Homework has been a part of school life starting early on in elementary school. Homework gives students the opportunity to practice what they have learned in school. As students have to balance the responsibilities of homework, jobs, sports, and extracurricular activities, some question if homework is an essential part of the learning process or if it is just adding another task to everyday life. 

For some students, homework provides needed practice. Completing assignments outside of class can reinforce lessons and help students identify any ideas they may not fully understand. 

Christine Kill, an honors geometry teacher at East, explains the supplemental side of homework and why she thinks it is important to students’ learning process. 

“And so I think it’s really important that they try the homework on their own without any guidance, so that helps to reinforce those concepts,” Kill said. 

Kill believes that homework allows her honors students to apply what they learn in class on the homework without the guidance they get in the classroom. She believes that because of this they could do the same on tests that also require them to do work on their own. 

For students, the value of homework can also depend on the type of assignment or subject. Practice problems in subjects such as math can help students prepare for tests and better understand the material gone over during class time. 

Gabby Pryzbylski, a junior at East, explains the idea of what subject the homework is in matters to the value and practice she is getting out of the assignment.

 “For me it depends on what class there is homework in. For math, I understand homework everyday, but for elective classes I don’t think it’s really necessary,” Pryzbylski said.  

The amount of homework students get also varies by teacher, subject, and grade level. Some assignments can be completed quickly and in class, while others require more time. 

Sarah Davies, a social studies teacher at East, explains that she gives students time in class to complete assignments and rarely gives homework, unless students need more time than given in a class period. 

“If a student has homework in my class, it’s because they just needed extra time on something, or it’s something they couldn’t do in school, like they need to talk to their parents or a situation like that,” Davies said. 

Not only has the amount of homework changed, but the ways teachers give homework has too. As technology has advanced, there are online textbooks and digital assignments that give students additional ways to access information to complete their work. 

Ultimately, homework can be a useful and essential learning tool when assignments have a clear purpose and reinforce ideas learned in the classroom. Its effectiveness can also depend on what students are asked to do on assignments and how engaged they are with the activities assigned to them. 

So, the question may not just be if students are receiving too much homework, but also whether or not the homework given is supplemental enough to help their learning. 

Written by junior Ally Hanneman. Edited by staff writers for the Oswego East’s online news magazine The Howl.