As many schools start their year this week, one in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is doing away with an educational staple: homework.
Like other schools in the district, the day at the Kelly School, which serves kindergarten through eighth grade, will be two hours longer next year. But then students are done.
Principal Jackie Glasheen says research is mixed on the benefits of homework and students will get more out of extra time with teachers than trying to do assignments at home.
“Common Core math, often times we hear from families, ‘That’s not how I was taught math. I struggle in addressing the needs of my child when they’re doing their homework at home,’ ” Glasheen said.
Glasheen said reaction is mixed. She’s heard from some who wonder how a struggling school can afford not to give students more work. But there’s support in Holyoke and beyond for no-homework: A letter from a Texas teacher to parents saying she, too, is abolishing homework, has been shared more than 70,000 times on Facebook.