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11 Surprising Homework Statistics, Facts & Data

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

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The age-old question of whether homework is good or bad for students is unanswerable because there are so many “ it depends ” factors.

For example, it depends on the age of the child, the type of homework being assigned, and even the child’s needs.

There are also many conflicting reports on whether homework is good or bad. This is a topic that largely relies on data interpretation for the researcher to come to their conclusions.

To cut through some of the fog, below I’ve outlined some great homework statistics that can help us understand the effects of homework on children.

Homework Statistics List

1. 45% of parents think homework is too easy for their children.

A study by the Center for American Progress found that parents are almost twice as likely to believe their children’s homework is too easy than to disagree with that statement.

Here are the figures for math homework:

• 46% of parents think their child’s math homework is too easy.
• 25% of parents think their child’s math homework is not too easy.
• 29% of parents offered no opinion.

Here are the figures for language arts homework:

• 44% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is too easy.
• 28% of parents think their child’s language arts homework is not too easy.
• 28% of parents offered no opinion.

These findings are based on online surveys of 372 parents of school-aged children conducted in 2018.

2. 93% of Fourth Grade Children Worldwide are Assigned Homework

The prestigious worldwide math assessment Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) took a survey of worldwide homework trends in 2007. Their study concluded that 93% of fourth-grade children are regularly assigned homework, while just 7% never or rarely have homework assigned.

3. 17% of Teens Regularly Miss Homework due to Lack of High-Speed Internet Access

A 2018 Pew Research poll of 743 US teens found that 17%, or almost 2 in every 5 students, regularly struggled to complete homework because they didn’t have reliable access to the internet.

This figure rose to 25% of Black American teens and 24% of teens whose families have an income of less than $30,000 per year.

4. Parents Spend 6.7 Hours Per Week on their Children’s Homework

A 2018 study of 27,500 parents around the world found that the average amount of time parents spend on homework with their child is 6.7 hours per week. Furthermore, 25% of parents spend more than 7 hours per week on their child’s homework.

American parents spend slightly below average at 6.2 hours per week, while Indian parents spend 12 hours per week and Japanese parents spend 2.6 hours per week.

5. Students in High-Performing High Schools Spend on Average 3.1 Hours per night Doing Homework

A study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) conducted a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California. 

Across these high-performing schools, students self-reported that they did 3.1 hours per night of homework.

Graduates from those schools also ended up going on to college 93% of the time.

6. One to Two Hours is the Optimal Duration for Homework

A 2012 peer-reviewed study in the High School Journal found that students who conducted between one and two hours achieved higher results in tests than any other group.

However, the authors were quick to highlight that this “t is an oversimplification of a much more complex problem.” I’m inclined to agree. The greater variable is likely the quality of the homework than time spent on it.

Nevertheless, one result was unequivocal: that some homework is better than none at all : “students who complete any amount of homework earn higher test scores than their peers who do not complete homework.”

7. 74% of Teens cite Homework as a Source of Stress

A study by the Better Sleep Council found that homework is a source of stress for 74% of students. Only school grades, at 75%, rated higher in the study.

That figure rises for girls, with 80% of girls citing homework as a source of stress.

Similarly, the study by Galloway, Conner & Pope (2013) found that 56% of students cite homework as a “primary stressor” in their lives.

8. US Teens Spend more than 15 Hours per Week on Homework

The same study by the Better Sleep Council also found that US teens spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, and overall this added up to over 15 hours per week.

Surprisingly, 4% of US teens say they do more than 6 hours of homework per night. That’s almost as much homework as there are hours in the school day.

The only activity that teens self-reported as doing more than homework was engaging in electronics, which included using phones, playing video games, and watching TV.

9. The 10-Minute Rule

The National Education Association (USA) endorses the concept of doing 10 minutes of homework per night per grade.

For example, if you are in 3rd grade, you should do 30 minutes of homework per night. If you are in 4th grade, you should do 40 minutes of homework per night.

However, this ‘rule’ appears not to be based in sound research. Nevertheless, it is true that homework benefits (no matter the quality of the homework) will likely wane after 2 hours (120 minutes) per night, which would be the NEA guidelines’ peak in grade 12.

10. 21.9% of Parents are Too Busy for their Children’s Homework

An online poll of nearly 300 parents found that 21.9% are too busy to review their children’s homework. On top of this, 31.6% of parents do not look at their children’s homework because their children do not want their help. For these parents, their children’s unwillingness to accept their support is a key source of frustration.

11. 46.5% of Parents find Homework too Hard

The same online poll of parents of children from grades 1 to 12 also found that many parents struggle to help their children with homework because parents find it confusing themselves. Unfortunately, the study did not ask the age of the students so more data is required here to get a full picture of the issue.

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Interpreting the Data

Unfortunately, homework is one of those topics that can be interpreted by different people pursuing differing agendas. All studies of homework have a wide range of variables, such as:

• What age were the children in the study?
• What was the homework they were assigned?
• What tools were available to them?
• What were the cultural attitudes to homework and how did they impact the study?
• Is the study replicable?

The more questions we ask about the data, the more we realize that it’s hard to come to firm conclusions about the pros and cons of homework .

Furthermore, questions about the opportunity cost of homework remain. Even if homework is good for children’s test scores, is it worthwhile if the children consequently do less exercise or experience more stress?

Thus, this ends up becoming a largely qualitative exercise. If parents and teachers zoom in on an individual child’s needs, they’ll be able to more effectively understand how much homework a child needs as well as the type of homework they should be assigned.

Related: Funny Homework Excuses

The debate over whether homework should be banned will not be resolved with these homework statistics. But, these facts and figures can help you to pursue a position in a school debate on the topic – and with that, I hope your debate goes well and you develop some great debating skills!

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Number Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Word Games for Kids (Free and Easy)
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 25 Outdoor Games for Kids
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 50 Incentives to Give to Students

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Students spend three times longer on homework than average, survey reveals

Sonya Kulkarni and Pallavi Gorantla | Jan 9, 2022

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The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association have suggested that a healthy number of hours that students should be spending can be determined by the “10-minute rule.” This means that each grade level should have a maximum homework time incrementing by 10 minutes depending on their grade level (for instance, ninth-graders would have 90 minutes of homework, 10th-graders should have 100 minutes, and so on).

As ‘finals week’ rapidly approaches, students not only devote effort to attaining their desired exam scores but make a last attempt to keep or change the grade they have for semester one by making up homework assignments.

High schoolers reported doing an average of 2.7 hours of homework per weeknight, according to a study by the Washington Post from 2018 to 2020 of over 50,000 individuals. A survey of approximately 200 Bellaire High School students revealed that some students spend over three times this number.

The demographics of this survey included 34 freshmen, 43 sophomores, 54 juniors and 54 seniors on average.

When asked how many hours students spent on homework in a day on average, answers ranged from zero to more than nine with an average of about four hours. In contrast, polled students said that about one hour of homework would constitute a healthy number of hours.

Junior Claire Zhang said she feels academically pressured in her AP schedule, but not necessarily by the classes.

“The class environment in AP classes can feel pressuring because everyone is always working hard and it makes it difficult to keep up sometimes.” Zhang said.

A total of 93 students reported that the minimum grade they would be satisfied with receiving in a class would be an A. This was followed by 81 students, who responded that a B would be the minimum acceptable grade. 19 students responded with a C and four responded with a D.

“I am happy with the classes I take, but sometimes it can be very stressful to try to keep up,” freshman Allyson Nguyen said. “I feel academically pressured to keep an A in my classes.”

Up to 152 students said that grades are extremely important to them, while 32 said they generally are more apathetic about their academic performance.

Last year, nine valedictorians graduated from Bellaire. They each achieved a grade point average of 5.0. HISD has never seen this amount of valedictorians in one school, and as of now there are 14 valedictorians.

“I feel that it does degrade the title of valedictorian because as long as a student knows how to plan their schedule accordingly and make good grades in the classes, then anyone can be valedictorian,” Zhang said.

Bellaire offers classes like physical education and health in the summer. These summer classes allow students to skip the 4.0 class and not put it on their transcript. Some electives also have a 5.0 grade point average like debate.

Close to 200 students were polled about Bellaire having multiple valedictorians. They primarily answered that they were in favor of Bellaire having multiple valedictorians, which has recently attracted significant acclaim .

