POLL Results: 53% of respondents think Milton Public Schools students are assigned too much homework

In a recent Patriot Ledger article, students, teachers, and parents weighed in on the tolls of what some see as excessive homework: “Nearly 90 percent of students admit to feeling stressed about their homework, the Institute of Education Sciences says, and 45 percent of students above the third grade spend more than an hour after school on assignments.”

Janet Sheehan, Milton’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and human resources, is quoted in the article, as saying “We don’t have many parents complaining about homework.”

Here are the poll results:

Do you think Milton Public Schools students are assigned an appropriate amount of homework?

YES: I think Milton students receive an appropriate amount of homework – 36%

NO: I think Milton students receive too much homework – 53%

NO: I think Milton students receive too little homework – 11%

What poll participants had to say:

With the exception of math facts and sight words, there is no research that supports giving homework as a way to boost achievement.

I don’t think students should have homework will 5th grade at least and still homework needs to be cut down. Kids need to be excited about school not stress about homework.

Students need time to develop a wide range of skills and get adequate rest. We should be encouraging a well rounded approach to developing our young adults. Homework some nights is fine, but others is very very heavy. It is difficult to commit to other opportunities when the homework load is unpredictable and burdensome. (This participant has high school students).

The Middle School kids get way too much homework, especially over the weekends and during school vacations.

My Kindergartener even gets nightly homework, and although it is not mandatory that he completes it, it is very much encouraged that he does it. As for my second and fifth graders, I have always felt that they are accountable for way too much work after school hours.

The problem is quality of homework, NOT quantity.The homework packets given in the elementary school at the Glover are busy work and quite frankly lazy teaching. Every year, my children receive the same ridiculous spelling work i.e. use these 10 words in a sentence etc. Frequently they would never come back home. Many teachers don’t even correct them because they are BUSY work. Why not do projects? Even the youngest children with appropriate scaffolding could complete a project. Let children learn to develop independence and responsibility for their own learning. We are not trying to educate workers. We are trying to educate leaders. Either get rid of the worksheets or get rid of homework to free parents up to supplement their child’s education.

There are very few writing assignments and the curriculum is not rigorous. They need to be challenged.

For the early grades of elementary I believe they receive too much homework. I understand for 4th or 5th grade but not for the younger children.

An hour is nothing. Only families that value their kids extracurricular activities more than academics will complain about an hour of homework. If you want the student to learn they have to put out the effort. Don’t expect students to be able to learn everything they need to just from the work they do in school. We are really expecting our schools to raise our children.

They should do their work in school. Kids are over booked and stressed. They work very hard in school and are starting to dislike school at a much younger age because they feel that they can never get everything done. I’ m glad I’m not going through school now. I may have been so discouraged that I wouldn’t have gone on to receive my master like I did several years ago. Kids deserve a change to be kids.

My daughter is an honors student in 7th grade and feels she is assigned too much homework. She also feels it should be on an as needed basis only.

We complain. We used to complain often, but it did no good. One teacher said “The homework is optional. If they don’t do it they can’t go to recess.”

Have a fifth grader and have never felt the amount of HW is beneficial – too much. I’m in favor of no to minimal homework. Would like to have the freedom to have family time outside etc.

My first grader is doing nearly an hour of homework every night. It’s excessive.

My three kids have completed K-12 in Milton. They were always diligent in their studies including homework. However, far too many nights working anywhere from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. They felt it did not enhance their education.

Have an opinion?

Leave it in the comments!

These are the current Milton Public Schools elementary school homework guidelines:

You’ll note here that in first grade, there is a potential for nearly an hour of homework and reading, and by fifth grade, this number increases to nearly two hours.

Disclaimer:

Miltonscene.com online polls are not intended to be a scientific sample of local opinion. Instead, they are a way for readers to share their views on the news with the Milton Scene and Milton Neighbors.

Respondents are not randomly selected, but select themselves to vote on a specific question or set of questions. In addition, while Miltonscene.com online polls are designed to allow only one vote per user, technically savvy users may find ways around this limitation. For these reasons, the polls are not presented as scientific surveys or as representative of the opinion of the general population of our readership areas, region or nation.