By Edwin Torres ’18
We have all gone through that moment where it’s late at night, and you still have a ton of homework to do, and you question yourself, “Is all this homework necessary?” That is the big question. Is it?
Almost every student you know would say that school would be easier without homework, but is that the correct case? According to a Duke Study, homework showed to have a positive effect on student scores and graduation, but after further investigation, it was found that although homework has showed to be a positive effect on students, it was only when it was not a lot of homework assigned. This still backs up the idea that the amount of homework Pritzker gives is a lot more than needed.
According to INCS (Illinois Network of Charter Schools), Pritzker’s graduation rate is 88%. This is a relatively high percentage for graduation rates. This shows how schools with and without homework show signs of success, so why not just have the less stressful way and not get a lot of homework? Pritzker is associated with being a strict school, but not just that, Pritzker is a school that in my opinion, gives a lot of homework. More than needed.
When I was an incoming freshman, I was told to expect at least 3 hours of homework every night, which made me think whether or not all of that homework was necessary. In my opinion, at least three hours of homework is necessary.
When asked about the his perspective on the amount of homework given, Charles Rosentel, a Sophomore World History teacher, said, “If the homework is valuable as preparation for learning within the classroom, then I support it, however; there is still a point at which it’s so much that students are up all of the night doing perhaps too much, and we as teachers have to question whether our homework is truly too much, and whether it’s necessary for the following day.” This shows how teachers mainly use homework as preparation for the next school day. When asked about some pros to not having much homework, Rosentel said that students could participate in extracurricular activities or obtain a job. Although there could be another side of this argument saying that not handing out much homework helps students, a lot of school work can help students learn how to balance time as well as achieve qualities of hard work. That is why in my opinion, the amount of homework given is necessary. Homework helps prepare students for their classes, so teachers try to make sure that they can give as much homework as they can without overdoing it and stressing out.