Senior Katherine Chen is one of the 14 valedictorians graduating this year and said that she views the class of 2022 as having an extraordinary amount of extremely hardworking individuals.

“I think it was expected since freshman year since most of us knew about the others and were just focused on doing our personal best,” Chen said.

Chen said that each valedictorian achieved the honor on their own and deserves it.

“I’m honestly very happy for the other valedictorians and happy that Bellaire is such a good school,” Chen said. “I don’t feel any less special with 13 other valedictorians.”

Nguyen said that having multiple valedictorians shows just how competitive the school is.

“It’s impressive, yet scary to think about competing against my classmates,” Nguyen said.

Offering 30 AP classes and boasting a significant number of merit-based scholars Bellaire can be considered a competitive school.

“I feel academically challenged but not pressured,” Chen said. “Every class I take helps push me beyond my comfort zone but is not too much to handle.”

Students have the opportunity to have off-periods if they’ve met all their credits and are able to maintain a high level of academic performance. But for freshmen like Nguyen, off periods are considered a privilege. Nguyen said she usually has an hour to five hours worth of work everyday.

“Depending on the day, there can be a lot of work, especially with extra curriculars,” Nguyen said. “Although, I am a freshman, so I feel like it’s not as bad in comparison to higher grades.”

According to the survey of Bellaire students, when asked to evaluate their agreement with the statement “students who get better grades tend to be smarter overall than students who get worse grades,” responders largely disagreed.

Zhang said that for students on the cusp of applying to college, it can sometimes be hard to ignore the mental pressure to attain good grades.

“As a junior, it’s really easy to get extremely anxious about your GPA,” Zhang said. “It’s also a very common but toxic practice to determine your self-worth through your grades but I think that we just need to remember that our mental health should also come first. Sometimes, it’s just not the right day for everyone and one test doesn’t determine our smartness.”

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Anonymous • Nov 21, 2023 at 10:32 am

It’s not really helping me understand how much.

josh • May 9, 2023 at 9:58 am

Kassie • May 6, 2022 at 12:29 pm

Im using this for an English report. This is great because on of my sources needed to be from another student. Homework drives me insane. Im glad this is very updated too!!

Kaylee Swaim • Jan 25, 2023 at 9:21 pm

I am also using this for an English report. I have to do an argumentative essay about banning homework in schools and this helps sooo much!

Izzy McAvaney • Mar 15, 2023 at 6:43 pm

I am ALSO using this for an English report on cutting down school days, homework drives me insane!!

E. Elliott • Apr 25, 2022 at 6:42 pm

I’m from Louisiana and am actually using this for an English Essay thanks for the information it was very informative.

Nabila Wilson • Jan 10, 2022 at 6:56 pm

Interesting with the polls! I didn’t realize about 14 valedictorians, that’s crazy.

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The way U.S. teens spend their time is changing, but differences between boys and girls persist

Teens today are spending their time differently than they did a decade ago. They’re devoting more time to sleep and homework, and less time to paid work and socializing. But what has not changed are the differences between teen boys and girls in time spent on leisure, grooming, homework, housework and errands, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Overall, teens (ages 15 to 17) spend an hour a day, on average, doing homework during the school year, up from 44 minutes a day about a decade ago and 30 minutes in the mid-1990s.

Teens are also getting more shut-eye than they did in the past. They are clocking an average of over nine and a half hours of sleep a night, an increase of 22 minutes compared with teens a decade ago and almost an hour more than those in the mid-1990s. Sleep patterns fluctuate quite a bit – on weekends, teens average about 11 hours, while on weekdays they typically get just over nine hours a night. (While these findings are derived from time diaries in which respondents record the amount of time they slept on the prior night, results from other types of surveys suggest teens are getting fewer hours of sleep .) 

Teens now enjoy more than five and a half hours of leisure a day (5 hours, 44 minutes). The biggest chunk of teens’ daily leisure time is spent on screens: 3 hours and 4 minutes on average. This figure, which can include time spent gaming, surfing the web, watching videos and watching TV, has held steady over the past decade. On weekends, screen time increases to almost four hours a day (3 hours, 53 minutes), and on weekdays teens are spending 2 hours and 44 minutes on screens.

Time spent playing sports has held steady at around 45 minutes, as has the time teens spend in other types of leisure such as shopping for clothes, listening to music and reading for pleasure.

Time spent by teens in other leisure activities has declined. Over the past decade, the time spent socializing – including attending parties, extracurriculars, sporting or other entertainment events as well as spending time with others in person or on the phone – has dropped by 16 minutes, to 1 hour and 13 minutes a day.

Teens also are spending less time on paid work during the school year than their predecessors: 26 minutes a day, on average, compared with 49 minutes about a decade ago and 57 minutes in the mid-1990s. Much of this decline reflects the fact that teens are less likely to work today than in the past; among employed teens, the amount of time spent working is not much different now than it was around 2005.

While the way teens overall spend their time has changed in a number of ways, persistent gender differences in time use remain. Teen boys are spending an average of about six hours a day in leisure time, compared with roughly five hours a day for girls – driven largely by the fact that boys are spending about an hour (58 minutes) more a day than girls engaged in screen time. Boys also spend more time playing sports: 59 minutes vs. 33 minutes for girls.

On the flip side, girls spend 10 more minutes a day, on average, shopping for items such as clothes or going to the mall (15 minutes vs. 5 minutes).

Teen girls also spend more time than boys on grooming activities, such as bathing, getting dressed, getting haircuts, and other activities related to their hygiene and appearance. Girls spend an average of about an hour a day on these types of tasks (1 hour, 3 minutes); boys spend 40 minutes on them.

Girls also devote 21 more minutes a day to homework than boys do – 71 minutes vs. 50 minutes, on average, during the school year. This pattern has held steady over the past decade, as the amount of time spent on homework has risen equally for boys and girls.

When it comes to the amount of time spent on housework, the differences between boys and girls reflect gender dynamics that are also evident among adults . Teenage girls spend 38 minutes a day, on average, helping around the house during the school year, compared with 24 minutes a day for boys. The bulk of this gap is driven by the fact that girls spend more than twice as much time cleaning up and preparing food as boys do (29 minutes vs. 12 minutes). There are not significant differences in the amount of time boys and girls spend on home maintenance and lawn care.

Girls also spend more time running errands, such as shopping for groceries (21 minutes vs. 11 minutes for boys).

In addition to these differences in how they spend their time, the way boys and girls feel about their day also differs in some key ways. A new survey by Pew Research Center of teens ages 13 to 17 finds that 36% of girls say they feel tense or nervous about their day every or almost every day; 23% of boys say the same. At the same time, girls are more likely than boys to say they get excited daily or almost daily by something they study in school (33% vs. 21%). And while similar shares of boys and girls say they feel a lot of pressure to get good grades, be involved in extracurricular activities or fit in socially, girls are more likely than boys to say they face a lot of pressure to look good (35% vs. 23%).

This analysis is based primarily on time diary data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which has been sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and annually conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau since 2003. The ATUS produces a nationally representative sample of respondents, drawn from the Current Population Survey.

Most of the analyses are based on respondents in the 2003-2006 and the 2014-2017 ATUS samples (referred to in the text as “2005” and “2015”). Data regarding time use in the mid-1990s is based on 1992-1994 data from the American Heritage Time Use Survey (AHTUS). For all time points, multiple years of data were combined in order to increase sample size. Because time use among teens can vary so much between the summer and the school year, only data for September through June are used for these analyses. Although focused on the school year, the data also reflect time use during school holidays, such as spring break.

These time diaries track in detail how Americans spend their time, focusing on each respondent’s primary activity (i.e., the main thing they were doing) sequentially for the prior day, including the start and end times for each activity.

All data were accessed via the ATUS-X website made available through IPUMS .

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Analyzing ‘the homework gap’ among high school students

Subscribe to the brown center on education policy newsletter, michael hansen and michael hansen senior fellow - brown center on education policy , the herman and george r. brown chair - governance studies diana quintero diana quintero former senior research analyst, brown center on education policy - the brookings institution, ph.d. student - vanderbilt university.

August 10, 2017

Researchers have struggled for decades to identify a causal, or even correlational, relationship between time spent in school and improved learning outcomes for students. Some studies have focused on the length of a school year while others have focused on hours in a day and others on hours in the week .

