what is the meaning do homework

International comparisons often suggest that U.S. students spend less time on homework than students in other industrialized nations. However, direct comparisons across countries are difficult to interpret because of different definitions of homework and differences in the length of the school day and year.

Appropriate Amounts of Homework

Experts agree that the amount and type of homework should depend on the developmental level of the student. The National PTA and the National Education Association suggest that homework for children in grades K–2 is most effective when it does not exceed ten to twenty minutes each day. In grades three through six, children can benefit from thirty to sixty minutes daily. Junior high and high school students can benefit from more time on homework and the amount might vary from night to night. These recommendations are consistent with the conclusions reached by studies into the effectiveness of homework.

Research on Homework's Overall Effectiveness

Three types of studies have been used to examine the relationship between homework and academic achievement. One type compares students who receive homework with students who receive none. Generally, these studies reveal homework to be a positive influence on achievement. However, they also reveal a relationship between homework and achievement for high school students that is about twice as strong as for junior high students. The relationship at the elementary school level is only one-quarter that of the high school level.

Another type of study compares homework to in-class supervised study. Overall, the positive relationship is about half as strong as in the first type of study. These studies again reveal a strong grade-level effect. When homework and in-class study were compared in elementary schools, in-class study proved superior.

The third type of study correlates the amount of homework students say they complete with their achievement test scores. Again, these surveys show the relationship is influenced by the grade level of students. For students in primary grades, the correlation between time spent on homework and achievement is near zero. For students in middle and junior high school, the correlation suggests a positive but weak relationship. For high school students, the correlation suggests a moderate relationship between achievement and time spend on homework.

Research on Effective Homework Assignments

The subject matter shows no consistent relationship to the value of homework. It appears that shorter and more frequent assignments may be more effective than longer but fewer assignments. Assignments that involve review and preparation are more effective than homework that focuses only on material covered in class on the day of the assignments. It can be beneficial to involve parents in homework when young children are experiencing problems in school. Older students and students doing well in school have more to gain from homework when it promotes independent learning.

Homework can be an effective instructional device. However, the relationship between homework and achievement is influenced greatly by the students' developmental level. Expectations for home work's effects, especially in the short term and in earlier grades, must be modest. Further, homework can have both positive and negative effects. Educators and parents should not be concerned with which list of homework effects is correct. Rather, homework policies and practices should give individual schools and teachers flexibility to take into account the unique needs and circumstances of their students so as to maximize positive effects and minimize negative ones.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

C AMPBELL , J AY R. ; R EESE , C LYDE M. ; O'S ULLIVAN, C HRISTINE; and D OSSEY , J OHN A. 1996. NAEP 1994 Trends in Academic Progress. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

C OOPER , H ARRIS. 2001. The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents, 2nd edition. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

C OOPER , H ARRIS, and V ALENTINE , J. C., eds. 2001. "Homework: A Special Issue." Educational Psychologist 36 (3).

INTERNET RESOURCES

H ENDERSON , M. 1996. "Helping Your Student Get the Most Out of Homework." Chicago: National PTA and the National Education Association. < www.pta.org/Programs/edulibr/homework. htm >.

P UBLIC A GENDA. 2000. "Survey Finds Little Sign of Backlash Against Academic Standards or Standardized Tests." < www.publicagenda.org/aboutpa/aboutpa3ee.htm >

H ARRIS C OOPER

Additional topics

• Honor Societies - Alpha Mu Gamma, Alpha Omega Alpha, Association For Women In Communications, Association Of College Honor Societies - ALPHA CHI
• Home Schooling - History, Legal Background, Legal Trends, Effects, Future Implications

Education - Free Encyclopedia Search Engine Education Encyclopedia

What’s the point of homework?

Deputy Dean, School of Education, Western Sydney University

Disclosure statement

Katina Zammit does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Western Sydney University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

Homework hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. Most children are still sent home with about an hour’s worth of homework each day, mostly practising what they were taught in class.

If we look internationally, homework is assigned in every country that participated in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012.

Across the participating countries, 15-year-old students reported spending almost five hours per week doing homework in 2012. Australian students spent six hours per week on average on homework. Students in Singapore spent seven hours on homework, and in Shanghai, China they did homework for about 14 hours per week on average.

Read more: Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading

Shanghai and Singapore routinely score higher than Australia in the PISA maths, science and reading tests. But homework could just be one of the factors leading to higher results. In Finland, which also scores higher than Australia, students spent less than three hours on homework per week.

So, what’s the purpose of homework and what does the evidence say about whether it fulfils its purpose?

Why do teachers set homework?

Each school in Australia has its own homework policy developed in consultation with teachers and parents or caregivers, under the guiding principles of state or regional education departments.

For instance, according to the New South Wales homework policy “… tasks should be assigned by teachers with a specific, explicit learning purpose”.

Homework in NSW should also be “purposeful and designed to meet specific learning goals”, and “built on knowledge, skills and understanding developed in class”. But there is limited, if any, guidance on how often homework should be set.

Research based on teacher interviews shows they set homework for a range of reasons. These include to:

establish and improve communication between parents and children about learning

help children be more responsible, confident and disciplined

practise or review material from class

determine children’s understanding of the lesson and/or skills

introduce new material to be presented in class

provide students with opportunities to apply and integrate skills to new situations or interest areas

get students to use their own skills to create work.

So, does homework achieve what teachers intend it to?

Do we know if it ‘works’?

Studies on homework are frequently quite general, and don’t consider specific types of homework tasks. So it isn’t easy to measure how effective homework could be, or to compare studies.

But there are several things we can say.

First, it’s better if every student gets the kind of homework task that benefits them personally, such as one that helps them answer questions they had, or understand a problem they couldn’t quite grasp in class. This promotes students’ confidence and control of their own learning.

Read more: Learning from home is testing students' online search skills. Here are 3 ways to improve them

Giving students repetitive tasks may not have much value . For instance, calculating the answer to 120 similar algorithms, such as adding two different numbers 120 times may make the student think maths is irrelevant and boring. In this case, children are not being encouraged to find solutions but simply applying a formula they learnt in school.

In primary schools, homework that aims to improve children’s confidence and learning discipline can be beneficial. For example, children can be asked to practise giving a presentation on a topic of their interest. This could help build their competence in speaking in front of a class.

Homework can also highlight equity issues. It can be particularly burdensome for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who may not have a space, the resources or as much time due to family and work commitments. Their parents may also not feel capable of supporting them or have their own work commitments.

According to the PISA studies mentioned earlier, socioeconomically disadvantaged 15 year olds spend nearly three hours less on homework each week than their advantaged peers.

Read more: 'I was astonished at how quickly they made gains': online tutoring helps struggling students catch up

What kind of homework is best?

Homework can be engaging and contribute to learning if it is more than just a sheet of maths or list of spelling words not linked to class learning. From summarising various studies’ findings, “good” homework should be:

personalised to each child rather than the same for all students in the class. This is more likely to make a difference to a child’s learning and performance

achievable, so the child can complete it independently, building skills in managing their time and behaviour

aligned to the learning in the classroom.

If you aren’t happy with the homework your child is given then approach the school. If your child is having difficulty with doing the homework, the teacher needs to know. It shouldn’t be burdensome for you or your children.

• Disadvantaged students

Content Coordinator

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Earth System Science (School of Science)

Words and phrases

Personal account.

• Access or purchase personal subscriptions
• Get our newsletter
• Save searches
• Set display preferences

Institutional access

Sign in with library card

Sign in with username / password

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic

homework noun

• Hide all quotations

What does the noun homework mean?

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun homework . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun homework ?

