editorial writing about homework

Editorial: How can kids learn without homework and rigid deadlines? Quite well, it turns out

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The usual system for grading students is, bit by bit, going by the wayside in favor of one that emphasizes learning over traditional measures. It’s a healthy shift, though traditionalists no doubt are raising their eyebrows and muttering darkly about lowered standards and kids skating through school. The skepticism is especially likely now that the changes are being hastened by the realization that the current system puts students of color and those from lower-income households at a distinct disadvantage.

So-called mastery-based grading and a very similar method known as specs (for specifications) grading have been written about in academic circles for decades. But schools have stuck to an outdated system that relies heavily on students’ compliance — completing homework, behaving in class, meeting deadlines and correctly answering questions on a one-time test — as a proxy for learning, rather than measuring the learning itself.

That’s been a disservice to all students, whether they are academically gifted or struggling. It rewards students for grade-grubbing and has them feeling like failures when conditions at home — such as crowding, the need to work a part-time job to help the family finances or caring for younger siblings — make it especially hard to meet all the course requirements on a rigid deadline.

If there were a valid reason for this, that would be one thing. But obeying arbitrary and sometimes unfair rules doesn’t translate into better learning. The goal should be assessing the skills and knowledge students gained and how well they think. Mastery-based education and specs grading, and some of the elements that go with them, put the emphasis back on learning. Imagine that.

It shouldn’t matter, for example, whether students get a sterling grade on the first chapter test on human anatomy, or if they learn from their mistakes and go on to ace a second test. Students who redo an essay, even two or three times, in ways that show they’ve grasped concepts of research and critical thinking, and can write cogent and well-organized sentences, are showing that they’re gaining important skills. That willingness to try and try again until a skill is mastered is something to celebrate, not penalize with points off for multiple efforts.

It sounds vague and perhaps airy-fairy, but education experts point out that, in some ways, this kind of grading is more rigorous. Under the specs model, students are graded pass/fail on their tests, but they don’t pass unless they do well — usually at a minimum level of 80%, or a low B. There’s no passing with a C or D. It’s the opposite of skating by; students don’t move to the next level of skills with minimal grasp of the material.

Rather than being given a grade or a comment that they failed to meet a couple of deadlines, students receive specific information about their progress and what they need to do to move forward. This system transfers more of the responsibility for learning to the student.

Several states, including Vermont and Maine, already have adopted this model for their public schools. A middle school in Brooklyn, N.Y., witnessed phenomenal improvement in students’ scores on standardized tests after a few years of mastery-based learning, even though it is in ways the antithesis of a one-time, standardized test. And in case this seems like just the latest instance of touchy-feely liberal thinking limited to the Northeast, Idaho adopted mastery-based education in 2015.

The concept’s roots lie in the 1960s work of Benjamin Bloom , an education psychologist at the University of Chicago who said that given the right conditions, almost any student could achieve at high levels. Now the Black Lives Matter movement has raised awareness that traditional schools are assessing the learning of students — especially Black and Latino children — in ways that both discourage them and fail to hold them to high expectations. In addition, more than a year of remote learning has familiarized students with how to use technological tools to learn; in the classroom, those can be used to individualize instruction so that teachers have a chance to work with small groups.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is shifting toward this new model of grading this year by encouraging teachers to give kids a chance to redo tests or reports and to base grades on what students have learned, not on their work habits. It’s off to a slow start, but that’s the better way to go when introducing an era of assessment so radically different from how it’s been for the last century.

Teachers need time to understand, embrace and start incorporating these practices. And they’ll need training, administrative help and aides to help instruct small groups and track progress.

In other words, careful implementation is as important as the reform. This is where new education initiatives tend to fall apart. Too often, L.A. Unified has used changes in course and grading requirements to lower its standards. Kids can’t infinitely skip school and miss deadlines; that’s not how college or the work world operate. Students should be given extra time to learn, but the schools can’t keep a student in middle school indefinitely, while he or she builds crucial skills.

