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5 Ways to Make Homework More Meaningful

Use these insights from educators—and research—to create homework practices that work for everyone.

Homework tends to be a polarizing topic. While many teachers advocate for its complete elimination, others argue that it provides students with the extra practice they need to solidify their learning and teach them work habits—like managing time and meeting deadlines—that have lifelong benefits. 

We recently reached out to teachers in our audience to identify practices that can help educators plot a middle path. 

On Facebook , elementary school teacher John Thomas responded that the best homework is often no-strings-attached encouragement to read or play academically adjacent games with family members. “I encourage reading every night,” Thomas said, but he doesn’t use logs or other means of getting students to track their completion. “Just encouragement and book bags with self selected books students take home for enjoyment.” 

Thomas said he also suggests to parents and students that they can play around with “math and science tools” such as “calculators, tape measures, protractors, rulers, money, tangrams, and building blocks.” Math-based games like Yahtzee or dominoes can also serve as enriching—and fun—practice of skills they’re learning.

At the middle and high school level, homework generally increases, and that can be demotivating for teachers, who feel obliged to review or even grade halfhearted submissions. Student morale is at stake, too: “Most [students] don’t complete it anyway,” said high school teacher Krystn Stretzinger Charlie on Facebook . “It ends up hurting them more than it helps.”    

So how do teachers decide when to—and when not to—assign homework, and how do they ensure that the homework they assign feels meaningful, productive, and even motivating to students? 

1. Less is More

A 2017 study analyzed the homework assignments of more than 20,000 middle and high school students and found that teachers are often a bad judge of how long homework will take. 

According to researchers, students spend as much as 85 minutes or as little as 30 minutes on homework that teachers imagined would take students one hour to complete. The researchers concluded that by assigning too much homework , teachers actually increased inequalities between students in exchange for “minimal gains in achievement.” Too much homework can overwhelm students who “have more gaps in their knowledge,” the researchers said, and creates situations where homework becomes so time-consuming and frustrating that it turns students off to classwork more broadly.

To counteract this, middle school math teacher Crystal Frommert said she focuses on quality over quantity. Frommert cited the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics , which recommends only assigning “what’s necessary to augment instruction” and adds that if teachers can “get sufficient information by assigning only five problems, then don’t assign fifty.” 

Instead of sending students home with worksheets and long problem sets from textbooks that often repeat the same concepts, Frommert recommended assigning part of a page, or even a few specific problems—and explaining to students why these handpicked problems will be helpful practice. When students know there’s thought behind the problems they’re asked to solve at home, “they pay more attention to the condensed assignment because it was tailored for them,” Frommert said. 

On Instagram , high school teacher Jacob Palmer said that every now and then he condenses homework down to just one problem that is particularly engaging and challenging: “The depth and exploration that can come from one single problem can be richer than 20 routine problems.” 

2. Add Choice to the Equation 

Former educator and coach Mike Anderson said teachers can differentiate homework assignments without placing unrealistic demands on their workload by offering students some discretion in the work they complete and explicitly teaching them “how to choose appropriately challenging work for themselves.” 

Instead of assigning the same 20 problems or response questions on a given textbook page to all students, for example, Anderson suggested asking students to refer to the list of questions and choose and complete a designated number of them (three to five, for example) that give students “a little bit of a challenge but that [they] can still solve independently.” 

To teach students how to choose well, Anderson has students practice choosing homework questions in class before the end of the day, brainstorming in groups and sharing their thoughts about what a good homework question should accomplish. The other part, of course, involves offering students good choices: “Make sure that options for homework focus on the skills being practiced and are open-ended enough for all students to be successful,” he said. 

Once students have developed a better understanding of the purpose of challenging themselves to practice and grow as learners, Anderson also periodically asks them to come up with their own ideas for problems or other activities they can use to reinforce learning at home. A simple question, such as “What are some ideas for how you might practice this skill at home?” can be enough to get students sharing ideas, he said. 

Jill Kibler, a former high school science teacher, told Edutopia on Facebook that she implemented homework choice in her classroom by allowing students to decide how much of the work they’ve recently turned in that they’d like to redo as homework: “Students had one grading cycle (about seven school days) to redo the work they wanted to improve,” she said. 

3. Break the Mold 

According to high school English teacher Kate Dusto, the work that students produce at home doesn’t have to come in the traditional formats of written responses to a problem. On Instagram , Dusto told Edutopia that homework can often be made more interesting—and engaging—by allowing students to show evidence of their learning in creative ways. 

“Offer choices for how they show their learning,” Dusto said. “Record audio or video? Type or use speech to text? Draw or handwrite and then upload a picture?” The possibilities are endless. 

Former educator and author Jay McTighe noted that visual representations such as graphic organizers and concept maps are particularly useful for students attempting to organize new information and solidify their understanding of abstract concepts. For example, students might be asked to “draw a visual web of factors affecting plant growth” in biology class or map out the plot, characters, themes, and settings of a novel or play they’re reading to visualize relationships between different elements of the story and deepen their comprehension of it. 

Simple written responses to summarize new learning can also be made more interesting by varying the format, McTighe said. For example, ask students to compose a tweet in 280 characters or less to answer a question like “What is the big idea that you have learned about _____?” or even record a short audio podcast or video podcast explaining “key concepts from one or more lessons.”

4. Make Homework Voluntary 

When elementary school teacher Jacqueline Worthley Fiorentino stopped assigning mandatory homework to her second-grade students and suggested voluntary activities instead, she found that something surprising happened: “They started doing more work at home.” 

Some of the simple, voluntary activities she presented students with included encouraging at-home reading (without mandating how much time they should spend reading); sending home weekly spelling words and math facts that will be covered in class but that should also be mastered by the end of the week: “It will be up to each child to figure out the best way to learn to spell the words correctly or to master the math facts,” she said; and creating voluntary lesson extensions such as pointing students to outside resources—texts, videos or films, webpages, or even online or in-person exhibits—to “expand their knowledge on a topic covered in class.”

Anderson said that for older students, teachers can sometimes make whatever homework they assign a voluntary choice. “Do all students need to practice a skill? If not, you might keep homework invitational,” he said, adding that teachers can tell students, “If you think a little more practice tonight would help you solidify your learning, here are some examples you might try.”

On Facebook , Natisha Wilson, a K–12 gifted students coordinator for an Ohio school district, said that when students are working on a challenging question in class, she’ll give them the option to “take it home and figure it out” if they’re unable to complete it before the end of the period. Often students take her up on this, she said, because many of them “can’t stand not knowing the answer.” 

5. Grade for Completion—or Don’t Grade at All  

Former teacher Rick Wormeli argued that work on homework assignments isn’t “evidence of final level of proficiency”; rather, it’s practice that provides teachers with “feedback and informs where we go next in instruction.” 

Grading homework for completion—or not grading at all, Wormeli said—can help students focus on the real task at hand of consolidating understanding and self-monitoring their learning. “When early attempts at mastery are not used against them, and accountability comes in the form of actually learning content, adolescents flourish.” 

High school science teacher John Scali agreed , confirming that grading for “completion and timeliness” rather than for “correctness” makes students “more likely to do the work, especially if it ties directly into what we are doing in class the next day” without worrying about being “100% correct.” On Instagram , middle school math teacher Traci Hawks noted that any assignments that are completed and show work—even if the answer is wrong—gets a 100 from her.

But Frommert said that even grading for completion can be time-consuming for teachers and fraught for students if they don’t have home environments that are supportive of homework or if they have jobs or other after-school activities. 

Instead of traditional grading, she suggested alternatives to holding students accountable for homework, such as student presentations or even group discussions and debates as a way to check for understanding. For example, students can debate which method is best to solve a problem or discuss their prospective solutions in small groups. “Communicating their mathematical thinking deepens their understanding,” Frommert said. 

Smart Classroom Management

A Simple, Effective Homework Plan For Teachers: Part 1

So for the next two weeks I’m going to outline a homework plan–four strategies this week, four the next–aimed at making homework a simple yet effective process.

Let’s get started.

Homework Strategies 1-4

The key to homework success is to eliminate all the obstacles—and excuses—that get in the way of students getting it done.

Add leverage and some delicately placed peer pressure to the mix, and not getting homework back from every student will be a rare occurrence.

Here is how to do it.

1. Assign what students already know.

Most teachers struggle with homework because they misunderstand the narrow purpose of homework, which is to practice what has already been learned. Meaning, you should only assign homework your students fully understand and are able to do by themselves.

Therefore, the skills needed to complete the evening’s homework must be thoroughly taught during the school day. If your students can’t prove to you that they’re able to do the work without assistance, then you shouldn’t assign it.

It isn’t fair to your students—or their parents—to have to sit at the dinner table trying to figure out what you should have taught them during the day.

2. Don’t involve parents.

Homework is an agreement between you and your students. Parents shouldn’t be involved. If parents want to sit with their child while he or she does the homework, great. But it shouldn’t be an expectation or a requirement of them. Otherwise, you hand students a ready-made excuse for not doing it.

You should tell parents at back-to-school night, “I got it covered. If ever your child doesn’t understand the homework, it’s on me. Just send me a note and I’ll take care of it.”

Holding yourself accountable is not only a reminder that your lessons need to be spot on, but parents will love you for it and be more likely to make sure homework gets done every night. And for negligent parents? It’s best for their children in particular to make homework a teacher/student-only agreement.

3. Review and then ask one important question.

Set aside a few minutes before the end of the school day to review the assigned homework. Have your students pull out the work, allow them to ask final clarifying questions, and have them check to make sure they have the materials they need.

And then ask one important question: “Is there anyone, for any reason, who will not be able to turn in their homework in the morning? I want to know now rather than find out about it in the morning.”

There are two reasons for this question.

First, the more leverage you have with students, and the more they admire and respect you , the more they’ll hate disappointing you. This alone can be a powerful incentive for students to complete homework.

Second, it’s important to eliminate every excuse so that the only answer students can give for not doing it is that they just didn’t care. This sets up the confrontation strategy you’ll be using the next morning.

4. Confront students on the spot.

One of your key routines should be entering the classroom in the morning.

As part of this routine, ask your students to place their homework in the top left-hand (or right-hand) corner of their desk before beginning a daily independent assignment—reading, bellwork , whatever it may be.

During the next five to ten minutes, walk around the room and check homework–don’t collect it. Have a copy of the answers (if applicable) with you and glance at every assignment.

You don’t have to check every answer or read every portion of the assignment. Just enough to know that it was completed as expected. If it’s math, I like to pick out three or four problems that represent the main thrust of the lesson from the day before.

It should take just seconds to check most students.

Remember, homework is the practice of something they already know how to do. Therefore, you shouldn’t find more than a small percentage of wrong answers–if any. If you see more than this, then you know your lesson was less than effective, and you’ll have to reteach

If you find an assignment that is incomplete or not completed at all, confront that student on the spot .

Call them on it.

The day before, you presented a first-class lesson and gave your students every opportunity to buzz through their homework confidently that evening. You did your part, but they didn’t do theirs. It’s an affront to the excellence you strive for as a class, and you deserve an explanation.

It doesn’t matter what he or she says in response to your pointed questions, and there is no reason to humiliate or give the student the third degree. What is important is that you make your students accountable to you, to themselves, and to their classmates.

A gentle explanation of why they don’t have their homework is a strong motivator for even the most jaded students to get their homework completed.

The personal leverage you carry–that critical trusting rapport you have with your students–combined with the always lurking peer pressure is a powerful force. Not using it is like teaching with your hands tied behind your back.

Homework Strategies 5-8

Next week we’ll cover the final four homework strategies . They’re critical to getting homework back every day in a way that is painless for you and meaningful for your students.

I hope you’ll tune in.

If you haven’t done so already, please join us. It’s free! Click here and begin receiving classroom management articles like this one in your email box every week.

What to read next:

• A Powerful Way To Relieve Stress: Part One
• A Simple Exercise Program For Teachers
• Why Your New Classroom Management Plan Isn't Working
• 27 Things That Make Your Classroom Management Plan Work
• When And How To Teach Your Classroom Management Plan

21 thoughts on “A Simple, Effective Homework Plan For Teachers: Part 1”

Good stuff, Michael. A lot of teachers I train and coach are surprised (and skeptical) at first when I make the same point you make about NOT involving parents. But it’s right on based on my experience as a teacher, instructional coach, and administrator the past 17 years. More important, it’s validated by Martin Haberman’s 40 years of research on what separates “star” teachers from “quitter/failure” teachers ( http://www.habermanfoundation.org/Book.aspx?sm=c1 )

I love the articles about “homework”. in the past I feel that it is difficuty for collecting homework. I will try your plan next year.

I think you’ll be happy with it, Sendy!

How do you confront students who do not have their homework completed?

You state in your book to let consequences do their job and to never confront students, only tell them the rule broken and consequence.

I want to make sure I do not go against that rule, but also hold students accountable for not completing their work. What should I say to them?

They are two different things. Homework is not part of your classroom management plan.