How is the noun homework pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun homework come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun homework is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for homework is from 1653, in the writing of Edmund Chillenden, parliamentarian army officer and General Baptist leader.

homework is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: home n. 1 , work n.

Nearby entries

• homeward-bounder, n. 1837–
• homeward-bound pennant, n. 1853–
• homewardly, adv. 1797–
• homewards, adv. & adj. Old English–
• homeware, n. 1782–
• home waters, n. 1838–
• home wear, n. 1836–
• home-whining, n. a1657
• home wind, n. 1732–
• home-woe, n. 1838–
• homework, n. 1653–
• homework club, n. 1900–
• homework diary, n. 1973–
• homeworker, n. 1843–
• homeworking, n. 1844–
• home-working, adj. 1850–
• home worship, n. 1849–
• homewort, n. Old English–
• home-wreck, n. 1845–
• home-wrecker, n. 1878–
• home-wrecking, n. 1878–

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for homework, n..

homework, n. was revised in September 2011.

homework, n. was last modified in September 2023.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into homework, n. in September 2023.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

A Supplement to the New English Dictionary (1933)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View homework in OED Second Edition

Please submit your feedback for homework, n.

Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Citation details

Factsheet for homework, n., browse entry.

• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Usage notes
• 1.3.2 Hypernyms
• 1.3.3 Coordinate terms
• 1.3.4 Derived terms
• 1.3.5 Translations
• 1.4 See also
• 1.5 References
• 1.6 Anagrams

English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ].

From home +‎ work .

Pronunciation [ edit ]

• ( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈhəʊmˌwɜːk/
• ( General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/

Noun [ edit ]

homework ( usually uncountable , plural homeworks )

• 2013 July 1, Peter Wilby , “Finland's education ambassador spreads the word”, in The Guardian ‎ [1] , archived from the original on 2022-10-15 : Even 15-year-olds do no more than 30 minutes' homework a night.
• 2023 January 12, Kevin Roose, “Don't Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”, in The New York Times ‎ [2] , archived from the original on 2023-01-17 : And I'm sympathetic to teachers who feel that they have enough to worry about, without adding A.I.-generated homework to the mix.
• 2024 May 15, 'Industry Insider', “Labour's plan for the railway”, in RAIL , number 1009 , page 68 : Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework .
• 2012 April 10, John Hudson, “North Korea Has a Clumsy Way of Soothing Concerns About Its Rocket Launch”, in The Atlantic ‎ [3] , archived from the original on 2022-01-22 : Since the whole world is watching this launch, they probably should've done some homework on their talking points.
• 2017 May 9, “Mindful sex is better sex, says B.C. researcher promoting new workbook”, in CBC News ‎ [4] , archived from the original on 2022-11-22 : Four years after her first sexual health book came out, Dr. Lori Brotto is giving her readers a little bit of homework for the bedroom.
• 2022 July 18, Donald Mcrae , quoting Michael Yormark, “Roc Nation's Michael Yormark on Romelu Lukaku: 'You have to play to his strengths... I don't think that happened'”, in The Guardian ‎ [5] , archived from the original on 2022-12-26 : I didn't even know who he was until I did my homework and realised he was a premier footballer for Bayern.
• 2023 August 7, Suzanne Wrack , “England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals”, in The Guardian ‎ [6] : Nigeria had done their homework and were well organised. Halimatu Ayinde was exceptional in her marking of James, who had scored twice and provided three assists as she ran the show against China.
• 1989 , Eileen Boris, Cynthia R. Daniels, Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home , University of Illinois Press , →ISBN , page 241 : Hatch perceived homework to be one tool—along with various workfare schemes and private sector training programs—that would take women off welfare and make poor women "independent."
• 1933 , James T. Farrell , Gas-House McGinty , page 186 : My wife and I want a kid, and we do plenty of homework , but goddamn it, Dutch, I just can't connect.
• ( BDSM ) Tasks assigned by a dominant for a submissive to perform when they are physically away from their dominant or otherwise free.

Usage notes [ edit ]

• ( exercises assigned by a teacher ) The term homework generally implies that the work is mandatory and worth marks; exercises that are optional are usually referred to as practice problems , review problems , extra practice , exercises , etc.
• ( exercises assigned by a teacher ) Work of a larger scale than homework (which involves a series of relatively simple exercises) is usually referred to as an assignment or project .

Hypernyms [ edit ]

Coordinate terms [ edit ], derived terms [ edit ].

• bit of homework
• do one's homework
• homework club
• homework diary
• piece of homework
• the dog ate my homework

Translations [ edit ]

See also [ edit ], references [ edit ], anagrams [ edit ].

• English compound terms
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio links
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English uncountable nouns
• English countable nouns
• English terms with usage examples
• English terms with quotations
• English terms with rare senses
• English slang
• English euphemisms
• English endocentric compounds
• en:Education
• English entries with topic categories using raw markup
• English entries with language name categories using raw markup
• Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations
• Hindi terms with non-redundant manual transliterations
• Urdu terms with redundant transliterations

Navigation menu

What’s the Purpose of Homework?

Finding the right balance between school and home..

Posted November 4, 2014 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

Remember the days of sitting in class waiting eagerly for the bell to ring before the teacher said that dreaded word, “homework”? Sighs, rolling eyes, and grunts quickly filled the quiet classroom at the mention of that word. Well, not much has changed today except for the fact that many teachers post assignments electronically. I have yet to see a student jump for joy when the word homework is mentioned, nor have I seen students eager to get home to do their homework (maybe finish it, but not to do it). This brings up the question, “What’s the purpose of homework?”

Research shows mixed results when it comes to homework. Some research has shown that students aren’t doing any more homework than their parents did at their age. In a study, school-aged children and parents completed surveys about how much homework youth have. The results showed that the typical elementary student has 30-45 minutes of homework each night. The average high-school student has about 60 minutes per night. Interestingly, these numbers have remained consistent since 1984!

As an educator, I would like to see a replication of this study. Today's teens are taking college-level courses as early as the ninth and tenth grade. With the push of programs such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Dual Enrollment, it is amazing that teens are not completely burnt out. No wonder 8% of teen's age 13-18 years meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder. Too many teens are spending a lot of time on schoolwork outside of the classroom. Ask today's teen what has him/her so stressed and you'll find that about 80% of them will say school.

There are those who argue that homework does serve a purpose . For example, it helps to prepare students for national and statewide exams and tests. It helps to reinforce what’s being taught in the classroom. It enables parents to actively engage in their child’s education . Plus, it helps teach fundamental skills such as time management , organization, task completion, as well as responsibility. What’s more important is students get to demonstrate mastery of material without the assistance of a teacher.

How much homework should your child do each night? Organizations such as the National Parent Teacher Association support giving students about 10 minutes of homework each night, per grade level, starting in first grade. So a middle school student would have a full day in school and then an additional 60 minutes of homework after school. Is that too much? Are these guidelines being followed? I would recommend speaking with high-achieving teens and let them share how much of their time is consumed with homework. Many will tell you that they spend hours upon hours each night studying for tests, and preparing for papers and projects, etc.

According to Stanford University , more than a couple of hours of homework a night may be counterproductive. Researchers looked at students in high achieving communities, defined as a median household income exceeding $90,000, and 93% of the students attended post-secondary institutions. Students in these areas spent an average of three-plus hours on homework every night. So imagine a teen spending an entire day at school, going to work or extracurricular activities, then going home to do three or more hours of homework each night; only to get up the next day to do it all again.

Researchers have found that students who spend too much time on homework experience more levels of stress and physical health problems. Too much homework has also been shown to have a negative impact on students’ social lives. This is no surprise to the parents who rarely see their child because he/she is too busy working on homework, or to the parent who gets up at 12:30 A.M. to check to see if their child has made it to bed yet. Overall, high school students shouldn’t be spending over two hours on homework each night.