In this blog post, we will look at time spent outside of school–specifically time spent doing homework–among different racial and socio-economic groups. We will use data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to shed light on those differences and then attempt to explain those gaps, using ATUS data and other evidence.

What we know about out-of-school time

Measuring the relationship between out-of-school time and outcomes like test scores can be difficult. Researchers are primarily confounded by an inability to determine what compels students to choose homework during their time off over other activities. Are those who spend more time on homework just extra motivated? Or are they struggling students who need to work harder to keep up? What role do social expectations from parents or peers play?

Previous studies have examined the impact of this outside time use on educational outcomes for students. A 2007 study using data from Berea College in Kentucky identified a causal relationship between hours spent studying and a student’s academic performance through an interesting measure. The researchers took advantage of randomly assigned college roommates, paying attention to those who came to campus with a video game console in tow. They hypothesized students randomly assigned to a roommate without a video game console would study more, since all other factors remained equal. That hypothesis held up, and that group also received significantly higher grades, demonstrating the causal relationship.

Other research has relied on data collected through the American Time Use Survey, a study of how Americans spend their time, and shown the existence of a gender gap and a parental education gap in homework time. Other studies have looked at the relationship between holding a job and student’s time use in discretionary activities , like sleep, media consumption, and time spent on homework. We are curious about out-of-school differences in homework time by race and income.

Descriptive statistics of time use

We began with a general sample of 2,575 full-time high school students between the ages of 15 and 18 from the ATUS, restricting the sample to their answers about time spent on homework during weekdays and school months (September to May). Among all high school students surveyed (those that reported completing their homework and those that did not), the time allocated to complete homework amounted to less than an hour per day, despite the fact that high school teachers report they assign an average of 3.5 hours of homework per day.

To explore racial or income-based differences, in Figure 1, we plot the minutes that students reporting spending on homework separately by their racial/ethnic group and family income. We observed a time gap between racial groups, with Asian students spending the most time on homework (nearly two hours a day). Similarly, we observe a time gap by the students’ family income.

We can also use ATUS data to isolate when students do homework by race and by income. In Figure 2, we plot the percentage of high school students in each racial and income group doing homework by the time of day. Percentages remain low during the school day and then expectedly increase when students get home, with more Asian students doing more homework and working later into the night than other racial groups. Low-income students reported doing less homework per hour than their non-low-income peers.

Initial attempts to explain the homework gap

We hypothesized that these racial and income-based time gaps could potentially be explained by other factors, like work, time spent caring for others, and parental education. We tested these hypotheses by separating groups based on particular characteristics and comparing the average number of minutes per day spent on homework amongst the comparison groups.

Students who work predictably reported spending less time on educational activities, so if working disproportionately affected particular racial or income groups, then work could help explain the time gap. Students who worked allocated on average 20 minutes less for homework than their counterparts who did not work. Though low-income students worked more hours than their peers, they largely maintained a similar level of homework time by reducing their leisure or extracurricular activities. Therefore, the time gap on homework changed only slightly with the inclusion of work as a factor.

We also incorporated time spent taking care of others in the household. Though a greater percentage of low-income students take care of other household members, we found that this does not have a statistically significant effect on homework because students reduce leisure, rather than homework, in an attempt to help their families. Therefore, this variable again does not explain the time gaps.

Finally, we considered parental education, since parents with more education have been shown to encourage their children to value school more and have the resources to ensure homework is completed more easily. Our analysis showed students with at least one parent with any post-secondary degree (associate or above) reported spending more time on homework than their counterparts whose parents do not hold a degree; however, gaps by race still existed, even holding parental education constant. Turning to income levels, we found that parental education is more correlated with homework time among low-income students, reducing the time gap between income groups to only eight minutes.

Societal explanations

Our analysis of ATUS could not fully explain this gap in time spent on homework, especially among racial groups. Instead, we believe that viewing homework as an outcome of the culture of the school and the expectations of teachers, rather than an outcome of a student’s effort, may provide some reasons for its persistence.

Many studies, including recent research , have shown that teachers perceive students of color as academically inferior to their white peers. A 2016 study by Seth Gershenson et al. showed that this expectations gap can also depend on the race of the teacher. In a country where minority students make up nearly half of all public school students, yet minority teachers comprise just 18 percent of the teacher workforce, these differences in expectations matter.

Students of color are also less likely to attend high schools that offer advanced courses (including Advanced Placement courses) that would likely assign more homework, and thus access to rigorous courses may partially explain the gaps as well.

Research shows a similar, if less well-documented, gap by income, with teachers reporting lower expectations and dimmer futures for their low-income students. Low-income students and students of color may be assigned less homework based on lower expectations for their success, thus preventing them from learning as much and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy .

In conclusion, these analyses of time use revealed a substantial gap in homework by race and by income group that could not be entirely explained by work, taking care of others, or parental education. Additionally, differences in educational achievement, especially as measured on standardized tests, have been well-documented by race and by income . These gaps deserve our attention, but we should be wary of blaming disadvantaged groups. Time use is an outcome reflecting multiple factors, not simply motivation, and a greater understanding of that should help raise expectations–and therefore, educational achievement–all around.

Sarah Novicoff contributed to this post.

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What's the Standard High School Curriculum You Should Take?

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Are you wondering what a typical high school curriculum looks like? Do you want to know what classes you'll be taking as a high school student?

Read this guide to learn about the standard high school curriculum, high school graduation requirements, and what classes colleges expect you to have taken.

How to Find Your School's Curriculum

This is a general guide to high school curricula. It was created by researching national education standards, as well as the curricula of high schools across the country. While the information below applies to many students , not all high schools teach the same courses, follow the same course sequence, or have the same curriculum requirements. Use this information as a guideline to research your own high school's curriculum more in-depth.

To find your own school's curriculum, talk to your academic adviser . You can also look on your school's website, searching for "graduation requirements", "course sequence" or something similar. Your high school's course catalog will also usually contain this information.

Which Subjects Should You Take More Rigorous Courses In?

In addition to explaining typical graduation requirements, each core subject in this guide includes ways to exceed basic requirements and strengthen your transcript . However, trying to go the extra mile in every subject can be exhausting and lead to you getting burned out. Because colleges appreciate depth more than breadth, concentrate on putting extra effort in the area(s) you plan to continue studying in college.

For example, if you plan on majoring in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field, try to follow our guidelines for exceeding expectations in your math and science classes, and worry less about taking advanced courses in English and history (although still work to get solid grades in those courses). Similarly, if you plan on majoring in something like journalism, concentrate most of your effort on taking advanced English classes and additional English electives.

Also, if you are looking at attending a highly competitive college , know that most expect applicants to have taken honors or advanced classes if their school offers them, and most also require or highly recommend completing four years in each core subject (math, science, English, and social studies).

Standard High School Curriculum

Below is information on the typical classes a high school student will be expected to take, organized by subject. Each subject includes classes that are required to graduate high school, classes colleges expect students to have taken, and suggestions for ways to impress by going beyond these expectations.

Requirements:

• Four years of English are required to graduate high school.
• Freshman and Sophomore years: Classes during these years will be primarily focused on developing writing and critical reading skills.
• Junior year: This year will focus on American literature, as well as continued development of writing skills.
• Possible electives include British literature, creative writing, and world literature.
• Colleges will expect all high school graduates to have completed four years of English.

To Exceed Expectations:

• There are two AP English classes: English Language and Composition (usually taken junior year), and English Literature and Composition (usually taken senior year).
• There are three IB literature classes: Language A: Literature, Language A: Language and Literature, and Literature and Performance.
• Also consider taking additional English electives in areas that you're interested in, such as literature or writing.

• At least three years of math, including algebra and geometry, is required to graduate high school.
• Algebra 2/Trigonometry
• Pre-Calculus
• (Not all students start with Algebra 1, and not all students complete all the above courses or follow the above order exactly)
• Most colleges require three-four years of math for non-STEM majors, including algebra 1 and 2 and geometry.
• For STEM majors, most colleges require four years of math, sometimes including pre-calculus and calculus.
• Take four years of math.
• Take math at the highest level offered by your school, such as at an honors or AP level.
• There are three AP Math classes: Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and Statistics.
• There are four IB Math classes that cover roughly the same material but vary in difficulty and speed.
• Take pre-calculus and calculus, if possible.
• Take additional math-related electives such as statistics and computer math.

