The History of Homework

One of the ways to understand the once and future role of the arts in school improvement is to poke around in the iconography of schools themselves. What is the history and meaning of bell schedules, of the intercom, of desks in rows, of asphalt playgrounds, of chain-link fences, of pencils, of erasers, of cursive writing, of blackboards, of whiteboards, of calculators, of computers, of notebook paper? Investigating the images and artifacts of public education maps the subjective terrain that arts education advocates work within.
How does school culture reach beyond the walls of the school building into the lives of families? The following article, which appeared in the San Francisco Examiner almost a decade ago, provides some context:

HISTORY OF HOMEWORK

Mid-19th century: Most students leave school after sixth grade. High school homework is demanding but uncontroversial.

1900-1913: Ladies' Home Journal takes up a crusade against homework, enlisting doctors and parents who say it damages children's health.

1899-1915: Various school districts around the country, including San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, pass anti-homework regulations.

1901: California legislature passes law abolishing homework in grades K-8, and limiting it in high school.

1948: National survey shows that median amount of time spent on homework by high school students is three to four hours per week.

1940's-1960's: Educational debate shifts from abolishing homework to reforming homework and making it more creative and individualized.

1949-1955: Progressive education movement comes under attack, charged with being anti-intellectual and insufficiently rigorous. Pro-homework movement forms.

1957: Launch of Sputnik gives pro-homework movement a boost, setting off concerns that American students aren't keeping up with Russian counterparts.

1983: "A Nation At Risk" denounces "rising tide of mediocrity" in American schools. Three years later, the U.S. Department of Education publishes pamphlet called "What Works" and concludes that homework does.

1990s: Overwhelming consensus in favor of homework: among both educators and general public. Many districts have policies requiring homework. Survey shows level of high school homework hasn't increased, but amount given to kids in elementary school has gone up dramatically.

SOURCE: Brian Gill, policy analyst, Rand Corp.; and Steven Schlossman, head of History Department at Carnegie Melon University.

So how did a broad base of opposition to homework shift into an overwhelming consensus in favor of increasing amounts of homework for younger and younger students? What is to be made of attacks on individualized, creative homework as being “anti-intellectual and insufficiently rigorous”?
The tipping point appears to rotate around an axis of anxiety - fear of the Russians (or of Mexican immigrants, or of Islamist terrorists, you can fill in the blanks). But if we actually want to improve public education, we need to investigate the more profound underlying shift that this reversal represents – from a focus on questions about what is and is not healthy for children to a focus on what does and does not contribute to our nation’s political influence.It is just as important for arts education advocates to actively participate in this inquiry as for anyone else who gives a damn about teaching, learning, civil society and public life.
We’ve got some homework to do.

Arnold Aprill
Founding and Creative Director
Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE)
www.capeweb.org