You probably have the same amount of homework as everyone else and here's why

A large part of each students’ life is doing homework; many students, at one point, have wondered whether the amount of homework they have is more than any other school. After some research, it seems no one school is receiving homework that is out of the ordinary.

To accurately compare the students, a survey was sent out to a group of juniors with about half AP-type classes and half regular classes from different schools. There were some exceptions to this, but the information is represented on the charts. Each person was asked about how their schedule works and how long the school day is, what their schedule is, how much time they spend doing homework, and if they feel like they have a lot of homework.

To start, Aurora students have a pretty normal schedule. We have an eight period school day which is exactly six hours and 45 minutes long; each period is about 50 minutes. Here is the student representation:

Female Student 3 says, “I don’t have a study hall so that definitely factors into the amount of homework I have, most of my spare time goes to homework since I also have a job. It can get frustrating though, I would like to have extra time to relax, but usually there’s always something to study for.”

Hudson’s schedule is a bit different, but very comparable to Aurora. They are ranked slightly better on the high school reports cards made by the Ohio Department of Education. They have a ten period day (some short periods are combined for lunches, second period is just for announcements) on Mondays and Fridays which is a seven hour day.

Unlike Aurora, they have a block schedule where Wednesdays and Thursdays amount to one full schedule rotation (periods become longer, Wednesdays are only five hours and 25 minutes long). On Tuesdays, students have an extra “Explorer” period which is half an hour of a free period. They also have “Ready, Set, Relax” where once a quarter teachers are not allowed to give homework over the weekend. Here are some of those students:

Female Student 2 expresses, “To have hours of homework...puts a lot of stress on me. There is way too much homework.”

Similar to Hudson, Twinsburg High School has a block schedule; different from Hudson, they have a block schedule everyday. There are four main periods which are one and a half hours each with a five minute information period and several lunch periods. They start school earlier in the morning than Aurora, 7:15, but end at 2:05, making for a six hour and 50 minute day. Here are the responses from those students:

Female Student 1 says, “I feel like I do have a lot of homework, but with all the AP classes that I’m taking I am not surprised by it. Most of the homework is studying and bigger assignments, it is almost never “busy work” so I do not mind the time I put into it.”

Nordonia has a slightly better school rating than Kent Roosevelt High School, but remains below Aurora. The school has a six hour and 51 minute school day with a total of seven periods. They are similar to Aurora with how their lunch schedules are ordered; Each of their periods is 48 minutes long. Here are the students:

Female Student 2 explains, “I feel that for each individual class I’m taking the homework isn’t too much. Just when it is combined with all my other classes it starts to become quite a bit.”

More closely comparable to Aurora is Solon High School. With schedule formatting similarly to Aurora, they have a seven period day with their fourth and fifth periods split up for lunches. The students take a total of nine classes and they have a regular schedule throughout the week. These are some of the students’ responses:

Male Student 3 says, “I feel that I get a reasonable amount of homework for the curriculum I have.”

When comparing these results, there are several different things to be looked at.

Interestingly, the state of Ohio requires a school day of only five hours; And of course, all these schools are above six hours and just hitting seven. Adding homework onto that number means student could be having anywhere from a six hour day to a ten hour day. This is way above and beyond what the state is requiring.

Judging this information, it’s still hard to know which school gives more homework. The amount of homework all these schools are giving might just be too much, but maybe it’s just because teachers do not communicate well. All in all, homework is a big part of students’ live and teachers need to recognize how much time it actually takes up.