Update Administrative Procedure on Assignment of Homework

Dr. Goldson, CEO of PGCPS, Shauna Garlington Battle, Esq., General Counsel of PGCPS, Segun Eubanks, Chair of School Board of PGCPS

Did you know the Administrative Procedure on the Assignment of Homework (AP No. 6154) has not been updated since 1983?

County-wide parents are having unnecessary conflicts with their teachers, Principals and schools over homework load. We can fix this with 3 simple changes to the Administrative Procedure. The changes are based on evidence-based research completed over the past 35 years and are designed to be helpful for everybody: parents, students, teachers and Principals. Learn more about the reasoning behind them here.

The proposed changes are:

  • Change procedure IV.B.10 to read: The length of time required to perform all homework assignments from all teachers on a given day should not exceed 10 minutes multiplied by the grade. This means 1st graders will not be expected to work on homework for more than 10 minutes each night, 2nd graders 20 minutes, etc.
  • Add a procedure that states: Teachers must provide, in writing, a homework accommodation for any student (with or without an IEP or 504 plan) whose parent reports that the assignments are taking the student longer than the upper limit.
  • Add a procedure that states: Homework is not required to be assigned if the teacher feels there is no benefit to their students based on their particular teaching strategies, even in cases where a percentage of the teacher’s grading requirements is dedicated to homework. A teacher may exempt all of his/her students from homework grades.

These simple changes will set teachers, parents and administrators free from the constant and unnecessary conflict over homework. They give teachers more freedom to customize their teaching strategies while ensuring parents’ and students’ rights to have reasonable and effective homework assignments are codified.


Petition by
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Bowie, Maryland

To: Dr. Goldson, CEO of PGCPS, Shauna Garlington Battle, Esq., General Counsel of PGCPS, Segun Eubanks, Chair of School Board of PGCPS
From: [Your Name]

We are residents of Prince Georges County, parents of PGCPS students, and teacher/staff of PGCPS. We ask you to change the official homework policy in order to help us prevent unnecessary conflict over homework that has plagued our county for decades. The homework policy has not been updated since 1983, ignoring 35 years of evidence-based research findings.

We ask you to make the following changes to Administrative Procedure No. 6154, Assignment of Homework:

* Change procedure IV.B.10 to read: The length of time required to perform all homework assignments from all teachers on a given day should not exceed 10 minutes multiplied by the grade. This means 1st graders will not be expected to work on homework for more than 10 minutes each night, 2nd graders 20 minutes, etc.

* Add a procedure that states: Teachers must provide, in writing, a homework accommodation for any student (with or without an IEP or 504 plan) whose parent reports that the assignments are taking the student longer than the upper limit.

* Add a procedure that states: Homework is not required to be assigned if the teacher feels there is no benefit to their students based on their particular teaching strategies, even in cases where a percentage of the teacher’s grading requirements is dedicated to homework. A teacher may exempt all of his/her students from homework grades.

These simple changes will set teachers, parents and administrators free from the constant and unnecessary conflict over homework. They give teachers more freedom to customize their teaching strategies while ensuring parents’ and students’ rights to have reasonable and effective homework assignments are codified.

Please take immediate action to help us prevent unnecessary conflict over homework.