HISTORY OF HOMEWORK

Mid-19th century: Most students leave school after sixth grade. High school homework is demanding but uncontroversial.

1900-1913: Ladies' Home Journal takes up a crusade against homework, enlisting doctors and parents who say it damages children's health.

1899-1915: Various school districts around the country, including San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, pass anti-homework regulations.

1901: California legislature passes law abolishing homework in grades K-8, and limiting it in high school.

1948: National survey shows that median amount of time spent on homework by high school students is three to four hours per week.

1940's-1960's: Educational debate shifts from abolishing homework to reforming homework and making it more creative and individualized.

1949-1955: Progressive education

movement comes under attack, charged with being anti-intellectual and insufficiently rigorous. Pro-homework movement forms.

1957: Launch of Sputnik gives pro-homework movement a boost, setting off concerns that American students aren't keeping up with Russian counterparts.

1983: "A Nation At Risk" denounces "rising tide of mediocrity" in American schools. Three years later, the U.S. Department of Education publishes pamphlet called "What Works" and concludes that homework does.

1990s: Overwhelming consensus in favor of homework: among both educators and general public. Many districts have policies requiring homework. Survey shows level of high school homework hasn't increased, but amount given to kids in elementary school has gone up dramatically.

SOURCE: Brian Gill, policy analyst, Rand Corp.; and Steven Schlossman, head of History Department at Carnegie Melon University. <