Math Classes change HW policy
In the past year, Sanford School has seen a change within the math department. Math homework is no longer given a grade. The reason for this change is so it won’t negatively affect students’ grades. The department wanted to make it equal for everyone. Students who do well on tests and don’t do well very on or complete their homework won’t have their grades punished. Students in previous years haven’t had enough time to complete all of their assignments due to sports or other activities outside of school. This change was made in the hope that it would help reduce the amount of stress on Sanford students
The decision that the department has made has sparked some controversy. According to Sanford student Luke Fillibin “If Math homework was still graded my grade would be in the A tier like last year instead of the low B tier like it is now”. However, teachers believe that this is because they don’t do their homework, not because it isn’t graded
Sanford Math teacher Julia Parrot, who has been at Sanford for the past 2 years, believes that the lack of homework being graded gives students less of an incentive to complete the work that is assigned for home. Which could cause them to not have the proper practice to excel on tests and quizzes. Parrot says, “I haven’t seen a decrease in math grades, however, I can tell that they are a bit unprepared for smaller assessments.”
According to Parrot, even with all of the negative feedback about Math homework, the department does not intend to bring back graded homework anytime in the near future.
The removal of homework grades puts fewer grades into the grade book. Homework in previous years was worth 10 to 15% of a student’s final grade. To replace the homework grade, the department created homework quizzes, which across classes have had an overall neutral reaction.
The change seems to only be happening within Sanford. According to sources from other schools, their homework is still graded. These schools include DMA, Sallies, Archmere, Charter School Of Wilmington, and Cab Calloway.
