Policy on homework changing in Potsdam

POTSDAM — For generations, school homework has been a part of growing up.

Now, homework and grading policies are causing growing pains for some area school districts and bringing about policy changes.

Leading the movement is Potsdam Central School District, which started phasing in a new homework policy this school year that restricts how much homework can count toward a student's report card grades.

Other school districts, including St. Lawrence Central, Brasher Falls, have just started reviewing their methods for assessing student achievement.

Potsdam's new policy, adopted last spring by the school board, states that "formative" homework assignments cannot count toward more than 10 percent of report card grades for elementary, middle and high school students.

Formative homework includes practice work like math problems or the first draft of an essay.

Potsdam Central Superintendent Patrick H. Brady said teachers were encouraged to start implementing the new policy this year, but it doesn't officially take effect until the beginning of next school year.

The change has drawn criticism from some Potsdam teachers who feel it leaves students with less incentive to complete homework assignments and restricts teachers individual grading policies.

"We realize this is a major change," Mr. Brady said Tuesday. "It is a process that will take time. I feel most faculty and staff members are keeping an open mind."

St. Lawrence Central Superintendent Stephen M. Putman said his district is studying its entire method of assessing student achievement.

"Homework is only one part of the larger issue. My sense is, by the end of the year, we'll have some consensus on a direction and a plan," Mr. Putman said.

Mr. Brady said the new policy was expected to draw mixed reactions from teachers, students and parents. In the past, individual teachers had considerable leeway in deciding how much weight homework would be given toward report card grades for students in their classes.

"In any effort to reform practices, you are going to get those who support it, those who are unsure and those who are against it," Mr. Brady said. "Many teachers are finding as they've started to implement it, that it's a better process."

Future report card grades will more accurately reflect student achievement because more weight will be given to scores on quizzes and exams, according to Mr. Brady.

"Grades should reflect true achievement," Mr. Brady said. "They shouldn't be filled with extra credit that doesn't reflect if students actually know the content."

Too many students who received strong grades in high school are graduating without the academic skills they need to succeed in college, the superintendent said.

"What we're hearing from secondary institutions is that students are not always prepared. Part of the reason is that their grades don't reflect what they've actually achieved," Mr. Brady said.

Mr. Brady noted that under the new policy "summative" homework assignments can still be weighed heavily toward report cards grades. This includes assignments like the final version of an essay, a quiz or a finished project.

Mr. Brady said school districts across the state are studying research related to homework and how much emphasis should be placed on grading practice work.

"Potsdam is out there leading the forefront of this process," he said.

Last school year, Potsdam created a committee to research the homework issue and make a recommendation about possible changes. The committee included school board members, Mr. Brady, building principals, teachers, parents and students.

Dr. Nicole Catapano, an educational consultant from Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES, gave a presentation and helped facilitate the process that led to the policy change.

This summer she also discussed grading polices during a presentation at St. Lawrence Central that also was attended by school administrators from Massena, Potsdam and Madrid-Waddington central schools, Mr. Putman said.

Committee members reviewing the homework policy at Potsdam also were encouraged to read the book, "A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades," written by Ken O'Connor.