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School days: 3Rs, 24-7

Mandatory homework is popular, but is it effective?

Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 26/01) - Since January 1, compulsory homework has been the official policy of the Beaufort Delta Divisional Educational Council. Teachers in the region are expected to give daily assignments, and students in all grades are expected to turn them in.

Homework facts:

The Beaufort Delta homework policy was improved in June of last year and took effect January 1.

According to the policy, "school staff shall establish a homework policy for their school considering the unique nature of their students, and the programs using the following guidelines:

- The completion and extension of class assignments should guide the assignment of homework.

- The assignment should take into account the age of the student, and the other demands placed on the students.

- At the secondary level, cooperation among teachers involved by way of homework schedule, should avoid uneven assigning of homework.

- The principal or designate in cooperation with the staff shall develop appropriate procedures and time guidelines for homework.

Suggested guidelines:

K - 3 15 minutes/day

4 - 6 30 minutes/day

7 - 9 60 minutes/day

10 - 12 90 minutes/day

Source: Beaufort-Delta Education Council




The policy exists without any hard evidence to support arguments that it has a positive effect on kids. Still, it's hard to find anyone to say anything bad about it.

It's a no-brainer for Mary Beckett.

"One of the best concerns when you're talking about education in the Beaufort Delta region is student success," said the chair of the Inuvik District Education Authority.

"We would be doing a disservice to the kids if we didn't get them to establish a good work ethic," said Beckett.

Compulsory homework, started at an early grade, ensures that parents know what's expected of their kids. In the past, said Beckett, a parent would have to rely on the honesty of their kids to tell them whether they had assignments to complete.

"I think parents are strongly in support," of the policy.

In Hay River, Andrew Butler, chair of the South Slave Divisional Education Council is "somewhat familiar" with the Beaufort Delta policy.

"It sounds wonderful," he said.

Butler said that within the South Slave region, proposals for compulsory homework are being pushed "much more at the community level - especially in the larger communities," of Fort Smith and Hay River. The benefits are obvious to him.

"It gives parents a chance to see what their kids are learning, and it makes sure children are getting a chance to learn how to do things by practising," he said.

Butler suspects that proposals for compulsory homework won't bear fruit in his region for some time.

Divisional education councils throughout NWT are currently preoccupied with finalizing their budgets. However, "maybe at the June or September session," the South Slave Council might give the matter a closer look.

At Diamond Jenness High School in Hay River, principal Ray Young supports compulsory homework "110 per cent," -- the earlier the better.

"Most skills and traits are established long before students get to high school," he said. Diamond Jenness is working independently to establish its own homework program.

Over in the Dogrib region, a modified version of compulsory homework is already in place.

Lucy Lafferty said the policy covers grades kindergarten through six. The director of the Dogrib Divisional Education Council, said that her region is also working to extend the program to include grades seven to nine.

The Dogrib program is also different from Beaufort Delta's in that homework is not necessarily given out every evening.

Lafferty cautions that the program has to be tailored to meet the specific needs of students. She notes that some parents in her region have difficulty helping their kids with homework because they didn't have much formal education.

"We're trying to make the homework as interactive as possible, she says, adding that "we're seeing the results now. Parents are setting up times for their kids to homework. Younger children see their brothers and sisters doing homework and so they want to do something during that time, too."

Meanwhile, over at Inuvik Centennial Library, a few students from Samuel Hearne High School aren't exactly thrilled by the new policy.

"Boring," one of them scoffs when the topic of compulsory homework is brought up. Another, ninth-grader Renie Edwards, says students are being overloaded.

"We have things to do besides homework," Edwards says, "like have a life."