RIDGEFIELD, CT -- The Board of Education has issued a set of guidelines dictating how much homework teachers may assign to Ridgefield students, beginning with the 2018-19 school year.
For the elementary school grades, teachers' goals and emphasis as laid out in the document are "to build fluency and vocabulary, as well as strengthen comprehension and stamina across all content areas through reading on a daily basis."
| Grade | Time for Reading Across Content Areas |
|---|---|
| Kindergarten | Approximately 10 minutes (can be read to) |
| Grade 1 | Approximately 15 minutes (can be read to) |
| Grade 2 | Approximately 20 minutes |
| Grade 3 | Approximately 25 minutes* |
| Grade 4 | Approximately 30 minutes* |
| Grade 5 | Approximately 35 minutes* and approximately 10 minutes of math |
* Approximate times in grades 3-5 can be inclusive of an Associated Task.
Associated Tasks are those activities that a student would complete after reading.
| Reading for... | Example of Associated Task |
|---|---|
| Reading | Respond to an open-ended question in writing |
| Mathematics | Identify what a multi-step word problem is asking and solve it |
| Science | Draw and label a picture summarizing essential content |
In middle school, the new regulations note that students are responsible for managing their time in completing the assignments, and teachers are not required to assign homework nightly.
| Grade | Time Allotment and... | Time for Reading Across Content Areas |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | Approximately 40 minutes | 20 minutes of reading nightly |
| Grade 7 | Approximately 40 minutes | 20 minutes of reading nightly |
| Grade 8 | Approximately 55 minutes | 20 minutes of reading nightly |
In Ridgefield High School, new codes have been instituted that reflect a student’s selected coursework and the commensurate amount of time the student will likely spend on homework each day.
| Code | Time Allotment | Nights per Week for Most Students |
|---|---|---|
| H1 | Approximately 10-20 minutes of homework required | 0-3 nights/week |
| H2 | Approximately 20-35 minutes of homework required | 3-5 nights/week |
| H3 | Approximately 35-50 minutes of homework required | 4-5 nights/week |
