Florida school district bans homework and replaces it with this

Students around the country are feeling envious of a new rule at a Florida school district.

Marion County public schools - with 42,000 students - has a new policy starting this year: NO HOMEWORK.

The catch? Students are being asked to read for at least 20 minutes a night.

It's not assigned reading - it's any book a student wants to pick up.

The rule will apply to all elementary school students, but not to middle and high school students.

Richard Allington, an expert on reading acquisition, told the Chicago Tribune that this is a great idea.

"The quality of homework assigned is so poor that simply getting kids to read replacing homework with self-selected reading was a more powerful alternative," Allington said in an email. "Maybe some kinds of homework might raise achievement but if so that type of homework is uncommon in U.S. schools."

 


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Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.