It seems that instructors and professors--from community college to the Ivy League--are concerned by the lack of work completion in their courses, and therefore by student level of preparedness for class, or indeed, college. Work completion is typically a very large portion of course expectations-- often beginning on day one--and it is generally…

Homework has been part of students' lives since the beginning or formal schooling in the United States. It is important because it can improve children's thinking and memory. It can help them develop positive study habits and skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. Homework also can encourage children to use time well, learn…

To help boost children's study skills, this article provides tips for organizing parent education sessions, establishing an after school homework assistance program, providing homework organizers for students, and creating a homework hotline. Once the school program is in order, parents can be invited to participate as partners. (MLH)

For certain kids, doing homework is a near impossibility. Educators increasingly realize that they must change their traditional homework assignments to create opportunities for children to succeed. Written assignments can be replaced by interviewing projects, inclass cooperative learning activities, or afterschool study centers with appropriate…

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)

To improve its school failure rate, a Virginia intermediate school instituted Project Achievement, a privately funded program helping at-risk students complete homework assignments. Structured into three one-hour sessions featuring tutoring, interdisciplinary study groups, and special activities, the project is immensely popular. During the summer…

Examines findings and practical implications of a study on homework which helped Scottish policymakers, educators and families better understand, improve and build upon home-school relations. The study prompted the creation of study support centers in schools that were staffed by librarians, teachers, and parents. (JPB)

Reviews the opportunities for and obstacles to promoting independent learning at the middle grades level. Proposes the substitution of compensatory practices that discourage self-directed learning activities, such as test review handouts, with instructional practices that support independent learning activities, such as performance feedback and…

Many children needlessly fail in public school. They have adequate intelligence and academic aptitude, but they do no complete and turn in work. Their self-esteem plummets and they do not seem capable of recovery without adult help. The Academic Skills Workshop (ASW) is a model program for educators who believe in the ability of parents to help…

A four-stage model, designed to shape learning disabled students' independent study skills and foster generalization of skills is presented: (1) ease students into a homework routine; (2) focus on time management; (3) teach problem-solving techniques; and (4) conclude in independent study with intermittent parent and teacher monitoring. (CB)

This paper examines the notion of reconstituting study clinics to promote and sustain the education of Tongan migrant students in New Zealand, describing a project that illustrates how to reconstitute the notion of a clinic and highlighting political, social, and cultural aspects of Tongan ways of thinking and acting that can be engaged to…

In this article, the author discusses AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), a program that enrolls the students who are most frequently marginalized in rigorous classes to prepare them for postsecondary education. The best predictor of success or failure in postsecondary education is the intensity and quality of secondary school…