Requirements

• Two to three years of science, including biology and chemistry, is required to graduate high school.
• Freshman year: Biology
• Sophomore year: Chemistry
• Junior year: Physics or Earth Science
• Students who are more confident in their math and science skills typically take physics, while those who are not take earth science instead.
• Senior year: optional electives
• Potential electives include astronomy, environmental science, and human biology.
• Most colleges require two-three years of science for non-STEM majors.
• For STEM majors, most colleges require four years of science, including physics.
• Take four years of science.
• Take honors or accelerated classes your first three years.
• Take physics instead of earth science your junior year.
• AP science classes include: Biology, Chemistry, Physics (1,2, and C versions), and Environmental Science
• There are seven IB science classes: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Design Technology, Environmental Systems and Societies, Sports, Education and Health Science
• You can also take more career-focused classes if your school offers them, such as job shadowing at a hospital.

Social Studies

• Three years of social studies, including US history, is often required to graduate high school.
• This can be a human geography course or another introductory social studies class.
• Sophomore year: World history
• Junior year: US History
• Possible electives include psychology, US government, and anthropology.
• Most colleges require completing at least two years of social studies, often including US history and World or European history classes.
• For students planning on majoring in a related field, such as political science or history, most colleges require they have completed four years of social studies.
• Take four years of social studies.
• AP options during these three years include Human Geography, World History, European History, and US History
• AP electives include Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Psychology, US Government and Politics, and Comparative Government and Politics.
• IB classes for social studies are offered under the group entitled "Individuals and Societies".
• Ten classes are offered on varying subjects.

Foreign Language

• Foreign language requirements can vary greatly by school.
• Most high schools require students to complete one-two years of foreign language.
• Most colleges require one-two years of a foreign language, and highly competitive schools may require or recommend up to four years.
• Most high schools and colleges require that these credits all come from the same foreign language. For example, if your high school requires two years of foreign language, taking Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 will meet that requirement, but taking Spanish 1 and then switching to Italian 1 often won't.
• Take one foreign language all four years of high school, including AP level if possible.
• You may also want to consider taking a second foreign language.

Other Classes

These are classes that are not part of the core curriculum, but may still be a part of graduation requirements.

• Most high schools require students to complete a certain number of credits in order to graduate. Core requirements (such as those listed above) usually do not fill all these credits, so extra space in your schedule can be used to take electives.
• Electives can be regular, honors, or AP level.
• They can relate to a core subject, such as statistics, creative writing, and zoology, or not, such as choir, drawing, and woodworking.
• Many high schools require students to complete one-four years of physical education. This may be waived if you participate in a school sport.

How to Use This Information

Now that you know what the typical high school curriculum looks like, you can use this information to make more informed decisions about your own high school classes. Some actions to take include:

• Think about your course sequence early, ideally starting freshman year if possible.
• Reflect on your course choices each quarter or semester. Are you on track to graduate on time? Are you taking the classes you need to get into the colleges you want and the major you want? Talk to your academic adviser if you're not sure.
• Think about the subject areas where you want to exceed expectations and choose your classes accordingly. However, don't be afraid to drop to a lower level if you're having a lot of trouble with a particular class.

What's Next?

Wondering if you're taking enough challenging classes? Check out our guide to learn what a rigorous high school course load looks like .

Do you know what colleges look for on your transcript? Learn what a high school transcript is and why it's so important to colleges.

Want to get more detailed information about the classes you should take? Check out our guides to choosing classes for English , Math , Science , History , and Foreign Languages !

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Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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• Donald Trump

What We Know—and Don’t Know—So Far About the Trump Rally Gunman

T wenty-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was identified by the FBI on Sunday as the shooter behind the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday evening that left one bystander dead and two others injured.

What We Know So Far About the Trump Rally Shooting

• Eyewitness Accounts
• What We Know So Far About the Gunman
• Politicians Condemn Shooting
• What to Know About the Victims
• The Recent History of Political Violence in America
• Column: The Danger of Treating Politics Like War

Crooks was killed at the scene by a Secret Service sniper, and investigations continue into his motives, which remain unclear.

Here’s what we know so far.

‘No indication of any mental health issues’

The FBI says that Crooks was not known to the agency prior to the incident.

In a call with reporters Sunday night, the FBI special agent in charge, Kevin Rojek, said there was “no indication of any mental health issues” regarding the shooter.

During a private congressional briefing on Wednesday, the New York Times reported, the FBI revealed that the gunman’s online search history included a query on “major depressive disorder.”

Limited social media presence

Rojek also said authorities “have not yet identified an ideology” associated with Crooks. The agency has interviewed more than 100 people , including Crooks’ family and friends, and cracked into his two phones using the Israeli technology Cellebrite, according to the Washington Post , but has yet to find evidence of his motivations.

President Joe Biden on Sunday urged people to refrain from making assumptions. “Let the FBI do their job, and their partner agencies do their job,” he said.

Read More: What to Know About Women in Secret Service as Critics Blame ‘DEI’ for Trump’s Shooting

Crooks reportedly had a limited social media presence, though a spokesperson for the platform Discord said in a statement shared with TIME that the company “identified” a “rarely utilized” account that appears to be linked to Crooks. The spokesperson said that the company is cooperating with law enforcement but that it “found no evidence” the account was used “to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views.”

Fox News reported that the FBI told Senators on Wednesday that Crooks had written on gaming platform Steam: “July 13 will be my premiere, watch as it unfolds.”

Registered Republican, donor to progressives

State public voting records show that Crooks was a registered Republican, while Federal Election Commision documents show that a donor with the same name and address gave $15 to ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising apparatus, on Jan. 20, 2021—the date of President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The donation was earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project.

A spokesperson for the Progressive Turnout Project told CNN that “the email address associated with the contribution only made the one contribution and was unsubscribed from our lists 2 years ago.” They added: “We unequivocally condemn political violence in all of its forms, and we denounce anyone who chooses violence over peaceful political action.”

During the Wednesday congressional briefing, the FBI said it found no indication Crooks had any strong partisan political views and that he had searched images of public figures including Trump and Biden as well as FBI director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland, according to the New York Times . Crooks reportedly also looked up dates of Trump’s public appearances and the upcoming Democratic National Convention .

From an affluent Pittsburgh suburb

The FBI identified Crooks’ hometown as Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh about an hour south of where the Trump rally was held. Dan Gryzbek, a county council member representing the area, described the neighborhood where Crooks’ family lived as “pretty firmly middle class, maybe upper-middle class” to the New York Times . According to the Census Bureau , Bethel Park’s population is 93% white with a 1.3 times higher per capita income than the rest of Pennsylvania.

The address of Crooks’ family home was in a district that President Biden won in 2020 with 52% of the vote to Trump’s 46%. Crooks’ father is a registered Libertarian and his mother is a registered Democrat, according to voter records, CNN and the Times reported. Both parents are licensed professional counselors, according to state records.

Sources told the Washington Post that both Crooks’ parents have health issues and appeared to investigators as loving parents who may not have been closely attuned to their son’s activities.

Seems to have acted alone

“While the investigation to date indicates the shooter acted alone,” the FBI said Sunday, “the FBI continues to conduct logical investigative activity to determine if there were any co-conspirators associated with this attack. At this time, there are no current public safety concerns.”

The FBI repeated that Crooks appeared to act alone during the agency’s briefing to Congress on Wednesday. Director Wray also said there’s no known foreign nexus, in response to a question from Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in reference to recent reporting about an unrelated Iranian assassination plot targeting Trump, PunchBowl News reported.

Used an AR-15-style rifle purchased legally by his father

Multiple law enforcement officials have said that the firearm used by Crooks in the shooting was an AR-style rifle that was legally purchased by Crooks’ father. Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators, Rojek has said.

Read More: How the AR-15 Rifle Became America’s Most Dangerous Weapon

NBC News reported Monday that more than a dozen other guns were found in a search of the Crooks’ family home.

A law enforcement official told CNN Monday that on the morning of the Trump campaign rally, Crooks purchased a five-foot ladder and 50 rounds of ammunition before driving to Butler. It’s unclear if Crooks used these in the assassination attempt.

A rifle enthusiast since he was a teen

According to photos and videos of the scene of the shooting, Crooks was wearing a shirt associated with Demolition Ranch, a popular gun channel on YouTube. (Matt Carriker, the host of the channel, said in a video statement on Monday that he was “shocked and confused” and offered condolences to the victims of the shooting . “This channel was never meant to incite violence or hate—it never has, it isn’t, and it never will be a channel that does that,” he said.)

