Annie Murphy Paul's "The Trouble with Homework" from September 10 in the New York Times has a real solid nut graf found in the third paragraph:
The quantity of students’ homework is a lot less important than its quality. And evidence suggests that as of now, homework isn’t making the grade. Although surveys show that the amount of time our children spend on homework has risen over the last three decades, American students are mired in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math, according to results from the Program for International Student Assessment released last December.
This works well because it directly stated the importance of the piece. It is the quality of the homework that is the focus, and the reader finds numerous examples throughout the piece (fortunately, a couple of which I even incorporate with my students and athletes), as well as states -- with facts -- the poor academic ratings for American students.
I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts so far.
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