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Homework Enhances Learning Potential
Version 012010

© Copyright 2003 Aaron J. Smith
Permission granted to everyone to reproduce or use H.E.L.P. in any form or by any means for legitimate educational purposes only. No part of H.E.L.P. may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means for a monetary return without permission of Aaron J. Smith, 2625 Countryside Drive, Lebanon, IN 46052

An approach that first, second and third grade teachers 
can use to measure how well a community provides
"mature homework partners" to help students 
effectively complete homework every school day.

1. Parents and Guardians of all Grade 1, 2 and 3 Students are Encouraged To Have the Completion of Daily Homework Effectively Supervised

2. All Grade 1, 2 and 3 Teachers Assign Meaningful Homework Every School Day that Requires the Supervision of a Mature Homework Partner

3. A Mature Homework Partner is Expected to Supervise the Completion of All Assigned Homework Due Every School Day from Each Grade 1, 2 and 3 Student

4. Every Homework Sheet Accompanying a Homework Assignment must be Signed by a Mature Homework Partner to Verify Satisfactory Completion

5. All Students Must Complete their Homework Assignment On Time and Submit Every Signed Homework Sheet to their Teacher on the Date When Due

6. All Teachers Will Tabulate their Weekly H.E.L.P. Rate (% of Students whose Homework was Supervised by a Mature Homework Partner every day they attended school during the week)

7. All Schools will Promptly and Confidentially (Without Identifying Individual Teachers and Individual Students) Compute the Weekly H.E.L.P. Rates for School Grades 1, 2 and 3

8. All Schools will Use their School PIN and Password to Promptly Input their Grade 1, 2 and 3 Weekly H.E.L.P. Rates on the State K-12 Data Website

9. H.E.L.P. Rates for each Grade 1, 2 and 3 School in all School Corporations will be Displayed for Public Use on the State K-12 Data Website

Students in Grades 1, 2 and 3 who complete homework every school day under the effective supervision of a "mature homework partner" achieve more, are better motivated, have positive attitudes toward education, enjoy better self-esteem, and exhibit self-confidence. Those communities that work to provide effective homework supervision make certain that Homework Enhances Learning Potential (H.E.L.P.)!

 

H.E.L.P. Table of Contents

NOTE: Topic numbers refer to the like-numbered block in the H.E.L.P. Flow Chart.

1. (a) How does effectively supervised homework help students?

1. (b) What is effective homework supervision?

1. (c) How can effectively supervised homework be encouraged?

2. (a) Why is H.E.L.P. limited to Grade 1, 2 and 3 students?

2. (b) When is homework required?

2. (c) How much homework is required?

2. (d) What is a Mature Homework Partner?

3. What are some techniques for effective homework supervision?

4. Is a specific Daily Homework Assignment Sheet format required?

5. Is it important to complete homework in a timely manner?

6. (a) What does the Weekly H.E.L.P. Rate really measure?

6. (b) How does a teacher compute a Weekly H.E.L.P. Rate?

7. How are Weekly H.E.L.P. Rates computed by a school?

8. How is Weekly H.E.L.P. Rate data sent to the State Website?

9. (a) What H.E.L.P. Rate data appears on the State Website?

9. (b) How is the integrity of H.E.L.P. Rate data maintained?

9. (c) How can the H.E.L.P. Rate data best be used?

1. (a) How does effectively supervised homework help students?

The references cited next are included in the October 1996 study from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, titled The Uses of Time for Teaching and Learning. 

• High achievers are engaged in "deliberate out-of-school learning activities" - defined as homework, part-time work, internships, apprenticeships, and leisure activities involving communication skills, problem solving, and decision making - for about 25 to 35 of their approximately 60 to 70 waking hours in a given week. Clark, R. M. (1990, Spring). Why disadvantaged students succeed: What happens outside school is critical. Public Welfare. 17-23.
• The regularity of literacy-related activities as part of family life (e.g., being read to, going to the library, buying books) is one of the most powerful predictors of literacy achievement in school. Snow, C. E., Barnes, W. S., Chandler, J., Goodman, I. P., & Hemphill, L. (1991). Unfulfilled expectations: Home and school influences on literacy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Adult involvement while homework is being done is associated with high achievement, but the exact nature of the relationship between homework and academic achievement is unclear. Leone, C. M., & Richards, M. H. (1989). Classwork and homework in early adolescence: The ecology of achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18(6), 531-549.
• Most studies of tutoring and mentoring find positive impacts on students' achievement, motivation, attitudes toward education, self-esteem, and self-confidence. Richardson, L. (1992). Review of research on peer tutoring and mentoring. Washington, DC: Policy Studies Associates, Inc.

Families need to reinforce the importance of school, homework, and activities that build student skills and feelings of success. As part of this reinforcement, families must help their children at home with learning activities coordinated with the children’s classwork. Effective homework supervision is one important home-based learning activity.

Judy Caragher in her online articles Putting Homework in its Place and Getting Kids to Do Their Own Homework emphasizes the tips listed next to make homework a useful learning activity.