According to the Stanford study , too much homework leads to:

•Stress: 56% of the students surveyed considered homework a primary source of stress. Less than 1% of the students said homework was not a stressor.

•Poor health: Many students reported sleep deprivation, headaches, stomach problems, weight loss, and exhaustion.

•Less time for a social life : Students reported that spending too much time on homework led to pulling out of enjoyable activities, quitting extracurricular activities, and not spending much time with family and friends.

OK, I know not all students spend a lot of time doing homework. According to a survey by the U.S. Dept. of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics , the majority of youth spend an average of seven hours of homework outside of school each week. So while that doesn't seem like an unreasonable amount, what about the student who spends three-plus hours per night? Where is the happy medium?

There are definitely pros and cons to doing homework. I think the bigger question that educators need to address is “what’s the purpose of the assignment?” Is it merely a way to show parents and administration what's going on in the class? Is it a means to help keep the grades up? Is the homework being graded for accuracy or completion? If so, then what if the assignment is wrong? Have the necessary skills been taught so the student can master the material on his or her own? I read an article once that stated teachers underestimate the amount of homework they assign by 50%. If that's accurate then there is definitely cause for concern.

In summary, there seems to be no clear answer on the homework debate. I started the blog with a question “What’s the purpose of homework?” I’ll end with the same question. If a teacher who is assigning the homework can’t provide a clear rationale behind this question, then maybe the homework shouldn’t be assigned.

I welcome you to weigh in with your thoughts. Do you think students have too much homework? If you are a teen reading this, how much homework do you have on an average night?

Raychelle Cassada Lohman n , M.S., LPC, is the author of The Anger Workbook for Teens .

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Self Tests NEW
• Therapy Center
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

• ABBREVIATIONS
• BIOGRAPHIES
• CALCULATORS
• CONVERSIONS
• DEFINITIONS

  Vocabulary      

What does homework mean?

Definitions for homework ˈhoʊmˌwɜrk home·work, this dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word homework ., princeton's wordnet rate this definition: 3.8 / 4 votes.

homework, prep, preparation noun

preparatory school work done outside school (especially at home)

GCIDE Rate this definition: 1.0 / 1 vote

• homework noun

Paid work done at home, especially piecework.

Wiktionary Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

Work that is done at home, especially school exercises set by a teacher.

You must do your homework before you can watch television.

Preliminary or preparatory work, such as research.

The speaker had certainly done his homework before delivering the lecture.

Wikipedia Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside the classroom. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, mathematical exercises to be completed, information to be reviewed before a test, or other skills to be practiced. The effects of homework are debated. Generally speaking, homework does not improve academic performance among young children. Homework may improve academic skills among older students, especially lower-achieving students. However, homework also creates stress for students and parents, and reduces the amount of time that students can spend in other activities.

ChatGPT Rate this definition: 0.0 / 0 votes

Homework refers to tasks or assignments given to students by their teachers that are expected to be completed outside of regular school hours. These assignments are usually related to the topics being taught in class and serve to reinforce learning, practice new skills, and prepare students for upcoming lessons or assessments. Homework can take various forms such as reading, writing, problem-solving, researching, or completing exercises. It is designed to encourage independent study, time management, and responsibility in students.

Wikidata Rate this definition: 4.8 / 4 votes

Homework, or homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside of class. Common homework assignments may include a quantity or period of reading to be performed, writing or typing to be completed, problems to be solved, a school project to be built, or other skills to be practiced.

Matched Categories

• School Assignment

British National Corpus

Written Corpus Frequency

Rank popularity for the word 'homework' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2123

How to pronounce homework?

Alex US English David US English Mark US English Daniel British Libby British Mia British Karen Australian Hayley Australian Natasha Australian Veena Indian Priya Indian Neerja Indian Zira US English Oliver British Wendy British Fred US English Tessa South African

How to say homework in sign language?

Chaldean Numerology

The numerical value of homework in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

Pythagorean Numerology

The numerical value of homework in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9

Examples of homework in a Sentence

Braden Holtby :

It’s one of those games that they deserved to win, for us, a bounce here and a couple of goals, it’s not like it’s a panic. It’s a good team over there. You play teams like that, you come back the next time you play them, do your homework , and be sharper.

Ben Telerski :

It is not in the spirit of BeReal and entirely defeats the purpose, beReal should be full of pictures of( people) walking, doing homework and sitting in bed watching Netflix.

The topic of homework has received a lot of attention lately, and the negative effects of homework have been well established, they include: children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities and family time and, sadly for many, loss of interest in learning.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab :

We are at a delicate and dangerous stage and we need to make sure that the next steps are sure-footed, we are proceeding very cautiously and we are sticking to the medical advice, the scientific advice, with the social distancing measures, at this time, while doing all the homework to make sure that we're prepared in due course for the next phase.

Joerdis Frommhold :

Others are unable to do homework with their kids because they don’t understand the questions themselves.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

• ^  Princeton's WordNet http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=homework
• ^  GCIDE https://gcide.gnu.org.ua/?q=homework
• ^  Wiktionary https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Homework
• ^  Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homework
• ^  ChatGPT https://chat.openai.com
• ^  Wikidata https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=homework

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a free new word definition delivered to your inbox daily.

Please enter your email address:

Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:.

Style: MLA Chicago APA

"homework." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. < https://www.definitions.net/definition/homework >.

Discuss these homework definitions with the community:

Report Comment

We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe. If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.

You need to be logged in to favorite .

Create a new account.

Your name: * Required

Your email address: * Required

Pick a user name: * Required

Username: * Required

Password: * Required

Forgot your password?    Retrieve it

Are we missing a good definition for homework ? Don't keep it to yourself...

Image credit, the web's largest resource for, definitions & translations, a member of the stands4 network, image or illustration of.

Free, no signup required :

Add to chrome, add to firefox, browse definitions.net, are you a words master, lacking orderly continuity, Nearby & related entries:.

• homeware catalogue
• homewellness
• homework problem noun
• homeworking
• homewrecker

Alternative searches for homework :

• Search for homework on Amazon

Education researcher calls for primary schools to have 'courage' to rethink homework

When Estelle Trueman was growing up, homework was par for the course.

But now her two daughters are in primary school at Townsville in north Queensland, homework isn't mentioned.

"There's no pressure," Ms Trueman said.

"If we get home and want to prepare a meal together, or spend time together outside before bed, we can, and don't have to hope that we won't get in trouble tomorrow because we haven't done the reader."

Across Australia, there's anecdotal evidence a growing number of primary schools have introduced no – or low – homework policies since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to University of Melbourne Emeritus Professor of Education John Hattie.

Professor Hattie said while there was some evidence homework benefited high-school students, there was no need for it in primary schools.

"The evidence is pretty clear that homework in primary school has a very low to zero effect," he said.

In a bid to modernise the education system, Poland last month scrapped homework for students in years one to three and made it optional for students in years four to eight .

Professor Hattie said Poland's move sent an important message, but it would take a "brave" politician to rattle the cage in Australia because of widespread views among parents here.

"There are parents who think homework is critical and essential for their children's future, which is not true," he said.

Homework out, reading in

In Townsville in north Queensland, Belgian Gardens State School has scrapped compulsory homework in favour of reading, practice, and play.

"[Worksheet saturation] does not foster parent engagement, neglects the individual needs of students and in some cases leads to drawbacks including disengagement and frustration," principal Ryan Pedley said.

Students were given the option to undertake "practice" or "study habits" at home.

Mr Pedley said parents were highly engaged, through regular information sessions, about what was being taught at school. 

St Benedict's Catholic School in the city's west is similarly taking a minimalist approach.

