New Homework Policy

[disney junky]

Here is a portion of a new "pilot" homework policy. The rest of the policy deals with the amount and purpose of homework. This is the grading part. Read it carefully, and then offer your comments. I'm curious how many interpret it the way an average student has interpreted it this year.

Grading:
The classroom teacher has a professional obligation to acknowledge, respond, and evaluate the work. Although grading homework is not always necessary, errors and misunderstandings must always be indicated, addressed, and corrected. Positive feedback to students is vital to the education process and must never be ignored. Teachers shall return all homework assignments to students as expeditiously as possible.


Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students’ subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

 

[luvmy3]

Here is a portion of a new "pilot" homework policy. The rest of the policy deals with the amount and purpose of homework. This is the grading part. Read it carefully, and then offer your comments. I'm curious how many interpret it the way an average student has interpreted it this year.

Grading:
The classroom teacher has a professional obligation to acknowledge, respond, and evaluate the work. Although grading homework is not always necessary, errors and misunderstandings must always be indicated, addressed, and corrected. Positive feedback to students is vital to the education process and must never be ignored. Teachers shall return all homework assignments to students as expeditiously as possible.


Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students’ subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

So, if a kid gets all of his homework wrong, his grade suffers. If he decides just not to do it, it doesn't effect his grade at all. Why bother having HW for anyone then

 

[mtemm]

the way I read it, its up to the teacher to assign homework, not all homework needs to be graded but if ungraded homework is assigned, the errors need to be pointed out so the student can learn from them. If a graded assignment is assigned, then the teacher can't subject student to additional penalties for incomplete or missed assignments.

it also seems like students can/should take the advantage to raise their grades via good homework scores, especially if they need to (maybe a poor test taker?)

 

[luvsJack]

Here is a portion of a new "pilot" homework policy. The rest of the policy deals with the amount and purpose of homework. This is the grading part. Read it carefully, and then offer your comments. I'm curious how many interpret it the way an average student has interpreted it this year.

Grading:
The classroom teacher has a professional obligation to acknowledge, respond, and evaluate the work. Although grading homework is not always necessary, errors and misunderstandings must always be indicated, addressed, and corrected. Positive feedback to students is vital to the education process and must never be ignored. Teachers shall return all homework assignments to students as expeditiously as possible.


Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students’ subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

It sounds as though the homework they complete is to be graded whether completed in full or partially. Anything not completed is not taken off the grade, but it is addressed with the student and parent that the homework wasn't finished.

 

[NHdisneylover]

It looks like HW may not be given a grade at all and just be checked for errors in order to help the student learn.

It may also be given and actual grade which will affect the student's overall grade in class. However, if the teacher chooses to go this route, not doing homework at all will not be penalized and will not bring the grade down.

Essentially, homework becomes OPTIONAL for the students. Those who do it might help their grades out, but also risk making their grades worse if they do poorly on the homework.

 

[disney junky]

It looks like HW may not be given a grade at all and just be checked for errors in order to help the student learn.

It may also be given and actual grade which will affect the student's overall grade in class. However, if the teacher chooses to go this route, not doing homework at all will not be penalized and will not bring the grade down.

Essentially, homework becomes OPTIONAL for the students. Those who do it might help their grades out, but also risk making their grades worse if they do poorly on the homework.

But there is no risk because homework, as per the policy, can only be used to "increase" a student's grade. However, you are correct in that since there is no penalty for no doing it and not penalty for doing it wrong, it does essentially make homework optional. And that has become the sticking point.

 

[Traveliz]

I am educated (MS) and I think it needs to be simplified because it's WAYYYY too wordy and flowery leaving lots of room for, "WHAT?"

Liz

 

[Ceila]

Here is a portion of a new "pilot" homework policy. The rest of the policy deals with the amount and purpose of homework. This is the grading part. Read it carefully, and then offer your comments. I'm curious how many interpret it the way an average student has interpreted it this year.

