Los Angeles gives up on homework

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 27, 2011 | Howard Blume

[van_erwin]

Vanessa Perez was a homework scofflaw. The Marshall High School senior didn't finish all of it — largely because she worked 24 hours a week at a Subway sandwich shop.

Alvaro Ramirez, a junior at the Santee Education Complex, doesn't have his own room and his mother baby-sits young children at night. "They're always there and they're always loud," he said, explaining his challenges with homework.

The nation's second-largest school system has decided to give students like these a break. A new policy decrees that homework can count for only 10% of a student's grade.

Critics — mostly teachers — worry that the policy will encourage students to slack off assigned work and even reward those who already disregard assignments. And they say it could penalize hardworking students who receive higher marks for effort.

Some educators also object to a one-size-fits-all mandate they said could hamstring teaching or homogenize it. They say, too, that students who do their homework perform significantly better than those who don't — a view supported by research.

But Los Angeles Unified is pressing forward, joining a growing list of school districts across the country that are taking on homework — including Fontana and Pleasanton, N.J. In many districts, limits are being placed on the amount of homework so students can spend more time with their families or pursue extracurricular activities like sports or hobbies. The competition to get into top colleges has left students anxious and exhausted, with little free time, parents complain.

In Davis, a policy that took effect this year specifies homework maximums, with some exceptions for advanced courses. And it prohibits assigning homework over weekends and holidays while also addressing the quality of the assignments.

[van_erwin]

One more step on California’s steady decline into third-world status.

[So Cal Rocket]

How long before the grades will be based on:

Homework - 5%
Classwork - 5%
Tests - 5%
How well the students feel about themselves - 85%

[freeangel]

‘Just preparing kids for the real world. Don’t you always whine to your boss the numerous reasons that you can’t complete job assignments? /s

[Da Coyote]

Ya gotta just love how the LAT always has an tear-jerk example for whatever liberal cry-story they’re pushing.

I don’t give a smelly Obama about LA. It’s toast. Their schools are a complete joke, and ‘twould be better to just let the children roam the streets and beg...heck, they’re begging from us now.

The sooner all our tech type companies abandon that third world city (and soon to be third world state) the better.

[Batrachian]

"A new policy decrees that homework can count for only 10% of a student's grade."

I'll bet the other 90% doesn't count for much either.

[SoConPubbie]

Well, when your student body is comprised of almost completely illegal immigrant children, or the children of illegal immigrant and you spend almost all of your time and budget just getting those 3rd world children to a point where they are actually performing at least a grade level below where they should be, what do you expect?

Never put your child in Public Education.

[GeronL]

Why not? They gave up on education a long time ago

[max americana]

>Homework - 5%
Classwork - 5%
Tests - 5%
How well the students feel about themselves - 85%<

Oh, sooner than you think. I’m usually close by to Hollywood HS and the projects I saw recently were all moonbat projects and assignments.

[Sprite518]

“Vanessa Perez was a homework scofflaw. The Marshall High School senior didn’t finish all of it — largely because she worked 24 hours a week at a Subway sandwich shop. “

Sounds like Vanessa is investing her free time in Subway instead of her homework. No one forced her to work at Subway. It’s about priorities folks. Guess Vanessa believes Subway is more important than her homework?

[Vigilanteman]

I'd be curious as to how many Freepers feel they got most of their education by:

1. Sitting in a classroom, even listening attentively and taking notes.
   versus
   
2. Learning how to study. IOW, homework, drills, practice problems, study halls, libraries, writing and research to support that writing.

I'd rank my own experience as something like 80%/20% in favor of option #2. And I finished high school in the mid-1970's in one of the better ranked school districts in one of the better ranked states.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of teachers which I had who were genuinely outstanding. It might take both hands to count those who were pretty good or above average. All the remainder would be average or below. I don't think the situation has gotten any better, especially in Los Angeles.

[knittnmom]

Alvaro Ramirez, a junior at the Santee Education Complex, doesn't have his own room and his mother baby-sits young children at night. "They're always there and they're always loud," he said, explaining his challenges with homework.

I remember reading an article about the first woman appointed to the SCOTUS - Sandra Day OConner, IIRC. She said she grew up in a home with lots of noise, so she got used to studying in spite of the noise, which paid off after she moved away from home as most school environments are not library-quiet.

[Maine Mariner]

That grading system is not far off, a couple of years.

So students who wish to master a subject, master their craft if you will by doing homework will be penalized for it. Of couse most students who do homework are better prepared than those who don’t. The reasons for not doing homework are interesting and suggest a disadvantage to those who don’t. Perhaps, the next step is to prevent parents from discussing current events, helping with math problems and so forth. After all there are some parents that are unable or unwilling to discuss or help. It is unfair to these students (sarc).

[whd23]

How useful was the homework in the first place? A few years back I heard Alfie Kohn interviewed on my local public radio station. What he had to say was pretty interesting.

Here's an article he wrote on the same subject.

[Abathar]

I completely disagree with this, but my wife and a group of parents went to our school a few years ago to complain about one of the teachers my son had and the amount of homework he assigned.

On average his teacher assigned anywhere between one to three hours of homework every night, and that was just for the one subject he taught, not including the other 5 classes he had.

When my daughter had him she was routinely doing 3-4 hours of homework every day for her classes combined and more on the weekends. I’m all for kids working hard and doing homework, but when the kids have to sit there from 4:00 to 6:00 when they get home and then another hour or two after supper every day its just too much.

Somehow I doubt any teacher in LA is coming close to this though, just expecting a student to read a book in a couple of weeks is beyond expectations I bet.

[Lancey Howard]

In the tradition of liberal politicians caving to societal degeneracy and decadence, the education mafia has caved to the kids again - - and, of course, life just got easier for the teachers, too.

[van_erwin]

“Vanessa Perez was a homework scofflaw. The Marshall High School senior didn’t finish all of it — largely because she worked 24 hours a week at a Subway sandwich shop. “

Sounds like Vanessa is investing her free time in Subway instead of her homework. No one forced her to work at Subway. It’s about priorities folks. Guess Vanessa believes Subway is more important than her homework?

Yeah, that one threw me too. I worked when I was in high school, as did nearly all my friends. Whether it was working in a restaurant, delivering pizzas, working at Hardees, at the grocery store, whatever - we all worked about 15-25 hours a week, and somehow we still had time to do our homework (and go out and have fun, too).

I guess these kids are just made of weaker stuff. Pathetic.

[NoNAIS]

I often wonder why one cannot teach in a classroom the basic requirements and assign items such as Book Reports, extra lessons based on test/progress reports, and “extra credit” to make up because of illness.

Then I remember attending HS in Kali where 40+ students were the norm per 1 class, teachers took 20 minutes out of a 50 minute period to settle things down, and bathrooms were guarded by on site Police Officers. I can not so proudly state I graduated without ever being required to write a paper - on anything.

This was in the Mid-80s. I imagine it has not improved.

[Lancey Howard]

Guess Vanessa believes Subway is more important than her homework?

In the brave new world of Obamanomics, she may be onto something.

[Myrddin]

What a load of BS. I worked 24+ hours a week a Farrell's Ice Cream during my senior year and never missed a homework assignment. In grad school, I worked 42 hours a week with 16 units of course work each semester. During all the years I attended school, my parents ran the TV or stereo at a high volume level. Sometimes I just had to defer working on my homework until the 10 PM to 2 AM time slot when the noise was gone. I didn't let that stop me. Losers make excuses.