National PTA to Weigh 'Healthy Homework Guidelines'

National PTA to Weigh 'Healthy Homework Guidelines'

Posted: 21 Jun 2012 08:46 AM PDT

Will the National PTA support the position of the more than 17,000 who have signed an online petition promoting "healthy homework guidelines?"

It's too early to tell.

However, the National PTA's Resolutions Committee has agreed to review and vet the petitioners' position on homework, according to James Martinez, the organization's senior manager of media and public relations.

No timeline was given, but the next committee meeting will be held in August, when more discussion on this issue is anticipated.

Proponents of "healthy homework" presented their petition

 to the committee on Wednesday, June 20. The general tenets of these guidelines are:

1. Homework should advance a spirit of learning. 
2. Homework should be student-directed.
3. Homework should promote a balanced schedule.

Each of these is followed by four bullet points with actions to support the tenets, from educators being directed not to assign homework as a disciplinary measure, to giving students assignments that can be completed without the assistance of a sibling, caregiver or parent.

Beyond these points, the guidelines ask school leaders "to provide teachers with professional development support and time to restructure their classroom practices to eliminate an over-reliance on homework."

Check out my previous post

 on this subject. 

- Michele Molnar