Hi Michael,

I’m a first-year middle school teacher at a private school with very small class sizes (eight to fourteen students per class). While I love this homework policy, I feel discouraged about confronting middle schoolers publicly regarding incomplete homework. My motive would never be to humiliate my students, yet I can name a few who would go home thinking their lives were over if I did confront them in front of their peers. Do you have any ideas of how to best go about incomplete homework confrontation with middle school students?

The idea isn’t in any way to humiliate students, but to hold them accountable for doing their homework. Parts one and two represent my best recommendation.:)

I believe that Homework is a vital part of students learning.

I’m still a student–in a classroom management class. So I have no experience with this, but I’m having to plan a procedure for my class. What about teacher sitting at desk and calling student one at a time to bring folder while everyone is doing bellwork or whatever their procedure is? That way 1) it would be a long walk for the ones who didn’t do the work :), and 2) it would be more private. What are your thoughts on that? Thanks. 🙂

I’m not sure I understand your question. Would you mind emailing me with more detail? I’m happy to help.

I think what you talked about is great. How do you feel about flipping a lesson? My school is pretty big on it, though I haven’t done it yet. Basically, for homework, the teacher assigns a video or some other kind of media of brand new instruction. Students teach themselves and take a mini quiz at the end to show they understand the new topic. Then the next day in the classroom, the teacher reinforces the lesson and the class period is spent practicing with the teacher present for clarification. I haven’t tried it yet because as a first year teacher I haven’t had enough time to make or find instructional videos and quizzes, and because I’m afraid half of my students will not do their homework and the next day in class I will have to waste the time of the students who did their homework and just reteach what the video taught.

Anyway, this year, I’m trying the “Oops, I forgot my homework” form for students to fill out every time they forget their homework. It keeps them accountable and helps me keep better track of who is missing what. Once they complete it, I cut off the bottom portion of the form and staple it to their assignment. I keep the top copy for my records and for parent/teacher conferences.

Here is an instant digital download of the form. It’s editable in case you need different fields.

Thanks again for your blog. I love the balance you strike between rapport and respect.

Your site is a godsend for a newbie teacher! Thank you for your clear, step-by-step, approach!

I G+ your articles to my PLN all the time.

You’re welcome, TeachNich! And thank you for sharing the articles.

Hi Michael, I’m going into my first year and some people have told me to try and get parents involved as much as I can – even home visits and things like that. But my gut says that negligent parents cannot be influenced by me. Still, do you see any value in having parents initial their student’s planner every night so they stay up to date on homework assignments? I could also write them notes.

Personally, no. I’ll write about this in the future, but when you hold parents accountable for what are student responsibilities, you lighten their load and miss an opportunity to improve independence.

I am teaching at a school where students constantly don’t take work home. I rarely give homework in math but when I do it is usually something small and I still have to chase at least 7 kids down to get their homework. My way of holding them accountable is to record a homework completion grade as part of their overall grade. Is this wrong to do? Do you believe homework should never be graded for a grade and just be for practice?

No, I think marking a completion grade is a good idea.

I’ve been teaching since 2014 and we need to take special care when assigning homework. If the homework assignment is too hard, is perceived as busy work, or takes too long to complete, students might tune out and resist doing it. Never send home any assignment that students cannot do. Homework should be an extension of what students have learned in class. To ensure that homework is clear and appropriate, consider the following tips for assigning homework:

Assign homework in small units. Explain the assignment clearly. Establish a routine at the beginning of the year for how homework will be assigned. Remind students of due dates periodically. And Make sure students and parents have information regarding the policy on missed and late assignments, extra credit, and available adaptations. Establish a set routine at the beginning of the year.

Thanks Nancie L Beckett

Dear Michael,

I love your approach! Do you have any ideas for homework collection for lower grades? K-3 are not so ready for independent work first thing in the morning, so I do not necessarily have time to check then; but it is vitally important to me to teach the integrity of completing work on time.

Also, I used to want parents involved in homework but my thinking has really changed, and your comments confirm it!

Hi Meredith,

I’ll be sure and write about this topic in an upcoming article (or work it into an article). 🙂

Overall, this article provides valuable insights and strategies for teachers to implement in their classrooms. I look forward to reading Part 2 and learning more about how to make homework a simple and effective process. Thanks

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Too Much Homework Hurts Your Students. Here’s What to Do Instead.

• Post author: The CTTL
• Post published: February 28, 2019
• Post category: Teaching Strategies

At the CTTL , we’re focused on using the best of Mind, Brain, and Education Science research to help teachers maximize their effectiveness and guide students toward their greatest potential. Doing that often means addressing what we like to call “Learning Myths”—those traditional bits of teaching wisdom that are often accepted without question, but aren’t always true. We also like to introduce new insight that can change the classroom for the better. In our Learning Myths series, we’ll explore true-or-false statements that affect teacher and student performance; for each, we’ll dive into the details that support the facts, leaving teachers with actionable knowledge that they can put to work right away.

True or False? Homework should be given every night, as this routine promotes learning.

Answer: False! Nightly homework is unnecessary—and can actually be harmful.

Homework for homework’s sake, or homework that’s not tied into the classroom experience, is a demotivating waste of your students’ time and energy. The Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit puts it this way: “Planned and focused activities are more beneficial than homework, which is more regular, but may be routine or not linked with what is being learned in class.”

How might teachers put this insight into action?

Homework, in itself, isn’t a bad thing. The key is to make sure that every homework assignment is both necessary and relevant—and leaves students with some time to rest and investigate other parts of their lives. Here are four key mindsets to adopt as an educator:

Resist the traditional wisdom that equates hardship with learning. Assigning constant homework is often tied into the idea that the more rigorous a class is, the better it is. However, according to research from Duke University’s Professor Harris Cooper, this belief is mistaken: “too much homework may diminish its effectiveness, or even become counterproductive.” A better guideline for homework, Cooper suggests, is to assign 1-2 hours of total homework in high school, and only up to 1 hour in junior high or middle school. This is based on the understanding that school-aged children are developing quickly in multiple realms of their lives; thus, family, outside interests, and sleep all take an unnecessary and damaging hit if students are spending their evenings on busy work. Even for high schoolers, more than two hours of homework was not associated with greater levels of achievement in Cooper’s study.

Remember that some assignments help learning more than others—and they tend to be simple, connected ones. Research suggests that the more open-ended and unstructured assignments are, the smaller the effect they have on learning. The best kind of homework is made of planned, focused activities that help reinforce what’s been happening in class. Using the spacing effect is one way to help students recall and remember what they’ve been learning: for example, this could include a combination of practice questions from what happened today, three days ago, and five days ago. (You can also consider extending this idea by integrating concepts and skills from other parts of your course into your homework materials). Another helpful approach is to assign an exercise that acts as a simple introduction to material that is about to be taught. In general, make sure that all at-home activities are a continuation of the story that’s playing out in class—in other words, that they’re tied into what happened before the assignment, as well as what will happen next.

When it comes to homework, stay flexible. Homework shouldn’t be used to teach complex new ideas and skills. Because it’s so important that homework is closely tied with current learning, it’s important to prepare to adjust your assignments on the fly: if you end up running out of time and can’t cover all of a planned subject on a given day, nix any homework that relies on it.

Never use homework as a punishment. Homework should never be used as a disciplinary tool or a penalty. It’s important for students to know and trust that what they’re doing at home is a vital part of their learning.

Make sure that your students don’t get stuck before they begin. Teachers tend to under-appreciate one very significant problem when it comes to homework: often, students just don’t know how to do the assignment! Being confused by the instructions—and without the means to remedy the situation—is extremely demotivating. If you find (or suspect) that this might be a problem for your students, one helpful strategy is to give students a few minutes in class to begin their homework, so that you can address any clarifying questions that arise.

In order for students to become high academic achievers, they have to be learning in a way that challenges them at the right level— much like the porridge in the Goldilocks story, it’s got to be just right. Homework is a great tool, but it must be used wisely. Part of our role as teachers is to make sure that the time we ask our students to give us after they leave class is meaningful to their learning; otherwise, the stress and demotivation of “just because” homework can be detrimental to their well-being. As the CTTL’s Dr. Ian Kelleher advises, “The best homework assignments are just 20 minutes long, because those are the ones that the teacher has really planned out carefully.” Put simply: quality beats out quantity, every time.

Here at the CTTL, we’re all about quality over quantity. Case in point: our newest endeavor, Neuroteach Global , helps teachers infuse their classroom practices with research-informed strategies for student success—in just 3-5 minutes a day, on a variety of devices.

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How To Handle A Student Who Doesn’t Do Homework?

If you’ve been teaching for any length of time, you know that there are students who don’t do their homework.

This is not always a sign of laziness, apathy, or lack of interest in the subject matter. It may just be that they didn’t understand the assignment and/or were too busy to complete it.

Regardless of the reason, these students will need some extra attention and guidance if you want them to succeed academically.

A personal touch is usually the best approach. In other words, don’t hesitate to talk to your students face-to-face about their homework problems. They will appreciate your interest and show a willingness to improve because you care enough about them as an individual to find a solution.

I hope this article helps you manage your students who don’t do homework!

Why Some Students Don’t Do Their Homework?

1) what’s the point  .

Sometimes, students simply don’t see a point in doing their homework. This may be because the subject is boring, or monotonous – or it could be because it’s impossible to comprehend. Ensuring that students have a solid understanding of the material before moving on to the next topic will help eliminate this issue. In addition, if you find yourself instructing something that lacks value, it may be time to rethink your approach.

2) Too Many Homework Assignments  

This is often the most common issue students face. Teachers who fail to recognize that their students are carrying too much of a workload can create unbearable conditions that lead to laziness and failure.  If you’re finding yourself sending home a large amount of work every night, you should strongly consider revising your approach. It’s much better to focus on a small number of assignments and ensure they’re completed correctly, rather than overwhelming students with too many tasks.

3) Lack of Self-Motivation  

Many students don’t do their homework because they lack motivation and self-discipline. In situations such as these, it’s important to remember that you can’t force a student to complete their work – but there are ways for you to motivate them. The key is making the endeavor rewarding and worth their time – this could be through rewards or points systems.

4) Intellectual Disability  

5) lack of parental involvement  .

Sometimes, parents fail to support their child’s education. This lack of involvement can significantly affect the student, who may then find it difficult to complete homework tasks without parental guidance. You should give students enough space to do their work, but you should also be supportive in helping them when they need help.

6) Poor Planning   

7) illness   .

When students become ill, they may struggle to control their behavior and focus on homework. If your class falls victim to a bug, you should allow individuals to take the necessary time off without anxiety or pressure. The same goes for injuries – any situations where students are bedridden should be handled with appropriate care.

8) Bad Timing  

Sometimes, students don’t do their homework due to bad timing. This could be because they’ve only just returned home from school and haven’t had enough time to rest. It’s important that you give your students ample time to unwind before starting any work, so they can retain their focus.

9) Distractions at Home   

Modern homes contain a multitude of distractions that can affect the way students work. In addition to these, students may also have distracted siblings or relatives – making it hard for them to concentrate on tasks given by the teacher. You should always provide plenty of space and seclusion when working on academic tasks.

10) The Task is Too Challenging   

11) poorly organized  .

Similar to planning issues, poorly organized students can struggle when it comes to completing their homework. You should work closely with your students to ensure they have the best tools for completing assignments.

12) Disinterest  

How should handle students who don’t do their homework.

For a new teacher, handling a student who doesn’t do their homework can be a difficult task. It could throw off the rest of your lesson plans that you have been working on all day or week. You have to find a way to deal with it without showing favoritism and giving out punishments for those who don’t complete their work.

This can be a very delicate situation especially if several children don’t complete their homework.

1. Let them know the importance of doing their work

2. give them a warning.

Giving out a simple warning would be an ideal approach when handling students who have not completed their work. This means letting them know of any consequences or possible punishments that can be given if they do not complete their homework.

3. Let them know what your role is as a teacher

Another very effective way to deal with students who don’t do their work is by informing them of what the teacher’s role is in the classroom. By explaining this, you are letting them know that you are not responsible for their education. You are there to help them when needed and direct them in the right direction.

4. Give students who don’t do their work another opportunity

5. give consequences for students who don’t complete their work.

The most common consequence that you can give out when a student does not do their schoolwork is giving them detention or some other form of punishment. This can be a difficult thing to do because you have to find a way of disciplining students without jeopardizing your relationship with students or other teachers.

6. Have the parent call the student’s teacher

7. talk to the student after class or during lunch, 8. give student work to another classmate.

Another successful way of handling students who don’t do their work is to give them school work that is given to other students. For example, you can give out extra credit questions or assignments that are completed by other students if they do not complete their work.

9. Make an announcement about the homework policy

10. make sure homework is not repeatedly an issue, final thought.

It can be frustrating when students don’t do their homework. There are a variety of approaches for handling this issue, but the most important thing is to identify what will work best with your personality and teaching style. In this blog post, we’ve provided ten different ways you can address students who consistently turn in incomplete schoolwork or neglect it altogether. Don’t forget that it may take some time before you find out which approach works best for both you and your students! Check out more articles here.