Crooks had tried out for his high school’s junior varsity rifle team when he was a freshman, CBS reported, but classmate Jameson Myers said Crooks didn’t make the team and never tried out again.

Jameson Murphy, another former classmate, told the New York Post that Crooks “was such a comically bad shot he was unable to make the team and left after the first day.” Another classmate also told the Post that the rifle team coach had concerns about Crooks based on “some crass jokes” Crooks made and how he interacted with others. “Our old coach was a stickler, he trained Navy marksmen, so he knew people. He knew when someone’s not the greatest person,” the classmate said.

Crooks did, however, belong to a local gun club, the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club , which has a 200-yard rifle range among its facilities. The club confirmed Crooks’ membership in a statement provided to multiple media outlets that admonished the violence and offered condolences to the victims but said it couldn’t offer any more details as investigations remain ongoing.

The day before the shooting, Crooks visited a shooting range to practice firing, according to a law enforcement official speaking to CNN.

Amid speculation that Crooks may have had a military background, the Pentagon told the Associated Press that “there is no military service affiliation for the suspect with that name or date of birth” in their databases across military branches.

Left behind explosive materials

The FBI said that, when it searched Crooks’ home and vehicle to collect additional evidence, suspicious devices were found and have since been “rendered safe” by bomb technicians.

According to CNN, investigators found a bulletproof vest, three fully loaded magazines, and two remote-controlled explosives in his car, which was parked near the rally. An unnamed law enforcement official told CNN Crooks was found with a detonator on his body, and his car’s trunk contained a metal box of explosives connected with wires to a receiver.

Sources told Fox News that law enforcement also found bomb-making materials in Crooks’ home, while CNN reported that investigators found an additional remote-controlled explosive device, another bulletproof vest, and a 3D printer in his home—and that Crooks had received deliveries of multiple packages, including some marked as potentially hazardous, in recent months.

A nursing home aid with an engineering science degree

Crooks graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County with an associate degree in engineering science just over two months ago, a school official confirmed to the New York Times .

Crooks worked as a dietary aid at the Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. “We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement,” Marcie Grimm, the facility administrator, said in a statement to multiple media outlets, adding that Crooks “performed his job without concern and his background check was clean.”

A colleague at the nursing home described Crooks as caring and apolitical at work to CNN . “It’s hard seeing everything that’s going on online,” the colleague said, “because he was a really, really good person that did a really bad thing, and I just wish I knew why.”

Officials told CNN that Crooks normally worked on Saturdays but had requested time off on the day of Trump’s rally, telling his boss that he had “something to do.”

A quiet, lonely nerd in high school

Bethel Park School District confirmed in a statement that Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High in 2022. It offered its condolences to victims of the shooting and said it is cooperating with law enforcement investigations.

Former peers, speaking to media outlets, painted a portrait of a social outcast who kept a low profile.

“He didn’t really fit in with everybody else,” classmate Sarah D’Angelo told the Wall Street Journal . “He was there but I can’t think of anyone who knew him well,” another classmate told BBC .

Crooks was “a loner” who “would sit alone at lunch,” classmate Jason Kohler told ABC News . He would regularly wear camouflage outfits and was “bullied” for the way he dressed, Kohler told NBC News .

“There was definitely chatter about him just looking a little different,” another classmate, who asked not to be named, told CNN . “Almost a retro nerd vibe.”

Summer Barkley, another classmate, told BBC that Crooks was “always getting good grades on tests” and was “very passionate about history.”

Zach Bradford, another classmate, described Crooks to the New York Times as “incredibly intelligent” and said his views in high school seemed “slightly right leaning.”

Most—but not all—who knew Crooks expressed disbelief at his involvement in the shooting at the Trump rally.

Jim Knapp, Crooks’ since-retired guidance counselor at the school, described Crooks to the Times as “a very good student” and said “not once did he ever get in trouble.”

“He never outwardly spoke about his political views or how much he hated Trump or anything,” D’Angelo added to the Wall Street Journal .

“I was just, like, shocked—I just couldn’t believe he did something that bold, considering he was such a quiet and kept-to-himself kind of person,” the anonymous classmate told CNN.

“I will say he was definitely nerdy, for sure, but he never gave off that he was creepy,” classmate Mark Sigafoos told CBS. “He seemed like he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

But Julianna Grooms, who graduated a year after Crooks, told the Wall Street Journal that Crooks stood out for his awkwardness. “If someone would say something to his face, he would just kind of stare at them,” she said. “People would say he was the student who would shoot up high school.”

—Koh Ewe contributed reporting.

More Must-Reads from TIME

• Eyewitness Accounts From the Trump Rally Shooting
• From 2022: How the Threat of Political Violence Is Transforming America
• ‘We’re Living in a Nightmare:’ Inside the Health Crisis of a Texas Bitcoin Town
• Remembering Shannen Doherty , the Quintessential Gen X Girl
• How Often Do You Really Need to Wash Your Sheets?
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• Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox

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What Is Project 2025, and Why Is Trump Disavowing It?

The Biden campaign has attacked Donald J. Trump’s ties to the conservative policy plan that would amass power in the executive branch, though it is not his official platform.

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By Simon J. Levien

Donald J. Trump has gone to great lengths to distance himself from Project 2025, a set of conservative policy proposals for a future Republican administration that has outraged Democrats. He has claimed he knows nothing about it or the people involved in creating it.

Mr. Trump himself was not behind the project. But some of his allies were.

The document, its origins and the interplay between it and the Trump campaign have made for one of the most hotly debated questions of the 2024 race.

Here is what to know about Project 2025, and who is behind it.

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and like-minded conservative groups before Mr. Trump officially entered the 2024 race. The Heritage Foundation is a think tank that has shaped the personnel and policies of Republican administrations since the Reagan presidency.

The project was intended as a buffet of options for the Trump administration or any other Republican presidency. It’s the latest installment in the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership series, which has compiled conservative policy proposals every few years since 1981. But no previous study has been as sweeping in its recommendations — or as widely discussed.

Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation, which began putting together the latest document in 2022, said he thought the American government would embrace a more conservative era, one that he hoped Republicans would usher in.

“We are in the process of the second American Revolution,” Mr. Roberts said on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing cable channel, in early July, adding pointedly that the revolt “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

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How Much Time Should Be Spent on Homework?

At the elementary level homework should be brief, at your child’s ability level and involve frequent, voluntary and high interest activities. Young students require high levels of feedback and/or supervision to help them complete assignments correctly. Accurate homework completion is influenced by your child’s ability, the difficulty of the task, and the amount of feedback your child receives. When assigning homework, your child’s teachers may struggle to create a balance at this age between ability, task difficulty and feedback. Unfortunately, there are no simple guiding principles.

We can assure you, however, that your input and feedback on a nightly basis is an essential component in helping your child benefit from the homework experience.

What is the recommended time in elementary school?

In first through third grade, students should receive one to three assignments per week, taking them no more than fifteen to twenty minutes. In fourth through sixth grade, students should receive two to four assignments per week, lasting between fifteen and forty-five minutes. At this age, the primarily goal of homework is to help your child develop the independent work and learning skills that will become critical in the higher grades. In the upper grades, the more time spent on homework the greater the achievement gains.

What is the recommended time in middle and high school?

For students in middle and high school grades there are greater overall benefits from time engaged in practicing and thinking about school work. These benefits do not appear to depend as much upon immediate supervision or feedback as they do for elementary students. In seventh through ninth grade we recommend students receive three to five sets of assignments per week, lasting between forty-five and seventy-five minutes per set. In high school students will receive four to five sets of homework per week, taking them between seventy-five and 150 minutes per set to complete.

As children progress through school, homework and the amount of time engaged in homework increases in importance. Due to the significance of homework at the older age levels, it is not surprising that there is more homework assigned. Furthermore, homework is always assigned in college preparatory classes and assigned at least three quarters of the time in special education and vocational training classes. Thus at any age, homework may indicate our academic expectations of children.

Regardless of the amount of homework assigned, many students unsuccessful or struggling in school spend less rather than more time engaged in homework. It is not surprising that students spending less time completing homework may eventually not achieve as consistently as those who complete their homework.

Does this mean that time devoted to homework is the key component necessary for achievement?

