If you are the parent of a Culver City student, you may not know that, according to School Board policy adopted 13 years ago, kindergarten children should be assigned 15 minutes of homework or one hour per week. (It is not known whether topics must be confined to science and math.)
First and second graders — 15 to 20 minutes a night, computed a Board member who did not major in math, to total 1 hour, 33 minutes weekly.
Third graders — 30 minutes nightly, 2 hours per week.
Fourth, fifth and sixth graders — 60 minutes a night, 4 hours each week.
Seventh and eighth graders — 60 to 96 minutes per night, 5 to 8 hours weekly.
Ninth, 10th and 11th graders — 96 to 180 minutes per night, 8 to15 hours per week.
No recommendations are listed for high school seniors, perhaps in sympathy with a critical traditional notion that 12th graders can glide through their final semesters without breaking a sweat.
Supt. Patti Jaffe, who holds a few opinions herself on homework, said she is reviewing and revising the comprehensive Board policy adopted 13 years ago. The homework edition has been known to draw chuckles from professional and amateur onlookers.
“On this subject,” said Board President Scott Zeidman, “I defer to the professionals. It is important we review these matters periodically, in this case to see if we are giving enough homework or too much homework.”
The subject arose because in the background, LAUSD is having an argument within its ranks over a recently adopted — then thwarted — policy of declaring that homework must represent precisely 10 percent of every grade.
Of that short-lived policy, Ms. Jaffe said she needs to study it more closely before delivering an opinion.
“The 10 percent really needs to be looked at,” said the veteran of 30 years in classrooms. She arrived at final grades and homework evaluations via her own perhaps unique formula. Rather than settling on a steadfast rule such as 10 percent, Ms. Jaffe said, “more important is what a child can produce in the classroom through authentic assessment. This means the student might be working on a special project. Besides homework and tests, there are other ways to determine a grade.
“Ten percent may be the fair thing to do. I don’t think homework should…I don’t know. This is something we should look at as a district.
“Homework,” said the Superintendent, “ does not necessarily determine what a student knows. It can be an indication the child is not understanding the material.
“Homework is supposed to be on what you have taught. It isn’t supposed to be busywork.
“You can’t count homework as being what a student does or does not know.
“Consequently,” Ms. Jaffe said, “(their final grades) need to be based on what they are able to produce, what they can do, and then show it through what they are doing in class.”
See ccusd.org
