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May 6, 2010
Simrundeep Kaur
Last month, the Fremont Unified School District (FUSD) board of education approved Board Policy 6154, which requires teachers to only assign a certain amount of homework each night. According to board member Ivy Wu, superintendent Parvin Ahmadi proposed this new homework policy after hearing frustrated “parents [question] the amount and the purpose of homework for students.”
The policy sets guidelines for the amount of homework students should receive from their classes. It states that “homework given in Honor/GATE classes should conform with the time estimate for other non-Honors/GATE classes” (BP 6154). Basically, teachers should assign the same amount of homework, but the assignments for the Honors/GATE classes should be more challenging in comparison to that of college-prep classes. However, AP classes are an exception to this rule since they are considered college-level courses.
Nonetheless, the “homework assignments should be appropriate to the developmental levels of students and relevant to classroom instructions,” Wu said.
Teachers are given specific guidelines on the amount of time (in minutes) that should be spent on homework for each grade level. Study time for exams and related readings are to be assigned in the allotted minutes for nightly homework. However, the amount of time that should be spent on outside readings-reading not required for school-is also provided for in the policy, but it is included in a separate section of the homework policy.
The guidelines also states that “homework should not be assigned on Fridays, during breaks and vacations as a regular practice… [reserving] weekends and vacations for family time” (BP 6154).
However, some teachers disagree with this particular section of the policy.
“I don’t give more homework on a Friday than I do on a Monday,” statistics teacher Patricia Horvath said.
The policy will be enforced by working with site administrators. The plan will be monitored, and feedback from parents, staff and students will be considered in June.
“By having this policy, teachers will collaborate with each other more in giving homework assignments so that students [will not get] a tremendous amount of work from every teacher at the same time,” Wu said.
To view the entire homework policy, visit the FUSD website at http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/fusd/site/default.asp.