Mastery-based learning gets students to think about their own progress and encourages them to take their skills as far as they can. If done right — and not as an excuse for lack of progress — it could reinvigorate classrooms and give students a sense of control over their own educational destiny.

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SchoolJournalism.org

Editorial Writing as a Catalyst for Discussion of Important Issues

Kimberly Aleski Freehold Township High School Freehold, New Jersey

Overview/Rationale for Unit: In order to increase student interest in the newspaper, students will brainstorm and decide on which issues are most important to our student body. Through cooperative learning groups, students will decide on topics and positions about which to write editorials. As a group, they will have to brainstorm, outline, write, edit, and revise their editorials. In order to choose a topic and a position, students will have to have meaningful discussion about which issues they feel most strongly and on which positions they can come to a group consensus. Students will then complete all steps of the writing process. This unit will not only encourage student discussion and engage them in the steps of the writing process, but it will also create a “public forum” for the newspaper and help students master persuasive writing skills need for the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment exams.

Essential Questions:

• What school, local, national, and global issues are most important to students? Why?
• How can editorial writing create a dialogue for students to discuss these important issues?

Day 1 Pre-­class work: Students will have 5 minutes to brainstorm (in notebooks) what they believe to be the most important issues in school in the greater world (either local, national, or global). At the end of five minutes, students will have another five minutes to review their brainstorming and pick out their top three most important issues (a mix of both school and world issues). They then must write brief explanations as to why they feel these issues are the most important. Lesson: When students have completed their brainstorming and explanations, each student will share their top three issues and read their rationale for each. As students share their responses, the teacher will keep a running list of issues on the white board. When every student has shared his/her “top three,” the class will vote on what they believe to be the most important issues. The teacher will then post the top five school issues and the top five greater world issues on chart paper around the classroom. Follow up posting with a discussion of the different positions one could take on each issue (make sure students take notes!) Closing activity: Assign homework. Each student will need to bring in an editorial tomorrow (either from local or a larger paper). Students must briefly summarize the issue present in the editorial, the position that the editorial takes, and an assessment of whether or not the argument is effective (and why it is or is not effective). Day 2 Pre­-class work: Check and review homework. Have students read their summaries/assessments aloud to the class. Lesson: Have students complete a KWL for editorials. The class will begin discussing what they already know about editorials. The teacher will write what the student knows in the “K” column on the board. The class will then discuss what they want to learn, and write these items in the “W” column. Note-­taking – define and discuss editorials. Give notes on the five types of editorials: editorials that explain that evaluate that persuade that call for action that provoke discussion Give out packets with sample editorials. With a partner, have students read editorials and decide which type of editorial each article is. Closing activity: Students will have five minutes to complete “L” column (what we have learned about editorials). Homework: If students have not finished reading and identifying editorials, they can complete for homework. They then must choose one editorial that they feel is the most effective and explain why in several sentences. Day 3 Pre­-class work: Review homework. Put class into groups of four. Each group will be an “editorial board” for their paper. Divide the class in half; half of the groups will choose a “school issue,” and the other half will choose a “greater world” issue. Lesson: As a group, each editorial board must decide on an issue and a position to take on said issue that will represent their “paper.” Once students decide on their issue, they must complete the handout of “5 Basic Steps of Writing an Editorial.” On this handout, they must: Introduce their issue/subject. State the paper’s position. Discuss the opposing points of view. Back up their position with supporting facts and details. Draw a conclusion. To complete this handout, students will have to decide what further information (research, interviews, surveys) must be completed before they can write a convincing editorial.

Recommended Readings/Sources

• “School Newspaper Adviser Survival Guide”

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The learning network | reader idea | an argument-writing unit: crafting student editorials.