Grading:
The classroom teacher has a professional obligation to acknowledge, respond, and evaluate the work. Although grading homework is not always necessary, errors and misunderstandings must always be indicated, addressed, and corrected. Positive feedback to students is vital to the education process and must never be ignored. Teachers shall return all homework assignments to students as expeditiously as possible.


Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

It sounds to me like there is a distinction between homework that is graded for accuracy (which will be included in the student's average) and homework that receives a grade simply based on whether it is turned in or not.

Here's how I interpret it:

Homework graded for accuracy: These are graded according to the number of correct responses or according to a rubric, and the grade is included in the student's final average for the class. EDIT: Just re-read the "to help increase the students' subject specific grade" part. So I guess you are only to include the grade if it helps their average? Very strange wording, and a very strange policy if this is an accurate interpretation of it.

Homework graded for completion or as a student responsibility: These are checked for accuracy but that grade is not included in the average. However, it looks like there could be an overall "homework completion" grade (the statement "grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade" says to me that while accuracy cannot be graded on these assignments, there is nothing to say that an overall "student responsibility" grade cannot be assigned).

 

[luvmy3]

Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students’ subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

But there is no risk because homework, as per the policy, can only be used to "increase" a student's grade. However, you are correct in that since there is no penalty for no doing it and not penalty for doing it wrong, it does essentially make homework optional. And that has become the sticking point.

I agree with Traveliz. The "should be" needs to state "can only be" if that is what they mean. Should, means that it doesn't have to, at least that is how I took it to mean.

 

[design_mom]

It sounds to me like there is a distinction between homework that is graded for accuracy (which will be included in the student's average) and homework that receives a grade simply based on whether it is turned in or not.

Here's how I interpret it:

Homework graded for accuracy: These are graded according to the number of correct responses or according to a rubric, and the grade is included in the student's final average for the class.

Homework graded for completion or as a student responsibility: These are checked for accuracy but that grade is not included in the average. However, it looks like there could be an overall "homework completion" grade (the statement "grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade" says to me that while accuracy cannot be graded on these assignments, there is nothing to say that an overall "student responsibility" grade cannot be assigned).

This is basically how I understood it, too:
1) If you're grading the homework for accuracy, then it can be counted toward the grade.
2) If the homework is collected, the teacher is expected to review it and provide feedback to ensure students understand the concepts. But if it's not fully graded for accuracy, it can't be included toward the class grade. (Teacher can't give 10/10 points just for turning it in, nor 0/10 points for failing to turn it in. It just doesn't count in the grade book at all.)

I'll admit that I find the wording confusing -- especially about the part that graded-for-accuracy homework should be used to "increase" the grade. (Is that increase the total points used in calculating the grade... or does it mean that if the student does poorly on the homework, it shouldn't be counted?)

 

[shoney]

I just took it as a new homework grade based on the actual work.

If a student does not hand in homework, they will not receive a 0, in this new category. Only work actually done will be counted.

If a student does not hand in homework, then that will be discussed with the student and/or parent. This may or not be reflected in the overall class average...that isn't clear. It will NOT be counted in the new homework content grade portion of the class.

 

[joviroxx]

Oh petes sake. Why does everything have to be so complicated? That is so wordy its difficult to read. Why can't a policy just be.. Do your homework! LOL


But, I read it to say that there is graded homework and not graded homework. Not graded homework will be marked as "handed in" and "correct". If its not completed or handed in, it won't affect the overall grade, but parents will be told you aren't doing your homework.

 

[DebbieB]

Did this notice go out to the teachers or to the parents/students? It sounds like it was written for the teachers.

 

[msjprincess]

But there is no risk because homework, as per the policy, can only be used to "increase" a student's grade. However, you are correct in that since there is no penalty for no doing it and not penalty for doing it wrong, it does essentially make homework optional. And that has become the sticking point.

My 12yo would love that policy. Since he never remembers to turn in homework even when he does it.

