Researcher: Homework is harmful
BALTIMORE SUN
When pupils as young as 5 years old come home with homework and 11-year-olds come home with an hour or more each night, it's only natural for parents to wonder, "Is this really helping my child?"
Etta Kralovec says the answer is simple: No.
"Research suggests homework is actually detrimental at the elementary level," says Kralovec, co-author of "The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children and Limits Learning" (Beacon Press, 2001). "It's an utter and colossal waste of time."
Kralovec, an educational consultant, has become a leading voice of dissent about homework. She started speaking out against homework a decade ago when her research into Maine's high school dropout rates found many teens cited homework as a leading reason they dropped out.
Good "homework," she says, is what parents and pupils choose to do together to enrich a child's education. What pupils bring home from school is schoolwork and ought to be done at school where a teacher is available to supervise. "Learning is a social activity. You need coaching," she says.