"We couldn't really see the benefits for doing homework … but we do require our students to be reading at home each night," assistant principal Aleesha Rockemar said.

"It [homework] can become a nightmare for families to get done."

For 10-year-old Keira Warren, it was a pleasant surprise when she transferred to the school this year.

"I was very relieved, I hated having to go home and do more work," she said.

"I didn't like having to either get in trouble because I didn't go to sports, or get in trouble because I didn't do homework."

What are the rules on homework?

In Queensland, there is no one-size-fits all approach; it's up to each school principal to decide their homework rule book.

The Department of Education said it did not collect data on the state's 1,264 public schools' policies.

Instead, it stipulated principals needed to determine what worked for their individual school communities and to ensure any homework was meaningful.

"Schools work collaboratively with students and families to make sure to allow sufficient time for family, recreation and, community and cultural values," a department spokesperson said.

Brisbane Catholic Education, which oversees 146 schools across south-east Queensland, said it did not have a mandated homework policy, but any homework should complement students' learning and wellbeing.

Pros and cons

Professor Hattie has been researching teaching and student learning since the 1970s.

His latest publication in 2023 analysed more than 130,000 studies worldwide on what helps students learn. 

Professor Hattie said the research found homework in primary school – if at all — should be kept short, review what had already been learned at school and not require parental surveillance.

"Don't get [children] to do a project unless you want to see what the parents contribute," he said.

"You've got to seriously question why you need homework at all. I want to give some courage to [primary] schools to drop it, if parents don't get upset.

"There's no need for it in primary school."

Lecturer in early childhood education Amanda Hoffensetz, from James Cook University, said homework was a difficult topic to research and there were too many variables for conclusive evidence.

"Schools vary greatly in quality, quantity, and the amount of support that children are getting at home," she said.

For Scott Wiseman, the chief executive of P&Cs Qld, the peak body representing state school parents and communities, homework had traditionally played an important role in helping parents engage in their child's learning.

"Everyone learns differently and for some kids, doing the sight words or the fact sheets may actually be really important to reinforce their schoolwork," he said.

"It needs to be a consultation process between the school and parents and the community as to how they want education to work in that particular school."

Family impacts

At Townsville's Marian Catholic School, principal Kylie Helmore said changing its homework policy in 2023 had resulted in more student engagement in class and less stress on working families.

"We're not getting the reports that 'my child is refusing to do anything'," Ms Helmore said.

But reading at home is still required and senior students must complete a passion project each term.

For mum-of-two Estelle Trueman, home life was more manageable without the burden of homework.

"Our kids are only little once," she said.

• X (formerly Twitter)

Related Stories

Experts looked at 10,000 pieces of research to find the best way to learn to read – we've distilled it down for you .

• Community and Society
• Primary Schools

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Raising Kids

What School Subjects Do You Need in High School?

The subjects you study in high school should allow you to graduate, but you’ll also want classes that will prepare you for college and for life as an adult.

• Subjects Offered in High School
• Subjects Needed to Graduate
• Subjects for College Preparation

Picking high school courses is an exciting process. Core high school subjects like math, science, and language arts are required, but a range of others can be selected. Finally being given more of a choice in what a student studies can be freeing, but also may feel overwhelming, confusing, or stressful.

What courses are best? There's no one right path. First, consider what is needed to graduate. Then, take a look at your options.

Parents and teens can work together to choose school subjects that not only engage their interests but also have their future plans and goals in mind.

For example, students who want to go to college may be required to take more years of a foreign language or other classes required by the schools they are interested in. A student who is interested in pursuing a career in construction may want to take an industrial arts class.

Read on to learn more about selecting courses in high school.

Parents / Nusha Ashjaee 

What School Subjects Are Offered in High School?

Most high schools offer the same basic school subjects: Math, language arts, foreign language, science, social studies, health, and physical education (PE).

However, the exact courses may vary dramatically from school to school. Different high schools—even within the same district—often have different course offerings or special programs. If possible, choose the local high school that provides the programs and classes that best suit your needs and passions.

Below is a list of the most common school subjects. However, individual schools may offer a range of specialized classes, such as mindfulness or engineering.

High School Subjects

• Literature or Language Arts
• Speech and Debate
• Writing or Composition
• Trigonometry or Calculus
• Biology (typically has advanced class options)
• Chemistry (typically has advanced class options)
• Earth or Space Sciences
• Physics (typically has advanced class options)
• US Government
• World History
• Foreign Language, such as Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and German
• Physical Education and Health
• Arts, such as Music, Photography, Drawing, or Ceramics
• Computer Applications, Graphic Design, or Web Design
• Cooking and other life skills
• Physical Education
• Trade field studies such as Auto Mechanics, Woodworking, or Nursing
• Personal Finance

School Subjects You Need to Graduate

Ideally, teens should start high school with a basic plan of the classes they will need to take to graduate. Every state has different requirements for obtaining a high school diploma, and each school varies greatly in what it offers to give kids a chance to fulfill them. Different schools also vary in the number of classes students take each year.

The school's guidance department can help students understand the graduation requirements and how their coursework aligns with them.

English language arts

Studying the English language and literature is an important part of high school for every student, regardless of their post-school plans. In addition to studying important pieces of literature, English classes teach teens about writing, reading, and speaking.

Most states require four years of English or language arts classes. Colleges require four years of English for admission. The main English classes in high school include:

Mathematics

In high school, students dig into several different types of math . Algebra and geometry are required at most high schools, and students may choose to take advanced math classes if they are offered.

Most states require three or four years of math coursework in high school. The main math classes in high school include:

Basic life sciences (biology) and physical sciences (chemistry and physics) are required at most high schools. These classes often include lab components that allow students to perform hands-on experiments.

Most states require two to three years of science coursework in high school. These may include:

• Biology (typically has advanced class options)
• Chemistry (typically has advanced class options)
• Earth or Space sciences

Social studies and history

Understanding the past and how the world works is important for young adults. In high school, students will study history and government and learn about how social studies affects their lives.

Most states require three to four years of social studies coursework in high school, including:

Foreign languages

Learning a second language is important in today's global world. While many high schools offer foreign language courses, only 11 states require students to take a foreign language course.  

High school students can fill these requirements by learning the basics of at least one foreign language. They may also be able to choose to take advanced classes to learn more.

Common languages offered in high school include:

• Mandarin Chinese

Other possible language offerings include Russian, Latin, American Sign Language, Arabic, and German.

Physical education and health

Physical education and health classes can teach high schoolers how to care for their bodies' fitness, health, and nutritional needs. These courses often touch on the following:

• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Making healthy choices about drugs, alcohol, and nicotine.

Many states require at least one unit of PE and health to graduate. Other states offer these subjects as electives.

School Subjects for College Preparation

Students planning to go to college should consider how colleges will look at their courses during the application process. Grade point average (GPA) is important, but coursework should also demonstrate academic rigor.

When planning, it can be helpful to balance standard high school courses with some that are more challenging. Additionally, students can do this—and even get a head start on college—by taking advanced placement (AP) or college-level classes.

AP classes are more rigorous courses that teach subjects at an introductory college level. Some of the most common AP courses that are available include:

• Calculus AB
• English Literature
• African American Studies

Students who take AP classes have the option to take an AP test in the spring. If they get a certain score, they can get credit for the course at many colleges.

College credit courses

Many high schools offer opportunities to gain college credit through various programs. Your child's academic advisor, teachers, or counseling department can inform them about such offerings.

These may be online or in-person classes through programs offered by colleges and universities, and a professor or a high school teacher may teach them. Dual-credit programs allow students to fulfill their high school requirements while obtaining some college credits free of charge.