Reader Idea | An Argument-Writing Unit: Crafting Student Editorials

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Kayleen Everitt , an eighth-grade English teacher at Port Jefferson Middle School recently wrote to us to make sure we would be running our Student Editorial Contest again this year:

Last year my previous classes participated in the writing opportunity. The information and resources posted transformed a once stale writing unit I conducted in the past and I am forever grateful for it! I am hopeful the opportunity will be offered again so I can offer my students an authentic audience for their writing.

In response, we asked her if she was willing to send us her argument-writing unit so we could share it with other teachers. We’re pleased to publish it below, including all of her handouts and recommended videos embedded. And, of course, all students age 13 to 19 can find this year’s contest here .

Do you teach with The Times? Tell us about it here .

Teacher: Kayleen Everitt

Institution: Port Jefferson Middle School , Port Jefferson, New York

Grade Level: Eighth

Idea: To prepare for our annual editorial contest, students analyze Aristotle’s modes of rhetoric and consider how to construct a persuasive argument. Then, they select their own topics and engage in the writing process to produce their own editorials.

Why We Chose It: Our annual editorial contest is one of our most popular contests, and we’re always looking for additional ways to support teachers in the process of getting students to craft original, high-quality editorials. We like how Ms. Everitt pushes her students to think deeply about what makes a good argument — through an analysis of logos, pathos and ethos — before conducting their own research and constructing their own editorial position.

What Ms. Everitt Did and Why, in Her Own Words

How to Write an Editorial

The New York Times’s editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal provides seven tips for writing an effective editorial.

I used The New York Times’s Student Editorial Contest to inspire my argumentative writing unit. Here is the assignment sheet (PDF) I handed out explaining how students will combine rhetorical techniques and writing skills to produce a well-written editorial using credible sources.

We began the unit with viewing Andrew Rosenthal’s brief video on the “ seven tips for writing an effective editorial .” Students had a full week to brainstorm topics for homework and utilized the “ 200 Prompts for Argumentative Writing ” as a resource for their brainstorming. Not only is it good practice to allow students to explore their own topics, the Common Core standards emphasize the power of self-inquiry.

During the week of brainstorming, class lessons were focused on defining Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle (ethos, pathos, logos). As part of that process, students viewed the video “ What Aristotle and Joshua Bell Can Teach Us About Persuasion .”

They then applied their knowledge of the modes of persuasion by identifying and analyzing the different appeals (PDF) in numerous television commercials, such as the 2013 Nationwide “ Baby ” commercial. This analysis gave way for some powerful discussions about media, commercialism and the art of persuasion. We discussed the differences between persuasion and argument, in which an argument relies more heavily on the appeal to logos.

Next, students finalized their topics for their argument (topics ranged from conversion therapy to drone regulation) and we began lessons on “source finding” through The Times to adhere to the contest guidelines of utilizing at least one New York Times article. From there, students were required to locate one to two outside resources. Students used these source cards (PDF) to keep track of their sources.

Students learned the structuring of MLA format as well as how to create a Works Cited page by using the Googledocs add-on EasyBib .

As a means of support, I offered an outline template (PDF), though I stressed this is just ONE way to structure writing, not THE way and certainly not THE ONLY way.

The rubric (PDF), inspired by the seven tips for editorial writing, was distributed and reviewed.

Students turned the outline into rough drafts, adhering to the 450-word limit.

I devised a letter system and removed names from all work to get ready for the blind peer-review process. I made sure to give students enough time to read, edit and complete the peer-editing assignment (PDF).

Students received their edited work back to work on before turning in their final work.

The deadline day required a writer’s reflection activity (PDF).

Additional Resources for Writing Editorials

Student Writing Models | Winning Student Editorials .

301 Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Our 100 Most Popular Student Questions for Debate and Persuasive Writing

Lesson Plan | Persuading an Audience Using Logos, Pathos and Ethos

Lesson Plan | For the Sake of Argument: Writing Persuasively to Craft Short, Evidence-Based Editorials

Lesson Plan | I Don’t Think So: Writing Effective Counterarguments

This resource may be used to address the academic standards listed below.

