When my son, who is now getting ready to enroll his older child in kindergarten, was in junior high school, the school made a ruling that no late work would be accepted in that school. The reasoning behind the ruling was that many students were simply turning in late work for no particularly good reason. The teachers, in an attempt to build responsibility in the students, decided that this would be a good idea. In general, this did not affect my son adversely because he was a good student who actually enjoyed most of his academic pursuits. However, I was impressed when I read an essay he had written for his English class on the subject of no late papers. He pointed out that not all students lived in an academically encouraging environment. In fact, he argued, some live in a fairly violent environment. Expecting a child to turn in homework the morning after he/she has intervened in a family dispute to protect his/her mother was not practical at all. Yes, there were students who simply did not do their work on time for no particularly good reason, but there were others who had excellent reasons and might not be able to share those reasons. To enforce a rule on all because some were in need of responsibility lessons simply did not make sense to him. However, that does not overshadow the value of practice to reinforce lessons.
So, how can we incorporate this strategy and still recognize the special circumstances of our students. First, if teaching is not relational, it is nothing. We simply need to know our students well enough to know which students may need some grace in this department. Grace does not necessarily mean giving a pass. It may mean scheduling a time in class when students can work on what is deemed to be homework. Just because it is called homework does not mean it has to be done at home. Sometimes, it means extending a deadline. As teachers, we simply need to know our students well enough to know when to make such allowances.
The reason homework is effective is because it gives the opportunity to practice and improve new skills. That practice can be done almost anywhere. We teach our teacher candidates that students are not ready for independent practice, which in reality is what homework is, until they can work independently at an 85% correct rate. That probably means that the day a new concept is developed in class is not the day for independent practice. The students may need more guided practice before they are ready to demonstrate that kind of mastery.