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Collecting Homework in the Classroom

Tips and Ideas for Collecting Homework

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The purpose of homework is to help reinforce what was taught in class or to have students gather extra information beyond what was demonstrated in class.

Homework is one part of daily classroom management that can cause many teachers problems. Homework must be assigned, collected, reviewed and assessed. That amount of work means homework must be designed to serve an academic purpose, otherwise, the results may be a great waste of student and instructor time.

Here are a few tips and ideas that can help you create an effective method for collecting homework every day.

Physical Homework

New teachers find out very quickly that day-to-day instruction is made much more effective when there are organized daily housekeeping routines. In developing these routines, if there is homework to collect, the best time to collect it for use in instruction is at the beginning of the period.

Methods you can use to accomplish this include:

• Station yourself at the door as students walk into your room. Students are required to hand you their homework. This greatly reduces the time it takes to complete this task because it is mostly finished before the bell even rings.
• Have a designated homework box. Explain to students how they are to turn in their homework each day. To keep track, you might remove the homework box after the bell rings and class begins. Anyone who does not get it in the box will have their homework be marked late. Many teachers find it a good idea to give students a three to a five-minute window after the bell rings to avoid possible confrontations and to keep things fair.

Digital Homework

If the technology is available, in school and at home, teachers may prefer to give a digital homework assignment. They may use a course platform like Google Classroom, Moodle, Schoology, or Edmodo.

Students may be asked to complete homework individually or collaboratively. In this cases, the homework will be time-stamped or a digital student is associated with the work. You may use that time stamp to show the homework has been completed on time.

Digital homework may include programs that provide immediate feedback, which will make assessing much easier. On some of these platforms, there may be an opportunity for a student to repeat an assignment. Digital platforms allow teachers to keep an assignment inventory or student portfolios to note student academic growth.

You may choose to use a “flipped classroom” model. In this model, the instruction is assigned as the homework in advance of class, while the hands-on practice takes place in the classroom. The central idea with this kind of digital homework is similar. In a flipped classroom, the homework serving as the teaching tool. There may be videos or interactive lessons to provide the instruction that happens in class. A flipped learning model allows students to work through problems, suggest solutions, and engage in collaborative learning.

Homework tips

• When it comes to daily housekeeping chores like collecting homework and taking roll, creating a daily routine is the most effective tool. If students know the system and you follow it every day, then it will take up less of your valuable teaching time and give students less time to misbehave while you are otherwise occupied.
• Come up with a quick system to mark an assignment as late. You might have a brightly colored highlighter which you use to make a mark on the top of the paper. You could also mark it with the number of points that you will be taking off the paper. Whatever your method, you will want to make it something you can do quickly and efficiently. See How to Deal with Late Work and Makeup Work
• Return homework within 24 hours for optimum effect.
• The flipped homework in class as part of instruction. The homework is not assessed, but the students are.

Ultimately, it is not the assigning or collecting of homework that is important. What is important is understanding the purpose of homework, and that purpose can help you determine the kind of homework, be it physical or digital, that works best for your students.

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• Creating a Homework Policy With Meaning and Purpose
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• Planning Classroom Instruction
• The Many Purposes of Education
• What Teachers Do Beyond the Classroom When No One Is Looking
• Dealing With Trips to the Bathroom During Class
• The Pros and Cons of Block Schedules
• Pi Day Activities
• Tips for Teaching Multiple Preps
• Stop Classroom Clutter
• Methods for Presenting Subject Matter
• Pros and Cons to Flexible Grouping in Middle and High School
• Post-It Note Strategies to Improve Understanding
• Improve Algebra Content Vocabulary with Poetry

Dealing With Missing Homework

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In the spring, a young teacher’s fancy turns to thoughts of . . . homework? That’s what happened in the TLN forum discussion group last week, when a fifth-year middle school teacher asked her colleagues: “What’s your feeling about students who won’t or don’t do work outside of school?”

She went on to explain:

I carefully plan my class so that the homework I give is meaningful. Basically, I ask students to continue the reading process we begin in school. Home reading is a valuable habit for them to develop, and practical since I can’t devote enough class time to silent reading for my students to get through books in a timely manner.

Much of the time they have chosen their own books and by October most of my students are reading in class and for homework. But I have a few students who just hold out on me. They read in class, but no matter what, it seems they won’t read at home. These are students who also don’t do any work outside of school in any of their other classes. It’s true they go home to chaotic environments and some have lots of household duties. But does this mean they truly can’t work outside of school? Or are they simply refusing? Is it okay? How hard should a teacher push on this?

My close colleague grew up with both her parents working long hours and she basically raised her four younger brothers and sisters. She was exhausted, but she did her school work despite it and she excelled in school. She is a great teacher and has no sympathy for students who don’t do work outside of school. She believes it’s necessary for students to take responsibility for their education and she refuses to “make excuses for them.” She has the highest number of failing students in the building. Nonetheless, students say they learn a lot from her and come back to visit her, saying she prepared them for high school (we both teach 8th grade).

Where do you stand on students working on assignments outside of school? What about those few that don’t?

A suburban high school English teacher replied:

There are a variety of aspects to consider: the students’ ages, individual circumstances, the expectations of the school and department, the expectations in their high schools, and any relevant standards you operate within.

I’m sure you appreciate the importance of communicating one-to-one with these students and showing that you value them and want to understand the relevant factors that prevent them from doing work. At the same time, you can use that interaction to communicate the importance of what you’re asking—how it will serve them well in the future, that it’s not an arbitrary requirement you cooked up to torture students. Beyond that, I’m not sure what the consequences should be for that age group, in your context.

Working with high school students in the context that I do, I have a clear expectation, consistent with my department, school, and district, that students must do work on their own outside of school. Like you, I aim to keep it relevant and valuable—no busy work. When students don’t do the work, I talk to them, and offer support and flexibility on the amount or timing of work as warranted—but there’s not much chance of getting around the basic expectation of reading and writing outside of school hours.

When students say they just can’t do it, I’m comfortable saying that they also can’t expect a grade of C or higher in the class. I try to present it as a matter of providing evidence. They may very well be capable of satisfactory completion of a high school English class, but if, for whatever reason, they can’t demonstrate it at this time, the grade is unfortunately reflecting that there’s no evidence to warrant a more desirable grade.

Another middle school teacher, in a small midwestern town, wondered: “Should failure be an option?”

I teach 7th grade math and try not to assign homework as such. However, math is very skill-oriented and there are assignments each day. Students who use class time wisely usually have little or no work to complete outside of class. I plan my assignments so students can complete them during class time because I want to be available to help them if they are struggling.

Unfortunately, the students who struggle most tend to be either slow workers or those who care very little about their grades anyway. These students seldom finish their assignments in OR out of class, and consequently, their grades suffer. I have a fairly liberal grading policy. Homework not turned in does not count against students. However, students who do not complete daily work have little chance of being successful on assessments.

I am not sure what the solution is. I have tried working with individual students, writing contracts with parents/students, offering to stay after school to help, whatever. But for some students (and their parents) school is simply not a priority. While I understand that other things interfere with students and time to complete assignments, I also feel that school should be their number one priority right now and somehow we need to make them understand this.

An upper elementary teacher in New York state wrote:

I see great value in the concept of meaningful homework for a variety of reasons. Obviously, it’s valuable for the transfer of content and strategies along with the positive effects of practice and reinforcement. I also think it is a perfect way to provide opportunities to build character in terms of responsibility and personal accountability—skills that can go a long way in life.

A high school teacher in the rural deep south remembered:

I once visited the home of a student who almost never did his homework. I discovered that he lived in a trailer (not double-wide) with five siblings, two cousins, and three adults. There were two light bulbs in the entire trailer: one in the bathroom, the other over the kitchen area. I started making arrangements for him to do his homework in my room after school or early in the morning.

Our local youth ministry operates a homework club that provides space and support for members to do homework a couple of nights each week. We have many parents who are illiterate or semi-illiterate. Some push their children to get an education; others are intimidated by anything from school and embarrassed that they can’t help their children. Consequently, I’ve become much less rigid about work done outside of school. It’s always optional, although I stress the value of it for the doer.

A teacher in California questioned whether there is evidence that homework actually improves learning.

I recently read an article stating that homework had little or no impact on student achievement in content. Other research I’ve read supports that thinking as well. It’s one of those sacred cows that would be worth discussing and learning more about.

Do my kids do work at home? Yes. But mostly they do it on their own terms based on what they need in order to accomplish projects by a certain date. Reading is an expectation too, but it’s always their choice of book. Work completion and quality have risen since I ceased assigning “homework,” and I see how much more serious they are about the work we do in class together.

Rick Wormeli, a TLN forum member who writes and speaks about homework issues frequently as a professional development consultant, had this to say:

Some teachers see homework as evidence of learning. This is true, but it’s formative evidence at best. As such, it is never to be used in the final summative grade, or if used, it should be used with an extremely small influence on the overall grade—2 percent, 5 percent, or similar. Most experts will cringe even at this concession. We should use any evidence gained in assessing homework assignments to provide feedback to students and revise instruction, not as the final declaration of what a child knows and is able to do regarding a standard or outcome.

Homework is definitely practice. In fact, in my middle school classes, we called it what it was—"practice.” The phrasing I used was, “Students, your science practice tonight will be...,” or, “For practice tonight in English, please do the following....” This kept both students and me mindful of homework’s true role in learning (and its weight in grading) and removed a lot of the emotional baggage associated with the term “homework.”

Nowhere else in the world do we grade practice. We don’t give the gold medal to Olympians who trained well and worked hard, we give it to those who achieve the highest results. Homework is the time to practice and wrestle with the ideas, try out hunches, and explore the topic. If the score on our practice work counts for much of our grade, we don’t have the freedom to explore without fear of labeling and rejection.

This, perhaps, is the change in metaphor we need to consider: Grades are not compensation. They never were. Grades are reports of what happened—that’s it. They are communication, and as such, they must be accurate.

If we include such factors as homework performance; the number of days he used a quiet, indoor voice; whether she brought her supplies in a timely manner; if she completed tasks assigned, met deadlines, or brought in canned food for food drives; or a host of other distorting factors, we remove all validity in the initial report of what the students knows and can do regarding the standards/outcomes. Now the grade can no longer be used to inform academic decisions, document progress, or provide accurate feedback. Our enterprise is undermined.

Some suggest that doing homework builds character and therefore should be counted in the grade. I agree that doing assigned tasks, meeting deadlines, managing time, and sticking it out to finish an assignment when you’d rather be watching television all have their place in building character. But responding with inappropriate grading policies is not the way to build moral fiber. Hold students accountable for doing homework and following through on requests from the adults in their lives, but don’t do it through your grading practices. Grades are very poor teachers.

One last thing: There are numerous research reports regarding the impact of homework on student achievement in school, and the correlations are nothing or next to nothing for primary and elementary grades. In middle school there is a small bump, and in high school a slightly higher bump, but the correlation is still stunningly low. We have to accept the fact that while homework is one tool for learning a topic, it is only that—one tool. We have hundreds of other ways to teach students.

If the homework door is closed for whatever reason, it’s not the end of learning. Consider how you would teach if you didn’t have homework assignments to rely upon. When I did this earlier in my career, it changed what I did the classroom. My instruction improved as a result.

So how about you? Is homework important? Do you include it in your grading system? Have your views changed over time?

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Home › Study Tips › How To Deal With A Lot Of Homework? 8 Tips

How To Deal With A Lot Of Homework? 8 Tips

• Published January 22, 2023

Deadlines can be an incredibly stress-inducing thing. With each passing day, the homework deadlines grow ever closer.

But your work output doesn’t seem to keep pace until finally, in a fit of frantic desperation, you complete the majority of the task in the last 3 hours before it’s due. You’re not alone.

We have no firm figures but based upon our own rather hasty research directly before writing this piece. The percentage of people in the world who habitually procrastinate to some degree equals approximately 99.9999999%.

We don’t know who that .0000001 is, but we’re reasonably sure we wouldn’t enjoy their company.

1. Examples Of Procrastinators

Some famous habitual procrastinators include the likes of French poet and novelist Victor Hugo. Or, American author Herman Melville, and British author Douglas Adams.

Of course, based on their creative output, one would assume that each of these people found ways of meeting their deadlines, and you’d be right.

Victor Hugo used the popular focusing technique of being stripped naked in his study by a servant, who was given strict orders not to return with the clothing until a pre-arranged hour. Melville had his wife chain him to his desk in order to finish Moby Dick.

Douglas Adams regularly required publishers to lock him in rooms and stand guard, glowering menacingly until he produced a manuscript. Alright, then.

Let’s explore a few less extreme ways to cope with an impending deadline.

2. Take Smaller Bites If You Have Too Much Homework

Anyone who’s ever attempted to shed a few unwanted pounds has probably heard or read the advice to take smaller bites, chew your food thoroughly, etc., etc.… This is excellent advice in both weight loss and in the avoidance of procrastination (albeit for very different reasons).

