It seems that there are very different types of grading policies in the building. Some people count homework, some don't... some allow students to make up poor grades, some don't... some take attendance and behavior into account when determining grades, some don't.
In terms of homework, some teachers count it as much as 40% of the student's overall grade in the course while others simply do not count it at all... and as students you all know better than most that some homework is useful and helps to better understand the skills being taught in class, but often homework is simply repetitive busy work which doesn't really help a struggling student better understand the material while at the same time not really challenging the student who does understand it.
The amount of time students spend on homework is another potential issue. As an example, 30 minutes of homework does not sound overly excessive for a high school student... however if each core subject (Social Studies, Science, Math, and English) gives 30 minutes of homework we have just reached the 2 hour mark! This doesn't even cover any potential academic electives like foreign language or civics. With students playing sports or having jobs (some both) plus the time it takes for dinner and showering, it's no wonder that some students don't get to bed until well after midnight .
With all of this in mind, how effective/useful is homework? Does it need to be given nightly? Should it count for upwards of 40% of a grade? Is there such a thing as good homework?
Thoughts??