School Subject Electives

In addition to the basic classes, there are usually plenty of opportunities to take electives in various areas of study. These can not only broaden a student's academic knowledge but also teach them valuable life skills and inspire their career aspirations .

In some cases, a student may be given the freedom to choose one class from a select group of options required in the school's curriculum. In others, a student may have room in their schedule to choose to study something simply based on their interests and goals.

Examples of elective classes may include:

• Arts, such as music, photography, fashion design, painting, theater, dance, or ceramics
• Computer applications, graphic design, or web design
• Student government
• Forensic science
• Physical education
• Sports medicine
• Trade field studies such as auto mechanics, welding, or nursing
• Personal finance or business

Students on a vocational track may be able to gain some hands-on learning in fields such as metalworks and woodworking. Many schools even offer the opportunity to gain certificates or licenses that will help them in their future careers .

Key Takeaways

Choosing high school classes requires planning both as a student enters school and throughout their high school experience. The right classes are challenging and engaging but not unrealistically rigorous or overwhelming.

An ideal schedule can help a student succeed, enjoy learning, and have a good academic experience while preparing them for their future plans , whatever they may be. Have your teen set up a meeting with their school counselor if they need any help.

The association between neighbourhoods and educational achievement, a systematic review and meta-analysis . J Hous Built Environ . 2016.

50-state comparison . Education Commission of the States . 2019.

High school classes required for college admission . National Association for College Admission Counseling . n.d.

The national K-16 foreign language enrollment survey report . American Councils for International Education . 2017.

Program summary report . College Board. 2019.

Related Articles

Definition of 'homework'

homework in American English

Homework in british english, examples of 'homework' in a sentence homework, related word partners homework, trends of homework.

View usage over: Since Exist Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

Browse alphabetically homework

• homeward journey
• homework assignment
• homework club
• homework diary
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'H'

Related terms of homework

• do homework
• school homework
• homework exercise
• View more related words

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Score: 0 / 5

Wordle Helper

Scrabble Tools

Membership Ticker

THE FIRST $500,000

This is a big one : the first time we’re asking for the donations Mother Jones relies on since joining forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting. So in “ Less Dreading, More Doing, ” we lay it all out for you—why we merged, how we’re stronger together, and why we’re more optimistic than normal about the work ahead. It still won’t be easy. Please help us raise the First $500,000 we need by June 22.

This is big . Mother Jones just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, and this is the first time we’re asking for the donations we rely on . So we lay it all out for you in “ Less Dreading, More Doing ,” and we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22. It won’t be easy. Please help if you can.

What Do War Crimes Warrants for Hamas and Israeli Leaders Actually Mean?

“you can’t just say: we’re acting in self-defense and therefore the rules don’t apply to us.”.

Julianne McShane

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yahya Sinwar Mother Jones; Gali Tibbon/AP; John Minchillo/AP

This morning, International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, and Ismail Haniyeh—for alleged war crimes. 

If a panel of three ICC judges approve the warrants, Netanyhau and Gallant could face charges for crimes against humanity, including the starvation of civilians. The Hamas leaders could face charges including murder, taking hostages, and torture, related to actions during and following the October 7th attacks that resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 Israelis and the kidnapping of more than 250 hostages, including some Americans. 

Israel, Hamas, and the United States all condemned the news. President Biden called the announcement “outrageous.” Netanyahu said that in seeking the warrants, Khan had created a “twisted and false moral equivalence between the leaders of Israel and the henchmen of Hamas” and that the ICC was denying Israel’s right to self-defense. Hamas said in a statement the ICC announcement “equates the victim with the executioner.” 

Khan refuted the idea that anyone was being unfairly targeted, telling CNN in an exclusive interview announcing the news that “this is not a witch hunt.” 

“Nobody is above the law,” Khan added . “No people…have a get out of jail free card, have a free pass to say, ‘well the law doesn’t apply to us.’”

“This is not a witch hunt”: International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor @KarimKhanQC appointed an independent panel of international legal experts to review the arrest warrant process. pic.twitter.com/ch2bZ5qa5U — Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) May 20, 2024

This afternoon, I called up David Bosco , executive associate dean and professor in the Department of International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, to better understand the significance and ramifications of the news from the ICC. Bosco is the author of Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics , and he has written about the relationship of the ICC to Israel and Palestine. We spoke about the meaning, and limits, of today’s announcement. 

This interview has been lightly condensed and edited. 

I think when most people hear “arrest warrant,” they assume imminent prosecution. But that’s not quite the case here—can you explain what is actually happening right now? 

The first important point is that all that’s happened right now is that the prosecutor has requested there be arrest warrants. Those have to be approved by a three-judge panel at the ICC. There’s no arrest warrant issued until those judges decide. And that’s a process that could take anywhere from a couple of weeks, to maybe even a couple of months.

And then if we do get arrest warrants—the ICC has no police force, no SWAT team that can go in and arrest people. So long as [the] people [prosecuted] are in Palestine or in Israel, it’s very unlikely that they would appear at the Hague. 

Can you say more about the significance of this decision and what might have motivated the ICC prosecutor to make this announcement?

I think the prosecutor really realizes how controversial charges—particularly the charges against Israeli leaders—are going to be, and is trying to provide as much support, and indicate that it’s kind of not just his decision. So at the same time that he released his statement, there was almost an amicus brief from a group of international law experts supporting the prosecutor’s decision. That’s also something unusual; the prosecutor doesn’t usually have an expert panel backing him up on his decisions. 

So what tangible impacts, if any, will these warrants have on the leaders’ daily lives?

I think it’s going to vary. For the leaders of Hamas, I don’t think there will be much impact, because either these people are in Gaza or some of them are traveling to other parts of the region, but not to countries that are ICC members .

Now for Netanyahu and Minister Gallant, it would be a different situation, because these are people who would hope to travel widely in representing Israel. If an arrest warrant ultimately is issued, that means that Netanyahu and Gallant would have to be very careful about where they travel, and traveling to an ICC member state will put them in significant risk, because ICC member states have a legal obligation to detain somebody who’s been charged by the court.

I saw the Israeli Foreign Minister has said he’s going to urge other foreign ministers not to comply with the warrants if they are issued. Is it likely that Israel could successfully exert pressure on ICC member states not to enforce this, or do you think the pressure of being a member state would compel relevant countries to comply? 

We’ve already seen the United Kingdom —and I expect we’ll see more ICC member states—expressing opposition to this move. But there’s a big difference between saying, “we think the prosecutor got it wrong here,” and saying, “if an arrest warrant comes out, we’re not going to obey it.” That would be a much bigger step, and it would be very hard for many of these countries to take that step, because then you are really kind of breaching your obligations to the ICC. And many of the European countries were among the most supportive of creating the ICC, so I think that would be a very hard step for them. 

Can you also provide a little background context on how it is that both the US and Israel are not member states of the ICC? Historically, why did that happen?

US policy is actually quite responsible for the creation of the ICC in a lot of ways. The US was the biggest supporter of the Nuremberg trials, it was the biggest supporter of the Yugoslav war trials, and the Rwanda Tribunal. And those things were ultimately what led to the creation of the ICC . So I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that you wouldn’t have the ICC in historical terms if it hadn’t been for US policy and US advocacy of international justice. 

But the US has always had this kind of dual personality, where it really likes international law in some respects, but gets very nervous about accepting the jurisdiction of an international court. So the US balked back in the 1990s, when the ICC was being negotiated, and decided they did not want to ultimately be a part of the court once it became clear they weren’t going to have control of the court’s docket. 

The US is just not comfortable with the court exercising jurisdiction over Americans, and Israel has felt very much the same way. 

Both sides have alleged that it’s unfair for their leaders to be the subject of possible arrest warrants. From a symbolic perspective, is the ICC equating the leaders of Israel with the leaders of Hamas? What kind of signal is the ICC trying to send here? 

