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• Homework Guidelines

Homework refers to assignments that students are expected to complete outside of the class period. This does not include long-term projects or assignments. This includes reading assignments, problem sets, papers, or studying for tests, quizzes, and other assessments.

The Howard County Public School System supports students in maintaining and extending their learning. The appropriate design, use, and evaluation of homework assignments, used to inform progress and provide opportunities for independent practice, are part of achieving that goal. Some courses or instructors may choose not to assign homework.

Features of Homework

• Purposeful: Students understand why they are completing homework. Homework is grounded in and expands upon skills and knowledge students have learned in the classroom.
• Appropriate: Homework should be designed so that all students can experience success in independent completion of assignments. Accommodations will be provided as outlined in students’ IEPs and Section 504 Plans.
• Informational: Homework is one tool schools have available to them that allows parents to be included in their child’s day-to-day school experiences.
• Flexible: Assignments can be successfully completed with resources that are readily available within timeframes that have flexible deadlines when possible.

Homework will incorporate the following criteria:

• Each school year, schools will communicate the school’s homework procedures with all stakeholders.
• Students, parents, and teachers should communicate about scheduled and actual homework completion times to ensure realistic expectations for the completion of assignments.
• Homework will be planned so students see the relationship of their homework to intended learning targets, see meaning in their assignments, have a clear understanding of the procedures and due dates, understand how their homework is evaluated, and understand how they can use feedback on homework to improve understanding. Teaching staff will ensure that students understand the purpose of assignments and how they connect to classroom learning.
• Teachers are legally required to ensure that homework is accommodated/modified as necessary in accordance with students’ IEPs and Section 504 Plans. Classwork and homework accommodations must be provided per students’ IEPs and Section 504 Plans. Students should not be penalized for failure to complete classwork or homework when accommodations are not provided. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) best practices should be used when assigning homework.
• Teachers will provide feedback on homework assignments.
• Students may have more than one teacher. Therefore, teams of teachers will discuss homework activities and projects in order to follow grade level homework duration guidelines. Canvas tools will be made available as one option to help teachers coordinate major projects and exams. Teachers will be understanding of student circumstances and should tailor homework assignments with flexible due dates when possible so that students can complete homework tasks throughout the week based on their individual schedules.
• Students must be given a non-electronic option for homework completion and submission. Assignments cannot be due beyond regular school hours or be required to be submitted electronically. While electronic submission can be utilized it cannot be required.
• Homework assignments may not be assigned or due on a day schools are closed due to inclement weather or unplanned closures.
• Homework may not be assigned over the summer for any courses, nor winter or spring breaks for middle or high school courses.
• A student may make up and receive a recorded grade for homework not completed due to the observance of a religious holiday. Students returning from a religious holiday observance will have an equal number of school days to complete make-up work.
• Reading lists and additional resources will be available during the breaks, as well as throughout the school year, as a service to students who want an opportunity to improve reading and mathematics skills. Families will be provided with access to resources to supplement reading and mathematics instruction for students.

Grades Pre-K – 2

• Amount of Homework: No more than 20 minutes of homework per night will be assigned. In Pre-K and Kindergarten there will be no assignments that must be submitted to the teacher.
• Purpose of Homework: Homework provides practice opportunities for skill development.
• Families are encouraged to read to or with their children nightly.
• Families are encouraged to practice grade appropriate math facts or related activities on a nightly basis.
• Teaching staff will be provided with opportunities to meet as teams to schedule assignments so that students do not regularly have more than 20 minutes of homework each night

Grades 3 – 5

• Amount of Homework: No more than 30 minutes required per night in grade 3; 40 minutes in grade 4; and 50 minutes in grade 5.
• Purpose of Homework: Homework reflects daily instruction, reinforces previously taught skills, prepares students for future lessons, and/or promotes creativity.
• Teaching staff will be provided with opportunities to meet as teams to schedule assignments so that students do not regularly have more than 30 minutes of homework required per night in grade 3; 40 minutes in grade 4; and 50 minutes in grade.

Grades 6 – 8

• Amount of Homework: For the purposes of determining number of hours of homework per week or day, teachers should include reading of course material, studying of course material, and practicing skills taught in course (e.g., rehearsing a musical instrument). Time spent on long-term projects should also be included when determining number of hours of homework; however, these projects do not constitute homework for grading purposes. Each instructor may assign an average of, at most, one hour of homework per week. Not all classes will require homework. Some classes might require students to spend more or less time on homework than is typical.
• Purpose of Homework: Homework assignments will reinforce curriculum through tasks that contribute to learning and understanding. These may reinforce previously taught skills, prepare students for future lessons, extend learning, promote creativity, and/or be a reflection on the student’s day at school.
• Teaching staff will be provided with opportunities to meet as teams to schedule assignments so that students do not regularly have more than one hour of homework each week per instructor. It is recommended that the school principal or designee work with teaching staff to facilitate this collaboration.