 

[luvmy3]

My 12yo would love that policy. Since he never remembers to turn in homework even when he does it.

My ds would have ended up on the high honor roll with that policy

 

[disney junky]

Did this notice go out to the teachers or to the parents/students? It sounds like it was written for the teachers.

Both at the same time.

 

[NHdisneylover]

My 12yo would love that policy. Since he never remembers to turn in homework even when he does it.

DD16 would love it for the simple reason that she often does not need more practice to master a subject and could then get out of "busy work"

DS14 actually attends a school in which homework is done to help learn the material and not counted towards any final grade (with the exception of a couple of big projects, but not basic practice of the subject matter). It took nearly a year for us to pound into his head that he needs to do most of it, in order to really learn the material (he can pretty much skip the math practice). HE gets it now though, and sees how much it helps his final grade.

I actually think it is a good way to go about it. The only problem is that kids who struggle with tests in general (including my DS) can end up with lower grades overall since a bigger portion of the grade is then from tests. Classswork also counts here though.

 

[ksjayhawks]

The way I read it is:

All homework is to be gone over by the teacher and marked for errors/omissions. It should then be returned to student so he/she can learn from it/correct errors to help improve learning/knowledge. This encourages students to do their homework as they know the teachers will be going over all of it and marking it. It should discourage work being given to students, turned in and then never looked at by the teacher.

Some of the homework will be graded for accuracy and recorded in the gradebook.

Homework that is not put in the gradebook is considered to be the completion/student responsibility types.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

It's really poorly written, but knowing the current thinking about best practices for HW, I would read it as the following

1) If you, the teacher, assign homework, you must in some way acknowledge the students who do this. For example, you might walk up and down the aisle, looking at the work on kids' desks and noting them in a checklist, or have students hand it in.

2) There should be some kind of system where kids receive feedback on their homework, this could be going over the correct answers in class, or providing a copy of corrected homework for kids to check against, or grading it. If teachers realize from the homework that there are common misconceptions among their students they have a responsibility for addressing that.

3) When you are assigning homework, you need to decide whether you're going to grade it, or simply mark it as done or not done.

4) If you grade it, that is, if you go through and check it or compare it to a rubric, then you can count it as part of a student's grade.

5) If you don't grade it but just mark it as done or not done, you can't count it as part of a student's grade, but should use other means to reward or punish homework completion. For example, if you're teaching little ones you can keep them in at recess or call their parents if it isn't done, or give them a sticker if it is done.

I think all of these things are very reasonable. I think that there's a move towards standards based grading, that is that student's grades reflect what they know and can do, and not how well they please the teacher. These guidelines are in keeping with that expectation.

However, I can see how a student, or a teacher with poor professional knowledge and comprehension skills, would read them differently.

 

[sam_gordon]

Here is a portion of a new "pilot" homework policy. The rest of the policy deals with the amount and purpose of homework. This is the grading part. Read it carefully, and then offer your comments. I'm curious how many interpret it the way an average student has interpreted it this year.

Grading:
The classroom teacher has a professional obligation to acknowledge, respond, and evaluate the work. Although grading homework is not always necessary, errors and misunderstandings must always be indicated, addressed, and corrected. Positive feedback to students is vital to the education process and must never be ignored. Teachers shall return all homework assignments to students as expeditiously as possible.


Homework that is graded for accuracy should be utilized to help increase the students’ subject specific grade. However, grading homework for completion or as student responsibility shall not be included in subject specific grade. Instead, student completion of homework for responsibility should be identified and discussed with the individual student and parent on a regular basis.

I'm going to respond without reading any of the replies so my opinion doesn't get swayed. I read it as homework will be assigned, but when turned in, may or may not factor into the final grade in the class.

Teachers should let students know if they did the homework incorrectly regardless of whether it's for a grade or not.

Simply handing homework in should not result in partial credit toward a grade.

Now I'll go back and read responses.