Homework and student achievement…does it make
a difference for our students? This was the topic my site supervisor and I
settled on as a topic of interest for my Action Research project. After my site
supervisor attended a viewing of the film “Race to Nowhere,” the issue of
homework and students’ ability to find balance in life bubbled to the surface.
Is homework something that really adds value and impacts learning? If a school
does not give homework at the elementary level, does that then hinder students
when they transition to junior high when they will encounter multiple teachers,
homework and balancing extracurricular activities?
There is much debate regarding the value and
effectiveness of homework as it relates to student achievement. This was a
topic we felt I would be able to compile both primary and secondary research
through literature, surveys and data evaluation around district benchmarks and
state testing. My working question at this time has evolved, thus far, to the
following:
As
a result of viewing the film “Race to Nowhere,” we are left to question what is
the impact and effectiveness of homework on student achievement as measured by
district benchmarks and state testing?
My
progress to-date has been slow at best given my travel schedule for my current
job. In fact, work on my project was postponed from January through April until
I will be back in town to conduct the surveys I have planned. However, a few
steps in the Action Plan have taken place. One, the parent survey was sent out
and I have reviewed the results from that survey. Based on those results, I
have created questions that need to be programmed into Survey Monkey for campus
teacher response. I have also created the student survey questions that will be
programmed into Survey Monkey.
Once
the teacher and student surveys are programmed and sent out for response, I
will collect and analyze the data/responses. This may net enough information to
create a proposal; however, it may require some follow-up with in-person focus
groups. I don’t know that it will be realistic to collect classroom specific
data on homework completion on this phase of my action research due to student
privacy issues and simply the time it might take for me to work with teachers to
create an anonymous method of reporting and then for them to actually complete
the reporting. Therefore, I may need to revisit my project with my site
supervisor to streamline and simplify the focus for this initial stage of the
research project. I am looking forward to my travel schedule slowing down just
a bit so I can get back on campus and re-focus on completing my project.
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