1. Making Homework an Effective Strategy August 4 & 5, 2010 New Teacher Institute: Teaching and Learn Now ESU #4 Ellen Stokebrand estokebr@esu4.org

2. Objective for Today To begin looking at what research indicates about how homework can be effectively used to enhance student learning. To begin a change process of how homework is used in your classroom to help student learn (and enjoy learning).

3. Art and Science of Teaching Chapter 3—What will I do to help students practice and deepen their understanding of new knowledge. Chapter 1—What will I do to establish and communicate learning goals? Chapter 5—What will I do to engage students? Chapter 8—What will I do to establish and maintain effective relationships with students?

4. Key Points Introduction Purposes of Homework History of Homework Research Related to Homework Feedback and Homework (how much to count) Strategies to Improve Homework Effectiveness Parent Involvement Homework Policy (Guidelines) Students Not Testing Well

5. Priming the Brain Take a couple minutes to think about homework. (This will get you to thinking about homework.) –Personal Assessment Tool: Homework Philosophy –Short answer –Questions (on back… note what questions you may have.)

6. More Questions Than Answers Today we will create more questions than answers. Here are just a few to think about.

7. Questions that you may have… “If its not graded kids won’t do it, right?” If students come to a problem that they have to think about for more than 30 seconds, they won’t do it and give up. How to make homework fun for students? How can I make homework effective and less time consuming? How much should homework be worth? What to do if homework is not done? How to motivate students to do homework?

8. Google Homework “homework” has 52 million hits, 5 times as many for “sex education”, 15 times as many for creationism, 50 times as many for “standardize testing” “homework is bad” has 288,000 hits while “homework is good” has 373,000 hits

9. Assignment Assumptions We Assume: that students can copy the assignment from the board correctly. that students can complete the assignment. that the assignment is not too difficult. that the assignment is not too long. that students understand the assignment because they did not raise their hand when you asked “Are there any questions” that students have materials needed to complete the assignment. Judy Wood

10. Assignment Assumptions We Assume: that students have access to technology (computers and internet) to complete work. that students’ parents will help them with the assignment. that the students’ CAN DO the assignment. that the students have parents. that the parents are home. that the parents even care. Judy Wood

11. Assignment Assumptions We Assume: that students have a home. that students have time to complete the assignment. that the students care if they complete the assignment. that the students and/or parents have the language skills necessary to complete the assignment. that the students have proper places to compete the assignment. that we are the ONLY teachers giving homework. Judy Wood

12. Essential Question for the Day What homework practices lead to increased student achievement?

13. Homework Source of complaint and friction between home and school more than any other teaching activity Student—Teacher—Parent Designed to accomplish many goals Influenced by numerous complex factors Bottom line—Homework is an instructional strategy

14. “Is homework the hill you want to die on with your students?” Bea McGarvey

15. Keep An Open Mind

16. Homework is just one strategy. If this strategy is working for your kids, keep doing it. If it is not working for some kids, stop doing it.

17. Consider this Homework Policy No Homework Will Be Given Unless

18. There is good reason to believe that a given assignment is likely to benefit most students.

19. The Battle Over Homework— Common Ground for Administrator, Teachers and Parents by Dr. Harris Cooper

20. Harris Cooper Third Edition 1 st edition 1989 used over 120 studies 2 nd edition 1995 survey of 80 teachers and 700 families 3 rd edition 60 more studies National Expert and Presenter on Homework

21. The Homework Lady Dr. Cathy Vatterott www.homeworklady.com www.homeworklady.com Homework Myths Belief #1: Homework Teaches Responsibility Belief #2: Lots of Homework Is a Sign of a Rigorous Curriculum Belief #3: Good Students Do Their Homework.

22. The Center for Public Education http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org Search “homework” Key Lesson from Research Question and Answers FAQ Archived Chat: Homework—What is good for? March 2007

23. Sara Bennetthttp://stophomework.com/http://stophomework.com/ Sir Ken Robinson The Case Against homework: How Homework is Hurting Our Children and What We Can do About It. “The Homework Myth; Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing” by Alfie Kohn Be willing to question conventional wisdom. Homework in and by itself is not beneficial.

24. Classroom Assessment and Grading that Works By Robert Marzano

25. Homework and grading will overlap to a great extent. How to Grade for Learning by Ken O’Connor Lee Jenkins from L to J

26. The Question Asked by Everyone Why Do We Learn Algebra?

28. Homework Policy Does your school have a homework policy? Does your building have a homework policy? Does your team or grade band have a homework policy? Is that policy well defined and communicated to parents and students? We will come back to homework policies at the end.