Common Core E.L.A. Anchor Standards

1   Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

4   Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5   Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

7   Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

8   Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

9   Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

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130 New Prompts for Argumentative Writing

Questions on everything from mental health and sports to video games and dating. Which ones inspire you to take a stand?

By The Learning Network

Note: We have an updated version of this list, with 300 new argumentative writing prompts .

What issues do you care most about? What topics do you find yourself discussing passionately, whether online, at the dinner table, in the classroom or with your friends?

In Unit 5 of our free yearlong writing curriculum and related Student Editorial Contest , we invite students to research and write about the issues that matter to them, whether that’s Shakespeare , health care , standardized testing or being messy .

But with so many possibilities, where does one even begin? Try our student writing prompts.

In 2017, we compiled a list of 401 argumentative writing prompts , all drawn from our daily Student Opinion column . Now, we’re rounding up 130 more we’ve published since then ( available here as a PDF ). Each prompt links to a free Times article as well as additional subquestions that can help you think more deeply about it.

You might use this list to inspire your own writing and to find links to reliable resources about the issues that intrigue you. But even if you’re not participating in our contest, you can use these prompts to practice the kind of low-stakes writing that can help you hone your argumentation skills.

So scroll through the list below with questions on everything from sports and mental health to dating and video games and see which ones inspire you to take a stand.

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Articles on Homework

Displaying 1 - 20 of 34 articles.

ChatGPT isn’t the death of homework – just an opportunity for schools to do things differently

Andy Phippen , Bournemouth University

How can I make studying a daily habit?

Deborah Reed , University of Tennessee

Debate: ChatGPT offers unseen opportunities to sharpen students’ critical skills

Erika Darics , University of Groningen and Lotte van Poppel , University of Groningen

Education in Kenya’s informal settlements can work better if parents get involved – here’s how

Benta A. Abuya , African Population and Health Research Center

‘There’s only so far I can take them’ – why teachers give up on struggling students who don’t do their homework

Jessica Calarco , Indiana University and Ilana Horn , Vanderbilt University

Talking with your teen about high school helps them open up about big (and little) things in their lives

Lindsey Jaber , University of Windsor

Primary school children get little academic benefit from homework

Paul Hopkins , University of Hull

How much time should you spend studying? Our ‘Goldilocks Day’ tool helps find the best balance of good grades and  well-being

Dot Dumuid , University of South Australia and Tim Olds , University of South Australia

What’s the point of homework?

Katina Zammit , Western Sydney University

4 tips for college students to avoid procrastinating with their online work

Kui Xie , The Ohio State University and Shonn Cheng , Sam Houston State University

Online learning will be hard for kids whose schools close – and the digital divide will make it even harder for some of them

Jessica Calarco , Indiana University

How to help your kids with homework (without doing it for them)

Melissa Barnes , Monash University and Katrina Tour , Monash University

6 ways to establish a productive homework routine

Janine L. Nieroda-Madden , Syracuse University

Should parents help their kids with homework?

Daniel Hamlin , University of Oklahoma

Is homework worthwhile?

Robert H. Tai , University of Virginia

Teachers’ expectations help students to work harder, but can also reduce enjoyment and confidence – new research

Lars-Erik Malmberg , University of Oxford and Andrew J. Martin , UNSW Sydney

More primary schools could scrap homework – a former classroom teacher’s view

Lorele Mackie , University of Stirling

Modern life offers children almost everything they need, except daylight

Vybarr Cregan-Reid , University of Kent

Why students need more ‘math talk’

Matthew Campbell , West Virginia University and Johnna Bolyard , West Virginia University

Neuroscience is unlocking mysteries of the teenage brain

Lucy Foulkes, University of York

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49 Opinion Writing Prompts for Students

• Lesson Plans
• Grading Students for Assessment
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Special Education
• Homeschooling

One of the most common essay types is the opinion, or persuasive, essay. In an opinion essay , the writer states a point of view, then provides facts and reasoned arguments to support that viewpoint. The goal of the essay is to convince the reader to share the writer’s opinion.

