I need some serious advice fast! I don't want this thread
to turn into a debate about homework because I can't do
anything about having to assign it. I just need to get
people off my back.

I teach 8th grade language arts and have for five years.
Our district has decided to mandate homework and follow the
guideline of 10 minutes x student grade level. That
obviously means my 8th graders should have 80 minutes per
night.

I don't agree with this whole thing but I won't get into
the reasons since they don't matter. My problem is I am
continually being called on the carpet about the amount and
quality of homework I give. (Some of the other teachers
don't even give it, while I give it Monday-Thursday without
fail).

Not as an excuse, but to provide a little background info:
urban setting, 98% qualify for free lunch, most of the
lower achievers don't even do the homework (or they just
copy it). Telling them to "read a book" for 30 minutes a
night is nearly impossible to enforce. They don't have
books and I've lost far too many of my own by lending them
out. Many of them live in conditions that are
counterproductive to getting any kind of quality work done,
to put it mildly. If I give work that's tailored to their
reading level, I get in trouble for giving them below-grade-
level work.

The textbook doesn't go home. We use it in class as the
guided-reading part of our day. There's nothing in the book
I'd be comfortable having them read on their own, anyway;
its purpose is for it to be used in class for whole-group
or small-group instruction.

Our students perform poorly on standardized tests and
they're usually weaker in reading non-fiction. So what I
give is usually a one-page nonfiction reading selection
from a reproducible book (grade level and aligned to
national standards). The back has questions they have to
answer. This should take them about 20 minutes and I don't
think I should have to give them 80 minutes per night all
on my own. They have math, social studies, and science
classes as well as language arts.

Last night the principal worked with a student in an after-
school program and because she helped him, it took them
only 10 minutes. So she came at my throat about it this
morning. That's a whole other issue, of course and it
happens ALL THE TIME, but right now I need to know what
other teachers assign as meaningful (yet time consuming)
language arts homework. What on earth can I give them that
should take them 30-50 minutes to complete? Do I need to
give them THREE of these story/question sheets each night?
Am I missing something simple I could be doing and working
harder, not smarter?

Any help would be welcomed.

Cathy

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