One of the biggest triggers of procrastination is making the crippling mistake of thinking of whatever project you’re working on as one gigantic, hulking menace glaring at you from a distance. He’s probably also holding a large club with spikes coming out of it (although that may just be us).

Divide the overall workload into smaller, more manageable bites. Say, for example, that you’re writing an article listing and detailing the top 20 universities in the UK.

The assignment is to write a total of 10,000 words. Returning briefly to our diet analogy, that initially seems roughly equivalent to being asked to consume an entire roasted goose in one sitting (but without the irresistible allure of the roasted goose).

Following the principle of the smaller bite, however, you’re able to say to yourself, “I don’t have to spill out 10,000 brilliant words onto the page all at once. I’ve got 20 universities to write about. That’s 500 words apiece. Let’s tackle that first one and then worry about the next.”

Taken even further, you realise that each university will have sub-sections of approximately 100 words each. “100 words is nothing!” you exclaim.

And so, you’re able to jump into your project with much less trepidation and despair.

3. Break The Task Up

Of course, breaking the task into smaller pieces is fine for getting you past that stumbling block of the blank page. But you should be aware of one possible pitfall: If you break things down too far, you might decide the project is so easy that you can wait a week or two to get started.

This is bad. A necessary addendum to the “Take Smaller Bites” technique is the “Make Smaller Deadlines” technique. With each sub-step you identify, you should also set a sub-deadline to keep you on track toward completing the entire project.

This is especially important when the overall deadline is further off into the hazy future. The farther out the deadline is, the easier it is to convince yourself to wait another day. Or two. Or twelve.

Smaller bites work well, but if you don’t pair them with smaller deadlines, you’ll likely end up facing the entire project in one go just as you feared you would from the beginning.

4. Give Yourself Permission to Fail

One of the biggest reasons for procrastination is not laziness  but perfectionism . Thomas Edison is a famous American inventor and originator of the electric light bulb and other modern conveniences. He famously refused to accept that he had  failed 10,000 times , opting instead to assert that he’d  found 10,000 ways that didn’t work.

It’s a valid point. From inventors to scientists to actors in rehearsals, brilliant discoveries and stunning performances can’t just spring fully-formed out of nothingness. They’re invariably the result of working through countless failures on the way toward eventual success.

Suppose you’re putting off starting a project because it’s just not the perfect time or because it might not be good enough. Well, you’re right. There is no ideal time, and your first (and second, and third…) try probably won’t be good enough. But you have to allow yourself the freedom to make those initial failures if you ever aspire to succeed truly.

If you’re writing an essay , a poem, or a novel, get something on the page. Sit down now and scribble down an initial list of required tasks if you’re planning an event. That first page may well end up in the trash, and that initial list will no doubt be incomplete.

But that “failure” will lead you to the next try and the next until perched upon a tower of failures, you finally grasp the elusive fruit of success. It’s in the doing that you’ll find success, not in waiting for the perfect time to begin.

5. Eliminate Distractions

Easier said than done these days is the task of eliminating distractions during the time you’ve committed to working. From phone calls to emails to texts to Facebook to Twitter to Snapchat and on and on and on, it seems the world today is nothing but distractions (or that work is just a distraction from the far more interesting buzzing phone in our pocket).

When it comes to time management, procrastination can be the anti-hero that you really don’t want in a time like this. The trick is to find a way to remove yourself from those things.

The first step is to identify the worst offenders. Is it the TikTok notifications popping up simultaneously on your phone and computer screen? The email or texts making your phone chime every 30 seconds? Or, simply the outside world as viewed through the window in front of your desk? Most likely, it’s a combination of some of these and a few other things we haven’t mentioned.

Once you’ve identified the problem, the actions you take are entirely up to you. Is signing out of TikTok enough, or do you need the nuclear option of deactivating the account? Will turning off the phone suffice, or will you need to have a friend or family member keep it for you? Can you close the blind or move your desk? Or must you board up the window? Be honest with yourself. Only you know the extents to which you need to resort to finish your homework.

…To yourself. Only to yourself.

When dealing with a deadline of any sort, it’s usually an excellent idea to set a personal deadline in advance of the actual due date. In other words, lie to yourself about when it’s due. The benefits of this approach are apparent. If your project is due in 3 weeks, and you give yourself 2 weeks, that gives you an entire week to address any unexpected issues that may arise. For example, a part of the homework assignment might be more complex than you initially anticipated.

Of course, this only works if you’re particularly good at lying to yourself. Some can’t ignore the actual due date, so they end up skipping a day of work here and there because they know they’ve got an extra week to get it done. If you’re not gullible enough to believe your own lies, the only option is to add some urgency to your earlier deadline. Have a trusted friend or family member change your social media passwords and only reveal them once you’ve met the deadline.

Give your debit card to your mom and live off only a small daily allowance until the deadline is met. Be creative, but make it something that will motivate you. You’ll thank yourself when you’ve finished your project a week early, and you can relax while everyone else is still sweating it out.

7. Prioritise the most important or difficult tasks first

You may be asking yourself how you can do this – and the simple answer to that is to create an Eisenhower Matrix. It’s a time management skills tool that can help students prioritise difficult assignments by tackling them first.

The Eisenhower Matrix, or the Urgent-Important Matrix, can help prioritise tasks based on their urgency and importance. It may feel like a chore, but use these steps to give you a head start before you complete all your work:

• Write a list of your homework tasks.
• Divide a sheet of paper into four quadrants, labelling each one as “Urgent and Important,” “Important but Not Urgent,” “Urgent but Not Important,” and “Not Urgent or Important.”
• Place each homework task into the appropriate quadrant based on its level of urgency and importance.
• Start with the “Urgent and Important” tasks and work on them first. These are the homework projects that are due soon and are critical to your grades.
• Next, move on to the “Important but Not Urgent” tasks. These are assignments that are important to your long-term success but do not have a pressing deadline.
• Next, the “Urgent but Not Important” assignments. These are tasks that may be due soon but are not critical to your success.
• Finally, the bottom of the pile is “Not Urgent or Important” tasks. These tasks are neither critical nor time-sensitive.

Using this matrix will help you to prioritise your homework and ensure that you are focusing on the most important tasks first.

8. Manage Your Time To Avoid Burnout

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into 25-minute intervals called “Pomodoros” followed by short breaks. During each interval, focus solely on completing a specific task , and then take a short break before starting another Pomodoro.

Repeat this cycle until you have completed all of your homework tasks. Ultimately, this technique helps to increase productivity and prevent burnout by giving your brain regular breaks even though you’re getting too much homework.

9. Seek help when needed, such as from a teacher or tutor.

Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of homework you have as a secondary school student? Fear not, my friend. One strategy to conquer this mountain of assignments is to seek help when needed. But how do you do that?

• Identify the problem: what specifically is causing you to have too much homework? Is it a lack of understanding of the material, difficulty with time management, or something else? Knowing the problem will help you to better communicate it to your teacher or tutor.
• Ask the teacher: your first point of contact should be your teacher. Explain your situation and ask for help. Your teacher may be able to provide you with additional resources or offer to provide extra help during class or after the school day.
• Seek a tutor: If you are still struggling after talking to your teacher, consider seeking help from a tutor. Tutors can provide one-on-one help, can work with you at your own pace and help you with exam preparation .
• Utilise school resources: Many schools have resources such as a homework club or study groups that can help you to manage your workload. Take advantage of these resources if they are available to you.

10. Run Away (haha!)

Sometimes all that’s needed to jumpstart your initiative and get you headed in the right direction is a simple change of venue. There are many resources on the internet to help you choose or arrange your workspace so as to maximise productivity.

One thing to keep in mind is that many productivity experts frown on combining your workspace with your sleeping space. The theory is that combining the two harms both your work and your sleep by confusing your brain as to exactly what the room is meant to be for.

Of course, as a student, your sleeping space may be the only workspace you’ve got. But if you do find your work or rest to be suffering, it might be worth it to move your work sessions to a friend’s room, the library, or another suitable space and save your room for relaxation.

It’s also good to remember that, just because your workspace of choice has been the most inspiring and focused place to get things done in the past, things can change. If your workspace no longer does the job, don’t waste too much time figuring out why. It may just be time for you to find someplace new.

What to do instead of homework?

Whether your homework is complete, or if you’re just managing your time and taking a break, then these 10 activities can keep you active without sitting in front of the TV:

• Exercise or go for a walk: it actually helps to boost your energy levels and improve your focus on your homework.
• Read a book: a great way to relax and unwind while also improving your vocabulary and concentration for future essay writing.
• Meditate or practice yoga: Mindfulness practices can help to reduce stress, and improve focus and other health benefits.
• Organise your space: Organising your workspace space can help to reduce stress and increase productivity.
• Take a nap: A short nap can help to refresh your mind and improve your focus, and who doesn’t love a quick nap?
• Use a study app for students to increase their productivity while keeping you on your phone
• Spend time with friends or family
• Learn a new skill or hobby
• Listen to music or an audiobook
• Write in a journal or diary about how your day is going
• Volunteer in your community

Can Too Much Homework Be Negative To A Student?

Yes, too much homework can be negative for students as it can lead to anxiety and stress due to them feeling overwhelmed. But it depends on the student, their level of understanding, and their individual needs. However, let’s say you’re spending more than 2 hours on homework every night, then that may be ‘too much’.

This can also contribute to sleep deprivation, problems with friends and family and a lack of motivation to learn more.

What is Homework Anxiety?

Homework anxiety is a type of anxiety that can occur in students when they are assigned homework. It is characterised by feelings of stress, worry, and pressure in relation to completing homework assignments. Symptoms of homework anxiety can include procrastination, difficulty concentrating, and physical symptoms such as headaches or stomachaches.

What Causes Homework Anxiety?

For some students, it may be due to a lack of understanding of the material or difficulty with time management. For others, it may be related to perfectionism or fear of failure. Additionally, students who experience homework anxiety may also have underlying anxiety disorders, such as generalised anxiety disorder or OCD.

Do You Feel More Confident To Do Your Homework?

Procrastination is a very common ailment. One that has afflicted most of us at one time or another, but there are ways to keep yourself on track. These six tips are just a few things to consider if you find yourself consistently clamouring to finish your work at the last minute. There are many other resources on the web if you find that these don’t work out for you.

Now, get to work (and good luck).

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How to Help with Homework: Talk with Teachers to Resolve Problems

On this page, tell the teacher about your concerns, work with the teacher.

This article answers common questions that parents, family members, and caregivers often ask about homework. The booklet also includes practical ideas for helping children to complete homework assignments successfully. See the complete guide for more ideas!

These tips were originally published in the U.S. Department of Education's guide, Helping Your Child with Homework .

You may want to contact the teacher if:

• your child refuses to do her assignments, even though you’ve tried hard to get her to do them
• the instructions are unclear
• you can’t seem to help your child get organized to finish the assignments
• you can’t provide needed supplies or materials
• neither you nor your child can understand the purpose of the assignments
• the assignments are too hard or too easy
• the homework is assigned in uneven amounts—for instance, no homework is given on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, but on Thursday four assignments are made that are due the next day
• your child has missed school and needs to make up assignments.

In some cases, the school guidance counselor or principal also may be helpful in resolving problems.

Continuing communication with teachers is very important in solving homework problems. As you work with your child’s teacher, here are some important things to remember:

Ask the teacher, school guidance counselor or principal if there are mentor programs in your community. Mentor programs pair a child with an adult volunteer who assists with the child’s special needs. Many schools, universities, community organizations, churches and businesses offer excellent mentoring programs.

• Talk with each of your child’s teachers early in the school year. Get acquainted before problems arise and let each teacher know that you want to be kept informed. Most elementary and middle schools hold regular parent-teacher conferences or open houses. If your child’s school doesn’t provide such opportunities, call the teacher to set up a meeting.
• Contact the teacher as soon as you suspect your child has a homework problem. (Also, when you think he’s having any major problems with his schoolwork). Schools have a responsibility to keep you informed about your child’s performance and behavior and you have a right to be upset if you don’t find out until report-card time that your child is having difficulties. On the other hand, you may figure out that a problem exists before the teacher does. By alerting the teacher, you can work together to solve a problem in its early stages.
• Request a meeting with the teacher to discuss homework problems. Tell him briefly why you want to meet. You might say, “Rachel is having trouble with her math homework. I’m worried about why she can’t finish the problems and what we might do to help her.” If English is your second language, you may need to make special arrangements, such as including in the meeting someone who is bilingual. Approach the teacher with a cooperative spirit. Believe that the teacher wants to help you and your child, even if you disagree about something. Don’t go to the principal without giving the teacher a chance to work out the problem with you and your child.
• They offer students options for different approaches to the same topic or lesson.
• They give extra assignments to students who want more challenge.
• They give specialized assignments to students who are having trouble in a particular area.
• During your meeting with the teacher, explain what you think is going on. In addition, tell the teacher if you don’t know what the problem is. Sometimes a student’s version of what’s going on isn’t the same as the teacher’s version. For example, your child may tell you that the teacher never explains assignments so that he can understand them. But the teacher may tell you that your child isn’t paying attention when assignments are given.
• Is the homework often too hard? Maybe your child has fallen behind and will need extra help from the teacher or a tutor to catch up.
• Does your child need to make up a lot of work because of absences? The first step might be working out a schedule with the teacher.
• Does your child need extra support beyond what home and school can give her?
• Make sure that communication is clear. Listen to the teacher and don’t leave until you’re sure that you understand what’s being said. Make sure, too, that the teacher understands what you have to say. If, after the meeting, you realize you don’t understand something, call the teacher to clarify. At the end of the meeting, it may help to summarize what you’ve agreed to do: “OK, so to keep track of Kim’s assignments, I’ll check her assignment book each night and write my initials beside new assignments. Each day you’ll check to make sure she’s written down all new assignments in her book. That way we’ll be certain that I know what her assignments are.”
• Follow up to make sure that the approach you agreed to is working. If the teacher told you, for example, that your child needs to spend more time practicing long division, check back in a month to talk about your child’s progress.