We are not completely certain. Some American educators have concluded that if students in America spent as much time doing homework as students in Asian countries they might perform academically as well. It is tempting to assume such a cause and effect relationship.

However, this relationship appears to be an overly simple conclusion. We know that homework is important as one of several influential factors in school success. However, other variables, including student ability, achievement, motivation and teaching quality influence the time students spend with homework tasks. Many students and their parents have told us they experience less difficulty being motivated and completing homework in classes in which they enjoyed the subject, the instruction, the assignments and the teachers.

The benefits from homework are the greatest for students completing the most homework and doing so correctly. Thus, students who devote time to homework are probably on a path to improved achievement. This path also includes higher quality instruction, greater achievement motivation and better skill levels.

Authors: Dr. Sam Goldstein and Dr. Sydney Zentall

Trump rally shooter identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man

The man who authorities said attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania was a member of a local gun club and worked as a dietary aide at a nursing facility.

The shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by at least one Secret Service sharpshooter, authorities said.

Crooks was a registered Republican, according to Pennsylvania voter records. But he also appeared to have made a $15 donation to the Progressive Turnout Project on Inauguration Day in 2021, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Corey Comperatore, 50, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, was identified as the sole victim fatally shot by Crooks during Saturday's attempt in Butler. Two other people were injured and are stable.

The shooter used a semiautomatic rifle, three senior U.S. law enforcement officials said based on what was found at the scene. Investigators are looking into whether the gun belonged to his father and had been purchased legally, according to two senior law enforcement officials.

He is believed to have fired eight shots before he was taken down, said an official, citing preliminary findings.

Multiple suspicious canisters or containers were found in the shooter’s vehicle, but it’s unclear whether they were functional as incendiary or explosive devices, two officials said.

Crooks’ family is cooperating with investigators. His motive remains unclear, said a senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the matter.

The Defense Department confirmed that Crooks had no affiliation with the U.S. military.

He was a member of the Clairton Sportsmen’s Club in Pittsburgh. The facility has various shooting ranges, including a 200-yard rifle range, as well as pistol ranges and indoor and outdoor archery ranges.

"We're sick over this," club president Bill Sellitto said. "It's just a terrible thing."

In a statement, the club said it "fully admonishes the senseless act of violence that occurred" Saturday and offered "its sincerest condolences to the Comperatore family and extends prayers to all of those injured including the former President."

The Bethel Park Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the shooter worked as a dietary aide, said in a statement that "his background check was clean" and that he "performed his job without any concern."

"We are shocked and saddened to learn of his involvement," Marcie Grimm, an administrator at the center, said in a statement Sunday. She said that the center is cooperating with law enforcement and that it couldn't comment further.

Bethel Park is a predominantly white, relatively well-to-do city in the southern reaches of greater Pittsburgh. The site of the rally, Butler, is about an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh.

Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022. He was among more than a dozen students who received National Math & Science Initiative Star Awards that year, according to a story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review .

A high school classmate, Jason Kohler, 21, said Crooks was a “loner” who was “bullied so much in high school.”

He would regularly wear hunting outfits and was made fun of for the way he dressed, Kohler said.

“He would sit alone at lunch. He was just the outcast,” Kohler said. “It’s honestly kind of sad.”

Michael Dudjak, 20, who went to school with Crooks for most of his life, recalled him as a relatively reserved and quiet classmate. He didn’t hear or see Crooks being actively bullied by their peers, Dudjak said, but Crooks was “on his own a lot.”

He couldn’t recall Crooks ever being outspoken about politics or very active on social media. Dudjak was with some friends and acquaintances from high school Saturday night when he learned that Crooks was the shooter.

They were all “in shock” and “couldn’t fathom” the news, Dudjak said.

“It’s definitely terrifying for someone you went to school with to commit such a heinous act. ... That’s the craziest thing about it when it entered my brain,” Dudjak said. “You were in the same class as this person two years ago.”

A man who lives on the shooter’s street said he was shocked to wake up to the news that a neighbor was responsible for the assassination attempt. “It’s absolutely nuts,” said the man, Andrew Blanco, 39.

Blanco said that most people on the block are friendly but that he rarely saw or spoke to anyone at the home.

“I just don’t know anything about them, because they’re not even outside,” Blanco said.

Dan Grzybek, a Democrat on the Allegheny County Council who lives down the street from the shooter’s home in Bethel Park, said neighbors can’t believe the shooter lived among them.

“No one ever expects that something like this would be done by someone who lives right in their neighborhood,” Grzybek said.

Grzybek said that when he was running for his County Council seat last fall, he met Crooks’ parents while he was knocking on doors in the neighborhood. Speaking at the family’s front door, Grzybek said he had a “very pleasant conversation” with Crooks’ parents.

Grzybek said he hadn’t previously met the shooter. It was a “very typical voter conversation,” Grzybek said.

Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.

Kelly O’Donnell is Senior White House correspondent for NBC News.

Tom Winter is a New York-based correspondent covering crime, courts, terrorism and financial fraud on the East Coast for the NBC News Investigative Unit.

Jonathan Dienst is chief justice contributor for NBC News and chief investigative reporter for WNBC-TV in New York.

​​What Is A Semester And How Many Are There Per Year?

Categories Education/School

School can be a huge growth period for students and people in education. There are various things to get to grips with when you’re preparing for college or high school, such as becoming aware of the semester system.

A lot of schools in America use the same scheduling system, but this may differ between universities and colleges.

If you’re unfamiliar with semesters, you’ll learn all about them from this post. We’ll cover how long a semester is, as well as how many semesters are in one year. 

Keep reading to find out how semester scheduling works and the things you should expect from this format.

What Are Semesters?

A semester is an interval that is usually four months long. You’ll be working towards your degree and taking classes during this period.

Every semester has a beginning and end date. Your institution will expect you to do homework, go to classes, and in most cases, take exams within each semester. 

You’ll receive a grade for every class you took when each semester finishes. These will contribute to your average Grade Point Average (GPA), which assesses your performance in high school or college. 

Semester schedules can differ within each school, but the majority of institutions have two semesters. 

The first semester begins during the fall. This usually lasts from late August to the middle of December when students go home for the winter.

The second semester is called the spring semester, which starts in the middle of January after winter break, then ends earlier in May. 

Once the second semester finishes, students will take a break for the summer holidays, then the cycle will commence once more. Some schools also have optional summer schemes that students can take in June or July.

Summer programs are ideal for college students that want to improve their graduation prospects. These individuals can take additional classes to add to their yearly credits. 

How Long Are College Semesters?

Around 95% of universities and colleges within the U.S. use semester schedules. This makes it the most popular academic scheduling system used for higher education. 

One college semester takes the same amount of time as a standard semester. This involves two semesters for each academic year, lasting 15 weeks each

Even though the semester system is popular, a lot of these establishments will use different forms of academic scheduling, like trimesters and quarters.

How Long Are High School Semesters?

High school semesters will have different lengths based on your location. 

Your state’s Department of Education and school board will determine how to divide the school calendar.

Nevertheless, most high schools within the U.S. tend to use the semester format, which is two terms that are 15 weeks long for each academic year. 

Some high schools use trimesters, just like some higher education establishments. Trimesters will separate the academic year into three terms that last three months each. 

Months Within One Semester

Semesters usually last four months each, but some may extend to five months, depending on the establishment’s rules.

In most cases, classes take place within the primary four months or 15 weeks of a semester. The final week is used for assessments and exams. 

Some schools include their exam sessions within the first 15 weeks, but this will vary according to the assessment formats. 

For instance, college students may undertake stressful practical exams which take more time compared to high school exams. This may result in extra time after finishing coursework.

Semesters Within A Year

The typical schedule used in semester scheduling involves two semesters per academic year. The first semester begins in the fall, then the final one occurs in spring. 

However, semesters may be different depending on the establishment itself. 

Differences Between Quarters And Semesters

As mentioned above, different educational establishments can use various scheduling systems. The most popular types are:

• Quarters: Four 10-week terms per school year
• Semesters: Two 15-week terms per school year

The main difference between each scheduling system is how many terms are needed within a school year.

Semester formats involve two terms, the first in the fall, and the last in spring. 

Quarter formats use four terms for each season. The first is fall, the second is spring, third summer, and last winter. 

Another difference between these two systems is how many courses students take each term. Students using the semester format need to take five courses per session.

