Math teacher Kathy Paur uses a simple survey to gauge her students’ workload. The form asks one question: How much time did you spend on the homework?
“I want each kid to spend about 20 minutes on homework. So if the form tells me I’m hitting that mark with all but one student, then I can talk to that student to come up with some strategies and figure out what’s going on,” Paur said. “Or if there’s a really heavy [assignment] represented in the survey, then I learn my lesson there.”
In her planning, Paur also considers the age makeup of a class, whether it is a core or elective course, time given for classwork, and the school’s general guidance of 30–45 minutes of homework time per class.
Though the allotted homework time is a guideline from administration to teachers, each discipline applies it differently.
Allen Frost, English department chair and teacher, described the general difficulty of taking students’ different reading speeds into account with the 30–45 minute limit.
“What takes one student 30 minutes to read will take one student a lot less, or a lot more time. So it’s really difficult to run a class if I just say: everybody, spend 30 minutes on the reading,” Frost said.
Still, to make sure his students have a manageable workload, Frost has surveyed his classes for their reading speeds with in-class reading time. At times, he’s given some choice in the amount of homework—assigning between two or three chapters of reading, for instance.
By contrast, CS teacher Matt Hesby does not worry about the homework limit, as he doesn’t assign any homework in any of his classes, and never plans to.
“There are places and times that homework is really helpful, in certain subjects and populations,” Hesby said. “But in my classes, my worry about assigning homework is that it’s basically saying: here’s a bunch of things I expect you to learn from, but without somebody who can actually support you in doing it. And I don’t think that’s particularly helpful.”
To Hesby, that lack of direct mentorship can disrupt learning. For instance, he believes that simply setting up a tutorial is a better use of time than if a student spends several hours laboring over code on their own at home, stuck and confused. Accordingly, his classes are scheduled with several work periods such that students who use their time effectively are able to meet the expectations of the class.
“All the same, I’m aware that students continue to work on their projects outside of class and I hope they feel productive and successful when doing so,” Hesby said.
With these different approaches to homework across disciplines and teachers, every student’s experience with homework varies accordingly across grade, subjects, and semester.
A recent survey conducted by students in the statistics, data science, and journalism classes, investigated how teachers and students approached the school’s 30–45 minute homework limit. For each class, 27 teacher respondents recorded the maximum and average amount of time they expect students to spend on homework, and 76 students respondents submitted the maximum and average amount of time they dedicate to homework.
From this limited pool of respondents, statistical analyses showed no significant difference between teacher expectations and overall student-reported workload.
But while teachers reported assigning homework within the 20–45 minute range, student answers included a variety of outliers on both sides of the spectrum. One student recorded an average homework time of four hours per class, another student reported a maximum of eight hours of homework time, while others described no homework at all. For instance, though Cameron L. ’27 does not count the exact amount of time that he spends on each assignment, he has generally found the workload reasonable, and within the limits.
“When you look at the time actually spent working, I think most classes have been good about keeping it manageable, and the homework isn’t too dense,” Cameron said. “When MAs stack up, though, it’s more difficult.”
Similarly, Anika G. ’26 defined homework as an important tool for learning and expanding her interest in a topic. Her workload has fluctuated more, but once she reaches 45 minutes on a single piece of homework she usually keeps on working.
“I’m committed at that point,” Anika said. “Also, I don’t want to go up to a teacher and say I spent 45 minutes, then wasn’t able to finish it.”
Caroline F. ’28, since the start of freshman year, has felt that same reluctance to bring up any extra time spent on homework. She alluded to a general cycle of imposter syndrome, fear of not keeping up academically, and consistent disregard for the homework limit that she—as well as friends—have gone through.
“By speaking up about [the homework limit], it might seem like you can’t handle as much as other [students] can,” Caroline said.
That stigma, combined with the wide range of student experiences, makes it difficult to find a one-size-fits-all solution. Despite using surveys to gauge workload and stress, Paur noted that student experiences and attitudes are constantly shifting.
“It’s possible they’ll ask me to clearly mark which questions are not required, and it’s possible they’ll say to keep the system as is,” Paur said. “I try to keep the conversation open.”
Additional Research by Jaisimh R. and Juliet C.