In an historic education decision last month, the Toronto, Canada, schools will no longer punish students for late homework. To repeat, Toronto schools will no longer punish students for late homework.
Here's what administrator Karen Grose told Nine Shift: "Homework is not marked/evaluated--it is assessed to direct students in their learning goals. As it is not marked, there is no mark deduction for being late--rather progressive consequences (ie a range of supports to then help the student get it done). Assignments of course are evaluated. Again, if late a range of progressive consequences are applied. After the large range of supports and progressive consequences, mark deduction could be used as a very last resort."
Why is it important not to penalize students for late work? Because grading in this century should be based on learning and knowledge, not behavior or neurology. Feel free to tell us your thoughts.
This policy is nonsense. Anyone who has been frustrated with an employee who fails to complete an assignment on time, thus compromising the effectiveness of the organization, should be able to see the importance of teaching young people the value of organizing responsibilities so as to meet deadlines. Anyone who has waited in vain for somebody providing a service to show up, who does not show up on time, and who thus wastes your time waiting for this person, should be able to appreciate the same thing. In an increasingly difficult employment environment those folks who can not only get the work done but who can get it done in a timely manner are the ones who will be left standing when the layoffs come. This is a work habit easy to establish if done when students are young. I teach college students, all of whom have had at least 12 years of formal education, and many of them have significant struggles in trying to organize their work responsibilities to meet deadlines. The Toronto policy represents a commitment to embracing this form of learned helplessness.
Posted by: Alexis Durham | May 28, 2008 at 05:41 PM
If the home work is not being used as a tool to determine learning then it is just "work" which some teachers use as a classroom replacement for their getting up and teaching for real.
On the larger scale when assignements are made that are going to be evaluated then a part of the learning process is meeting deadlines, managing time, and being accountable. If you throw these things out of the window, how are you able to measure those character traits.
For non-traditional studetns attending school while working full time, you might give them a break but being responsible is a learning experience, one that all to few understand.
Posted by: richard | May 28, 2008 at 04:23 PM
As I understand the Canadian plan, there will be deadlines, but no marking down solely for being late. The implication is that if the work is eventually completed, it should be equal to work completed on time. I have two problems with the long range impact. First, there are many fields where the value of a task is related to its timeliness. While progressive remediation may be desirable in some areas, the reality of meeting deadlines must also be learned. In a college course where consistent progress is important to reach competencies needed for completion, deadlines and penalties help keep students moving. Teaching a class to a variety of students is always a challenge, but the challenge increases substantially if the class is composed of students are at every stage of progress from the first day on. Second, there is also a very practical problem of trying to effectively assess a large quantity of late work if all assignments arrive at the end of the term. The article didn't address how that is handled.
Posted by: Bob Coil | May 28, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Consequences are absolutely missing with a great portion--though, thankfully not all--of students under 25 years of age. Attending and now working at a college, I unfortunately see the need for the educational system to provide knowledge of basic courtesies, such as being present and being on time. I've seen too many parents walk adult students into an office and speak for them. I've heard too many Honor students say that attending a class (that's not online) is unnecessary...and when I point out they'll need to be present for work, they state they will not, as they'll just do it from home when time permits. On the other hand, I've heard many students note the interaction of a classroom as their primary way to learn diversity--not learned in many of their neighborhoods and certainly not with cliques. Keep the educational system as a greater social learning experience in addition to ABCs and 123s...which is difficult enough to get across.
Posted by: Deborah | May 28, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I remember when we had to do homework, it taught us discipline, because we had to learn to put time aside to do it. Instead of watching TV or playing, we did our homework. We learned to prioritize. It also brought our family together as we had to work together to solve some of the Maths problems for example. I think we are raising up a generation of people who do not understand discipline and character. It is disrespectful when kids do not do their homework.We are allowing kids to have their way and that is wrong.
Posted by: Elsie | May 28, 2008 at 12:06 PM
All very well and good as long as your schools are not just well-funded but in fact better funded than American schools are. "Progressive consequences" require more amounts of personal student-teacher interaction time than simply applying a uniform grade penalty.
I agree with my colleagues who have no choice but to consider time efficiency in their grading policies. Agree to fund smaller class sizes or teaching assistants or graders, and then we can implement "progressive consequences."
Posted by: Alan Ng | May 23, 2008 at 08:48 AM
I do not believe students should be penalized for turning in late work. However there still needs to be consequenses for no work. I believe we as educators need to be on guard for busy work assignments. Homework that isn't checked. I also believe students should show mastery for work. Behavior may be dealt with but should not be counted in a grade average. Students should not be penalized for attendance. If they can show mastery (80%) or higher, if a student can pass a class with that succcess rate then the teacher should be held responsibility
Posted by: David Reilly | May 23, 2008 at 08:46 AM
I do not believe students should be penalized for turning in late work. However there still needs to be consequenses for no work. I believe we as educators need to be on guard for busy work assignments. Homework that isn't checked. I also believe students should show mastery for work. Behavior may be dealt with but should not be counted in a grade average. Students should not be penalized for attendance. If they can show mastery (80%) or higher, if a student can pass a class with that succcess rate then the teacher should be held responsibility
Posted by: David Reilly | May 23, 2008 at 08:46 AM
I think Toronto is on the right track as far as not grading homework and using it only as a tool to direct student learning. I also applaud Toronto for applying progressive consequences for students that turn in late assignments (leading to grade deduction as a last resort). There should be no debate on this issue, turning in homework assignments or job assignments late is unacceptable and requires remediation, but effective remediation doesn't need to start with grade deuction.
Posted by: Erik | May 23, 2008 at 08:41 AM
Homework in itself is just imposed discipline and making students do it does not instill self-discipline. I wonder what kind of jobs that our students are being prepared for? Jobs that require obedience and the following of orders? The higher paying vocations will be those requiring self-discipline, collaboration and innovation.
I applaud Toronto's initiative (a first step) and look forward to it being followed some day here in the Deep East. There is much more information at:
http://www. stophomework.com
Posted by: Harold Jarche | May 22, 2008 at 08:47 PM
I used to assign homework in my college class and no one would do it. I now give points for the homework as well as other assignments and deduct for being late.
Even in K-12, this is discipline that needs to be learned so when people get jobs, their learning will help them keep those jobs, where lax discipline costs more than just a grade.
Posted by: John Oppenheim | May 22, 2008 at 05:18 PM