Students aren't always aware of how many strong opinions they already hold. Use the following opinion writing prompts to inspire them to start thinking and writing persuasively.

Prompts About School and Sports

School- and sports-related topics often elicit strong opinions in students. Use these writing prompts to kick off the brainstorming process.

• Ch-ch-ch-changes . What is one thing about your school that needs to change? Is bullying an issue? Do students need longer breaks or a dress code? Choose one vital issue that needs to change and convince school leaders to make it happen.
• Special guest. Your school is trying to decide on a famous person to give a speech or presentation to students. Who do you think they should choose? Write an essay to convince your principal.
• Oxford or bust. Is the Oxford comma essential or obsolete?
• Scribble scrabble. Do students still need to learn cursive handwriting?
• Co-ed conflict. Would students perform better if more schools were single-gender rather than co-ed? Why or why not?
• Participation awards. Should there be winners and losers in sports, or is participation the ultimate goal?
• Homework overload. Write an essay to convince your teacher to assign less homework.
• Sports. Which sport (or team) is the best? What makes it better than the others?
• No slacking . Write an essay persuading a fellow student to do their homework.
• Class trip. This year, students get to vote on where to go for a class trip. Write an essay convincing your fellow students to vote for the place you’d like to go.
• Superlatives. Which would you rather be: a top student, a talented athlete, or an accomplished artist?
• Virtual athletes . Video games competitions are often aired on TV and treated like sports competitions. Should video games be considered sports?
• Class debate. Should classes that students may not use or that don’t interest them (such as physical education or foreign language) be required?

Prompts About Relationships

Friendships, dating, and other relationships can be both rewarding and exasperating. These writing prompts about relationships will help students explore their feelings about both the positive and the negative moments.

• Snitch. Your best friend tells you about his plan to cheat on a test. Should you tell an adult? Why or why not?
• Give it a chance. Your best friend is convinced that she would hate your favorite book, even though she's never read it. Convince her to read it.
• Friendships vs. relationships. Are friendships or romantic relationships more important in life? Why?
• Driving age. What age do kids start driving in your state? Is that age too old, too young, or just right? Why?
• Truth or consequences. Your best friend asks your opinion about something, but you know that a truthful answer will hurt her feelings. What do you do?
• Who chooses? Your best friend is visiting, and you want to watch TV together, but his favorite show is at the same time as your favorite show. Convince him that your show is a better choice.
• Fun times. What is the most fun thing you and your best friend have ever experienced together? Why does it deserve the top spot?
• Dating. Are long-term dating relationships good or bad for teens?
• New friends. You want to spend time with a new student at school, but your best friend is jealous. Convince your friend of the importance of including the newcomer.
• Be mine. Is Valentine’s Day worthwhile or just a scheme for the greeting card and chocolate industry to make more money?
• Debbie Downer. Should you cut ties with friends or relatives who are always negative?
• He loves me not. Is it really better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?
• Elders. Should you respect your elders merely because they are older, or is respect something that must be earned?

Prompts About Family, Pets, and Leisure Time

The following writing prompts related to family, furry friends, and free time will help students reflect on preferences, ethics, and integrity.

