Helpful Homework!

So the school year has begun and the slower pace of the first few weeks is officially over.... Homework is in full force. I must admit that I, as a parent and educator, struggle with homework. There is quality skill reinforcement and/ or completing work not finished during the day and then there is busy work and / or self educating assignments. I strongly believe that homework in elementary should be brief and reinforcing and as needed. At the high school level it should be mostly studying/ reviewing and working on larger projects.

So, my questions to all of you out there are...
Parents: What kind of homework do your kids have? How long do they spend on average doing homework each night? and Do you feel that it is beneficial or busy work? How do you handle excessive homework or that which you feel is not meaningful?

Teachers or instructional staff: How do you decide what is homework and what kinds do you give? How long do you expect your students to spend on homework? Do you work with other teachers to try and not expect large quantities of work on the same nights?

Administrators: How do you work with teachers to promote quality homework assignments/ tasks? What kinds of work do you see your teachers sendinghome with kids? How long do you think students should spend on assigned homework each night or per week?

Students: What do you like about homework? What kinds do you appreciate the most and least? How much time to you spend on homework? What kinds of things determine how much time to spend on it ( ie. extra-curricular, chirch, job, chores, parents etc).

Thanks for your input and insight! We can all benefit from your responses!

Keeping ND Legendary in Learning

The state of ND is changing. We have over a thousand new students in our schools. Some have been in several schools in a short period of time and others that have been in one school and plan to be in their new school for many years to come. The question is, "How do we plan for these students? How do we meet their needs, keep class sizes small, and ensure that children younger than school age be given opportunites to be prepared for Kindergarten."

There are programs such as BECEP and Right Track, but people don't always enroll and there are not always enough resources in place.

Not every community has preschool opportunities and some of the opportunities are limited to numbers, income level, disability. Many families utilize home childcare where there are generally less Pre-K skill based activities, but lots of love and socialization which are very important too.

Schools can hire staff to meet rising numbers, but do not always have space or available resources. Student needs ( stregths and growth areas) are not always known when they enroll in school. Qualified staff are not always available and individuals interested in taking new positions may not be able to fund their training.


North Dakota has a lot of top notch kids, we want the new kids to be able to join in our success and future too, but how do we deal with and plan for the unknown.... We are a state with lots of possibility, excitement and desire to make things GREAT!
The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction works to maintain integrity in education and provide insight and information into keeping our education strong in the state.

Yet, there is only so much that a government office can control and dictate. We need to be able to work locally to improve and maintain the systems and opportunities that we have. Here is a link to ND's Educational Progress through 2008....

How do we continue this tradition of excellence within our educational system? Please share you ideas so we all can benefit.