29. When the going gets tough the tough get going. Some just give up and quit. Because of a student’s dread of homework it can lead to a lack of interest in learning.

30. Grades as Motivation Write down the percentage of your students that are motivated by the grade they receive. Not all students are motivated by grades. –Most teachers were when they were students. Now think about which students are not motivated by grades.

31. From the Brain If a student is getting a low grade, getting another low grade will not increase motivation. Success builds and breeds success. Find small success and use this to put together a string of improvements. Increase student confidence

32. Purposes of Homework

33. Homework Decisions Amount—frequency and length Difficulty—easy, hard, interspersal Skill areas—writing, reading, memory or retention Individual or independent, parent assisted or group Compulsory, task options, voluntary Long-term or short term deadlines

34. Homework as Practice Practice makes perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect Practice makes permanent. Once learned it takes more effort to relearn or unlearn the connections. Homework should be clear and the probability of success high Homework should be started in class. Practice is a time to learn

35. History of Homework

36. Research Regarding Homework

37. Center for Public Education Key lessons: What Research says about the value of Homework. Skim the article and find: –Two things you agree with –Two things that surprise you Stand up, find a three-ish group not from your table and share what you found.

38. Research on Effectiveness of Homework Dependent on type of research completed. Homework can improve children’s scores on class or unit test. This comes from a variety of grade levels and subjects. A broader measure comes from NAEP and finds a positive relationship between how much homework kids do and their achievement on NRT test.

40. Looking at the DATA When it comes to amount of time spent on homework there seems to be a point of diminishing returns. Not keeping up with homework is a contributing factor to students dropping out of school. (concept of compacting) Focus on Quality rather than Quantity. (Quality School by Glasser)

41. Correlation Data There is a positive correlation between homework and achievement. –With elementary students no correlation was found. Half of the studies were positive and the other half negative. –With middle level students a correlation was found. –With secondary students a strong correlation was found. Of 23 studies, 20 were positive.

42. Is Homework Effective at All Levels? (from Marzano) A meta analysis of research showed –24 percentile gain in high school –12 percentile gain in middle school –6 percentile gain in elementary Other studies have shown a positive effect for homework in grades as low as 2 nd.

43. Why is Grade Level Important? Possible reasons from Harris Cooper Attention span is less younger children Younger students have less well- developed study skills Poor achieving students spend more time on homework because it is difficult for them. Time management and study skills are necessary for homework to be effective

44. Supervised Study VS Homework Two different forms of same strategy In elementary school students supervised study had a more positive effect than homework. A possible explanation is that elementary students are still learning how to study.

45. What About Homework Building Character, Self Discipline, Study Habits, or Organizational Skills There have been no studies that show homework promotes good work habits, independence, or self-discipline. A positive correlation is found, but is homework causing attitudes or attitudes causing homework? In the early grades teachers use homework to build study skills, time management, and get parents involved.

46. Homework Does Not Teach Responsibility…. Parents do. Says Debra Pickering one of co-writers with Robert Marzano Students need to be taught organization, time management, stress management, goal setting, etc

47. In the Elementary “Teachers may use homework to build time management and study skills in the earlier grades because they are aware of it limited potential for improving achievement until these skills have been learned.” –p 31 The Battle Over Homework High school teachers just assume, probably incorrectly, they have these skills

48. Stand Up Touch 3 different walls Find someone who you have not shared with and discuss under what conditions is homework effective?

49. Lotus Chart Fill in any thoughts from the first topics Fill in the squares around research regarding homework.

50. Feedback and Homework

51. Providing Feedback Homework assigned but not commented on has an effect size of.28 Homework is assigned and graded has an effect size of.78 Homework is assigned and teacher provides written comments has an effect size of.83

52. Does this mean? Is it important to provide students feedback about their homework? Is it important that every problem on homework must be graded by the teacher? Is it important that homework is a significant part of a students letter grade?

53. Fox Trot by Bill Amend

55. Providing Feedback How do you handle feedback on homework? A quick check √+, √, or √- maybe a 1-5 Grade a sample of the homework over a whole unit Give a quiz that contains some of the questions on the homework. Thumb up, thumb down

56. Students Provide Feedback Clickers Two stars and a hope Thumb up, thumb down White boards Writing assignments Self Assessment Stickers – green, yellow, red

57. From L to J Choose a sample of homework from the class. Randomly choose students. If you have multiple sections of the class or 3 teachers at a grade level sample from all of the classes and combine. Grade those assignments. Create an item analysis of which questions are missed. Find common errors from the class. (Pareto chart) Share the results with the class and re-teach accordingly. Randomly choose problems from an assignment. Let the students see that the process is random.

