Bringing Homework Into Focus. Eileen Depka

Eileen Depka, PhD, is the director of continuous improvement and assessment in the School District of New Berlin, Wisconsin. Eileen supervises and coordinates curriculum, instruction, assessment, special education, education technology, and continuous improvement efforts. In addition, she provides professional development for K–12 administrators and teachers. Eileen has taught all subjects at the elementary and middle school levels, and she has also taught graduate-level courses. As a consultant, she has worked with schools and districts across the United States, focusing on topics such as assessment, grading and reporting, portfolio development, rubrics, continuous improvement, and data collection. Since 1998, Eileen has been presenting at the local, state, and national levels.

Eileen has been featured in and consulted on educational videos and written online courses. She is the author of Designing Rubrics for Mathematics, Designing Assessment for Mathematics, and The Data Guidebook for Teachers and Leaders: Tools for Continuous Improvement. She is the coauthor of Using Formative Assessment in the RTI Framework and a contributing author to Data-Enhanced Leadership. Eileen is a board member for the Wisconsin Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and Learning Forward.

Eileen earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and she earned her master’s and doctorate degrees from Cardinal Stritch University.

To book Eileen Depka for professional development, contact [email protected].

Introduction

Homework is an interesting topic. Students, parents, and educators often have opinions about the practice that are in direct opposition. There is research to support that homework has benefits. There is also research that indicates benefits are lacking. Harris Cooper (2007) states that much of the impact homework has on achievement is dependent on the age of students. Other factors include the amount of time spent doing homework, the content, and the feedback given. Even among educators, viewpoints are contradictory. Regardless of our feelings about homework, the practice is alive and kicking in most of our schools. As a result, it is advantageous to create the best possible approaches to homework design and implementation.

This book will:

Provide a global picture of the purpose of homework

Create and evaluate quality assignments

Evaluate considerations when assigning homework

Relate grading practices to homework

Promote collaborative team discussion and action

Homework is a topic that we take for granted. It is often assigned out of habit rather than as a result of careful thought and consideration. That is not a criticism; rather, it is meant to build awareness that homework should be given with caution, care, and consideration.

Focus and Organization of the Book

Quality homework design is the focus of this book. However, the purpose of homework, whether or not to assign homework, and the grading practices connected to homework are all addressed as well. Although the term homework is used throughout, the practices discussed are true of any work assigned to students.

Each chapter is organized to incorporate new learning, provide tools to organize thought, evaluate practices, or demonstrate ideas. Following each chapter is a section devoted to collaborative team discussion.

The topics and contents are as follows:

Chapter 1 discusses the four types of student work and clarifies the purpose of each from an assessment perspective.

Chapter 2 describes the four components important to designing quality homework.

Chapter 3 concentrates on recognizing and designing quality work to ensure student understanding.

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