Homework Helper for $100/hour

Check out this NY Times article about hired homework helpers.

Apparently wealthy parents actually pay homework helpers anywhere from $15-$100/hour to “teach organizational skills and time management, or … sometimes just sit there [with the student] until the work is finished.”

“As schools have piled on expectations and as career paths have sucked in both mothers and fathers, this niche industry is catering to students who are capable of doing the work but need someone who can just be there with them to consistently do the work in a regular manner.”

“At a recent session with a student, [the homework helper] dug through his papers for assignments and encouraged him to write more slowly. She uncrumpled work sheets and read the questions to the student. But mostly, she sat next to him as he pecked away at a writing assignment, urging him along when he got bored.”

“Statistics on the number of homework helpers do not exist, but tutoring services say the demand has grown in the past decade, particularly in families with children in private schools. The practice seems to be most common in Manhattan and wealthy suburbs.”

After reading this article, I’m almost speechless. I find so many things wrong with this it’s hard to choose where to begin. So, instead of pulling apart the article I’ll just give some general advice to parents on helping students with homework.

Grades K-12: let your child play, hang out, rest, relax and exercise after school before any homework is done. Encourage reading books or magazines of your child’s choice. If your child asks you for homework help, offer it, but don’t do any work for your child. This is his or her homework, not yours. This is his or her test, not yours. This is his or her project or paper, not yours. Don’t hover over your child while he does his homework.

Make a note of how long their homework takes. As a general guideline, it shouldn’t take more than the 10 minute per grade per night, Monday-Thursday. That is, 10 minutes/night for 1^st grade, 20 minutes for 2^nd grade, etc up to 120 minutes/night in 12^th grade. And encourage family activities over homework on weekends and holidays.

Make a note of the quality of the homework. Is it work that is energizing and encouraging them to learn more about the subject matter? Or, is it crushing their spirit? If it is crushing their spirit and eating into valuable family time, contact the teacher politely and tell her what the homework is doing to your family.

If your child is older, encourage the student to talk to the teacher himself to explain how much time it is taking or to suggest alternate types of homework that will still help the student learn.

Don’t nag your son or daughter about his or her homework. Let your child take control of his own work. If she misses an assignment or forgets to study for a test, it is not the end of the world. She will learn the consequences of her actions and will make an adjustment next time, if it’s important to her.

If we micromanage our children’s homework (like the hired homework helpers) we run the risk of creating fragile kids who feel incompetent to be independent.

The article says, “the end goal is you don’t want a child who is dependent and scared and can’t do anything” by himself or herself... “A good homework helper is one who teaches a child so that they no longer need a homework helper.”

I would say a good parent and teacher is one who teaches a child so that they no longer need a homework helper.

Any thoughts?

What Makes a Teacher Great?

In all this talk of education reform the one constant that most seem to agree on is this – a great teacher makes all the difference. But what IS a great teacher?

Is a great teacher…

…entertaining?

…organized and well prepared?

…caring and thoughtful?

…knowledgeable of and truly interested in his/her content area?

…one whose students have improved their test scores?

…young and fresh?

…older and seasoned?

…someone with outside business experience?

…someone with a master’s degree or PhD?

…gifted and talented?

…a good listener?

…goal oriented and focused?

…a leader?

…a good follower of directions?

…a rebel?

…willing to change and improve?

…willing to be observed?

…an effective communicator with parents?

…a thorough planner?

…a hard worker?

…creative and inventive?

…a good team player?

…willing to think outside the box?

…one who keeps their students busy and quiet?

…one who allows noise and confusion in class?

…willing to work long hours?

…persistent?

…satisfied with their lives?

…able to achieve curriculum objectives?

…one who assigns a lot of homework or little homework?

…one who gives students choice and voice?

Think of all the teachers you’ve had in your life. Now think of the ones you liked the most, the ones you would consider to be great. The list is probably pretty short, but definite.

One teacher popped into my mind immediately, my high school Reading for College teacher, Dr. Caruso. Dr. Caruso was great in my mind for two main reasons.

1. She turned me onto the subject matter. I grew to love reading (boring!) Victorian era novels in her class.

2. She cared about me. She invited me into her classroom after school to chat about anything -- school, family, friends, religion… To this day we still exchange holiday cards.

So, what made her great? The class I took from her was an elective, one of my choice, therefore, I was interested in the subject matter even before I took the class. Yet I did learn a lot in her class, but I believe the MAIN reason I loved her as a teacher was because of her compassion. Quite simply, she cared about me.

Did other students in her class think she was great? Probably not. Or, I don’t know. Or, yes! It doesn’t matter because believing a teacher is great is a personal experience, unique to each student.

So, it REALLY irks me when I see federal or state educational programs (like, Race to the Top) that have a pay for performance stipulation. To qualify for Race to the Top funding, states must be able to link students test scores to teachers and must distinguish between effective and ineffective teachers.

Given that defining a teacher as great is personal, how can an effective teacher be measured? Here’s an idea written by a reader of this blog in January, 2010:

“I do think teacher quality is absolutely essential & pay should be linked to quality, but how you measure quality is the $6 million question. Way too easy to pin the whole thing on standardized test scores, which doesn't promote good teaching. How about 360-degree performance reviews, as businesses often use? Teachers would get evaluated annually by their principal, peers, students, parents, even submit a brief self-evaluation as part of the process ("how did I do this year?"). Test scores could factor in, to ensure that kids aren't completely missing the basics...but should be just a fraction of performance measurement, so that someone who's teaching to the tests but not really "growing" students wouldn't have an unfair advantage. Yes, a 360-degree system would be complicated, but technology could help. Some brave state [or school] needs to take on this challenge & work w/teacher union to pilot this kind of system, or something like it.”

To recap:

A great teacher is defined in a very personal way by each individual student.

A great teacher may or may not possess some of the attributes listed above.

A test score does not determine whether a teacher is great or effective.

If you agree, sign this petition from the Economic Policy Institute.

High quality teachers are essential components of effective schools. Determining whether or not a teacher is great or of high quality is a complicated and personal process. This determination should be made differently in each school, depending on the unique needs of the population of the school. That is, there is no one answer or program or easy fix to determine greatness of teachers. Nor should there be.

A final thought about great teachers --

Great teachers help students learn that what matters most is what matters most.

What qualities did your greatest teachers possess?