background preloader

Online Articles

Facebook Twitter

Articles by Alfie Kohn. Rethinking Homework. January/February 2007 Rethinking Homework By Alfie Kohn After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed at home.

Rethinking Homework

This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few people ever stop to think about it. It becomes even more curious, for that matter, in light of three other facts: 1. 2. 3. It’s not as though most teachers decide now and then that a certain lesson really ought to continue after school is over because meaningful learning is so likely to result from such an assignment that it warrants the intrusion on family time. I’ve heard from countless people across the country about the frustration they feel over homework. What parents and teachers need is support from administrators who are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom.

So what’s a thoughtful principal to do? 1. 2. 3. Quantity, however, is not the only issue that needs to be addressed. 4. 5. 6. 7. The Folly of Merit Pay. September 17, 2003 The Folly of Merit Pay By Alfie Kohn There's no end to the possible uses for that nifty little Latin phrase Cui bono?

The Folly of Merit Pay

, which means: Who benefits? The Case Against Grades. November 2011 The Case Against Grades By Alfie Kohn [This is a slightly expanded version of the published article.]

The Case Against Grades

"I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached to a piece of my writing….Suddenly all the joy was taken away. I was writing for a grade -- I was no longer exploring for me. -- Claire, a student (in Olson, 2006) By now enough has been written about academic assessment to fill a library, but when you stop to think about it, the whole enterprise really amounts to a straightforward two-step dance. You say the devil is in the details? Why tests are not a particularly useful way to assess student learning (at least the kind that matters), and what thoughtful educators do instead, are questions that must wait for another day. The Effects of Grading In the 1980s and ‘90s, educational psychologists systematically studied the effects of grades.

. * Grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning. Why Grading Is Inherently Problematic.