey each year because we understand that every student is different. Even if the student population is largely falling within our set standards for homework, we still must do something to help those who are feeling overwhelmed and struggling to keep up. While surveys were anonymous, it is clear that among the Freshman Class we have students that need assistance is finding balance in their schedule. We emphasize with our teachers that they must be proactive in assessing their students’ experience with homework so that they can identify specific students that need additional help. Parents and students can work with individual teachers to develop strategies and tactics for reducing the amount of time spent on homework. This is where we need to partner together in helping each specific child. Parents are encouraged to reach out to their child’s teacher to explore specific ways to help their child.