Written by Autumn Johnson |

Starting in January, a group of parents, students, teachers and community members gathered together in hopes of revising the current Clinton Public School homework policy. The Homework Study Group meets once a month.

The policy was last updated May 5, 2008. The subcommittee has read different articles by the Journal of Advanced Academics, the American Psychological Association, along with research from students at Duke University. These articles discuss self-regulation, the positives and negatives of homework, and quality vs. quantity. 

Principal Keri Hagness who serves on this committee stated that “it’s nice to have representatives from the school district and the community.” Throughout these meetings, members have been looking at statistics and surveys from around the world. Mrs. Hagness also stated that she “Especially likes that we looked at the research instead of opinions.”

Junior Anes Gadun is also a part of these meetings. He feels that it is going well. He said, “The teachers and students are collaborating really well- better than I thought we would. It has been a really good group because the students and parents are seeing how the teachers assign homework and assessments while the teachers get a taste of the stress levels the students have to go through. This is really opening everyone’s eyes which I think will lead to a great change on how Clinton Public Schools assign homework to prepare its students.”

Morgan English teacher Heather O’Brien stated that the homework study group is “so far so good” and that it is a “good mix of staff, students, and parents coming together to talk about an important topic.” Mrs. O’Brien also stated that “for different students, there are different issues. I think that some students would probably say they don’t really get any homework, and some are going to tell you that they get too much homework and it’s really a matter of personal opinion and the different classes that the kids are enrolled in.”

By discussing and researching the statistics about homework and its effects on students, the Homework Study Group will be able to devise a new policy based on research and the needs of the students.  The hope is to have a new policy to present to the board in the fall of 2017.