Homework can bring together children, families and teachers in a common effort to improve children’s learning. Helping your child with homework is an opportunity to improve your child’s chances of doing well in school and life. By helping your child with homework, you can help him learn important lessons about discipline and responsibility. You can open up lines of communication—between you and your child and you and the school. You are in a unique position to help your child make connections between school work and the “real world,” and thereby bring meaning (and some enjoyment) to your child’s homework experience.

• Return to “Helping Your Child with Homework”

United States Department of Education. “Helping Your Child with Homework.” © 2005.

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• Helping Your Child With Homework
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Homework challenges and strategies

By Amanda Morin

Expert reviewed by Jim Rein, MA

At a glance

Kids can struggle with homework for lots of reasons.

A common challenge is rushing through assignments.

Once you understand a homework challenge, it’s easier to find solutions.

Most kids struggle with homework from time to time. But kids who learn and think differently may struggle more than others. Understanding the homework challenges your child faces can help you reduce stress and avoid battles.

Here are some common homework challenges and tips to help.

The challenge: Rushing through homework

Kids with learning difficulties may rush because they’re trying to get through what’s hard for them as fast as possible. For kids with ADHD, trouble with focus and working memory may be the cause.

Rushing through homework can lead to messy or incorrect homework. It can also lead to kids missing key parts of the assignment. One thing to try is having your child do the easiest assignments first and then move to harder ones.

Get more tips for helping grade-schoolers and middle-schoolers slow down on homework.

The challenge: Taking notes

Note-taking isn’t an easy skill for some kids. They may struggle with the mechanical parts of writing or with organizing ideas on a page. Kids may also find it hard to read text and take notes at the same time.

Using the outline method may help. It divides notes into main ideas, subtopics, and details. 

Explore different note-taking strategies .

The challenge: Managing time and staying organized

Some kids struggle with keeping track of time and making a plan for getting all of their work done. That’s especially true of kids who have trouble with executive function.

Try creating a homework schedule and set a specific time and place for your child to get homework done. Use a timer to help your child stay on track and get a better sense of time.

Learn about trouble with planning .

The challenge: Studying effectively

Many kids need to be taught how to study effectively. But some may need concrete strategies.

One thing to try is creating a checklist of all the steps that go into studying. Have your child mark off each one. Lists can help kids monitor their work.

Explore more study strategies for grade-schoolers and teens .

The challenge: Recalling information

Some kids have trouble holding on to information so they can use it later. (This skill is called working memory. ) They may study for hours but remember nothing the next day. But there are different types of memory.

If your child has trouble with verbal memory, try using visual study aids like graphs, maps, or drawings.

Practice “muscle memory” exercises to help kids with working memory.

The challenge: Learning independently

It’s important for kids to learn how to do homework without help. Using a homework contract can help your child set realistic goals. Encourage “thinking out loud.”

Get tips for helping grade-schoolers do schoolwork on their own.

Sometimes, homework challenges don’t go away despite your best efforts. Look for signs that kids may have too much homework . And learn how to talk with teachers about concerns .

Key takeaways

Some kids have a hard time doing schoolwork on their own.

It can help to tailor homework strategies to a child’s specific challenges and strengths.

Sometimes, there’s too much homework for a child to handle. Talk to the teacher.

Explore related topics

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How Do I Stop Students From Copying Each Other’s Homework Assignments?

Five steps that worked for me.

My students, like students everywhere, are smart and funny and creative and wonderful in so many ways. Also like students everywhere, they constantly seem to be looking for shortcuts on their homework. One of the bus drivers told me last year that the kids openly ask her to turn the interior lights on so they can finish copying homework before they get to school! Sigh. At least they’re motivated enough to copy, right?

This year, I made it a major goal to stop students from cheating. I put this five-step process in place, and it really cut down on the homework copying in my classroom. Here it is. 

Step 1: Check the quality of your assignments.

First of all, it’s worth taking a close look at the kind of homework you assign. If you do a lot of worksheets, you might find those work better for in-class activities. Instead, try focusing homework on in-depth writing assignments and individual written responses.

If you’re a math teacher, having kids respond in writing about how they solved a problem always works, as does having them write their own problems or exemplars for what they’ve been learning. Anything that requires student-generated content is automatically going to be harder to copy.

Step 2: Check the quantity.

Of course, this creates a lot more grading than worksheets, which led me to reflect on the amount of homework I assigned. At first, I found myself overwhelmed. I had to wonder if this was how my students felt when they looked at a night’s homework load. If there had been someone whose grading I could have copied, I probably would have done it!

The result? I assigned a lot less homework as the year went on. Put your homework to this test: If it’s not worth your time to grade carefully, it’s not worth the students’ time to do it.

Step 3: Explain the changes.

Once you’ve started assigning less homework, you’ll want to make your reasons explicit to your students. “I’m assigning less homework because I don’t want to waste your time. That means that anything I do assign is really important, and it’s important for you to actually do it on your own.” This speech went a long way with many of my students, but I had another trick up my sleeve.

Step 4: Allow time to learn and make mistakes.

You might also want to try a few get-out-of-jail-free cards when it comes to homework. My middle schoolers are still in the process of learning how to budget their time and stay organized, and sometimes they make mistakes. I gave each kid three one-day extensions that they could use over the course of the year to avoid a penalty for late homework.

There were certain assignments on which these could not be used, like rough drafts we needed to edit or group projects. It lowered the general stress level and set a culture of respect and accountability that encouraged my kids to plan ahead. For the naysayers who say, “The real world won’t give them extensions,” I would respectfully offer my disagreement. What? You’ve never posted your grades after the deadline?

Step 5: Bring the pain.

Although this cut down on copying substantially, kids will always test your limits. That’s when you move on to the final step. It works like this: Read every word of every assignment. Make sure you grade an entire class at once so you’ll know if a phrase or a creatively spelled word seems familiar, and then hunt back through 35 other papers until you find the one it’s copied from. It is important that you identify when students cheat and that your justice is swift and merciless.

I had an escalating system of consequences for cheating. First time, you split the grade. If the assignment gets a 90, each person gets a 45. Second time, each person gets a zero and a lunch detention. Third time, it’s a phone call home in addition to a zero and an after-school detention. Not a single kid made it to the third offense. They have to believe that you’re documenting this and you’ll follow through. Let them see you putting their names in your file so they know you know what offense they’re on. It is a logistical pain, but it’s effective.

So did my kids ace the standardized test because they had done their homework all year? Not to brag, but their writing scores were pretty high. And I don’t think they missed out on many valuable educational experiences when I stopped assigning worksheets. After all, they’d have just copied them anyway!

How do you stop students from cheating? Come and share  in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group  on Facebook. 

Plus, check out  how to give meaningful homework, even when it’s not graded ..

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How to Give Meaningful Homework, Even When It’s Not Graded

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How educators can support students in difficult home situations

Written by HopSkipDrive

Make a safe classroom

Encourage their autonomy , teach anxiety relief tools, identify their descriptions  , check in with them, maintain class structure, model positive relationships, schedule daily downtime, support students with problems at home, about the author.

Ginger Abbot is an education and lifestyle writer with a passion for learning. Read more of her work on Classrooms.com , where she serves as Editor when she’s not freelancing.

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Teaching approaches: First lessons

• 1 Teaching approaches: First lessons
• 2 Teaching approaches: checking-homework Challenge
• 3 Teaching approaches: computer assisted language learning
• 4 Teaching approaches: content-based teaching
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• 6 Teaching approaches: task-based learning
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Teaching approaches: checking-homework Challenge

By Jane Sjoberg

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These are just a few ideas of how to make the whole-class correction of homework less of a chore and more of an active challenge. The suggestions given are specifically geared to be used when correcting exercises set from a workbook or worksheet as homework but some ideas may also be used when giving feedback for tasks set in class.

• Give students a chance to compare their answers in pairs. Students can then correct/ change/ complete their own answers before a whole class check. This puts students at the centre of the correction process from the start and asks them to reflect upon their own and each other’s answers with a greater degree of learner autonomy.
• Take names out of a hat at random to nominate the students who are to supply answers (make sure this is done in a ‘fun’ way, explaining to students that they have an opportunity to PASS if their name is called).
• Use a ball or a scrunched up ball of newspaper weighted with a thick rubber band (lightweight balls that don’t bounce are best – bouncy balls have a tendency to get lost in the darkest corners of the classroom) to throw at random around the class to see who gets to give their answer to questions. Whoever gets the ball throws it to the next student. Again, give students an opportunity to pass if necessary.
• Alternate between asking for answers to be volunteered and calling on specific students to answer questions. Where the teacher is unfamiliar with the various ability groups in a class, nominating students can be a nightmare, especially if weaker or less confident learners are inadvertently asked to provide their answer to more complex questions. However, nominating is a way of ensuring the participation of those who are less likely to volunteer. Alternating between volunteers and nominated students solves this problem in part, but nominees should always be given the chance to pass if they prefer.
• To ensure that all students participate in the correction process, pre-prepare a grid that includes the question numbers for the various exercises that are to be corrected. Leave a space next to each question number. At the beginning of the lesson, get students to put their name down to answer the various questions. Tell students that, even if they did not do the homework they can still try to answer a question of their choice but do not force students to put their names down. When all the students who wish to participate have put their names down for at least one question, take the list in and use it to call on the students to answer the questions in turn. This ensures that the students called upon will be answering questions they themselves feel confident about (or else questions for which they would prefer individual feedback). If this process is repeated over several lessons, it also gives the teacher a chance to see whether there are students who repeatedly prefer not to be involved in the homework correction process. These students and their individual problems regarding homework can then be dealt with on a one-to-one basis.
• For fill-in-the-gaps exercises or simple one- or two-word answers present feedback in power point or on an OHP. Go through answers one by one giving time for students to check their own work. At the end of each exercise, stop and give students a chance to query, provide alternatives, or request further information regarding specific answers.
• Ask the class to do a quick survey in groups ranking exercises from the most to least difficult, the most to least interesting, the most to least useful etc.. Use student feedback to decide which exercise to correct together first and then give exercises ranked by the majority as the least interesting/difficult on OHP/power point as above to speed up the correction process. This ensures that students will be more alert during the correction of what they perceived to be the most problematic areas of their homework. Homework ranking tasks also provide important feedback to the teacher who may use the data provided to check on the cause of problems areas at a later date. Students may perceive certain exercises as difficult for different reasons – length, typology, unclear instructions, vocabulary density of exercise, grammatical problems, uninteresting topic etc.. A further analysis of these issues may help the teacher to decide which exercises to set or dedicate more time to in the future. Remember to check your students’ ranking of difficult exercises after correction – what students may have originally perceived as problematic may not actually correspond to their own performance. This again may be something that can be discussed and analyzed further at a later date.
• For teachers in a hurry to get correcting out of the way – simply vary the order in which exercises are corrected. This ensures that students are alert and are following the correction process.
• Get students to check through answers in pairs by photocopying the key (readymade or produced by the teacher) or displaying answers on an OHP. Set aside time at the end of the lesson for individual students to discuss problem areas or organize a tutorial session where students can come and discuss problems individually with the teacher while the group works on another task/project work.
• Change the time of the lesson in which homework is corrected. Most students expect homework corrections to come right at the beginning of a lesson and, let’s face it, it’s not the best or most enjoyable way to start off! Try checking homework as a way of ‘calming down’ after a boisterous group-work session or leave it till the end of the lesson. Incidentally, this also works with setting homework. Try varying the point of the lesson at which homework is set to ensure that all the students are paying attention!
• Take in students’ workbooks occasionally or provide photocopies of exercises that can be handed in. Though this does add to the teacher’s workload, it is worth taking a look at how students deal with more mechanical exercises that differ from extended written work which necessarily requires individual marking and feedback. Taking a look at a workbook can provide an idea of problem areas for individual students, again with a view to diagnosing problem areas in structures/ vocabulary or assessing difficulties that may be based on other factors such as lack of interest in the topic, unclear instructions etc.. It may also allow the teacher to gain insight into how much (or how little) homework an individual student is regularly putting in. Following the teacher’s appraisal of the students’ workbooks individual tutorials may be arranged to discuss issues as appropriate.
• Provide mini keys of individual exercises to distribute to pairs. Students then take it in turns to ‘play the teacher’ and check each other’s answers. Where more than two exercises need checking pairs can exchange keys and repeat the process as many times as necessary. The teacher can circulate and deal with queries as pairs are checking. However, remember to provide an opportunity for the discussion of problem areas at the end of the pair-work session or at the end of the lesson.
• Most workbook exercises that need to be checked are not specifically designed to practise pronunciation. Where pronunciation exercises are set make sure that adequate time is given to teacher modelling and student production of target items. In the majority of cases, i.e. where structures, vocabulary and functions are being practised, vary the correction procedure by taking time out along the way to focus on pronunciation/ intonation issues. Even the most boring feedback sessions can be livened up by a rousing choral repetition session!
• Spot check on lexis by occasionally eliciting synonyms/ antonyms/ similar expressions/ analogous idioms of items taken from the exercises being corrected. This also provides an added opportunity for those who did not do the homework to participate in the correction process and allows those who did not necessarily provide a correct answer in an exercise to regain their confidence in being able to answer extra questions. This technique is also useful for involving more competent or confident students. Spot check questions should therefore be carefully gauged to include the whole ability range. Extra questions can also include pronunciation issues by eliciting word stress, number of syllables, homophones etc. The teacher is obviously free to ask spot check questions at any point during the correction process. However, it may be worth just taking a quick look at the exercises that are to be corrected beforehand so that appropriate extra questions may be devised in advance.
• Using photocopies or an OHP transparency, create a multiple choice answer key for a few exercises where three possible answers to each question are provided, only one of which is correct. Students then compare their own answers with the alternatives given. They then choose the answer that they consider correct (which may or may not correspond with their own original answer). This activity gives students a chance to rethink their own answers before the teacher finally provides the key. It also gives less confident students and those who may not have completed the task an opportunity to take part in the correction process.
• Play the ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ game when correcting. In this case, students are placed in two teams. Students from each team are called upon alternately to provide answers to each question. Each team has a set number of ‘ask a friend’, ‘fifty-fifty’ and ‘pass’ cards which they can use at their discretion. (Numbers can be decided on the basis of how many students there are in each team. For a class of 12 students with teams of 6 players each, one card of each type should be ample. The ‘cards’ do not have to be made as such. They may be simply registered on the board for each team and rubbed off as they are used). For ‘ask-a-friend’ a student may ask another member of his/her team to provide the answer. For ‘fifty-fifty’ the teacher gives two alternative answers and the student must choose which he/she considers correct. (This may need some prior preparation, depending on the teacher’s ability to come up with sneaky alternatives!) If the student passes, the answer is given by the teacher and no points are scored. One word of warning – as this game has a strong competitive element, please make sure that an equal number of questions is given to each team and that a variety of exercises is ensured. It is a good idea to split individual exercises into two halves and give teams an equal number of questions each. If an exercise has an odd number of answers, the teacher can simply provide the answer to the first question as an example.
• Finally, be upbeat about homework correction. Camp up the performance if necessary with a round of applause for correct answers. Sound effects for applause can be recorded or included in power point presentations or the students themselves can be encouraged to clap when correct answers are given. With younger students, take care that clapping does not turn to booing wrong answers, however. If this is a risk, you might consider a collective round of applause at the end of each exercise corrected. Also remember that homework feedback which involves student participation may be an intense source of satisfaction when students are able to provide the right answer but it can also be a source of embarrassment for those who are unable to do so. Make sure lots of praise and encouragement is given for answers that are even partly correct and, where possible, give positive feedback for areas that are not necessarily the focus of the exercise (such as good pronunciation in the case of grammatical errors or wrong answers in comprehension exercises).