58. Checking Homework in Class When does it occur? How does it occur? What is done to streamline the process?

59. How Much to Mark? Marking everything is detrimental Teachers mark too much Lighten the load: –Mark some work as done or not done –Skim some work for an overall impression –Focus on one or two key ideas –Utilize peer assessing These approaches save time and are beneficial to students

60. Sampling Student Performance Formative vs Summative Assessment Formative: Assessment designed to provide direction, it takes place in conjunction with learning Summative: Assessment designed to provide information about student achievement at the end of a grading period

61. Summative vs Formative When the cook tastes the soup, it is formative, when the guest tastes the soup it is summative. In fine arts and sports there is a clear distinction between practice and games. Practice is time to take risk and learn Formative assessment can be done quicker than summative. There are not as many decisions that must be done.

62. Formative Assessments Exclude formative assessment scores from grades Some work can be recorded as done or not done Some can be skimmed for a general impression Some can be assessed on one or two important facets Some can be assessed by peers

63. Referee or Coach Much of the time during class the teachers role is to be a coach. Help students to improve and learn. Sometime the teacher must be a referee. Determining if the student has reached a specific level. Make sure the students know what role you are playing at what times.

64. Special Education and Homework The majority of the time spent by students working with the special education teacher is spent working on completing homework. Remember that homework is a strategy but not the only strategy to improve learning. Why not give the special education teacher whose specialty is to help student learn in a variety of ways the ability to do what is best.

65. How Much Should Homework Count? Forcing students to do work they don’t need for the learning process only teaches them that grades are about pleasing teachers and not about learning.

66. RETESTING Example of taking the drivers test. You get a second opportunity, the grades are not averaged, not labeled as failure, get the same permit as everyone else.

67. Bottom Line Scores from summative assessments should be included in the grade Scores from formative assessments should not be included in the grade

68. Strategies To Improve Homework

69. Completion Contract From Ken O’Connor page 52 Missed Work—The following work has not been handed in… Original Due Date… Reason—please indicate why the work is late. Next steps—What will you now do to get this work completed? New Due Date… Student, parent and teacher signature

70. Homework Suggestions Do as many of these problems as you can in 15 minutes. Bring those you were able to complete. Find out why students’ work is late or incomplete and assist them. –Is there something that I should know that I don’t know? Establish consequences (not penalties) for late work such as –After school follow up –Documentation

71. Choice Boards Enables students to choose tasks, practice a skill and demonstrate and depth of knowledge. Allows for differentiation of instruction related to interest or readiness level. Teachers need to carefully design the boards to ensure a good experience regardless of which “path” is chosen.

72. Parent Involvement

74. Parent Involvement from Marzano Parent involvement in homework should be kept to a minimum. Parents should know what homework their children are responsible for completing. Parents’ role should be to facilitate homework not to do the homework for students. Parents’ role should be defined and communicated in a homework policy from the teacher and school.

75. A Parent’s View Homework is the intersection between home and school. Homework is a bridge that joins school, parents and students. It serves as a window through which parents can observe their child's education. Provides an opportunity to express positive attitudes toward children and their education.

76. What About Students Who Do Not Test Well?

77. Homework Policy (Guidelines)

78. Every School and Teacher Should Have a Homework Policy (Guideline) and It Should Be Consistently Observed A recent survey of schools found that only 35% of school districts have a written homework policy.

79. Closing The Next Step is Up to You. Consider

80. The question is not “there should never be any homework” instead teachers need to have good reason to believe that a given assignment is likely to benefit most students Shift away from a model in which assignments are checked off or graded. Decrease the impact of homework on grading and increase the value of what the student learns.

81. In Conclusion Create a homework policy Think quality and quantity. –In the elementary especially error on the side of too little Homework must be started during class. Think meaningful and relevant Get parents on your side Don’t assign more homework as punishment or no homework as a reward. Homework is formative, grade accordingly

82. Teachers should not abandon homework. Instead, they should improve it instructional quality. Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering Educational Leadership March 2007 p 74-79

83. A Question That You Still Have What would you like to know that I have not talked about today?

84. Closure…Changes The beginning of a new school year is the best opportunity to create new practices. Name one feeling, rule or policy that you have changed the most on as a result of today’s training. Name one strategy that you will continue to do as a result of today’s training.

85. We are what we think. We can bring sunshine or clouds into a room. We can encourage success or predict failure. We can determine our own attitude or let others determine it for us. We can build our attitude or simply absorb the attitudes of others. Dr. Anthony F Bisciglia, Editor of “The Effective School Report”