Conversely, students using the quarter format take between three and four classes each term.

These programs involve a particular number of credit hours for every student. Each student needs 180 credit hours for the quarter program, and 120 credit hours for the semester system.

There isn’t much difference between the class hours, but the details above can show you that students may find quarter scheduling excessive compared to the semester format. 

The majority of universities and colleges use semesters, but some well-known institutions use the quarter format. These are:

• University of California
• University of Chicago
• University of Washington
• Stanford University

Advantages Of Semester Scheduling

There are several advantages to semester scheduling, which explains why a lot of universities and colleges use this format.

Here are the pros of following the semester schedule:

Students Have More Learning Time

Learning about a topic for 15 weeks makes it more likely that students will take in the information.

Even though most students are concerned about doing well in exams, many of these individuals will remember what they learned for a long time afterward.

There is also more time for teachers to teach a subject thoroughly, which improves the student’s understanding of the material.

Increased Likelihood Of Student-Teacher Relationship

Students that have healthy one-on-one relationships with their teachers often have a better education experience. Students will enjoy lessons from teachers they respect and have positive relationships with.

These connections also allow students to come to teachers with confidence if they have problems with the material, or need educational support related to scholarship applications or internships.

Shorter Classes For Busy Students

A lot of college students have busy lives, particularly individuals who work alongside studying. Lectures in the semester system tend to last between 50 and 75 minutes. 

It can be hard to show up to classes that aren’t enjoyable, particularly ones that last a long time. Classes that are an hour long mean that students are less likely to zone out, even if they don’t find that material that interesting. 

Easier Switch To College After High School

A lot of high schools in the U.S. also use semester schedules. College can be a hard transition, but keeping the same schedule can make it easier for students to make the switch to college.

Drawbacks Of Semester Scheduling

Semester scheduling does have many advantages, but it does involve some drawbacks too.

Increased Stress Levels

Students have to take a particular number of courses within 15 weeks of every semester. 

There may be enough time to learn all of the material, but attempting to keep up with good grades can cause additional stress among students. 

Harder To Improve Grade Point Average

Grades in the semester format matter a lot. Doing badly in a single course one semester can seriously affect your overall GPA once the academic year finishes. 

This format doesn’t allow you to take additional classes, which means you’re less likely to improve your GPA, if required.

Hard To Switch Majors

The semester system does let you change your mind, but you need to be able to pay for all of the costs. Moving to a different major in the middle of the education year means that you may have paid a lot for needless courses.

Furthermore, your new major may cost more than your previous one. Other than the money, you also need time to finish all the paperwork needed to switch to different classes.

How To Survive Semester Scheduling

If the drawbacks of semester scheduling have you worried, here are some tips that can help you do your best with this system.

Create An Organized Schedule

As exams seem ages away and you only need to hand in a few assignments every week, it’s easy to lose concentration. 

Make sure that you’re making the most of this free time by taking on activities that improve your productivity.

Schedule time blocks to study for lessons, do your assignments, or even watch the latest episode of your favorite show.

Organizing your time in this way ensures that you’re up to date with your priorities, maintain a healthy work/social life, and are prepared for busier periods leading up to exams. 

It’s best to get a notebook or calendar to keep track of everything. 

Participate!

You have a wealth of free time that you can put to good use! Taking part in clubs or going to events are networking opportunities, which may make you more appealing following graduation. 

American universities have a wealth of activities, so whatever your interests are, you’re sure to find a society or club that suits you!

Look For Opportunities

Working alongside studying can help you keep productive as the semester progresses, but it can also keep you financially prepared for future scenarios. 

It’s also good to look for internships while you’re in education. This will help you acquire important experience and skills, which all make you more appealing to employers after college.

Final Thoughts

Now you know what a semester is! Semester scheduling is the most popular academic scheduling method used by U.S. colleges and universities. 

It involves two semesters which are 15 weeks each; the first begins in the fall and the last one takes place in spring. Semesters are different from trimesters, as trimesters have four ten-week periods per academic year. 

If your institution uses semester scheduling, make sure that you understand the format well and figure out how you work best within this system.

Organizing your schedule and improving your skills will help improve your graduation prospects and life following college.  

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Because differences are our greatest strength

Helping high-schoolers find the right mix of classes and activities

By Erica Patino

Expert reviewed by Jenn Osen-Foss, MAT

At a glance

In high school, kids need to take certain required courses each year to graduate.

In addition to required courses, kids can also take electives, which generally have less homework.

Extracurricular activities aren’t required to graduate, but they can help kids explore new interests.

High school is a busy time for kids academically. They need to take required courses to graduate. If they’re planning to go to college, they may also need to meet standard college entry requirements, like two years of another language.

“It’s a good idea to think about which electives will work best given your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests.”

Teens also have to round out their school schedule by choosing which elective courses they want to take. Colleges will look at these courses to get a sense of what their interests are. And there are activities outside their regular schoolwork, such as clubs and volunteer work, that kids may need to schedule, too.

All of these requirements and choices might seem overwhelming to your child, especially if your child has learning and thinking differences. You can help your child get a handle on their schedule to ensure that they’re on a good path and enjoy their high school years. Here’s what you need to know.

Required high school courses

When helping your child select classes for high school, start with the basics: the classes required to graduate. Requirements vary by state and school district. But in general, they include classes in basic academic areas such as English, math, history, and science. If your child is preparing for college, the school counselor might suggest more rigorous courses, such as AP (Advanced Placement) or honors classes, to fulfill these requirements.

Scheduling these required courses should be the top priority. Your child may have limited choices in these areas. For example, there may be only one teacher who teaches sophomore social studies or an AP science class. But where you do have choices, keep in mind your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests: Perhaps your child would rather take biology than physics for a science requirement, for instance.

Elective courses

Once you’ve covered the required courses, there will probably be room in your child’s schedule for a few electives. These classes vary from school to school, but might include music, journalism, art, and technology, among others.

Some electives don’t typically require as much homework and may not add much to your child’s workload as an academic course. Taking a class that your child finds fun can give your child something to look forward to during a day full of academic requirements. And electives can help kids learn about a subject they’ve always been interested in or explore a potential career, such as journalism or web design.

Some electives — such as band or yearbook — involve activities your teen might have to do on an extracurricular basis. But it’s important to understand the difference between an elective and a purely extracurricular activity. Because electives are for school credit, if your child drops out of an elective class, it will affect their grades. So if your child is interested in taking a fine arts class, your teen might want to consider trying a few painting or drawing sessions at a neighborhood studio before committing to a course at school.

It’s a good idea to think about which electives will work best given your child’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. For example, you might think a computer programming class sounds practical. But if your child gets restless from sitting in other classes during the day, a dance class might be a better elective.

You might also consider the teachers for each class. If your child has auditory processing disorder , a teacher who never hands out notes or who never writes things on the blackboard might not be a good fit. Ask the guidance counselor or have your teen ask other students who have taken the class. There may be more than one teacher who teaches a class, and you could put in a request for a specific teacher.

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities  aren’t required for a student to graduate from high school. Like electives, though, they’re a great way to get teens involved in things they are passionate about. They can include participating in volunteer work, Scouts, clubs, and many other activities. Colleges may also look at extracurricular involvement when deciding on admissions.

It’s important to remember that unlike elective classes, your child won’t get school credit for extracurricular activities. That means your child has more freedom to try different activities. And teens can drop extracurriculars if they don’t like them or start to get too busy with school or other activities.

A balancing act

Finding the right mix of classes and activities for kids with learning and thinking differences requires some legwork — but it’s worth it. Each semester, you and your child can meet with the school counselor to help select courses and discuss interests and goals.

During the school year, be sure to talk to your child regularly about how school is going, if they’re feeling overwhelmed , or if they need help or accommodations . The choices in high school can seem daunting. But if you and your child make the most of them, they can help your teen enjoy school more  and get more out of it.

Key takeaways

Finding the right mix of classes and activities means looking at your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

Whenever possible, pair your teen with the teacher whose classroom style is a good fit.

If your child feels overwhelmed with schoolwork, let your teen know it’s OK to cut back on extracurricular activities.

How Much Homework Do American Kids Do?

Various factors, from the race of the student to the number of years a teacher has been in the classroom, affect a child's homework load.

