Via RealClear, a sane and sensible article on school homework in math classes. Main point: Trends come and go, but parents hate homework and cheer when a school abandons it.
The article says stats don’t help because naturally mathy types get good grades without spending time on homework. Impossible to draw a correlation between time and performance.
Here’s where the article goes astray in the usual way:
The best argument for homework is that mathematical procedures require practice, and you don’t want to waste classroom time on practice, so you send that home.
It’s true that PROCEDURES need practice. But we haven’t needed PROCEDURES for 150 years. Since 1880, the people who need math for their work have been doing the PROCEDURES by machine. First mechanical calculators and cash registers then computers.
We need to learn the part of math that comes before the PROCEDURES. Math class always concentrates on the methods and totally ignores the problem-solving skills. We can only learn problem-solving by experiment with live guidance and supervision. Homework is impractical. Very few homes have the space or time to set up a work-like situation.
In earlier times when people lived on farms, or the whole family worked in the family store, problem-solving was just part of life. You learned naturally how to measure seeds, count eggs, predict a harvest, figure the change from a ten-dollar bill. Work and life are still properly mixed in some countries but not here.
In secular countries school should be giving kids simulated work-life mix with supervision to avoid serious mistakes and catch serious frustration.
Polistra's Mill 