• Self-reflection. This time, you're the one who needs convincing! Write an essay to persuade yourself to start a healthy habit (or kick a bad habit).
• Paper wars. Should toilet paper hang with the loose end resting on the top of the roll or hanging from the bottom?
• Movie vs. book. Choose a book that has been made into a movie. Which version is better, and why?
• Weekend wanderings . Do you prefer to stay home on the weekends or get out and do things around town? Write an essay to convince your parents to let you do what you prefer this weekend.
• Sweepstakes. A travel agency is hosting an essay contest to give away an all-expenses-paid trip to the one place in the world you’d most love to visit. Craft a winning essay that convinces them they need to choose you.
• Zoo debate. Is it ethical to keep animals in zoos? Why or why not?
• Presence of pets. Should there be limits on the types of places pets can go (e.g. airplanes or restaurants)? Why or why not?
• Inspiring stories. What is the most inspiring book you’ve ever read? Why is it so inspiring?
• Dollar discovery. You find a $20 bill in the parking lot of a crowded store. Is it okay to keep it, or should you turn it in to customer service?
• Vacation day. What is the very best way to spend an unexpected day off from school and why is it the best?
• Digital or print? Is it better to read books in print or digitally? Why?

Prompts About Society and Technology

The people and technology around us have a significant impact on our lives. These writing prompts encourage students to consider the effect that society and technological advances have on our day-to-day lives.

• Reverse technology. Pick one technological advancement that you think the world would be better off without. Explain your reasoning and persuade the reader.
• Out of this world . Do aliens exist? Why or why not?
• Social media. Is social media good or bad for society? Why?
• Emoji. Has the use of emoji stunted our ability to express ourselves in writing, or does it help us identify our emotions more precisely?
• Auto safety. Have advancements like self-driving cars, blind spot indicators, and lane departure warning systems made driving safer, or have they just made drivers less attentive?
• Exploration Mars. Write a letter to Elon Musk convincing him that you should be part of a colony to Mars.
• Fundraisers. Is it okay for kids to stand outside stores and ask shoppers for money for their sports teams, clubs, or band? Why or why not?
• Inventions. What is the greatest invention ever made? Why is it the best?
• Important cause. In your opinion, what global problem or issue deserves more attention than it currently receives? Why should more time and money be invested in this cause?
• Minimalism. Does living a minimalist lifestyle make for a happier life? Why or why not?
• Gaming gains. Are video games generally a positive or a negative influence? Why?
• Rose-colored glasses. Is the current decade the best era in history? Why or why not?
• Paper or plastic. Should plastic bags be outlawed?
• Writing Prompts for 7th Grade
• Writing Prompts for Elementary School Students
• 3 Real World Exit Slips for Formative Assessment
• Engage Students With a Four Corners Debate
• 8 First Day of High School Activities to Get to Know Your Students
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Closure and Context
• Topics for a Lesson Plan Template
• The Best Interactive Debate Websites for Students and Teachers
• Lesson Plan Step #8 - Assessment and Follow-Up
• Using Bloom's Taxonomy for Effective Learning
• Write Lesson Plans
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Independent Practice
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Guided Practice
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Anticipatory Sets
• 5 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month in the Classroom
• Writing a Lesson Plan: Objectives and Goals

How to Write an Editorial

Editorials are probably the most difficult type of journalistic piece to write. Coming from someone who’s written far too many of them, they can be emotionally and mentally draining. But they can also be extremely rewarding, especially if more of your readers agree with you than those who don’t.

However, opinion pieces involve sharing your opinion. This is, quite obviously, not the point of writing the news or writing for a newspaper.

This means there are plenty of rules involved. If you want your audience to value your opinion and, in turn, take you seriously as a writer, you need to know the difference between a hard-hearted rant and a fair point of view.

You should be writing the latter, not the former. Sharing your opinion is fine, but save the anger for your social media pages (and, even then, you should keep your settings on “private”). In journalistic writing, editorials should be well-researched and factual.

Below are five steps that will help you in your opinionated endeavors.

1. Choose a relevant, newsworthy topic

This is where I would usually insert a very long paragraph about the importance of making your stories newsworthy and relevant to the public. However, when it comes to opinion pieces, you really only need to focus on the second half of that equation.

A great editorial should be about something fairly recent, of course, but the most important part is relevancy. Why do you think this opinion needs to be shared? Are there statistics that you want to present? Facts that have been brought to your attention? What is it about this particular topic that makes readers want to listen?

