Government Doing Its Homework on New Homework Standards

Parents, guardians, teachers and students can contribute to new homework standards through an online survey launched today, May 19.

The online survey will help guide the new ministerial policy on homework for students from grades Primary to 12. The policy will come into effect in September.

"I encourage everyone who interested in the success of our students to take the time to complete the survey," said Karen Casey, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. "Your input is critical if we are to ensure homework enriches student learning, is tailored to a student's age, grade and learning needs, and is designed to involve families in students' learning."

The survey includes questions specific to parents and guardians, teachers, students, community members and school administrators. Questions range from looking at the amount of homework, whether homework should be used to complete work assigned in class, a parent's role, student responsibility for completing their homework and the overall purpose of homework.

The survey runs from May 19 to June 12. A link to the survey can be found at https://eapps.ednet.ns.ca/educationSurveys/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=760I464 .

The new ministerial policy on homework is one of 21 new initiatives coming to schools this September as part of government's five-year education action plan. The plan focuses on fundamental changes to renew, refocus and rebuild the education system for the first time in a generation. The action plan can be found at http://www.ednet.ns.ca/ .