Grades 9 – 12

• Amount of Homework: For the purposes of determining number of hours of homework per week or day, teachers should include reading of course material, studying of course material, and practicing skills taught in course (e.g., rehearsing a musical instrument). Time spent on long-term projects should also be included when determining number of hours of homework; however, these projects do not constitute homework for grading purposes. Each instructor may assign an average of, at most, one and a half hours of homework per week. Not all classes will require homework. Some classes might require students to spend more or less time on homework than is typical.
• An upper limit of seven to fourteen hours of homework a week is suggested for each high school student. Some classes might require students to spend more or less time on homework than is typical.
• Expectations of Homework: The goals and expectations for homework will be clear and include opportunities for student input. As appropriate, flexibility and student choice will be considered in the assignment of homework duration, rigor, product, and weight in grading. A syllabus is recommended for distribution at the beginning of every semester outlining each course’s requirements, including regular assignments, projects, possible due dates, and procedures for requesting feedback on assignments.
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MCPS elementary, middle school students could get less homework under proposed policy update

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The draft of the updated policy, last revised in 1986, is open for public comment until April 24. Comments must be submitted online and currently, an English version is only available. View the current policy at this link .

During the March 19 meeting, D’Orazio told the board he and MCPS staff members conducted focus groups with 13 classes from the elementary to high school level across the county.

D’Orazio noted that homework assignments that students can’t complete independently–due to parents or caregivers not knowing English or because the content has not been taught in class–can be a barrier for many and are a root cause for homework incompletion.

The proposed update introduced by the school board’s Policy Management Committee and MCPS staff from the Office of General Counsel includes these revisions:

• Establishes teachers’ ability to determine the “nature, frequency and length of homework assignments” and emphasizes “meaningful instruction;”
• Mandates the policy to be reviewed on an ongoing basis rather than every three years;
• Have schools implement root cause analysis of chronic homework incompletion;
• Adds language that addresses students with individualized education programs (IEPs) or 504 plans; and
• Gives students opportunities to get homework help during class (when feasible) and to make up assignments that are “equivalent, but different” if absent;

“I think that is counterproductive for what we are trying to promote, the professionalism in our teachers, to have agency in our teachers in motivating them to do the best work with our students,” Yang said.

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Arlington Public Schools updates student grading policy with retakes, late assignment options

Scott Gelman | [email protected]

June 9, 2023, 7:15 AM

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Superintendent Francisco Durán said he has signed off on changes to the middle and high school grading policy at Arlington Public Schools that will allow students to retake or redo assignments and reduce the weight of quizzes or homework on a student’s overall grade.

Under the new policy, which is scheduled to go into effect July 1, according to school board documents , students will have the opportunity to retake or revise class assignments like tests, projects or essays.

School system teachers will be responsible for determining how the assignment is changed, how long students have and how a retake is implemented. Only the higher score, the policy says, will be used to calculate the student’s grade.

The changes come as part of the school system’s new approach to grading that emphasizes equity. It has worked to pilot and implement equitable grading processes across the division in recent months. As part of the policy revision process, Durán said, he formed a working group of representatives from each school.

Durán also signed off on tweaks to the elementary school standards-based grading process , including revised performance levels and updated grade descriptors. All changes will be in place for the start of the 2023-24 school year.

The updates, Durán said at Thursday’s school board meeting, should “motivate (students) to continue by learning to redeem themselves and learn the material. It also will increase the rigor by insisting that all students achieve mastery rather than accepting just a one-time failure.”

Proponents of the equity grading model say it reduces subjectivity and makes it possible for student grades to accurately represent their overall knowledge. Opponents argue it doesn’t prepare kids for life after high school.

The policy also says homework shouldn’t account for more than 10% of a student’s quarterly grade and describes a grading scale from A to E. Late work turned in after the due date but within a given teaching unit will be graded, the policy says, but could be penalized up to 10% of the value of the assignment.

Assignments considered formative assessments — items like homework and quizzes — can’t account for more than 40% of a student’s quarter grade, the policy says.

And, when calculating grades, the policy says, “When a teacher has evidence that a student demonstrates a higher level of performance than a calculated marking period, semester grade, or final grade indicates, the teacher should assign the higher grade.”

Anne Stewart, a social studies teacher at Yorktown High School, said during a work session on the topic last month that allowing students to retake assessments “had a tremendous impact on not just student grade improvement, but more importantly, an impact on student content knowledge and their skills.”

At the same meeting, school board member Reid Goldstein said he was concerned the change would allow students to think there’s flexibility in deadlines in life after graduation.

Fairfax County Public Schools, Virginia’s largest school system, said last fall it was reevaluating its high school grading policies , though it hasn’t been discussed since.

Scott Gelman is a digital editor and writer for WTOP. A South Florida native, Scott graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019. During his time in College Park, he worked for The Diamondback, the school’s student newspaper.

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Will less homework stress make California students happier?

Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups.

Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride.

While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo ’s daughter, then nine, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.

Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked her if she could make a law banning homework.

“It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”

Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while Assembly Bill 2999 — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework.

Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness , led by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon .

“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.”

The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.

The organization also reported in 2020 that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep,” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.

Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. An English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and 2024’s California Teacher of the Year , Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.

In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo says that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments.

Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said.

The bill says the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.

The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo says she has received bipartisan support and so far, no official opposition or support is listed in the bill analysis.

But she does acknowledge that, if passed, the measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent culture war disputes between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.

Nevertheless, she says she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to cut spending on mental health services for children with the passage of Proposition 1 .

Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework has raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.

“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”

This article was originally published by  CalMatters .

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Spanish 2023-2024

23-24 x/y calendar, division calendar.

The division calendar complete with division-wide events is available on the division homepage.

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