With the start of a new school year, students once again are shifting
impatiently in their seats, working their way through an endless pile of worksheets.
And that's after they come home.
A new study confirms what kids and parents already know: The “tougher
standards” fad that has American education in its grip* has meant more and
more homework for younger and younger children.
Several years ago, we learned that the proportion of 6-to-8-year-olds who
reported having homework on a given day had climbed from 34 percent in 1981 to 58 percent in 1997, and that the weekly time spent studying more than doubled during the same period.