Schools Shouldn't Give Homework

Thank you, debatequeen1 for instigating this debate.Burden of Proof is on PRO to affirm the resolution. I need only rebut PRO's arguments such that they no longer provide sufficient warrant in order to win. "Homework" is any work that is not a project that is meant to be completed outside of the scheduled class time for that day. The resolution is "Schools shouldn't give homework". PRO must offer sufficient reasons as to why homework should not be assigned. I will offer an argument of my own, just because I can, then I will rebut PRO's argument.1. Schools ought to do that which will promote the success of their students. 2. Assigning homework promotes the success of students.C. Therefore, schools ought to assign homeowork. Defense of P2Homework is most often assigned for the purpose of practice at home. This gives students the opportunity to do practice problem, practice vocabulary, learn concepts, etc, outside of the classroom. Depending on the length of classes and the organization of the school year, a teacher might not be able to assign only classwork for the lessons. Often, a lesson will take a good portion of the class period, and any classwork that was being worked on will be unfinished. It is more reasonable to assign this as homework, as to leave it as classwork for the next class might result in further time constraints. Some teachers have preset dates and times for things like quizzes and tests. Often times, these same teachers like to properly prepare their students. So, then, these teachers might prefer using class time for lessons and homework checks. It is more time effecient to do homework checks rather than classwork. If a worksheet takes 20 minutes (on average) to complete, and class last, say, one hour, there are 20 less minutes available to the class. In school, 20 minutes is a lot of time. This is enough to have a discussion on a poem explication or a method of solving algebraic equations, for example. If students don't have any questions on the work, then 20 minutes have effectively been wasted. If this work is, instead, assign as homework, students can come in and ask questions if they have them in the span of 5 or 10 minutes, thus the lesson moves forward. As noted above, sometimes classwork must be assigned as homework to keep the lesson moving forward. Generally, there are certain standards which must be met for a student to effectively pass a class. Continually pushing back classwork can lead to these standards not be acheived. For example, if on Monday, chapter 1 is covered, and classwork is assigned but not completed, then on Wednesday, when chapter 2 is covered, there is still work for chapter 1 as well as work for chapter 2. If this is a regular practice, the only way for all of the work to be completed is outside of class. A class period rarely changes in length. Some days, there are necessary schedule changes, but for the most part, a one hour class will be one hour. If the lesson takes 45 minutes to cover, and the classwork 20 or more, the classwork will not be completed. Some teachers are vehement about their schedules, and will not adjust for simple things like this. If we are to cover chapter 4 on Tuesday, it will be covered on Tuesday. With those teachers in mind, classwork must be completed outside of class, especially for those who are slower to catch on, as this is the best way to ensure the information is being learned. RebuttalsEven if all of these things are true, that gives no reason why schools should not assign homework. Constant WorkEven if a child is doing work all day, this work is rarely the same subject. Math, science, language arts, history, and other subjects are discussed over the course of a school day. Each of these subjects takes time from the others. If math lasts one hour, that is one hour less available to the other subjects, unless the day is to be extended. Doing work all day does not mean that this work is being done effectively or correctly, nor does it mean that the student has grasp the concept at hand. This is facilitated partially through homework. For math, one does not apply rules and theorems correctly every time after learning once. It takes practice. Unfortunately, math builds on itself. What is learned in early August might well come up in mid-October. The student then has incentive to practice outside of the classroom. The teacher also has a reason to encourage the student to practice outside of the classroom. Homework for a grade acts as such an incentive.It doesn't make you learn more.Homework isn't necessarily meant to make you learn more. Homework is meant to offer further practice on a particular lesson. Practice is the only way to hone a skill. One does not become a basketball star as soon as they step on the court. Likewise, one is unlikely to know how to use the Quadratic formula for math, or make a conversion table for chemistry without practice. Homework serves such a purpose. There is enough time in the day.Not necessarily, and sometimes not at all. For example, in a 50 minute college class, there is rarely any classwork. The only way to practice the material is at home. Likewise, in a one hour high school or middle school class, if teaching the lesson takes too long, time will not be left over. Students might ask questions, class might start late, there might be technical difficulties, there might be need to offer better explanation. The list goes on and on. One cannot assume that since there are generally 7-8 hours in a school that therefore there is time enough to do classwork. There might not be, and as I argued above, sometimes the most efficient way of conducting the classroom is to assign uncompleted classwork as homework.