Our middle school selves might not forgive us for writing this. As parents, we are pleased that the Newton School Committee is proposing a reform of the NPS homework policy outlined below. We are excited that this continues the positive, energetic reform process set by Superintendent Anna Nolin.
Homework levels should increase gradually rather than having massive jumps in ninth grade. Newton’s rise in structured homework between 7th and 9th grade is needlessly high (10x in some cases). The national teachers’ union (National Education Association) and the National PTA both reasonably suggest that homework should grow by some ten minutes per grade from elementary school onwards. This contrasts against the current fluctuations we see at NPS in various grade levels.
Students in the same grade should experience similar levels of homework regardless of which school they attend or zip code. Homework levels vary considerably across Newton. Some middle school students have very little structured homework while others have a tremendous amount.
Homework should involve material covered in class and not “go read anything you want.” Many of us have been surprised to see children receive very little structured homework in multiple classes even in middle school. We see more robust, predictable practices outside our district. Homework now too often involves “just read something” or “do some Duolingo” in middle school in particular.
Homework reform would be popular and cost little: According to a recent NPS survey of parents across grades two to eight, some 7x as many parents thought homework was too low versus too high. This reform need not become an undue burden on our educators. No one wants busy work that takes teachers a long time to grade. Nobody wants third-graders chained to desks.
A structured homework policy reform is a cost-effective “win” for Newton.
Ryan Floyd, Josh Mandel-Brehm, Jack Hoppin, Annie O’Brien, Haki Cebi, Perin Gokce, Jas Rai, Margaret Stefater-Richards, Chris Blier, Nimmy Moreshet, Janna Murgia, Robert McGehee, Moff Stephen, Rob O’Brien, Kippy Ingram, Nate Victor, Pedro Vaz, Sumukh Tendulkar, Dan Pregibon, Will Aguilera, Alex Galperin, Austin Barsophy, Arun Ramappa, Eli Rosen, Jason Schroder, Billy Sofis, Monica Richardson, Irun Bhan, Charlie O’Brien, Russ Perkins, Anton Sizer, Aidan Yeaw, Scott McKenzie, Sasha Mezer, Prem Ganapathy, Jason Mallet