I think what the ICC would say is, “we’re not in the business of setting up equivalencies.” There are moral and historical questions that weigh on how you see Hamas compared to how you see the government of Israel. And I think what the ICC would say is: That’s not our job; our job is to simply assess whether there are individuals who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity—saying that Netanyahu may have committed war crimes is not the same thing as saying that Netanyahu is the same as the leader of Hamas. But inevitably, in the public discourse, people tend to say: “Whoa, the ICC is treating them all the same.”

If you think about World War II, for example, the Nuremberg trials, of course, focused on the crimes of Nazi Germany. But there were undoubtedly war crimes committed by the US and by the British during World War II. It so happened that the Nuremberg trials were set up so they could only consider the crimes of the Axis powers, but it’s probably not inaccurate to say that Franklin Roosevelt or Harry Truman committed war crimes. That doesn’t mean that they’re equivalent to Nazi leaders. So I think the ICC would say: That’s a judgment for historians, and ethicists and things—that’s not our job. Our job is to simply decide if there were crimes committed and investigate and prosecute those.

Israeli officials have continually tried to justify the strength of their response and the conditions in Gaza by saying they’re acting in self-defense. Do the charges that the Israeli leaders could face if these warrants are issued negate that argument? 

No. Because basically in international law, there’s a divide between what’s referred to as jus ad bellum —that’s Latin for the right to use force. And how you use force, jus in bello . And those two are considered to be separate. So you can say that Israel was justified in using force in Gaza as a matter of self-defense. And that might be right from a legal perspective, when it comes to the right to use force. But that is a totally separate question from the question of what you do during the conduct of hostilities. And the same standards are supposed to apply to countries whether they are the aggressor or whether they’re the one defending. So whether they are just in their war or unjust they’re going to be subject to the same rules about how you use force.

You can’t just say: We’re acting in self-defense and therefore the rules don’t apply to us. 

Now, there are a bunch of really hard questions that prosecutors—if this ever reaches trial—are going to have to show, like, for example, “how much humanitarian aid are you obliged to let in during a conflict?” These are complicated questions where you’re balancing the military necessity versus the humanitarian impact.

But the short answer is: no, the fact that Israel might be acting in self-defense doesn’t absolve it from legal scrutiny. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that this could jeopardize ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire deal. What’s your response to that, do you agree?

He’s pointing to a dilemma that has often been identified around international criminal justice, which is that there may be simultaneously the need to try to develop a pathway out of the conflict at a diplomatic level while there is a need to try to pursue justice and investigate crimes. 

It’s hard to judge how accurate that is. There is a mechanism for trying to get out of that dilemma, if you really think it is a dilemma. The UN Security Council actually has the power to freeze an ICC investigation , because I think that people drafting the ICC statute didn’t realize that there might be a situation where we need to prioritize diplomacy over an investigation.

Just so I understand, is the thought that Israeli leaders would be unwilling to travel to neutral ground because they’re worried about the threat of arrest? How would the arrest warrant practically impact their decision about whether or not to engage in diplomacy?

That’s a very good question, and I don’t think it’s very clear. I think if there were to be negotiations, it would be in a place like Egypt or, you know, somewhere that’s not an ICC member state. So it really wouldn’t be an issue in terms of exposure to arrests—so I don’t think that’s the issue. 

I think it’s more that the kind of outrage, honestly, that Israeli officials might feel, having been targeted in this way, that would make them less willing to engage in a diplomatic [manner]. But I don’t know that that’s right. I’m skeptical that that argument is necessarily the case here, that the justice process is necessarily getting in the way of diplomacy. And Israel, certainly, and the US, have an incentive to kind of exaggerate, I would say, that possibility. 

How do you think this—the issuing of the warrants for Israeli leaders, and the US’s strong condemnations of it—impacts the perception of the US, considering that one of this country’s closest allies is being pursued by the ICC alongside the group responsible for carrying out the Oct. 7 attacks and Vladimir Putin, who was charged by the ICC for his role in the war in Ukraine ? 

I think the perception of the US on these issues is that the US engages in double standards when it comes to international justice. I think that perception is pretty baked into the view of the US, particularly on these issues, so I don’t think the fact that some US officials were very positive about the charges against Putin are now outraged by the charges against Israeli officials [is surprising]. I think that’ll just kind of reinforce and confirm that sense that ultimately, it all comes down to politics.

At this point, the ICC news is largely symbolic—there won’t be any imminent arrests or prosecutions—and the International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa alleging Israel is committing genocide in Gaza will take years to play out. So what purpose would you say these international institutions have when they can’t take any imminent action to address the humanitarian crisis that’s unfolding as we speak? Is there any reason for people who are concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to actually put faith in these institutions? 

The short answer is I don’t think people should have a lot of faith in the ability of international judicial institutions to deal with a situation like this, or to really meaningfully impact a situation like this. Just like when we saw the arrest warrants against Putin and other Russian officials—within a few weeks, those were pretty much forgotten, and the war has continued, and there’s no sign it’s made any difference. So that is the reality: often times international law and international judicial institutions are going to have very little impact on these ongoing crises. 

That’s not the same as saying they’re irrelevant. Because we have to also think about the very long-term, gradual impact on norms of behavior in the international system. And you have to think about what incentives are being created for other national leaders down the road. And that is hard to judge, but international law may not be as meaningless as it sometimes seems in the midst of a crisis like this. 

The ICC is a very new creation. The idea that in the midst of an ongoing conflict, you’re having charges brought against officials for that conflict—this is a very new experiment. So that’s why, I think, we have to be careful about saying, “well, it’s not having an immediate impact, and therefore it’s irrelevant.” The international legal system is in a very gradual development toward what we hope, ultimately, will be a well-functioning system, that is really now a kind of embryonic system.  

The way to be somewhat optimistic about it is the question is not: “Are these moves by the ICC going to change the Gaza conflict?” It is: “Are we making one step in the process that 20, 25 years down the road is really going to be impacting the way that leaders think?”

Do you have an answer to that question at this point? 

I think it’s really kind of up in the air. I don’t think we know how this experiment is going to play out. 

These Child Sex Abuse Victims Had An Opportunity to Get Justice. The Louisiana Supreme Court Took It Away.

Sophie Hayssen

Indecent Rubber Articles and a Suitcase Full of Dildos

Eleanor Cooney

Biden Administration Under Pressure to End New Deepwater Oil Export Facilities

Oliver Milman

How Trump Judges Are Helping Him Escape Accountability and Return to Power

We recommend.

Under Glenn Youngkin, Parole in Virginia Has Nearly Vanished

Isabela Dias

Shot by a Civilian Wielding a Police Gun

Chris Hacker , Champe Barton , Alain Stephens , Stephen Stock , Amy Corral , and Nicole Vap

Add Rubio to the List of GOP Invertebrates Who Won’t Say if They’d Certify 2024 Election Results

Sponsored Post

Navigating Farm and Ranch Transfers to a New Generation

American Farmland Trust

Our Fixation on Forests as a Climate Solution Is Causing Problems

Biden Celebrates Black Leadership While Navigating Gaza Crisis Tensions at HBCU Commencement

One of the World’s Healthiest Coral Reefs Is Hiding in a Gulf Coast Oilfield

Jesse Nichols

A Mass Shooter’s Mother Explains How She’s Trying to Stop the Next Tragedy

Jeremy Schulman

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use , and to receive messages from Mother Jones and our partners.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones ' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Independent. In print. In your mailbox.

Inexpensive, too! Subscribe today and get a full year of Mother Jones for just $14.95.

Bold. Brave. Beautiful.

