Requiring homework on a consistent basis is not an evidence-based practice and actually introduces worse outcomes for kids whose parents/guardians are less present, which disproportionately affects poor kids and kids of color.

Why do we do it? Because there are some parents (you know the ones) who will pester the school and lobby for dropping their funding if they don’t see consistent tangible output from their students. If the kids aren’t coming home with half a dozen papers each day and a bag of books, how can we verify that the teachers aren’t just sitting around on their phones all day not doing shit and collecting a paycheck WITH OUR TAX DOLLARSSSSS?!!!?!?!

So, homework largely serves as busy work to signal to parents that teachers are doing things. And the system is designed for parents to actively encourage and participate in the development of the skills required to regularly complete homework independently by high school. Kids whose parents have less free time are inherently disadvantaged, often labeled as bad kids or lazy early on, and can have a seat on the prison train before they’ve entered middle school. It also harms kids’ self esteem and sets an unhealthy precedent for expectations around work-life balance.

There isn’t a single thing that homework accomplishes by accident which couldn’t be accomplished better on purpose via other methods. Fuck homework.

  • PKMKII [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    42·
    10 months ago

    I think you’re right in that it’s motivated by the anti-labor attitudes that teachers are inherently lazy and need constant monitoring, plus busywork metrics for students, but I don’t think it’s Karen parents behind it. It’s neoliberal shitstain administrators and local/state politicians who see teachers as antagonistic and thus want to subject them to harmful oversight and control. It’s not just homework, there’s been a distinct push to standardize every aspect of the classroom so that teachers aren’t working with students to improve their skills anymore, they’re dull bureaucrats there to administer cookie cutter programs (which, no doubt, the education department paid a pretty penny for to private contractors/publishers). It’s all about churning out metrics to justify systems, with actual education a distant second on the priority list.