do poor people need better character?

source:
Quantity Over Quality
by Darius Lackdawalla


So....74% of parents who failed to graduate high school themselves report helping their kids with homework.

Compared to 96% of parents who attended graduate or professional school.
source:
Parent and Family Involvement in Education: 2002-2003 (pdf file)

I'm going to recommend again that New York Times columnists and New York Times Magazine feature writers stop obsessing over poor people's character and start obsessing over why parents are serving as their kids' reteachers, especially given the fact that we've experienced a very large drop in average class size over the past 40 years.


update: it's official

A couple of years ago I looked up "homework" on the DOE website and found a short article describing the qualities of a good homework assignment.

The qualities of a good homework assignment, as I recall, pretty much boiled down to statements like this one:

The purpose of homework is to provide additional practice on previously introduced skills or to enrich classroom experiences.

That was then.

What do I get today if I search ed.gov for "homework"?

Hundreds of links on how parents can help with homework & What Teachers Can Tell Parents about Homework.


help with homework