"No Grades-No Homework; How Dare You"

On Monday, January 4th, we were privileged to hear author/speaker Alfie Kohn challenge several long standing basic assumptions: Grades and Homework. It was a pleasure to work with three neighboring school districts to make this staff development opportunity a reality. Special thanks to Dr. Matt Swick from Wilmington for organizing and Reed-Custer for hosting this event. Go to http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php to check out Mr. Kohn's website.

His basic message is that the use of grades is harmful to the learning process and that rewards, whether mundane or elaborate, have no lasting impact on motivation or achievement. Mr. Kohn has taken a serious look at available research literature and has concluded that grades and rewards actually have a negative impact on overall learning and he advocates that everyone- from the White House to the classroom- take a critical look at both topics.

I knew it was risky to require the entire staff to attend this session on the first day back after Winter Break- a day typically spent finishing "grades"(how ironic) and preparing for the upcoming term. The goals were to challenge our comfort zone- our conventional practices- and provoke "thought" and potential "action". My early assumptions are that the goals of provoking thought and discussion were accomplished. As far as action, only time will tell.

As administrators, we often act as a buffer for teachers. Sometimes from the public, the Board, the State, etc. Making the changes he suggests would require tremendous communication with parents, the community, higher education institutions, etc. But many of the suggestions he provided can be implemented at the classroom level in "small doses". I am interested in the feedback Principal Hussey will receive from his e-mail this morning.

I found myself agreeing with nearly all of his comments on the premise of homework- particularly at the lower levels. The drill and kill mentality of the past should be re-examined since research suggests there is little evidence of improved academic performance with or without homework. I anticipate that department discussions around this topic will be quite interesting.

His reference to Ted Sizer and his essential schools work was also important and is worth further study. You can go to http://books.google.com/books?id=9pNaEiVkKF4C&dq=ted+sizer&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=xl1DS_7xFYiINPK_-aEP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=18&ved=0CEQQ6AEwEQ#v=onepage&q=ted%20sizer&f=false and read a preview of the book mentioned yesterday.

The other thing that hit me hard was from a parent perspective. I certainly squirmed a bit when he mentioned the impact of the "highly competitive" parent- mainly "Dad"- on a child. The use of rewards to motivate, how big of a deal is "report card day", and the compassion level of the kids we raise. All good thoughts to ponder. Another lesson in the importance of balance!!

The main reason to bring in Alfie Kohn was to challenge our thinking- make us take time to evaluate- reflect- and have discussions we may have never had before. Time will tell if that mission was accomplished or not. Time well spent- a good energizer as we head into the new year!!