It’s simple math. There are simply not enough hours in a day for students to go to school, do their homework, participate in all of the extracurriculars needed to get into desireable high level colleges, such as music, sports, and theatre, as well as work multiple jobs, take care of home responsibilities, and sleep the recommended 8-9 hours a night.

Given, there are some students who don’t participate in all of the above mentioned things, but there are also students who work and provide for their families, on top of trying to balance everything with school and trying to achieve successful  futures.

The opportunities each student has to get ahead is based on their home situation, and equal quantities of homework assigned to students with unequal support at home perpetuates inequity in our schools.

To tackle this inequity, the biology department and Ms. Olson, a SJHHS chemistry teacher, are eliminating homework from their biology and chemistry curriculums. This does not include AP classes, since those are college level curriculums and require the corresponding rigor.

According to Olson, promoting equity was the greatest influence in her new policy.

“I’m taking into deep consideration the kids that must go home and work, or must go home and babysit, or have household duties, and those are not electives. It really isn’t equitable that they go without sleep just to get their work done. That’s just wrong,” said Olson.

On the surface, it seems that students’ (and parents’) moans and groans are the most serious consequence of homework; however, homework could be a large factor in the perpetuation of inequality in our schools.

Studies examining the correlation between homework and performance in school reveal a connection to the student and school’s financial status. In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD)  PISA tests, they found that “socio-economically advantaged students and students who attend socio-economically advantaged schools tend to spend more time doing homework…and more time spent on homework is, in turn, related to better student and school performance.”

One of the explanations given by the OECD for the disparity in time spent doing homework is that disadvantaged students might not have as much time because of work and family responsibilities. Other factors include the amount of parental support in the homework that the students are able to receive, and the availability of a quiet place to do work.

Changing homework’s role in a student’s class grade was something that Ms. Olson began considering four years ago when Mr. Ressler- SJHHS’s principal at the time- talked about changing the way teachers grade. After the Biology classes decided to assign less homework this year, Ms.Olson decided to give her plan a shot.

“We’re supposed to try to lower the Ds and Fs at school, and most of the Ds and Fs occur not because of poor homework, but because of just not turning in assignments… So if I have a no homework policy I will have less zeros. Less zeros means less D’s and F’s,” said Olson.

Despite the success Olson has had so far with her homework policy and the positive feedback she’s received from her students, her policy might not be adoptable as easily by other departments. Homework can be a necessary tool for teaching struggling students and reinforcing ideas learned in class.

For example, math teacher Mr. Tinker doesn’t think it would be possible to eliminate homework without changing the curriculum. “For us to cover a large amount of curriculum, then we need to actually have students do homework, I believe,” said Tinker. “ In other words, we couldn’t cover as much curriculum, because students in mathematics need to practice some skills, because math is based on skills. So if you don’t have the skills, then you’ll be at a disadvantage for not only in later math classes, but also other subjects like chemistry.

Although it might not be possible for homework to be successfully eliminated from all classes, teachers and administrators should question the role of homework and evaluate whether it is widening the divide that disadvantaged students must bridge to accomplish the same achievements as their more privileged peers.

As the OECD states in the conclusion of their study, “The bottom line: Homework is another opportunity for learning; but it may also reinforce socioeconomic disparities in student achievement.”