In this week's issue, TIME editor-at-large Claudia Wallis writes about the growing debate over whether today's schoolkids are inundated with too much homework. If you have questions about how much homework is too much, how to help prevent your children from learning to hate learning, or anything else about homework, ask them here and return later in the week to read a selection of answers

Doesn't excessive homework actually encourage/condone poor time management? In other words, shouldn't the schools be the model for adult working life where if you cannot complete your work in an 8-hour day you're not effectively managing your time? When my son was in high school, I encouraged him to get a job rather than waste his after-school time doing homework assignments. I told him that teachers should be able to teach what they need to within the school day and he should be able to complete assignments in study halls. He took my advice, got a job at 15, earned enough money to go to a good school and has been on the Dean's List at Johns Hopkins University since he started. I don't think I ever saw him spend more than an hour in high school on homework and he's a master at time management in college. Go figure!
Charleen Heidt
Ithaca, NY

CLAUDIA WALLIS: That's an impressive story, and you have reason to be proud. But many kids in competitive high schools try to enhance their resumes by cramming their schedules so full of courses that they don't have any study halls at all. What they have is extra heavy homework loads and no time at school in which to complete it.

I understand that certain homework material isn't that useful, and it is time consuming, but I really think that math homework helps. You can't review math. you need to practice it to be good.
Eric Lopez
Pembroke Pines, FL

CLAUDIA WALLIS:True that homework can be useful in practicing math skills. Indeed studies show that kids who do practice problems before a test do better on the test. But studies also show that, at least with elementary school kids, doing practice problems with a teacher the day before a test is even more effective than doing homework. In my experience the issue with math homework usually comes down to quantity. I've seen teachers assign 40 similar problems, when half that number would easily suffice. If the load gets too large, kids learn the wrong lesson—that they hate math.

From this little blurb: "kids who do some homework in middle and high school score somewhat better on standardized tests, but doing more than 60 to 90 min. a night in middle school and more than 2 hr. in high school is associated with, gulp, lower scores."
It makes me wonder if the kids that are taking so much longer do so because they just don't get it as quickly, in which case, of course they do worse. Putting it another way, kids who can get their homework done more quickly will do better in school.
Ryan Stevenson
Bloomington, IN

CLAUDIA WALLIS: This is a good point and may be a factor in the study results, though probably not the only factor. The weakest students are not the ones who spend the most time doing homework; they tend to give up on it.

Our district has a new superindendent—Kansas City Missouri School District. Dr. Amato has come in and already implemented strict guidelines and told us (the parents) to personally call him if our child doesn't receive homework every night even weekends. When do our children have a playful childhood? We read together every night in our house.
Kathy Schmidt
KCMO

CLAUDIA WALLIS: There's really very little to justify this sort of policy, especially for elementary school kids. Unfortunately, many educators and parents, too, think that a "rigorous" education means loading on the homework. Never mind that spending time with parents in a more relaxed setting that toiling over worksheets offers other kinds of opportunities for personal growth.

Parents have the power to alter distsrict homework policies. You pay the taxes! You might want to look for ideas in The Case Against Homework by Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, or the website associated with the book, www.stophomework.com.

I taught social studies for 5 years and career skills for 2 years, both on the secondary level. My question is this — how do you expect a child to learn the history and geography of the world in the space of 50 minutes a day when you have 25-31 kids in a class? That is less than 2 minutes of "individual time" per child per day. And, please subtract extra time for disruptions by troubled students (usually at least one if not 3-5 per class nowadays) and for telling students to not sleep in class. How do you and your people plan to successfully teach subjects like social studies, English, math, and science without further study at home? And, let me also add that with studies like this coming out I am SO GLAD I am not teaching anymore.
Melissa
Beltsville, MD

CLAUDIA WALLIS:One answer would be to extend the school day to, say, 4:30 or 5 pm. Academic classes could be longer and more thorough, so that less would have to be learned at home; there would be more time for study halls in which to complete assignments, and we could help address the childhood obesity crisis by providing P.E. for those not participating in organized sports. Given that 7 out of 10 mother's of school-age kids are in the workforce,a longer day would also help address the childcare issue—and leave evenings free for family activities other than homework.

How can I bring this up to our school board. My son is in the second grade and we spend about 1 hour and 10 min. to 1 hour and 20 min. on homework every night and it is just killing us. Everyday I dread it becuase it is a battle every night.
Dianira
Corpus Christi, Texas

CLAUDIA WALLIS: Do bring it up! Get other parents on your side. Get hold of the studies that who there is no academic benefit to homework for a second grader. For practical advise on how to stand up to a system that isn't working for your child, I suggest you look at one of the books cited in my article, The Case Against Homework or this associated website: www.stophomework.com.

Regarding your story about the myth about homework. Do American children need homework? Well, that depends on what little Johnny is going to do when he grows up. If we don't expect our children to do weekend homework in college or work on weekends, then I agree homework on weekends should be abolished. How about 2 major tests in one week? Since these kids will not be taking care of more than one major problem per week as adults, then this seems to be a good idea. Finally, since Mondays are inconvenient for tests, then all problems in the future should be rescheduled to Tuesday thru Friday. Our future doctors and engineers have to be sure to solve all the problems they encounter on Tuesday thru Friday, but wait, with a historic drop in SAT scores just released how many of our current children will be able to successfully complete the academic rigors of such careers? I wonder what the competition in India and China are thinking.
Rafael Santiago
Lithia, Fl

CLAUDIA WALLIS:Actually, teachers in most of the countries that outscore the U.S. on international tests tend to give less homework than American teachers do. Also, I wonder how many parents really want their 9 and 10 year-olds to face the kind of evening and weekend workloads common among adult lawyers and engineers. I'd rather my kid learned that there's more to life than drudgery.

Ms Wallis, You wrote a great article with conclusions that don't surprise me. In fact, it helps support the cause for Homeschooling. I do have a question about a recommendation in the article; the second to the last bullet point says that 2 hours or more of homework for high school studends is excessive. In the second to the last paragraph it's stated that Cooper's rule of thumb is 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Does that mean a 3rd grader would have 30 minutes? If so, then a student in 12th grade would have 120 minutes or 2 hours per day. Earlier in the article you state that 2 hours is excessive yet at the end of the article it's stated that that would be a 'sensible homework policy'. I'm just trying to understand the article more fully. Thanks for your reply.
Richard Melgaard
Arlington, TX

CLAUDIA WALLIS: Two hours would be reasonable for a 12th grader by Cooper's rule of thumb. My article cited a study that found that mroe than two hours begins to have diminishing returns, so there is no contradiction.

Hi Claudia,
How much of the growing emphasis on homework do you think is due to curriculum design vs. teachers practicing "defensive education"?
Bill Springer
East Greenwich, RI

CLAUDIA WALLIS: I think teachers feel pressured by administrators and parents, especially in this era of frequent high-stakes testing.

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