Award-winning photojournalism. Stunning video. Fearless conversations.

Looking for news you can trust?

We noticed you have an ad blocker on..

Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism? We're a nonprofit (so it's tax-deductible), and reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget.

We noticed you have an ad blocker on. Can you pitch in a few bucks to help fund Mother Jones' investigative journalism?

Don't let an algorithm decide what news you see.

Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Advertisement

Supported by

There’s a New Covid Variant. What Will That Mean for Spring and Summer?

Experts are closely watching KP.2, now the leading variant.

• Share full article

By Dani Blum

For most of this year, the JN.1 variant of the coronavirus accounted for an overwhelming majority of Covid cases . But now, an offshoot variant called KP.2 is taking off. The variant, which made up just one percent of cases in the United States in mid-March, now makes up over a quarter.

KP.2 belongs to a subset of Covid variants that scientists have cheekily nicknamed “FLiRT,” drawn from the letters in the names of their mutations. They are descendants of JN.1, and KP.2 is “very, very close” to JN.1, said Dr. David Ho, a virologist at Columbia University. But Dr. Ho has conducted early lab tests in cells that suggest that slight differences in KP.2’s spike protein might make it better at evading our immune defenses and slightly more infectious than JN.1.

While cases currently don’t appear to be on the rise, researchers and physicians are closely watching whether the variant will drive a summer surge.

“I don’t think anybody’s expecting things to change abruptly, necessarily,” said Dr. Marc Sala, co-director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Covid-19 Center in Chicago. But KP.2 will most likely “be our new norm,’” he said. Here’s what to know.

The current spread of Covid

Experts said it would take several weeks to see whether KP.2 might lead to a rise in Covid cases, and noted that we have only a limited understanding of how the virus is spreading. Since the public health emergency ended , there is less robust data available on cases, and doctors said fewer people were using Covid tests.

But what we do know is reassuring: Despite the shift in variants, data from the C.D.C. suggests there are only “minimal ” levels of the virus circulating in wastewater nationally, and emergency department visits and hospitalizations fell between early March and late April.

“I don’t want to say that we already know everything about KP.2,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, the chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Healthcare System. “But at this time, I’m not seeing any major indications of anything ominous.”

Protection from vaccines and past infections

Experts said that even if you had JN.1, you may still get reinfected with KP.2 — particularly if it’s been several months or longer since your last bout of Covid.

KP.2 could infect even people who got the most updated vaccine, Dr. Ho said, since that shot targets XBB.1.5, a variant that is notably different from JN.1 and its descendants. An early version of a paper released in April by researchers in Japan suggested that KP.2 might be more adept than JN.1 at infecting people who received the most recent Covid vaccine. (The research has not yet been peer-reviewed or published.) A spokesperson for the C.D.C. said the agency was continuing to monitor how vaccines perform against KP.2.

Still, the shot does provide some protection, especially against severe disease, doctors said, as do previous infections. At this point, there isn’t reason to believe that KP.2 would cause more severe illness than other strains, the C.D.C. spokesperson said. But people who are 65 and older, pregnant or immunocompromised remain at higher risk of serious complications from Covid.

Those groups, in particular, may want to get the updated vaccine if they haven’t yet, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. The C.D.C. has recommended t hat people 65 and older who already received one dose of the updated vaccine get an additional shot at least four months later.

“Even though it’s the lowest level of deaths and hospitalizations we’ve seen, I’m still taking care of sick people with Covid,” he said. “And they all have one unifying theme, which is that they’re older and they didn’t get the latest shot.”

The latest on symptoms and long Covid

Doctors said that the symptoms of both KP.2 and JN.1 — which now makes up around 16 percent of cases — are most likely similar to those seen with other variants . These include sore throat, runny nose, coughing, head and body aches, fever, congestion, fatigue and in severe cases, shortness of breath. Fewer people lose their sense of taste and smell now than did at the start of the pandemic, but some people will still experience those symptoms.

Dr. Chin-Hong said that patients were often surprised that diarrhea, nausea and vomiting could be Covid symptoms as well, and that they sometimes confused those issues as signs that they had norovirus .

For many people who’ve already had Covid, a reinfection is often as mild or milder than their first case. While new cases of long Covid are less common now than they were at the start of the pandemic, repeat infections do raise the risk of developing long Covid, said Fikadu Tafesse, a virologist at Oregon Health & Science University. But researchers are still trying to determine by how much — one of many issues scientists are trying to untangle as the pandemic continues to evolve.

“That’s the nature of the virus,” Dr. Tafesse said. “It keeps mutating.”

Dani Blum is a health reporter for The Times. More about Dani Blum

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Definition of homework – Learner’s Dictionary

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

• Go upstairs and do your homework.
• For your homework, please do exercise 3 on page 24.
• When I finish my homework, can I watch TV?
• Get on with your homework.
• She was trying to duck out of doing her homework.

(Definition of homework from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translations of homework

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

to fasten the belt that keeps you in your seat in a car or a plane

Searching out and tracking down: talking about finding or discovering things

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
• do your homework
• Translations
• All translations

To add homework to a word list please sign up or log in.

Add homework to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

A guilty verdict? Donald Trump and allies are bracing voters for the worst

WASHINGTON - When former president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump claims that the judicial system wants to put him in jail , he's not just protesting the ongoing hush money trial.

Trump is also bracing voters for the possibility of a guilty verdict.

At political rallies, on social media, and to reporters gathered at the courthouse in New York, Trump's attacks on the trial are designed in part to persuade voters to disregard a bad verdict, according to aides, legal analysts, and a review of his remarks.

"The New York judicial system has been absolutely abused," Trump told reporters Friday. "The whole world is watching."

Trump is accused of improperly influencing the 2016 presidential election by paying hush money to women , seeking to keep them from publicizing sexual liaisons. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Trump targets moderate voters

Trump has not explicitly said he expects a guilty verdict, and occasionally expresses public optimism about the outcome of the trial. "Many good things are going on in the case," the former said Thursday.

But he has spent much more time claiming political bias by the judge , prosecutors and the jury pool, and argues without evidence that his political opponents will do anything to put him behind bars.

Trump and supporters have also predicted that a guilty verdict would be reversed on appeal, a step that would not be necessary if he is acquitted or if there is a hung jury.

Legal experts said Trump has little choice but to brace for a guilty verdict, given how it might affect his campaign against President Joe Biden .

In claiming the trial is unfair, Trump's targets include moderate and independent voters who have long been skeptical of his behavior.

"His base will believe everything he says," said Bradley P. Moss, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who specializes in government transparency issues. "The question is independents."

Trump appeals to New Jersey

Trump's latest effort to brace supporters for bad legal news comes Saturday at a campaign rally in Wildwood, N.J.

This will be Trump's first campaign rally since a May 1 airport event in Freeland, Mich ., where he went on at length about his legal concerns.

While discussing the ongoing New York trial, Trump said "we haven't had a decision here, but the decision here can probably only be one thing, I guess ... 'cause ... this whole thing - it's a rigged deal; it's a rigged deal."

Trump also equated the hush money trial to the major civil cases he has lost, one over bank loan fraud and two others regarding defamation and sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll .

Altogether, civil courts have ordered Trump to pay more than $500 million in damages.

"Hopefully, we'll win all of that stuff easily on appeal," Trump said at one point in Michigan.

'Orchestrating Trump's conviction'

Trump is also trying to discount the New York verdict by citing legal analysts who agree with his criticisms of the case. Some of them say they believe Trump is bound for a guilty verdict because of the way the trial is being conducted by New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan.

In a Truth Social post on May 5, Trump cited comments by former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy that described "how Judge Merchan is orchestrating Trump's conviction."

