Now that kids are heading back to school, families are busier than ever and one teacher in Texas is trying something new to give her students more time to spend with their families. Evadale Elementary School teacher Richelle Terry has started a no-homework policy for her classes.
She teaches in the Evadale Independent School District, which allows teachers to create their own lesson plans, as long as students meet the learning requirements for that grade. Terry teaches second- and third-grade math and she has three “active” sons, so she says she understands first-hand how stressful homework can be for everyone involved.
“I just feel like if we can let school be school and home be home and separate the two, they're recharged by the end of the day and ready for the next day,” Terry explains. “So I want to give them time to be a kid. Kids need to be kids. Family time is what they need.”
The teacher says there’s little research proving that homework is helpful and she uses the example of Finland, a country that has little or no homework but has higher test scores and high school graduation rates. She believes she’ll be able to teach her students the material and give them time to finish worksheets during class and their school has a new tutorial period that will give them time to finish assignments.
Terry has the full support of The Evadale Independent School District Board of Trustees President Jim Love, who showed his support of her policy, saying that “homework has outlived its usefulness.”
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