Schools rethink homework

By April Rubin 

Dogs may not have anything to eat, but students could feel less stress if more schools reconsider their homework assignment policies.Why it matters: Conversations about the value of homework in education have simmered for years, but students' mental health struggles and artificial intelligence have pushed it to the forefront.

• 37% of 13-year-old students said they had "no homework assigned" on the day before a National Center for Education Statistics survey in 2023.
• In 2020, that figure was 29%. In 2012, it was 21%.

Case in point: Butterfield Canyon Elementary School in Herriman, Utah, has had a no-homework policy since 2020.

• "It helps increase the overall social-emotional health of our students because they're not so focused, especially at the elementary level, just on 'academic, academic, academic,'" Jay Eads, the school's principal, told Axios.
• "They're able to explore other aspects of their life, which they should be doing at this developmental stage."

Zoom out: While students have shown some improvement in mental health metrics since the pandemic, overall wellbeing has not reduced to pre-2020 levels, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• 67% of high school students cited homework load as a major source of stress in a 2020 survey led by Stanford researchers for nonprofit Challenge Success.
• The percentage increased to 80% among those doing three or more hours of homework daily.

The big picture: The correlation between homework and academic achievement is hard to measure, Stanford education researcher Denise Pope said.

• With younger students, there's less research showing homework improves academics, Pope said. But reading for pleasure has been linked to higher achievement in those early grades.
• For older students, decreasing homework loads also helps level the field for employed students or those managing familial responsibilities, Pope said.

The intrigue: Artificial intelligence chat bots can provide homework help. Optimistically, these bots can help students, like a tutor would. Or, just give answers.

• 19% of teens said they've used ChatGPT to help with their school work, according to a Pew survey this year. Older high school students use it more often.
• 69% said it's acceptable to use to research new topics; 39% said it's acceptable to use AI to solve math problems; and 20% said it's acceptable to use to write essays.
• "You want to be able to have kids at least allegedly want to do the work and therefore not turn to AI" for cheating, Pope said. That's especially important given discussions over the value of learning and how AI help or could impede it, she added.

Zoom in: Katie Trowbridge, who taught high school students in Naperville, Illinois, for 23 years, didn't assign homework on the weekends. She saw that as a time to "learn through experiences," she said.

• As president of Curiosity 2 Create, which provides educators with professional development, she's witnessed teachers become increasingly intentional about assignments.

• This could mean assigning five math problems instead of 20 — or asking questions to foster creative and critical thinking rather than a simple answer.
• "Am I giving homework so that I am keeping my administrators happy because I have to give homework?" Trowbridge posed as a hypothetical question. "Or am I giving homework because it is a meaningful exercise that kids need to do in order to establish learning and extend learning?"

What we're watching: A bill passed by California's legislature on Saturday and now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature would recommend school districts evaluate the mental and physical health impacts of homework assignments.

• Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo proposed the bill after her daughter asked her if she could "ban homework" when elected. Schiavo realized the fourth grader's request had some merit.
• "As a single mom, I only have a couple of hours with my kid at night before they have to go to bed," said Schiavo, whose daughter is now in seventh grade. "Spending most of that struggling to get homework done creates a lot of stress on a family."

Go deeper:

• Homework is on hold for 18-year-old DNC delegate
• Popular AI homework helper Gauth shares owner with TikTok

Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect the bill has passed and is awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom's signature. It has also been updated with additional quotes from Stanford education researcher Denise Pope.

https://www.axios.com/2024/09/02/school-homework-movement-ai-health