Here's the story from the front page of a local newspaper here today.
Thoughts, comments, debates ???
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS/508180390/1003
Manchester gets tough on late homework
August 18, 2005
By ANDREW McKEEVER Herald Staff
MANCHESTER Students in the upper grades at Manchester Elementary-Middle School will be required to serve a detention if they fail to turn in homework on time.
The new discipline is designed to make students more responsible and get them ready for the tougher academic pressures that lie ahead when they reach high school, said co-principal Jacqueline Parks.
"This is a way to hold kids accountable and to say that homework is important," she said this week. "Kids today have jam-packed schedules, but part of our job is to put the management skills in place and the time to do that is in middle school."
The new policy will affect seventh- and eighth-grade students right from the first day of school. Then, beginning on Oct. 24, the sixth grade will also be held to the same standard, she said.
The detention period will run from 3:15 to 4 p.m. on the same day the homework was due. A school bus will provide transportation for those held late, Parks said.
The detention will take priority over any extracurricular activities the student might be involved in, including sports and athletics, she said.
The get-tough approach was the product of discussions among faculty and staff about how to elevate the importance of getting homework done in a timely manner.
It has been a topic of discussion before, but being able to add a late bus this year made the concept fly, she said.
Not turning in homework on time is an ongoing problem for some students, Parks said.
"It not only impacts them but other students in the class," she said. It slows down the progress of the class when teachers have to review material a second time, she said.
Homework guidelines have been in place for several years at MEMS. The average amount of time a student is expected to spend on homework ranges from 60 to 90 minutes night for sixth-graders, and up to two hours a night for seventh- and eighth-grade students, she said.
Initial reaction from parents seems to be positive.
"From my perspective, I'm totally fine with it," said Grant Turner, a parent of a third-grader and an eighth-grader. "I expect my children to turn in their homework. Doing homework is partly a parent issue and I don't mind to be asked."
The extra cost of running an additional bus was the only concern for Moira Spivey, a parent of another MEMS eighth-grader.
"I think it is a great idea, but who is going to pay for the bus?" she said.
Door-to-door transportation will not be provided. The bus will only make drop-offs at centralized locations, according to a letter mailed out to parents and students announcing the changes.
It will be up to each school in the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union to decide its own approach to late homework, said school Superintendent Gregory Scieszka.
"Each school will be doing it their own way," he said. "Homework usually reflects community expectations."
Adding the academic detention for late homework was not an outgrowth of anything in particular from last year, Parks said.
"We saw an opportunity to increase expectations," she said.
At least one student thought there could have been a little leeway built into the new procedure.
Making students serve the detention on the same day their homework is late sounded a little harsh to eighth-grader Hillary Spivey.
"Sometimes kids forget their homework," she said. "(Detention) should be if you're late a couple of days, or a week."
Thoughts, comments, debates ???
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050818/NEWS/508180390/1003
Manchester gets tough on late homework
August 18, 2005
By ANDREW McKEEVER Herald Staff
MANCHESTER Students in the upper grades at Manchester Elementary-Middle School will be required to serve a detention if they fail to turn in homework on time.
The new discipline is designed to make students more responsible and get them ready for the tougher academic pressures that lie ahead when they reach high school, said co-principal Jacqueline Parks.
"This is a way to hold kids accountable and to say that homework is important," she said this week. "Kids today have jam-packed schedules, but part of our job is to put the management skills in place and the time to do that is in middle school."
The new policy will affect seventh- and eighth-grade students right from the first day of school. Then, beginning on Oct. 24, the sixth grade will also be held to the same standard, she said.
The detention period will run from 3:15 to 4 p.m. on the same day the homework was due. A school bus will provide transportation for those held late, Parks said.
The detention will take priority over any extracurricular activities the student might be involved in, including sports and athletics, she said.
The get-tough approach was the product of discussions among faculty and staff about how to elevate the importance of getting homework done in a timely manner.
It has been a topic of discussion before, but being able to add a late bus this year made the concept fly, she said.
Not turning in homework on time is an ongoing problem for some students, Parks said.
"It not only impacts them but other students in the class," she said. It slows down the progress of the class when teachers have to review material a second time, she said.
Homework guidelines have been in place for several years at MEMS. The average amount of time a student is expected to spend on homework ranges from 60 to 90 minutes night for sixth-graders, and up to two hours a night for seventh- and eighth-grade students, she said.
Initial reaction from parents seems to be positive.
"From my perspective, I'm totally fine with it," said Grant Turner, a parent of a third-grader and an eighth-grader. "I expect my children to turn in their homework. Doing homework is partly a parent issue and I don't mind to be asked."
The extra cost of running an additional bus was the only concern for Moira Spivey, a parent of another MEMS eighth-grader.
"I think it is a great idea, but who is going to pay for the bus?" she said.
Door-to-door transportation will not be provided. The bus will only make drop-offs at centralized locations, according to a letter mailed out to parents and students announcing the changes.
It will be up to each school in the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union to decide its own approach to late homework, said school Superintendent Gregory Scieszka.
"Each school will be doing it their own way," he said. "Homework usually reflects community expectations."
Adding the academic detention for late homework was not an outgrowth of anything in particular from last year, Parks said.
"We saw an opportunity to increase expectations," she said.
At least one student thought there could have been a little leeway built into the new procedure.
Making students serve the detention on the same day their homework is late sounded a little harsh to eighth-grader Hillary Spivey.
"Sometimes kids forget their homework," she said. "(Detention) should be if you're late a couple of days, or a week."
Homework is life-skills training IMHO.
