Schools across the country are slashing homework back to the basics - while others are telling kids that cooking dinner, joining a sports team and helping in the community is far more important than spending hours on science projects.
Some parents who have traditionally put great weight on the amount of homework their kids do are now telling schools they won't be enforcing it at home.
And the research is on their side. Academics say homework:
* makes no difference to primary school students' achievement, although in high school it can boost achievement;
* helps bright kids the most; for others, it is often just a reminder that they cannot do a task;
* requires good feedback from teachers and backs up what the student learnt at school;
* has "zero evidence" supporting the idea it teaches time-management or study skills.
There is little dispute that taking some schoolwork home can be valuable but the "busywork" - the weekly worksheets and long- term projects that cause such stress for families (and are all too often completed with excessive parental help) - is on the way out.
At least seven New Zealand primary schools have ditched these worksheets and projects in favour of a term-by-term system covering sports, community work and even cooking (see box, right).
Other schools are sending parents newsletters to announce that they are slashing homework time.
However, some - such as Otumoetai Intermediate in Tauranga - are holding fast. Its homework policy says: "Most students, parents and teachers prefer to have a weekly homework sheet, as this is more likely to develop time management skills."
And that, teachers say, is the problem. Parents panic every time a school cuts back on old-fashioned homework. PPTA head Kate Gainsford says some parents believe that "if there's a lot of homework that means that there's a lot of learning. That isn't always so".
Sarah Beavis, 46, a New Plymouth mother-of-three, last year told her son's primary school teacher that she would no longer enforce homework in her house. "If he wants to do it, that's fine. But I'm not going to stand over him.
"Some parents seem to think that's the only way they can get involved with what their kids are doing at school. It's almost like a bragging point, 'Oh, my 10-year-old does two hours' homework every night'."
But with three children all heavily involved in surf-lifesaving, Beavis says sometimes there simply isn't time. Since she gave up her standover tactics, her children have continued to do their homework.
Research suggests Beavis is taking the right approach. A recent highly regarded study by Auckland University education professor John Hattie, which analysed the effectiveness of 113 different teaching tactics, ranked homework a lowly 88th.
Hattie says he turned up "zero evidence" homework helps improve time management or study skills. Instead, it is something you do after you learn those skills.
Hattie recommends a maximum of 20 minutes' homework per night: "the shorter the better".
"The thing I detest the most is long-term projects," says Hattie. In many cases, "all you're measuring is the parent's skills".
What does make a real difference is parents who take an interest. "Having high expectations - that's probably the most powerful thing parents can do."
The Ministry of Education said homework could be effective, but "should not be excessive and should not unnecessarily fatigue and frustrate students".
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