6 New Homework in State Schools Policy
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Queensland Parliamentary Library Homework for the 21st Century The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld) was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 11 August 2006. Section 427 of the Act enables the chief executive of the Department of Education and the Arts to develop guidelines about homework for State schools. In July 2006, the Homework in State Schools Policy was released. It recognises that the setting of homework must take into account the need for children to have a balanced lifestyle and should be purposeful and relevant to student needs. Guidelines are included regarding the time students at different phases of learning should allocate to homework. This Research Brief examines the arguments that have been presented by education experts and others favouring or opposing homework. It then discusses the Queensland Government’s review of homework in State schools, including a wide-ranging Homework Literature Review of research findings about the impact of homework on students and their families and other related matters. The Brief then considers the background to the development of the homework provision set out in the new Act and examines the recently released policy guidelines about the setting of homework in State schools. Nicolee Dixon Research Brief No 2007/01 Queensland Parliamentary Library Research Publications and Resources Section Ms Karen Sampford, Director (07) 3406 7116 Mrs Nicolee Dixon, Senior Parliamentary Research Officer (07) 3406 7409 Mrs Renee Gastaldon, Parliamentary Research Officer (07) 3406 7241 Research Publications are compiled for Members of the Queensland Parliament, for use in parliamentary debates and for related parliamentary purposes. Information in publications is current to the date of publication. Information on legislation, case law or legal policy issues does not constitute legal advice. Research Publications on Bills reflect the legislation as introduced and should not be considered complete guides to the legislation. To determine whether a Bill has been enacted, or whether amendments have been made to a Bill during consideration in detail, the Queensland Legislation Annotations, prepared by the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel, or the Bills Update, produced by the Table Office of the Queensland Parliament, should be consulted. Readers should also refer to the relevant Alert Digest of the Scrutiny of Legislation Committee of the Queensland Parliament. © Queensland Parliamentary Library, 2007 ISSN 1443-7902 ISBN 1 921056 42 8 FEBRUARY 2007 Copyright protects this publication. 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(Tel: 07 3406 7116) Email: [email protected] Information about Research Publications can be found on the Internet at: www.parliament.qld.gov.au/publications CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................1 2 PREVIOUS LEGISLATIVE AND POLICY FRAMEWORK.....................1 3 HOMEWORK – THE DEBATE .....................................................................2 3.1 SOME BACKGROUND .....................................................................................2 3.2 HOMEWORK OPPONENTS...............................................................................4 3.3 HOMEWORK ADVOCATES ..............................................................................7 3.4 SOME PROBLEMS IN PRACTICE ....................................................................10 4 EDUCATION LAWS FOR THE FUTURE .................................................12 4.1 EDUCATION REFORMS FOR THE FUTURE CONSULTATION PAPER.................14 4.2 THE HOMEWORK LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................16 4.2.1 Impact of Homework on Students .......................................................17 4.2.2 Impact of Homework on Families .......................................................19 4.2.3 Time on Homework .............................................................................20 4.2.4 Homework Environment......................................................................23 4.2.5 Practices that Improve Effectiveness...................................................24 4.2.6 Scan of Homework Policies and Guidelines in Australia and Overseas ........................................................................................................... 24 4.2.7 Conclusions..........................................................................................25 4.3 POLICIES AND GUIDELINES ..........................................................................26 5 DEVELOPMENT OF LEGISLATION........................................................28 6 NEW HOMEWORK IN STATE SCHOOLS POLICY ..............................29 6.1 RESPONSE TO THE POLICY GUIDELINES.......................................................31 RECENT QPL RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS 2006 ........................................33 Homework for the 21st Century EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Homework is a topic of media, academic, parental, and community interest. While it has recently received some prominence, homework has long been a controversial issue and a source of tension. Until recently, there was no systemic guideline for State schools regarding the setting of homework for students. Section 23 of the previous Education (General Provisions) Regulation 2000 (Qld) provided that State school teachers may require a student to undertake homework and that school principals could decide what is a reasonable amount to be required as homework. Thus, State schools determined their own approaches to homework: pages 1-2. This Research Brief considers the long-standing debate about the purpose and impact of homework. It firstly provides some background on how homework has been dealt with over time: pages 2-3. It then considers some of the main arguments against homework advanced by various education experts and others, followed by the case for homework being set for students: pages 4-10. Some of the main problems with the practice of setting homework are then briefly set out: pages 10-12. The discussion then turns to the Queensland Government’s review of the previous legislative framework governing the education of Queensland children and the release of the Education Reforms for the Future Consultation Paper in October 2004. The extent to which the issue of homework was raised for discussion in the Consultation Paper and the responses received to the proposals made therein are discussed on pages 12-16. While the Government did not propose to abolish homework, it sought feedback on concerns raised about the issue and about whether homework guidelines should be developed to assist schools, teachers and parents. In particular, the time that students at different levels of learning should devote to homework was raised as a possible feature of any such guidelines. Integral to informing the Review on the issue of homework in State schools was the Homework Literature Review which looked at 64 national and international studies of homework. The matters considered were the impact of homework on students and families; the time spent on homework; environmental factors that affect homework; practices that can improve its effectiveness; and whether guidelines would be beneficial. Each is discussed and summarised in turn: pages 16-26. A brief discussion of policies and/or guidelines from other Australian states and territories is provided on pages 26-28. The Brief then considers section 427 of the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006, passed by the Queensland Parliament on 11 August 2006, that permits the chief executive of the Department of Education to make guidelines about homework in State schools and sets out the issues that may be addressed in such guidelines: pages 28-29. Consideration is then given to the July 2006 Homework in State Schools Policy which provides for each school to have a homework policy Queensland Parliamentary Library and, among other matters, sets out a guide for determining the amount of homework students should be expected to undertake: pages 29-31. Homework for the 21st Century Page 1 1 INTRODUCTION Homework is a topic of media, academic, parental, and community interest. While it has recently received some prominence, homework has long been a controversial issue and a source of tension. The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Qld) was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 11 August 2006. The legislation was developed through extensive consultation which began with the release of the Education Reforms for the Future Consultation Paper in October 2004. The Act repealed the earlier Education (General Provisions) Act 1989 (Qld) and introduced a number of changes for State and non-State schools. Section 427 of the Act enables the chief executive of the Department of Education and the Arts (Education Department) to develop guidelines about homework for State schools. In July 2006, the Department of Education released the Homework in