Remember: students quickly tune in to the mood of their teacher. If the teacher presents homework correction as a valid and interesting part of the learning process it will be infectious and homework corrections need never be boring again!

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Teaching approaches: computer assisted language learning

Teaching approaches: content-based teaching, teaching approaches: functional approaches in efl/ esol.

Teaching approaches: task-based learning

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• Dealing with Teachers

How to Deal With a Teacher You Dislike

Last Updated: July 29, 2024 References

This article was co-authored by Katie Styzek . Katie Styzek is a Professional School Counselor for Chicago Public Schools. Katie earned a BS in Elementary Education with a Concentration in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She served as a middle school mathematics, science, and social studies teacher for three years prior to becoming a counselor. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in School Counseling from DePaul University and an MA in Educational Leadership from Northeastern Illinois University. Katie holds an Illinois School Counselor Endorsement License (Type 73 Service Personnel), an Illinois Principal License (formerly Type 75), and an Illinois Elementary Education Teaching License (Type 03, K – 9). She is also Nationally Board Certified in School Counseling from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. This article has been viewed 184,406 times.

We all have a teacher we don't like at some point, and it can be super discouraging and frustrating. Fortunately, in most cases, you can make some adjustments to help you deal with your teacher and get through the school year without too much trouble. In more serious cases, you might need to sit down and have a conversation with your teacher, your counselor, or your parents.

Talking It Out

• For instance, if you think your teacher is too harsh of a grader, you might want to ask for some tutoring or study tips. If she speaks too quickly, find an appropriate time to talk to the teacher and kindly ask if she could speak slower because you've been having trouble understanding.
• If there's something going on in your personal life that is affecting you at school, let your teacher know about it. She may be much more understanding of your behavior if she understands where it's coming from.
• Only talk to your teacher about things that can be changed. It might help to have a conversation about comments on your homework that you don't understand, but it will not be productive to tell your teacher that you think she's mean and unfair.
• Instead of just blaming the teacher for the problem. show that you're willing to work together to fix it.

• In some cases, your counselor might have a talk with you and your teacher or might recommend that you be reassigned to another class, but don't go into the meeting expecting these results.

• It may help to have your parents help you write down a list of things you dislike about your teacher. This can help you figure out what you can talk to the teacher about.
• If it has gotten to the point that you feel you are unable to manage the situation with your teacher, you can ask your parents to have a meeting with her. If that doesn't go well and your parents believe that your teacher is being unreasonable, they can go to the principal or superintendent.

• Keep in mind that conflict resolution is a very important skill. You will be depriving yourself of learning how to deal with tough situations if you request a reassignment without trying to work things out first.

Making the Best of the Situation

• If you're struggling with a subject, ask your teacher for extra help or get a tutor. Once you understand the subject matter a little better, you might find that your teacher really isn't so bad after all.
• Try to find something that interests you about the subject and focus on that as much as possible. If you have the option to choose your own reading or research material, make sure it's something that interests you enough to keep you engaged in the class. [7] X Research source
• Remind yourself that even if you don't like a certain subject, your grade is still important. Stay focused on doing your best, even if you don't think you'll ever use anything you learned in this class in the real world. [8] X Research source

• Be proactive about making up missed work and letting your teacher know if you will be missing school.
• Don't suck up too much. This will not seem genuine.

• Remember that you don't have to like your teacher in order to learn from him/her. As long as you are still doing well in the class, do your best to deal with your teacher.
• If the problem is affecting your grade or causing you to dislike school, it may not be worth it to just stick it out.

Community Q&A

• Try to pay attention, no matter how hard it is. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• The most important thing is to find a way to communicate positively with a teacher. Get your adviser, parents, or counselor involved if you don't feel you can handle the situation on your own. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Try to deal with the problem when it first appears. The longer you wait to address the issue, the worse things will get. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• If you ever experience verbal or physical abuse from a teacher, report it to another adult right away. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/teacher-relationships.html
• ↑ Katie Styzek. Professional School Counselor. Expert Interview. 28 October 2020.
• ↑ http://blogs.castleton.edu/castleton-trio/dont-like-your-class-or-your-teacher-heres-how-to-succeed-anyway/
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/fulfillment-any-age/201512/4-ways-deal-people-who-just-aren-t-very-nice
• ↑ http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/bad-teacher/

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How To Respond When Parent Complains About Too Much Homework

Although I try to limit the amount of homework I assign to my students, I still get a few parents every year that complain that I'm asking too much of their sons or daughters. I've had a few of these conversations get very heated and unpleasant. How can I respond to these kinds of complaints, particularly when they seem so unreasonable?

You would choose to handle these different "reasons", in different ways. However, here are some pointers about what works and what doesn't.

How NOT To Respond To "Too Much Homework"

The natural teacher response is to say things like:

"You're the only parent that has complained about the homework load."

"We can't change the homework because there's simply not enough time in the day."

"I don't think thirty minutes a day of homework is out of line if we are concerned about the child's learning."

"I can't assign less homework to your child, when everyone else is doing fine."

While these responses may make sense to you, they don't work because, to the parent, it appears you are brushing off their concerns, and falling into that "expert" mode that parents also complain about. Worse, these kinds of responses just end up with more arguing, and don't generate positive conversations that might help the child.

The Tack To Take

Try to identify the parent's underlying concern.

Seek first to understand the underlying concern of the parent. You can't enter into problem-solving or "negotiation" without knowing where this complaint is coming from. Ask questions. For example: "Are you seeing Jane getting frustrated because the homework takes here so long?", or "How is the homework load affecting Jane?"

If you can find out what's underneath the complaint, the root cause, you may be able to find a solution that works for everyone and benefits the student.

Acknowledge The Concern Of The Parent

If you try to brush off the parental concern, you get nasty arguments. The parent wants to be heard, and in fact, deserves to be heard as part of the essential partnership needed to teach the child. It may be you aren't going to change the homework assignment, regardless. It may be that you think the parent is dead wrong, but you still need to treat the parent as a valued partner and invite input, albeit constructive input.

Use The Parental Concern As An Opportunity To "Investigate"

If you don't give the homework concern a serious hearing, you may be missing out on something important to the welfare of the child. That's why it's so important to listen and ask questions. Let's say the parent complains about the homework. If you ask the right questions, you might find that Jane takes ninety minutes to do the work at home, when in fact, her classmates take only about twenty minutes. That's something you need to know, because it may indicate a learning problem that can be remedied before it ends up putting Jane way behind. Perhaps there's some dyslexia, for example.

So, investigate first, rather than judge first. don't shut the conversation down. The side benefit here is to create a sense for the parent that you, the parent and the child are essentially on the same side and can work together. To build that, you need to listen, and not shut down the inputs of a parent.

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In this series of articles we explain the issues with various sources and forms of educational research, and why and how it's easy to make the wrong education decisions unless you understand how research is done.

Part 1: Overview Of Educational Research, and What It's REALLY For.

Part 2: Understanding The Faults Of The Peer Reviewed Educational Journal Publishing System

Part 3: Pop Education Books: Often they look authoritative but beware of relying on their interpretations even if they look objective and accurate. (Kohn, Pink, Gladwell)

HOMEWORK HELP: Teaching students, parents the skills to succeed

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — With a new school year underway, chances are your student is already coming home with homework.

How can parents help their children ace those assignments?

Read on to learn tips from April Ruiz, a longtime educator and founder of Mosaic Masterminds, a West Michigan-based tutoring organization.

Why is homework important?

Ruiz told FOX 17 students must practice what they are learning outside the classroom.

"There are several benefits to doing homework... for one, it allows our scholars to be able to extend their learning from the school day by applying what they've learned. It also gives them an opportunity to cement the lessons that the teachers have facilitated," Ruiz explained. "I'd say homework is exceedingly important for overall success and for confidence building, which, in our experience as teachers, is half the battle."

How can parents set their student(s) up for success?

Ruiz has several tips for parents to consider as students bring home assignments.

*Be proactive in your child's learning

Ruiz said, "It is exceedingly important to know ahead of time what's coming down the pike, so we're not caught off guard."

That leads to her next tip...

*Stay engaged

Ruiz advises staying in contact with your student's teachers.

"If our parents are clued into what's going on in the classroom, that makes such a tighter partnership in the learning process for the scholar, so, therefore, the teachers know what the students know what the parents know," she explained.

*Don't be afraid to check your student's backpack

Ruiz said this is important, no matter the age.

"Our tweens and teens are going through a lot of physiological changes as well. Their brains are a little scattered sometimes, and it's not always high priority for them to keep at the forefront of their mind an assignment or permission slip for a field trip, for example."

*Develop a routine

Ruiz said that may mean scheduling homework time

"I think it's really important to have a routine established, whether it's chores, homework, family, bonding, time, whatever the case may be, we need to schedule homework just like we schedule our extracurricular activities or other fun things we do outside of school," she explained. "They really appreciate structure. They respond well to it in most cases, and also just having that accountability."

*Take advantage of online resources

Ruiz said there's a wealth of information and learning tools online if your student needs some extra help.

"You could literally Google free math resources or free math literacy resources, free science quizzes online. And there's just a world of things out there that our parents and scholars can take advantage of for added practice. There's flash cards, there's physical flashcards, there's digital flashcards, there's games that are out there that can be played," she said.

*Know when to reach out for extra support

Groups like Mosaic Masterminds are available to help with challenges along the way.