The beauty of opinion writing is that it can be about literally anything, as long as you bring value to the topic. I can write an editorial about breakfast cereal. As long as I make it relevant to my audience, it’s going to get published.

2. Research all aspects of your topic

Have you ever heard someone say that there are three sides to every story? There’s the side you hear from, say, your best friend. Then there’s the side you hear from your enemy. And then, of course, there’s the truth. As journalists, we usually try to get to the “truth” part of the equation. As an editorial writer, you need to do something in between. While you need to pick either your best friend or your enemy, you still need to have a good idea of what the “truth” really is. That means conducting a ton of research.

3. Develop a well-constructed opinion

Once you’ve gathered all of the information you can about your topic, you need to pick your side and develop a valid opinion. Yes, there’s a difference between a valid opinion and an invalid opinion. An invalid opinion would be something like, “I don’t want to do the homework because I don’t feel like it.”

A valid opinion would be something like, “I don’t want to do the homework because I feel that it’s detrimental to the student body to be forced to work for hours after school, well into the part of the night when they should be playing with friends or spending time with their family.”

It’s pretty apparent that the second argument is better. But why?

It’s all about the reasoning you present. Not only do you need to use language that engages your audience and proves that you know what you’re talking about, but you need to develop clear reasons why your side is the right side.

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4. Create an outline

Once you’ve finished developing your argument, you need to make an outline for your story. In what paragraph will you share statistical research? In what paragraph will you include quotes from valuable sources (if you include any at all)? At what point will you acknowledge the other side, then refute their claims? These are all very important structural components of an editorial, and you need to be prepared to include them.

When you’ve finished your outline, go ahead and write the piece. It should flow smoothly, now that you’ve done your research.

5. Read your piece out loud before publication

I always emphasize reading your work out loud before submitting it to a professor or an editor, but this step is particularly important for editorial writers. You need to ensure that your article doesn’t sound over-the-top or “ranty”. It’s extremely important that your work sounds professional and succinct, even if it isn’t traditional in nature.

With that being said, go out and find a topic. The world is waiting to hear what you have to say.

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When Homework Is Useless

Education experts offer their thoughts on how—if at all—schools should assign, grade, and use take-home assignments.

This is the third installment in our series about school in a perfect world. Read previous entries on calendars and content .

We asked prominent voices in education—from policy makers and teachers to activists and parents—to look beyond laws, politics, and funding and imagine a utopian system of learning. They went back to the drawing board—and the chalkboard—to build an educational Garden of Eden. We’re publishing their answers to one question each day this week. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Today’s assignment: The Homework. Will students have homework?

Rita Pin Ahrens, the director of education policy for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center

Homework is absolutely necessary for students to demonstrate that they are able to independently process and apply their learning. But who says homework has to be the same as it has been? Homework might include pre-reading in preparation for what will be covered in class that day, independent research on a student-chosen topic that complements the class curriculum, experiential learning through a volunteer activity or field trip, or visiting a website and accomplishing a task on it. The structure will be left to the teachers to determine, as best fits the learning objective, and should be graded—whether by the teacher or student. Students will be held accountable for their homework and understand that it is an integral part of the learning process.

Nicholson Baker, the author of Substitute: Going to School With a Thousand Kids

No mandatory homework in elementary school. None. No homework in middle school and high school unless a kid wants to do it. Chronic nightly homework makes for guilt, resentment, and lies—and family arguments and bone weariness. Parents become enforcers. It gets ugly.

Carol Burris, the executive director of the Network for Public Education

When I was a high-school Spanish teacher, I never graded homework.  If students came in with homework, I knew one of two things—either they did it, or they had a good friend who did it. I assigned a reasonable amount, never spent more than five minutes of class time reviewing it, and would collect samples as an informal assessment of whether my students understood the prior day’s lesson.

There is really no reason to assign homework in the early grades, although I know it makes parents anxious when their kids come home without it. Middle-school students will not receive more than an hour of homework, and in high schools, no more than two hours a night will be assigned.