Trump also attacks the gag order against him , describing it as an attempt to fix the case. Merchan has found Trump in violation of the gag order ten items over attacks on witnesses and court personnel.

In reading out criticisms of the case on Friday, Trump said he has to be careful because of the gag order: "If I mention the wrong word, they'll come out here and they'll take me out to jail some place, because that's the way it is with this judge - he wants to show how tough he is."

Rerun: Trump previously warned of indictments

The political world has seen this kind of courtroom drama previously, back before Trump was first indicted.

In late 2022 and early 2023, Trump braced supporters for the likelihood of indictments, and sought to taint them ahead of time by decrying the investigations as politically motivated.

In June of 2023, three months after the hush money indictment, Trump told a Republican group in New Hampshire that "there could be others coming," and described them as "election interference."

Trump wound up under indictment in four separate criminal cases .

In addition to the New York hush money case, the former president faces trial in South Florida on charges of mishandling classified information, and two cases in Washington, D.C., and Georgia on federal and state charges respectively of trying to steal the 2020 election from Biden.

Trump is seeking to delay the latter three trials to beyond Election Day on Nov. 5. He may succeed, leaving the New York case as his only trial during the election campaign.

Politically, the indictments may have helped Trump , at least with hardcore Republican voters who fueled his drive toward the 2024 presidential nomination.

Polls and primaries also reflected skepticism of Trump from moderate and independent voters, some of whom continued to support former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley even after she dropped out of the race.

Political impact

In the meantime, Trump is preparing for an actual verdict in the New York case - and a political impact that is unknowable.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who is often cited by Trump, said the former president's complaints about a "weaponized justice system" are legitimate.

Even if Trump is convicted, Turley said, he has a good chance to have the case reversed on appeal because "the entire case is becoming a dumpster fire."

Turley also said "no one would bet on an acquittal from a New York jury on Trump," but it's possible that jurors will deadlock and be unable to render any verdict.

Trump could legitimately celebrate a hung jury as a victory, he said.

Whatever the merits of the case, Moss said Trump has been treated fairly by the justice system. For example, Moss said that any other defendant would be in jail now for violating gag orders the way Trump has. "If anything," he said, "he's been handled with kid gloves."

Moss also said that, while Trump's base will stick with him no matter what, it's hard to see how a guilty verdict would help him.

"I don't see anything good coming out of this for Trump," Moss said. "The question is how much damage it does."

Contributing: Bart Jansen

Alzheimer's families like mine know what early detection can mean. Let's invest.

I like to believe that someday we will meet with first survivor of alzheimer’s. science is racing toward that result. iowa needs to join that race., 2 early-detection bills meet different fates in iowa, investment in early detection pays off: financially, and for families.

I was talking to my friend Mike in the autumn 2022 about a hideous day earlier in the year. This conversation was after my wife, Jenna, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in February and after her care became way more than I could handle. She’d been placed, by me, into a long-term care facility called Arbor Springs in West Des Moines.

Mike, after watching my future implode and Jenna having to leave home and live somewhere else, was contemplative.

“If I ever was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease,” he said, “I’d go to Oregon and take the suicide option.”

“Oregon?” I asked.

“Yeah, they have medically assisted suicide there. I hear a lot of people do it.”

I wondered what Portland’s convention and visitors bureau’s Things To Do button might say about this.

• Thrill to the beauty of Mount Hood!
• Off yourself in one of our tasteful Mortality Salons !

In Oregon’s defense, there are a lot of hoops to jump through before anyone gets hooked up to a lethal IV.  It takes more than a note from your therapist.

But Mike was simply saying what many people already think about Alzheimer’s disease. No cure, steady descent into madness, darkness.

But, in 21st-century America, is it?

 Alzheimer’s is a terminal disease. Based on that metric, the answer is clearly yes.

However, knowledge of the brain is exploding. We learn more about brain science by the month. Therapies have emerged for people with mild impairment that have literally extended patient’s cognitive abilities for years .

Think of that. For a loved one to be able to recognize their grandkids for a half dozen or a dozen more years than they’d been able to before? To be able to travel? Live life?

Thanks to dedicated scientists and researchers in labs and practices, progress is definitely being made. And thanks to the US Congress (yes, that Congress). With huge bipartisan majorities, research is being funded by the hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

The key, as with all chronic diseases, is in early detection.

Previously: Alzheimer's changed everything for my family, seemingly in an instant

So, how are we doing in Iowa?

The Alzheimer’s Association, on whose board I serve, had two bills with which we had a strong interest this past session. One was the “biomarker” legislation. The other dealt with dementia specialists.

Good news first: Biomarker bills were introduced in both chambers and passed with enormous majorities. Biomarkers are test results on tissue, blood or fluids that can reveal the presence of molecules or proteins that could presage a particular disease. In early-detection land, biomarker testing is gold.

The legislation requires insurance companies to pay for the testing. The insurance companies weighed in with clarifying language having to do with validation and the quality of the testing itself. It was completely reasonable, in my view.

Interestingly, biomarker testing for Alzheimer’s Disease does not yet exist. But it’s close and we hope it will exist over the next two years or so. In the meantime, people can access biomarker testing for other chronic diseases. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the legislation into law on May 1.

So, hats off to you, Iowa Legislature. Right?

Not so fast. The dementia specialist legislation was, ultimately, an abject failure. It started off promisingly enough with Sen. Brad Zaun introducing his visionary legislation on day one of the past session.

When one gets the diagnosis, the world turns upside down. People think the same thing as my friend Mike thought.

Then, what’s next? What’s going to happen to my loved one? Me?

In our fruited plain the answer is: Good luck with that.

Zaun’s bill called for six dementia specialists to be placed, one each, into all six Area Agencies on Aging in Iowa. The cost to stand the program up was $750,000. The specialists would be qualified to administer cognitive tests, dispense advice and knowledge to families who’ve just received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis or even suspect a loved one may be dealing with early onset issues.

Jenna’s diagnosis was far beyond “early onset.” She was diagnosed as “moderate” impairment.  It placed her in a point-of-no-return status where therapies currently in practice would do nothing to slow her disease down.

Still, for the thousands of families in moderate or severe status, the same questions still exist. What’s next? What do we do?

Dementia specialists can help. And, most importantly, they can be key players in early detection.

The bill did not receive a hearing and did not advance. There were concerns, I’m told, regarding budget.

More: Having early Alzheimer's is gut-wrenching. But I also feel grateful.

There are a couple of things I want you to know.  I believe everyone is doing the best they can, and their concerns are heartfelt and honest. No one is deliberately trying to harm Alzheimer’s patients or their families.   

But we need to grasp some realities.

Alzheimer’s disease is now one of the most, if not the most, expensive diseases in America.

Alzheimer’s disease is now a key driver of Medicare and Medicaid spending.  

The aging crisis is not yet upon us.

If the national debt is important to us, if we want for Medicare and Medicaid to be solvent, we have to rid ourselves of Alzheimer’s disease.

Walking away from a program, over $750,000 to stand up these offices, with the promise of early detection for families, is 180 degrees from what we need to be doing. Absolute opposite.

But I like to believe that someday we will meet the first survivor of Alzheimer’s. That person will return to their family and friends whole and healthy.   

Science is racing toward that result. Iowa needs to join that race.

But that person won’t be Jenna, my loved one. But it’ll be someone’s loved one, someone’s spouse or parent or beloved friend.

We’re Iowans. We’ll do the right thing eventually.

And the world will glisten in that moment like our beautiful land glistens at sunrise in Iowa.

Because for some Alzheimer’s person it is dawn that awaits, not the darkness.

Robert Brownell, a Polk County supervisor, is an author. He serves on the Alzheimer's Association of Iowa's Board of Directors.