Alicia Czarnik-Hagan has enlisted Mosaic Masterminds to help both of her students.

This summer, her 11-year-old son Harrison worked with a "Mastermind" tutor to prepare for the transition from elementary to middle school.

"My biggest thing right now is just helping to keep them organized and on track," Czarnik-Hagan. "I want [homework] to be done. Like, my expectation is that...I feel like it's important to teach kids about responsibility, organizing, planning, prioritizing, and that's really those skills that you get from homework."

Czarnik-Hagan said her biggest test is navigating the parent-child relationship while helping with assignments.

"It is the most challenging when I'm trying to teach something or explain something to my child, because I wasn't in that classroom that day, and so there's a different relationship," she explained. "Just balancing that relationship after school, of still being a parent, but not pushing too hard and like, breaking that the parent relationship and child relationship."

If there's one more tip to pass along, Ruiz said it's to "do something."

"If you don't have a school that is assigning homework regularly, be that gap filler where you can find opportunities for your scholar to extend his or her learning. Make sure that you are on guard and on duty, checking the parent view app, talking with the teacher, email, pop in and find out what's going on... just make sure that you're doing something. Something is better than nothing, and we want our scholars to win."

You can learn more about Mosaic Masterminds here .

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How to help your child with ADHD

Childhood adhd and your family, tip 1: stay positive and healthy yourself, tip 2: establish structure and stick to it, tip 3: encourage movement and sleep, tip 4: set clear expectations and rules, tip 5: help your child with adhd eat right, tip 6: teach your child with adhd how to make friends, adhd parenting tips how to help a child with adhd.

Does your child have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder? Learn what you can do to manage their behavior and deal with common ADHD challenges.

Life with a child or teen with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can be frustrating, even overwhelming. But as a parent you can help your child overcome daily challenges, channel their energy into positive arenas, and bring greater calm to your family. The earlier you address your child’s obstacles and the more consistent you are in providing them with support, the greater chance they have for success in life.

Children with ADHD generally have deficits in executive function : the ability to think and plan ahead, organize, control impulses, and complete tasks. That means you need to take over as the executive, providing extra guidance while your child gradually acquires executive skills of their own.

Although the symptoms of ADHD can be nothing short of exasperating, it’s important to remember that the child who is ignoring, annoying, or embarrassing you is not acting willfully. Kids with ADHD want to sit quietly; they want to make their rooms tidy and organized; they want to do everything their parent says to do—but they don’t know how to make these things happen.

If you keep in mind that having ADHD is just as frustrating for your child, it will be a lot easier to respond in positive, supportive ways. With patience, compassion, and plenty of support, you can manage childhood ADHD while enjoying a stable, happy home.

Before you can successfully parent a child with ADHD, it’s essential to understand the impact of your child’s symptoms on the family as a whole. Children with ADHD exhibit a slew of behaviors that can disrupt family life. They often don’t “hear” parental instructions, so they don’t obey them. They’re disorganized and easily distracted, keeping other family members waiting. Or they start projects and forget to finish them—let alone clean up after them. Children with impulsivity issues often interrupt conversations, demand attention at inappropriate times, and speak before they think, saying tactless or embarrassing things. It’s often difficult to get them to bed and to sleep. Hyperactive children may tear around the house or even put themselves in physical danger.

Because of these behaviors, siblings of children with ADHD face a number of challenges. Their needs often get less attention than those of the child with ADHD. They may be rebuked more sharply when they err, and their successes may be less celebrated or taken for granted. They may be enlisted as assistant parents—and blamed if the sibling with ADHD misbehaves under their supervision. As a result, siblings may find their love for a brother or sister with ADHD mixed with jealousy and resentment.

The demands of monitoring a child with ADHD can be physically and mentally exhausting. Your child’s inability to “listen” can lead to frustration and that frustration to anger—followed by guilt about being angry at your child. Your child’s behavior can make you anxious and stressed. If there’s a basic difference between your personality and that of your child with ADHD, their behavior can be especially difficult to accept.

In order to meet the challenges of raising a child with ADHD, you should strive to master a combination of compassion and consistency . Living in a home that provides both love and structure is the best thing for a child or teenager who is learning to manage ADHD.

As a parent, you set the stage for your child’s emotional and physical health. You have control over many of the factors that can positively influence the symptoms of your child’s disorder.

Maintain a positive attitude. Your best assets for helping your child meet the challenges of ADHD are your positive attitude and common sense. When you are calm and focused, you are more likely to be able to connect with your child, helping him or her to be calm and focused as well.

Keep things in perspective. Remember that your child’s behavior is related to a disorder. Most of the time it is not intentional. Hold on to your sense of humor. What’s embarrassing today may be a funny family story ten years from now.

Don’t sweat the small stuff and be willing to make some compromises. One chore left undone isn’t a big deal when your child has completed two others plus the day’s homework. If you are a perfectionist, you will not only be constantly dissatisfied but also create impossible expectations for your child with ADHD.

Believe in your child. Think about or make a written list of everything that is positive, valuable, and unique about your child. Trust that your child can learn, change, mature, and succeed. Reaffirm this trust on a daily basis as you brush your teeth or make your coffee.

As your child’s role model and most important source of strength, it is vital that you live a healthy life. If you are overtired or have simply run out of patience, you risk losing sight of the structure and support you have so carefully set up for your child with ADHD.

Seek support. One of the most important things to remember in rearing a child with ADHD is that you don’t have to do it alone. Talk to your child’s doctors, therapists, and teachers . Join an organized support group for parents of children with ADHD. These groups offer a forum for giving and receiving advice, and provide a safe place to vent feelings and share experiences.

Take breaks. Friends and family can be wonderful about offering to babysit, but you may feel guilty about leaving your child, or leaving the volunteer with a child with ADHD. Next time, accept their offer and discuss honestly how best to handle your child.

Take care of yourself. Eat right , exercise , and find ways to reduce stress , whether it means taking a nightly bath or practicing morning meditation. If you do get sick, acknowledge it and get help.

Children with ADHD are more likely to succeed in completing tasks when the tasks occur in predictable patterns and in predictable places. Your job is to create and sustain structure in your home, so that your child knows what to expect and what they are expected to do.

Tips for helping your child with ADHD stay focused and organized:

Follow a routine. It is important to set a time and a place for everything to help the child with ADHD understand and meet expectations. Establish simple and predictable rituals for meals, homework, play, and bed. Have your child lay out clothes for the next morning before going to bed, and make sure whatever he or she needs to take to school is in a special place, ready to grab.

Use clocks and timers. Consider placing clocks throughout the house, with a big one in your child’s bedroom. Allow enough time for what your child needs to do, such as homework or getting ready in the morning. Use a timer for homework or transitional times, such as between finishing up play and getting ready for bed.

Simplify your child’s schedule. It is good to avoid idle time, but a child with ADHD may become more distracted and “wound up” if there are many after-school activities. You may need to make adjustments to the child’s after-school commitments based on the individual child’s abilities and the demands of particular activities.

Create a quiet place. Make sure your child has a quiet, private space of their own. A porch or a bedroom work well, as long as it’s not the same place as the child goes for a time-out.

Do your best to be neat and organized. Set up your home in an organized way. Make sure your child knows that everything has its place. Lead by example with neatness and organization as much as possible.

Avoid problems by keeping kids with ADHD busy!

For kids with ADHD, idle time may exacerbate their symptoms and create chaos in your home. It is important to keep a child with ADHD busy without piling on so many things that the child becomes overwhelmed.

Sign your child up for a sport, art class, or music. At home, organize simple activities that fill up your child’s time. These can be tasks like helping you cook, playing a board game with a sibling, or drawing a picture. Try not to over-rely on the television or computer/video games as time-fillers. Unfortunately, TV and video games are increasingly violent in nature and may only increase your child’s symptoms of ADHD.

Children with ADHD often have energy to burn. Organized sports and other physical activities can help them get their energy out in healthy ways and focus their attention on specific movements and skills. The benefits of physical activity are endless: it improves concentration, decreases depression and anxiety, and promotes brain growth. Most importantly for children with attention deficits, however, is the fact that exercise leads to better sleep, which in turn can also reduce the symptoms of ADHD.

Find a sport that your child will enjoy and that suits their strengths. For example, sports such as softball that involve a lot of “down time” are not the best fit for children with attention problems. Individual or team sports like basketball and hockey that require constant motion are better options. Children with ADHD may also benefit from training in martial arts (such as tae kwon do) or yoga, which enhance mental control as they work out the body.

The benefits of “green time” in kids with attention deficit disorder

Research shows that children with ADHD benefit from spending time in nature. Kids experience a greater reduction of symptoms of ADHD when they play in a park full of grass and trees than on a concrete playground. Take note of this promising and simple approach to managing ADHD. Even in cities, most families have access to parks and other natural settings. Join your children in this “green time”—you’ll also get a much-deserved breath of fresh air for yourself.

ADHD and sleep

Insufficient sleep can make anyone less attentive, but it can be highly detrimental for children with ADHD. Kids with ADHD need at least as much sleep as their unaffected peers, but tend not to get what they need. Their attention problems can lead to overstimulation and trouble falling asleep. A consistent, early bedtime is the most helpful strategy to combat this problem, but it may not completely solve it.

Help your child get better rest by trying out one or more of the following strategies:

Decrease television time and increase your child’s activities and exercise levels during the day.

Eliminate caffeine from your child’s diet.

Create a buffer time to lower down the activity level for an hour or so before bedtime. Find quieter activities such as coloring, reading or playing quietly.

Spend ten minutes cuddling with your child. This will build a sense of love and security as well as provide a time to calm down.

Use lavender or other aromas in your child’s room. The scent may help to calm your child.

Use relaxation tapes as background noise for your child when falling asleep. There are many varieties available including nature sounds and calming music. Children with ADHD often find “white noise” to be calming. You can create white noise by putting a radio on static or running an electric fan.

Children with ADHD need consistent rules that they can understand and follow. Make the rules of behavior for the family simple and clear. Write down the rules and hang them up in a place where your child can easily read them.

Children with ADHD respond particularly well to organized systems of rewards and consequences. It’s important to explain what will happen when the rules are obeyed and when they are broken. Finally, stick to your system: follow through each and every time with a reward or a consequence.

As you establish these consistent structures, keep in mind that children with ADHD often receive criticism. Be on the lookout for good behavior—and praise it. Praise is especially important for children who have ADHD because they typically get so little of it. These children receive correction, remediation, and complaints about their behavior—but little positive reinforcement.

A smile, positive comment, or other reward from you can improve the attention, concentration and impulse control of your child with ADHD. Do your best to focus on giving positive praise for appropriate behavior and task completion, while giving as few negative responses as possible to inappropriate behavior or poor task performance. Reward your child for small achievements that you might take for granted in another child.

Diet is not a direct cause of attention deficit disorder, but food can and does affect your child’s mental state, which in turn seems to affect behavior. Monitoring and modifying what, when, and how much your child eats can help decrease the symptoms of ADHD.

All children benefit from fresh foods, regular meal times, and staying away from junk food. These tenets are especially true for children with ADHD, whose impulsiveness and distractedness can lead to missed meals, disordered eating, and overeating.

Children with ADHD are notorious for not eating regularly. Without parental guidance, these children might not eat for hours and then binge on whatever is around. The result of this pattern can be devastating to the child’s physical and emotional health.

Prevent unhealthy eating habits by scheduling regular nutritious meals or snacks for your child no more than three hours apart. Physically, a child with ADHD needs a regular intake of healthy food; mentally, meal times are a necessary break and a scheduled rhythm to the day.

• Get rid of the junk foods in your home.
• Put fatty and sugary foods off-limits when eating out.
• Turn off television shows riddled with junk-food ads.
• Give your child a daily vitamin-and-mineral supplement.

Speak to a Licensed Therapist

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Children with ADHD often have difficulty with simple social interactions. They may struggle with reading social cues, talk too much, interrupt frequently, or come off as aggressive or “too intense.” Their relative emotional immaturity can make them stand out among children their own age, and make them targets for unfriendly teasing.

Don’t forget, though, that many kids with ADHD are exceptionally intelligent and creative and will eventually figure out for themselves how to get along with others and spot people who aren’t appropriate as friends. Moreover, personality traits that might exasperate parents and teachers may come across to peers as funny and charming.

Helping a child with ADHD improve social skills

It’s hard for children with ADHD to learn social skills and social rules. You can help your child with ADHD become a better listener, learn to read people’s faces and body language, and interact more smoothly in groups.

• Speak gently but honestly with your child about their challenges and how to make changes.
• Role-play various social scenarios with your child. Trade roles often and try to make it fun.
• Be careful to select playmates for your child with similar language and physical skills.
• Invite only one or two friends at a time at first. Watch them closely while they play and have a zero-tolerance policy for hitting, pushing and yelling.
• Make time and space for your child to play, and reward good play behaviors often.

Hotlines and support

Talk with an ADHD Information Specialist at 1-866-200-8098, Monday-Friday, 1-5 pm ET, or search the  Professional Directory  for ADHD clinics and other resources. (CHADD)

Call  ADDISS  at 020 8952 2800 or consult a  list of support groups  from AADD-UK.

