PRINCIPAL January/February 2007 Rethinking Homework By Alfie Kohn [For a more detailed look at the issues discussed here — including a comprehensive list of citations to relevant research and a discussion of successful efforts to effect change– please see the book The Homework Myth.] After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed … Read More
Is The Homework Myth Popular with Students? Well, Sure. What’s Your Point?
December 2006 Is The Homework Myth Popular with Students? Well, Sure. What’s Your Point? By Alfie Kohn “Boy, I’ll bet you’re real popular with kids!” is one of the more common responses I’ve heard from reporters after having done more than 90 TV, radio, and print interviews to discuss The Homework Myth. I begin by admitting that he has indeed received … Read More
Kids May Be Right After All: Homework Stinks
USA TODAY September 14, 2006 Kids May Be Right After All: Homework Stinks By Alfie Kohn With the start of a new school year, students once again are shifting impatiently in their seats, working their way through an endless pile of worksheets. And that’s after they come home. A new study confirms what kids and parents already know: The “tougher … Read More
The Truth About Homework
EDUCATION WEEK September 6, 2006 The Truth About Homework Needless Assignments Persist Because of Widespread Misconceptions About Learning By Alfie Kohn Para leer este artículo en Español, haga clic aquí. There’s something perversely fascinating about educational policies that are clearly at odds with the available data. Huge schools are still being built even though we know that students tend to fare … Read More
Abusing Research: The Study of Homework and Other Examples
PHI DELTA KAPPAN September 2006 Abusing Research The Study of Homework and Other Examples By Alfie Kohn Research, please forgive us. Our relationship with you is clearly dysfunctional. We proclaim to the world how much we care about you, yet we fail to treat you with the respect you deserve. We value you conditionally, listening only when you tell us … Read More
Kohn et al. v. Massachusetts DOE
August 2006 Kohn et al. v. Massachusetts DOE By Alfie Kohn Back around the turn of the century (ca. 2000), I was invited to deliver the keynote address at an education conference in western Massachusetts that brought together people from regular public schools and charter schools to address issues they all faced. The organizers decided that one such issue was the pressure … Read More
The Trouble with Rubrics (#)
ENGLISH JOURNAL March 2006 — vol. 95, no. 4 The Trouble with Rubrics By Alfie Kohn Once upon a time I vaguely thought of assessment in dichotomous terms: The old approach, which consisted mostly of letter grades, was crude and uninformative, while the new approach, which included things like portfolios and rubrics, was detailed and authentic. Only much later did … Read More
Reindeer Ruminations
December 2005 Reindeer Ruminations By Alfie Kohn When my daughter was about three, she had a mad crush on Clifford the Big Red Dog. You can imagine her delight when she spotted a six-foot Clifford greeting children at a fair one afternoon. She dashed over and wrapped her arms around his fur, excitedly informing him that she had seen him … Read More
Punitive Damages
From UNCONDITIONAL PARENTING: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason (Atria, 2005) Punitive Damages By Alfie Kohn … To punish kids, very simply, is to make something unpleasant happen to them — or prevent them from experiencing something pleasant – usually with the goal of changing their future behavior. The punisher makes them suffer, in other words, to … Read More
Getting Hit on the Head Lessons (#)
EDUCATION WEEK September 7, 2005 Getting Hit on the Head Lessons Justifying Bad Educational Practices as Preparation for More of the Same By Alfie Kohn Suppose you have a negative reaction to a certain educational practice but you’re unable to come up with any good reasons to justify your opposition. All is not lost: You can always play the “human … Read More