Responds to Bill Barber's recent article refuting the author's conclusions concerning the beneficial effects of homework on student achievement. Asserts that the amount, frequency, nature, conditions, and other characteristics of homework must be studied, not just homework versus none at all. Homework is one of many factors contributing to…

Extension and creative homework are discussed in this paper. Extension homework is assigned in order to transfer an idea or skill to a new or different situation. This form of homework is one way to develop reasoning and critical thinking skills. Examples of this type of homework are book and article reports. Creative homework requires students to…

Describes an emotional control card useful in enhancing the application of rational-emotive imagery in counseling. (Author/BL)

Repudiates Herbert Walberg's recent review article touting homework's beneficial effects on achievement scores. Presents evidence showing that good learning environments, interactive situations, and less restricted access to community and school resources (including new technologies) were of greater significance. Faults schools' organizational…

A program is described that successfully involves parents in their child's education at a middle school in Louisiana. (MD)

Explores the modern history of homework, beginning with its origins in eighteenth-century England. Discusses early educational reformers' resistance to homework. Reports that former Soviet space advances spurred a U.S. reexamination of homework through the 1960s and 1970s. Examines the contemporary view of homework as an inexpensive means of…

Provides ways for teachers to make ninth-grade general mathematics courses more pleasant and productive. (MD)

Discusses the advantages of using student-made transparencies of homework exercises as the working model for correction and discussion in the classroom. (EKN)

A three-step plan to improve attendance at Aurora Central High School, Colorado, has successfully reduced truancies to less than 1.25 percent. Students with exemplary attendance are exempt from taking final exams; chronic truants are suspended; and all students are required to do makeup work for all absences. (MLF)

Although schools can do little to help youth from desperately poor, violent, or drug-addicted families, they can educate other at-risk youngsters who are discouraged or defeated learners. Schools can raise these kids' self-esteem by bestowing serious work assignments, (not "warm fuzzies"), solitary learning space, or external rewards for everyday…

Latent image processing is a method which reveals hidden ink when marked with a special pen. Using multiple-choice items with commercially available latent image transfers can provide immediate feedback on take-home quizzes. Students benefitted from formative evaluation and were challenged to search for alternative solutions and explain unexpected…

This article describes what happened when Palm Pilots were given to 28 sixth-graders, 6 with special needs. Students preferred using the Palm Pilot to a traditional notebook for recording assignments and used the Palm Pilots to access spelling lists and to check math and spelling. (Contains references.) (CR)

Argues that students will accept and even learn from homework provided that its design takes into consideration students' learning styles and study skills. Describes an effort at an all-boys high school in Brooklyn, New York, to tailor class instruction and homework to results obtained from a Learning Styles Inventory. (BCY)

This book offers guidelines, strategies, and advice for both teachers and parents on improving parent-teacher partnerships. The following topics are discussed: (1) setting goals for parent involvement; (2) communicating with parents; (3) organizing and scheduling techniques for teachers and parents; (4) homework--a teacher, student, parent…

Describes a workshop on teaching high school geometry to the blind. Includes general suggestions for teachers with a blind student in their classes as well as suggestions related to lecture assignments, homework, and testing. Information on equipment and resource materials is also included. (JN)