Call the  Health Direct  24-hour advice line at 1800 022 222 or find a list of  ADHD Australia  support groups .

Find support groups and other resources . (CADDAC)

Call the  Vandrevala Foundation Helpline   at 1860 2662 345 or 1800 2333 330

More Information

• Teens - Tips and strategies for parenting a teen with ADHD. (TeensHealth)
• Tips and resources - Tips and resources for parenting a child with ADHD. (National Resource Center on ADHD)
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders. (2013). In Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . American Psychiatric Association. Link
• Ciesielski, H. A., Loren, R. E. A., & Tamm, L. (2020). Behavioral Parent Training for ADHD Reduces Situational Severity of Child Noncompliance and Related Parental Stress. Journal of Attention Disorders, 24 (5), 758–767. Link
• Harpin, V. A. (2005). The effect of ADHD on the life of an individual, their family, and community from preschool to adult life. Archives of Disease in Childhood, (suppl 1), i2–i7. Link

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Education | California gives schools homework assignment: Build housing for teachers

“I believe that California has enough resources and ingenuity to solve (the housing shortage), and the data shows that California’s schools have the land to make this happen,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said at a press conference in July. “As school leaders, we can get this done for our communities and restore the California Dream.”

But some superintendents and education analysts are skeptical, saying the idea won’t work everywhere and school districts might be better off focusing on education, not real estate development.

“I’m grateful someone’s paying attention to this, but I feel like educators are being asked to solve so many problems,” said Mendocino County Superintendent Nicole Glentzer. “Student performance, attendance, behavior … and now the housing crisis? It’s too much.”

Last month, Thurmond pledged financial incentives for districts that pass bonds to build staff housing, and the Department of Education is sponsoring a workshop for district officials to learn the ins and outs of real estate development.

His move comes on the heels of a report from the University of California, Berkeley, and the the University of California, Los Angeles, that found school districts in California own 75,000 acres of developable land, enough to build 2.3 million residences — which could wipe out the state’s housing shortage.

It also follows the Teacher Housing Act of 2016, which allows school districts to pursue funding sources for housing projects, including state and federal tax credits. Other pieces of legislation, including a 2022 law that went into effect in January, further streamlined the development and funding process. Other laws allow teachers to live in affordable housing even though their income might exceed the qualifying limits.

If Proposition 2, a $10 billion school facilities bond, passes this fall, schools could use that money to not only repair classrooms and other structures, but build teacher housing.

‘It’s changed my life’

A handful of districts have already embarked on projects.

The Los Angeles Unified School District owns several buildings, including a 90-dwelling building that opened in April and a 26-dwelling building reserved for low-income families. The San Francisco Unified School District plans to open a 135-residence building this fall.

The Santa Clara Unified School District has owned a 70-dwelling complex for more than two decades. In San Mateo County, the Office of Education is working with a public-private housing nonprofit to buy an existing apartment building for local teachers.

In Marin, the county education office joined with the county and state to plan teacher housing on state-owned land near San Quentin prison; the Novato Unified School District is exploring workforce housing at several properties it owns; and the College of Marin has formed a coalition of organizations to promote staff housing.

In San Diego, preschool teacher Carolina Sanchez Garcia said she cried when she learned she won a spot at the 264-apartment Scripps Ranch complex, built through a partnership between the San Diego Unified School District and an affordable housing developer.

Due to the high cost of housing in San Diego, she had been commuting from Tijuana, Mexico, for more than a decade. To get to work on time, she’d get up at 2 a.m., move her five kids into the car where they’d go back to sleep, and make the trek across the border to work. Her kids would brush their teeth and get ready for school at a Starbucks.

Now, her commute is only 15 minutes.

“It’s changed my life,” Garcia said. “My kids are sleeping more. I’m sleeping more. It’s made me a better mother and a better teacher. Now, I start my day feeling positive and energized.”

Garcia pays $1,300 a month for a three-bedroom apartment, roughly half of market rate. The rent is similar to what she paid in Tijuana, but now she has time to cook dinner for her family, prepare for class and help her children with homework. Her kids can participate in after-school activities and spend time with friends. Her gas bill is also lower.

“I am so grateful,” Garcia said. “I think all districts should do this. Teachers need help.”

Kyle Weinberg, a special education teacher who’s head of the San Diego teachers union, said the district’s housing endeavors have been successful because teachers share in the planning process, ensuring that the location, size and rents meet teachers’ needs. The district paid for the Scripps Ranch development through an agreement with a private developer, and plans to pay for the next development with money from Measure U, a $3.2 billion school facilities bond that passed in 2022.

Subsidized housing is necessary, Weinberg said, because of the high cost of living in San Diego. To live in a one-bedroom apartment there, starting teachers, who earn about $60,000, would have to pay roughly 63% of their take-home pay on rent. Teachers have long commutes and suffer from burnout, he said.

The union’s goal is to have 700 dwellings available, serving at least 10% of the teaching staff.

“We have a staffing crisis in our district,” Weinberg said. “We need to explore all possible solutions. Along with salaries and benefits, expanding workforce housing is one of those options.”

Negligible turnover

The model state officials often point to is 705 Serramonte in Daly City. The Jefferson Union High School District opened the 122-apartment complex in 2022, and it now houses a quarter of the district staff. A one-bedroom apartment rents for $1,450 a month, about half the market rate.

The district paid for the $75 million project by passing a $33 million bond specifically for teacher housing, and borrowing the rest. The rents generated by the project cover the bond payments. The district hired a property management company to handle maintenance and other issues.

Daly City is sandwiched between Silicon Valley and San Francisco, which have some of the highest rents in the country. Teachers commute from the East Bay and beyond, and the district grappled with a persistent 25% staff turnover rate annually, said district spokesperson Denise Shreve.

Since 705 Serramonte opened, the district has had near-zero turnover.

“Students now start off the school year with a teacher in their classroom, instead of a long-term substitute,” Shreve said. “You have to look at the long-term benefits. We now have teacher retention and students are better off because of it.”

Lisa Raskin, a social science teacher and instructional coach for the district, said she’s struggled with housing over her 20-year career but never considered leaving. A San Francisco native, she’s committed to staying in the area — which has meant that she’s always had roommates.

When she moved into 705 Serramonte, it was her first time living in her own apartment.

“I can be with community if I want, or I can be alone. I love that,” Raskin said, noting that her neighbors and colleagues often host barbecues, game nights and other gatherings. “We call it ‘adult dorms.’ I feel safe here.”

Overworked superintendents

But not every district can pass a bond for teacher housing. Many can’t even pass bonds to repair school campuses. And some superintendents say they’re already so overworked that undertaking a complicated project like real estate development is a near impossibility. California had a superintendent turnover rate of more than 18% last year, according to research from the Superintendent Lab, in part due to workload.

Glentzer, the Mendocino County superintendent, said housing development would be a challenge for smaller, rural and lower-income districts. Those districts face teacher and housing shortages like their wealthier, urban counterparts, but lack the ability to raise the money and hire the staff to oversee projects.

Besides, the housing shortage affects lots of people in the community — not just teachers. Mendocino County has been scarred by numerous wildfires over the past few years, plus a boom in vacation rentals that have decimated the local housing market, leaving some people to live in trailers or even their cars.

A better solution, she said, would be for housing to be left to regional authorities and for the state to fund school districts sufficiently to pay their teachers more.

Still, she understands the need. She herself lived in a district-owned home when she was superintendent of the Potter Valley Community Unified School district northeast of Ukiah. The  two-bedroom bungalow was next to the football field, and she enjoyed the reduced rent and proximity to work.

“There’s no question we need housing,” Glentzer said. “But when you’re the superintendent and the principal and head of maintenance and you’re teaching Spanish, how are you supposed to find the bandwidth for this? I have a degree in education. I never took a real estate course.”

Marguerite Roza, director of the policy research center Georgetown Edunomics Lab, agreed. School districts might be better off paying teachers more or targeting raises for teachers who are in high demand, such as those who work in special education, math or science.

She also noted that except in those three fields, the teacher shortage is ebbing. With federal coronavirus relief money expiring and student enrollment declining, many districts might be laying off teachers — not hiring, she said. EdJoin, a teacher hiring board, showed nearly 2,000 openings this month for special education teachers in California, for example, but fewer than 100 for third-grade teachers.

“By building housing, districts might be addressing a crisis that no longer exists.” Roza said. “School districts’ expertise and focus is to provide education. To assume school districts could take on the responsibility of being landlords efficiently is concerning.”

Growing interest

To help school districts learn the basics of real estate development, the California School Boards Association has been hosting workshops and providing resources for the past two years. So far, 152 of the state’s 1,000 school districts have signed up to study the idea, and the numbers have been growing, said spokesperson Troy Flint.

He acknowledged that smaller districts might not have the staff to get projects off the ground, but some are working on projects together or collaborating with their local county offices of education, he said.

“Districts see the immense value workforce housing can offer their staff, students, and communities,” Flint said. “There is widespread interest in education workforce housing as an elegant way to address the housing affordability crisis. Workforce housing also brings quality-of-life, community and environmental benefits — and may even help address declining enrollment as district staff can afford to live with their families in the communities they serve.”

The Independent Journal contributed to this report.

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Vancouver teachers union says they have agreed on a tentative deal, likely avoiding a strike Updated 2 hours ago

Full union membership to vote on three-year contract starting thursday.

The Vancouver Education Association reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with Vancouver Public Schools late last week, according to union leaders and a district official.  

“Our members are in the process of reviewing the language prior to our general member meeting on Thursday, at which point our vote will launch,” Union president Jamie Anderson said this morning. “Final vote results should be available early next week.”  

The tentative agreement is not a guarantee that a strike will be avoided, but it is a major step that typically results in contract approval, based on negotiations in other nearby school districts in recent years.  

“We are very hopeful this means we’ll be able to have an uninterrupted start to our school year,” said district spokesperson Jessica Roberts.  

The union’s full membership will meet Thursday to begin voting on the agreement, which union leadership finished reviewing Tuesday evening. If ratified, the agreement will need to then be approved by the school board.  

Anderson said that voting on the package would continue through Saturday, meaning that voting results won’t be available until Sunday at the earliest.  

She added the union’s executive board passed a “do pass” recommendation on the agreement package as presented Monday, which assures members the deal is one union leaders feel strongly about.  

The union’s current contract expires Saturday night, which is why schools in the district started on time this morning, even without a contract for the school year in place.  

Proposed contract  

The union shared a copy of the tentatively-agreed-upon contract in its newsletter Tuesday evening. 

The proposed contract maintains several class size limits established in the 2021-2024 contract and introduces new periods of non-instructional time for planning and collaboration with other staff – two items that Anderson said last week were top priorities in bargaining.   

Kindergarten classes will be capped at 24 students and be limited to 22 by 2027; first through third grades will be capped at 25 and limited to 24 by 2027; fourth and fifth grades will be capped at 28 and lowered to 27 by 2027.   

Teachers will be paid an extra $9 per student per day should classes exceed those limits.   

Anderson, an elementary school teacher, said earlier this summer she had seen district proposals for elementary school class sizes of more than 30 students, which she deemed unsafe.   

The proposal also bolsters language on special education to protect support professionals from being overburdened and ensure student individualized education plans are met by the district. Staff across the region have reported problems with both issues frequently in recent years.   

Union members are also guaranteed that their salaries will increase every year of the contract based on an inflation metric that adjusts salaries of public officials annually. The third year of the deal will also include an additional raise to be negotiated in the future.   

The base salary for a new VEA member with a bachelor’s degree in the 2023-2024 school year was $54,471. The proposed base salary for a new member with the same qualifications in the 2024-2025 school year would be $56,486.  

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UK unveils AI project to help teachers plan lessons

LONDON — The United Kingdom's government announced on Wednesday a "first-of-its-kind" £4-million ($5.2-million) project to bolster artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help teachers plan lessons and mark homework.

As part of the project, government documents like curriculum guidance, lesson plans and student assessments will be provided to AI companies to train their tech to "generate accurate, high-quality content, like tailored, creative lesson plans and workbooks."

The generative AI tools will help teachers mark work and create teaching material, the West European kingdom's science and education departments said in a statement.

"Today's world-leading announcement marks a huge step forward for AI in the classroom," said Early Education Minister Stephen Morgan, part of the recently elected Labour government.

Science Secretary Peter Kyle said the project aimed to "ease admin burdens" and will "transform how we see and use public sector data."

The project claims to have a "first-of-its-kind approach to processing government data for AI."

The previous Conservative government had announced an investment of £2 million for AI resources in education.

A government-commissioned research paper on public attitudes to AI in education published today found that while those surveyed agreed AI could help teachers, there were concerns of overreliance on the technology.

Parents and students "were worried about the loss of key social and technical skills and reduced human contact-time leading to unintended adverse outcomes," the research said.

UK schools have been rocked in recent years by teaching strikes over a decrease in salaries in real terms, while struggling to retain teaching staff in sufficient numbers.