• Establish a Homework Station. Decide with your child where the best place is for completing homework. A desk or table in you child's room is ideal because it will begin to foster the independence that you are going to expect when your child reaches middle and high school. Also, children who are easily distracted by noise and movement will have an easier time focusing in a location that's not part of the family living space. Not only should all homework be done at the homework station, but it should also be where your child deposits her backpack and books when arriving home from school. That way, it's easier to repack for the next day, and it's more likely that your child will arrive at school with all of the necessary assignments and materials.
• Create a Homework Toolbox. A homework toolbox will eliminate the procrastinator's ability to stall and help all kids make a more effective use of time. All you need is an inexpensive plastic container with a lid that's a couple of inches deep and big enough to hold 8-1/2" x 11" sheets of paper. These are easy to find in the cooking or storage sections of large discount or drug stores. Together with your child, fill the box with standard supplies — paper, pencils, an eraser, a sharpener, a ruler, markers, a highlighter, a glue stick, crayons, a protractor, and any other homework tool that your child needs to complete assignments. Then declare this "anti-walking" toolbox a permanent part of the homework station.
• Determine the Best Time for Homework. As you start a new school year, it's a good idea to plan with your child when homework is to be done. The goal should be to select a regular time that is workable for everyone — both the family's schedule and your child's needs. Think about your child's temperament. Does she need to run around and get rid of some pent up energy after school? Does he need some "down time?" Homework time should not be a punishment, and there are many different ways to schedule it. If you can find the right time with your child — and be consistent about it — the whole process will be more peaceful, as well as more efficient and productive.
• Provide Direction — But Not Directions. Many children do need help with homework, but it is important to help in ways that will lead to independence. Consider this: Before they've even glanced at the directions, kids often will show parents a worksheet and say, "I don't get it." Kids know what they're doing; why spend time figuring out directions if you can get Mom or Dad to explain what to do? In these cases, rather than reading the directions to yourself and then explaining them, ask your child to read the directions aloud to you. This strategy enables kids to hear the directions, which is often all that's needed to make the assignment clear. Talk about what needs to be completed — even if it is only a portion of the assignment—and then disappear. The goal is to nurture and help your child believe in her ability to be successful.
• Offer Guidance and Support When Needed. If your child is one who needs individual support and attention both at school and at home, tackle the assignments one at a time. Go over the directions and materials with your child, making sure he is clear about what needs to be done and how to do it.

Those communities that do the best job of educating children effectively involve parents and guardians. Therefore, parents and guardians must be educated on the many ways that effectively supervised homework can help Grade 1, 2 and 3 students. The parents and guardians then have to be continuously inspired to have effective homework supervision provided. This education and inspiration can come from the school, the media, and the government.

EDUCATION: 

make a telephone call, two or three weeks before the opening of school, welcoming the family to the new school year and to the classroom

informal open house before the opening of school

packet of information on the first day of school.

PTA/PTO, advisory councils, school board

Good partnerships withstand questions, conflicts, debates, and disagreements; provide structures and processes to solve problems; and are maintained - even strengthened - after differences have been resolved.

A teacher needs knowledge of each individual child, and to completely gain this knowledge, it is necessary to form a relationship with the parents and family. This relationship can provide an environment in which "teachers and parents share their knowledge of the child and understanding of children’s development and learning as part of day-to-day communication and planned conferences" (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997, p.22). This relationship requires respect, cooperation, shared responsibility, and negotiation of conflicts in order to attain shared goals for the child.

http://www.doe.state.in.us/publications/teachNlearn.html 

INSPIRATION: The best way for school, media, and government leaders to inspire parents and guardians to effectively supervise the completion of homework by their Grade 1, 2 and 3 students is to (1) objectively measure and publicize the degree of community involvement, and then (2) continuously work to improve the community involvement. A good measure of community involvement is the weekly H.E.L.P. Rate. The H.E.L.P. Rate is the percent of attending students in a class whose homework was effectively supervised by a "Mature Homework Partner."

volunteer statewide media campaign

2. (a) Why is H.E.L.P. limited to Grade 1, 2 and 3 students?

As stated by Tom Shultz and Joan Lombardi in "Right From the Start" (Young Children, January, 1989), the Preschool and Primary Years are "…the crucial early years of education, when children gain the essential skills, knowledge, and dispositions critical to later school success."

Grade 1, 2 and 3 teachers must require homework EVERY school day. The only exceptions are that students are not responsible for completed homework (1) the first day of school and (2) the first day back from an excused absence.

Teachers must assign homework every school day (except, of course, the last day of school). Unexcused students are responsible for completed homework every school day, including Mondays and the first day back from vacations.

Requiring homework every single school day delivers the message that homework is important!

A Mature Homework Partner can be a Parent, Guardian, relative, neighbor, and anyone at least 14 years of age. If a Parent or Guardian cannot - or will not - provide a Mature Homework Partner, then volunteer resources from the Community can be used. There are literally thousands of national and community-based youth development clubs and organizations offering young people some structure for their out-of-school time and serving a nonformal, educative function. These organizations are often particularly important to disadvantaged children and youth.

teach how to stay on task and focus their attention

check for satisfactory completion at the end of each homework assignment

consequences at home for not satisfactorily completing a home work assignment

A specific Daily Homework Assignment Sheet format is NOT required. However, an easily identified signature line must be included for a Mature Homework Partner to sign indicating that he or she has supervised the Student’s homework completion.

Weekly H.E.L.P. Rates identify communities that highly value education.

The H.E.L.P. Rate is the percent of Students whose Homework was supervised by a Mature Homework Partner every day they attended school during the week.

All Schools will use their School PIN and Password to promptly input their weekly Grade 1, 2 and 3 H.E.L.P. Rates on the State K-12 Data Website.

Because the posted H.E.L.P. rates are computed by grade within each School, individual Students needing the assistance of a Mature Homework Partner cannot be identified without the assistance of a School Principal.

Interested Community members can use the State K-12 Data Website to keep track of their School’s H.E.L.P. Rates and meet with their School Principals to volunteer assistance to those Students needing a Mature Homework Partner.

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This page was last updated on 03/19/10.