Homework in high school helps students reflect on new learning and it gives them feedback as to whether they understand what they were taught. It also develops good habits for college, especially writing and independent-reading skills.

The research on homework shows beneficial effects on learning when appropriate assignments are given and completed, and the benefits increase with grade level. There is little to no learning benefit in the early grades but substantial benefit by grade 12.

Catherine Cushinberry, the executive director of Parents for Public Schools

Homework provides an opportunity for families to be engaged in the learning process, reinforces what has been taught during the school day, and provides students with an opportunity to learn how to be accountable and responsible to others and meet deadlines. Homework will not be graded, but will provide the class an opportunity to work together either as a large or small group to promote peer-to-peer learning while analyzing the assignment. Incentives that are student-specific will be used to encourage preparedness. If a student has mastered a topic, then he or she will be given an assignment that challenges them toward the next level of that work. The structure of homework will depend on the topic. Some assignments might require students to report on real-world observations, try at-home experiments, or allow them to develop ways that will each student best learn the information.

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Michael Horn, the co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute

Students will have work that may be done in school or at home. We will cease seeing things as just “homework.” The goal of work is to help students build mastery of knowledge and skills that can be applied in different contexts. Students will do as much or as little of certain tasks until they have built mastery. For some students, that will take place at home. Others will do most of their work surrounded by their peers and teachers at school. We will move beyond the notion of letter grades, where we accept failure as part of the system, to a competency-based notion in which students either master a competency or keep working until they do.

As Sal Khan writes in his book, The One World Schoolhouse , “Homework [is] necessary because not enough learning happens during the school day. Why is there a shortage of learning during the hours specifically designed for it? Because the broadcast, one-pace-fits-all lecture—the technique that is at the very heart of our standard classroom model—turns out to be a highly inefficient way to teach and learn.” With blended learning on the rise, we can do better now.

Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation

Homework, in the popular parlance, is thought of as a necessary but dreary component of education.  (An editor once disparagingly described a book manuscript I submitted as feeling like “homework.”) But if properly envisioned, homework can be exhilarating, an opportunity for students to venture independently to pursue in-depth topics first broached in the classroom.

To excite students, homework will be experiential and hands-on. It will encourage students to be explorers and to move beyond what is familiar to them. It will take them into new neighborhoods to interact with people of racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds different than their own. Amy Stuart Wells and her colleagues at Teachers College, Columbia University, note mounting evidence that “diversity makes us smarter.” They write that when students come in contact with people “different from themselves,” the “novel ideas and challenges such exposure brings leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving.” The primary implication of the research is the need to diversify schools themselves, but short of that, homework assignments, even in racially isolated schools, will encourage students to venture out and learn from all that the world has to offer.

Michelle Rhee, the founder of StudentsFirst and the former chancellor of Washington, D.C., public schools

Students will have opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of subjects through homework, but the days of elementary-school students carrying home backpacks full of homework that are heavier than they are will be gone. Students will have in-class and after-class opportunities to complete assignments, and homework will never be given merely for the purpose of being given. Teachers will emphasize the skill sets they would like to grow with assignments, from essay writing to computations. “Flipped” classrooms, where students watch lectures at home the night before and then use class time to engage in discussion and ask teachers in-depth questions, will also be more prevalent.

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers

Homework will depend on what’s needed to inform the coming lesson or to reinforce the lesson students just learned. We will never give homework for the sake of giving it.

Excessive homework is excessively stupid—and more and more evidence tells us that assigning hours of homework for very young students is useless at best and counterproductive at worst.

Homework only helps if every child has a chance get something useful from it—so programs to provide resources for kids who might not have homework support at home are critical, whether that’s tutoring, study labs, or just a safe place to sit and think. And while we’re at it, let’s not pretend that everyone has access to high-tech tools at home.

Check back tomorrow for the next installment in this series.

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