Anonymous wrote:I also have a third grader. She gets one sheet of math and then has spelling words. They have a spelling test every other week. She also is expected to read. She reads all the time, so the rest only takes 10minutes or so a night.

Anonymous wrote:Slate.com?? Are you kidding me?

Anonymous wrote:

Except, of course, that there is, at best, no consensus that homework in elementary school has any effect on achievement.

You know this isn't true. Parental involvement is one of the biggest influencers on a child's academic success. It has a bigger impact than teachers or amount spent per student. Homework is one the primary ways that parents set the expectations at home that school work is important. Its not just that the parents make sure the kids do it but they check it afterwards and have the kids correct mistakes or improve it. This gives kids valuable feedback on their work and instills the value that its not just about getting done quickly.

Except, of course, that there is, at best, no consensus that homework in elementary school has any effect on achievement.

Anonymous wrote:I think the elimination or reduction of homework is about the achievement gap. There's a lot of time spent on understanding the gap. It seems to be the #1 goal in MCPS. Parental involvement and education is one of the biggest affects on the gap. MCPS can't find a way to get disinterested parents to do more at home so the only option was to reduce the ability for interested parents to be involved.

Some parents will still supplement anyway. However, there are many parents who if there kids have homework will make sure they do it and do a good job but won't necessarily create their own homework if the school doesn't send it home. We're spending money on math tutoring because the deficiencies in the curriculum seem much larger in math. I just don't have more time or money to supplement and come up with my own assignments for writing. Sadly, I guess my kids will get "leveled" in writing. Thanks MCPS.

Anonymous wrote:

If there are people whose experience is better under Curriculum 2.0, and people whose experience is worse under Curriculum 2.0, that suggests that Curriculum 2.0 itself is actually not the problem.

I don't believe that there are people not associated with MCPS that enjoy 2.0. I do know that MCPS is desperate to ignore parent complaints and praying that people will just shut up and go away. The ONLY positive praise for 2.0 has always come from MCPS employees.

What is far worse is that we're friends with a few teachers. They are strongly instructed and warned never to say anything negative about 2.0 in front of parents. They are allowed to voice concerns through the teacher's union but any out of step comments beyond their union is grounds for backlash from the principal.

If there are people whose experience is better under Curriculum 2.0, and people whose experience is worse under Curriculum 2.0, that suggests that Curriculum 2.0 itself is actually not the problem.