Etta Kralovec and John Buell are educators who dared to challenge one of the most widely accepted practices in American schools. Their provocative argument first published in this book, featured in Time and Newsweek, in numerous women's magazines, on national radio and network television broadcasts, was the first openly to challenge the gospel of "the more homework the better." Consider: * In 1901, homework was legally banned in parts of the U.S. There are no studies showing that assigning homework before junior high school improves academic achievement. * Increasingly, students and their parents are told that homework must take precedence over music lessons, religious education, and family and community activities. As the homework load increases (and studies show it is increasing) these family priorities are neglected. * Homework is a great discriminator, effectively allowing students whose families "have" to surge ahead of their classmates who may have less. * Backpacks are literally bone-crushing, sometimes weighing as much as the child. Isn't it obvious we're overburdening our kids? Is it possible that homework isn't good for kids? Dare we even consider such a shocking idea? . . . Does it make children, teachers, and parents angry at each other rather than allied with each other? --Deborah Meier, author of The Power of Their Ideas and Will Standards Save Public Education? , in her Mission Hill School News "The increasing amount of homework may not be helping students to learn more; indeed, it often undermines the students' health, the development of personal interests, and the quality of family life." --Ted Sizer and Nancy Faust Sizer, authors of The Students Are Watching Etta Kralovec, a recent Fulbright Fellow, took her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. She was a high school teacher for over twelve years and professor of education and director of teacher education at the College of the Atlantic for eleven years. John Buell, author of Democracy by Other Means and Sustainable Democracy, took his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts. He has taught at the College of the Atlantic. The End of Homework How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning By Etta Kralovec Beacon Press Copyright © 2001 Etta Kralovec All right reserved. ISBN: 9780807042199 Preface Beth sits in increasing horror as her daughter's fifth-grade teacherreproaches the class's parents: "Many of the kids have after-schoolactivities like Hebrew school or town soccer league or piano lessons,but you should all remember that homework must alwaystake priority."     Every night Helene dreads coming home to a familiar scene:her fourth-grade daughter sits surrounded by a mess of papers atthe kitchen counter, grumpy or weepy, unable to complete herhomework and making everyone else share her misery.     Bob hardly ever sees his son, a sophomore in high school whodoes an average of four hours of homework a night and also workson the school paper, competes in debate, and manages the schooltrack team?all at his guidance counselor's urging. Greg leaves forschool at 6:30 A.M., rarely gets home before 6:00 P.M., and almostnever joins the family for dinner, since he always has exams to preparefor or papers to write. His weekends are often entirely consumedby meets, debates, and study.     Pat sits in an orthopedic surgeon's waiting room. Her daughter,Anna, has had back pain for quite some time. Pat is convincedthat her daughter's thirty-eight-pound backpack is contributingto her daughter's back problems. Anna is not alone. The AmericanAcademy of Orthopedic Surgeons (A.A.O.S.) reported that thousandsof kids have back, neck, and shoulder pain caused by theirheavy backpacks.     Margie phones her best friend Edna practically every night for"help" on the math homework. She really doesn't get fractions.What she really wants are the answers to the problems, and mostof the time she gets them. Neither girl wants to cheat, but Margiedefinitely will get into trouble if she doesn't turn in the homeworkand Edna just can't say no to her friend.     For the past eight years, we have been writing and speakingabout the problems associated with homework. During this time,we have never ceased to be amazed by the strong initial reaction toour work: "What? Are you crazy? Homework is good for kids,"or, "How can we compete with the Japanese if our kids don't dohomework?" Equally amazing, however, has been the number offolks who eventually come back to us and say, "You're right aboutone thing: homework is making a mess of our family life."     For a number of reasons, we believe that it is time for a publicdiscussion about the place of homework in the daily lives ofschools, children, and families. The topic is central to current debatesabout school reform. Before we abandon the public schoolsystem in favor of some form of privatization, we need to take ahard look at the schooling practices t