In his Atlantic essay , Karl Taro Greenfeld laments his 13-year-old daughter's heavy homework load. As an eighth grader at a New York middle school, Greenfeld’s daughter averaged about three hours of homework per night and adopted mantras like “memorization, not rationalization” to help her get it all done. Tales of the homework-burdened American student have become common, but are these stories the exception or the rule?

A 2007 Metlife study found that 45 percent of students in grades three to 12 spend more than an hour a night doing homework, including the six percent of students who report spending more than three hours a night on their homework. In the 2002-2003 school year, a study out of the University of Michigan found that American students ages six through 17 spent three hours and 38 minutes per week doing homework.

A range of factors plays into how much homework each individual student gets:

Older students do more homework than their younger counterparts.

This one is fairly obvious: The National Education Association recommends that homework time increase by ten minutes per year in school. (e.g., A third grader would have 30 minutes of homework, while a seventh grader would have 70 minutes).

Studies have found that schools tend to roughly follow these guidelines: The University of Michigan found that students ages six to eight spend 29 minutes doing homework per night while 15- to 17-year-old students spend 50 minutes doing homework. The Metlife study also found that 50 percent of students in grades seven to 12 spent more than an hour a night on homework, while 37 percent of students in grades three to six spent an hour or more on their homework per night. The National Center for Educational Statistics found that high school students who do homework outside of school average 6.8 hours of homework per week.

Race plays a role in how much homework students do.

Asian students spend 3.5 more hours on average doing homework per week than their white peers. However, only 59 percent of Asian students’ parents check that homework is done, while 75.6 percent of Hispanic students’ parents and 83.1 percent of black students’ parents check.

Teachers with less experience assign more homework.

The Metlife study found that 14 percent of teachers with zero to five years of teaching experience assigned more than an hour of homework per night, while only six percent of teachers with 21 or more years of teaching experience assigned over an hour of homework.

Math classes have homework the most frequently.

The Metlife study found that 70 percent of students in grades three to 12 had at least one homework assignment in math. Sixty-two percent had at least one homework assignment in a language arts class (English, reading, spelling, or creative writing courses) and 42 percent had at least one in a science class.

Regardless of how much homework kids are actually doing every night, most parents and teachers are happy with the way things are: 60 percent of parents think that their children have the “right amount of homework,” and 73 percent of teachers think their school assigns the right amount of homework.

Students, however, are not necessarily on board: 38 percent of students in grades seven through 12 and 28 percent of students in grades three through six report being “very often/often” stressed out by their homework.

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When does school start and how long is the school year in Delaware?

Sure, it’s still summer, but before you know it, school will be back in session. 

As parents, understanding how much time your child will spend in school each year can help you prepare for the upcoming academic season. 

Here’s a quick overview of the school year requirements in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania:

How many school days in Delaware?

Delaware is one of about 10 states that does not have a minimum number of days outlined.

Instead, the First State relies on minimum instruction time to set the academic calendar. All students except high school seniors must complete 1,060 hours per academic year. Seniors must be in class for 1,032 hours.

With about six hours of instructional time each school day, an academic year runs about 173 days. But, the state requires 3.5 hours of instructional time to be considered a day.

Schools in Delaware start the year in the week before or the week of Labor Day.

How many school days in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania law allows districts to meet either a minimum number of days or minimum hours.

Keystone State school years must either be 180 school days or 900 hours for students through sixth grade or 990 hours for students in seventh through senior year.

Many schools in Pennsylvania start the school year before Labor Day.

How many school days in New Jersey?

New Jersey requires students attend 180 days of school each year. Unlike most other states, there is no minimum hours requirement. However, New Jersey law considers an academic day no less than four hours of instruction.

The Garden State is one of 12 that has no minimum hours requirement for a school year.

Most public schools start their year immediately after Labor Day.

How Much Homework Should Students Have?

A look at how homework impacts students

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Parents have been questioning the excessive amount of homework given in schools, both public and private for years, and believe it or not, there is evidence that supports limiting the amount of homework children have can actually be beneficial. The National Education Association (NEA) has released guidelines about the right amount of homework--the amount that helps kids learn without getting in the way of their developing other parts of their life.

Many experts believe that students should receive roughly 10 minutes per night of homework in the first grade and an additional 10 minutes per grade for each following year. By this standard, high school seniors should have about 120 minutes or two hours of homework a night, but some students have two hours of work in middle school and many more hours than that in high school, particularly if they are enrolled in Advanced or AP classes.

However, schools are starting to change their policies on homework. While some schools equate excessive homework with excellence, and it is true that students benefit from some work at home to learn new material or to practice what they have learned in school, that's not the case with all schools. Flipped classrooms, real-world learning projects and changes in our understanding of how children and teenagers learn best has all forced schools to evaluate levels of homework.

Homework Needs to be Purposeful

Fortunately, most teachers today recognize that homework isn't always necessary, and the stigma that many teachers once faced if they didn't assign what was simply perceived as enough is gone. The pressures placed on teachers to assign homework eventually lead to teachers assigning "busy work" to students rather than true learning assignments. As we better understand how students learn, we have come to determine that for many students, they can get just as much benefit, if not more, from smaller amounts of work than larger homework loads. This knowledge has helped teachers create more effective assignments that can be completed is shorter amounts of time. 

Too Much Homework Prevents Play

Experts believe that playtime is more than just a fun way to pass the time—it actually helps kids learn. Play, particularly for younger kids, is vital to developing creativity, imagination, and even social skills. While many educators and parents believe that young children are ready for direct instruction, studies have shown that kids learn more when they are simply allowed to play. For example, young children who were showed how to make a toy squeak only learned this one function of the toy, while kids who were allowed to experiment on their own discovered many flexible uses of the toy. Older kids also need time to run, play, and simply experiment, and parents and teachers must realize that this independent time allows kids to discover their environment. For example, kids who run in a park learn rules about physics and the environment intuitively, and they cannot take in this knowledge through direct instruction.

Too Much Pressure Backfires

With regard to kids’ learning, less is often more. For example, it’s natural for kids to learn to read by about age 7, though there is a variability in the time individual kids learn to read; kids can learn at any time from 3-7. Later development does not in any way correlate with advancement at a later age, and when kids who are not ready for certain tasks are pushed into doing them, they may not learn properly. They may feel more stressed and turned off to learning, which is, after all, a life-long pursuit. Too much homework turns kids off to learning and makes them less—rather than more—invested in school and learning.

Homework Does Not Develop Emotional Intelligence

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of emotional intelligence, which involves understanding one’s own and others’ emotions. In fact, after people reach a certain base level of intelligence, the rest of their success in life and in their careers can be attributed, researchers believe, largely to differences in people’s levels of emotional intelligence. Doing endless amounts of homework does not leave children the proper amount of time to interact socially with family members and peers in a way that will develop their emotional intelligence.

Fortunately, many schools are trying to reduce students’ stress after realizing that too much work has a deleterious effect on kids’ health. For example, many schools are instituting no-homework weekends to provide kids with a much-needed break and time to spend with family and friends.

Article edited by  Stacy Jagodowski

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Implementing Guidelines on the School Calendar and Activities for the School Year 2024–2025

DO_s2024_009

Draft Day 1: Pick-by-pick rundown, analysis

Jonathan Mayo

The 2024 MLB Draft is here. Day 1 included the first 74 selections, covering Rounds 1 and 2, Competitive Balance Rounds A and B, two Prospect Promotion Incentive picks, plus two compensation picks. The Guardians got things going with the No. 1 overall pick.

Days 2 (Rounds 3-10) and 3 (Rounds 11-20) begin at 2 p.m. ET on Monday and Tuesday and will stream live exclusively on MLB.com.

1) Guardians: Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State The Guardians kept things very close to the vest until the very last minute, looking at a number of college players, especially the top hitters. Bazzana was always high on that list, and for good reason. The left-handed-hitting Australian infielder was a Golden Spikes Award finalist after he hit .407/.568/.911 with 28 homers and 16 steals in his junior year with the Beavers. His penchant for contact fits the Guardians’ hitting philosophy and he has plenty of thump that should get to Cleveland quickly. More »

2) Reds: Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest The Reds were looking at many options and it may have come down to Charlie Condon vs. Chase Burns. In the end, they went for one of the best arms in the entire class, giving them their second straight Wake Forest pitcher taken in the first round (Rhett Lowder in 2023). Burns transferred to Wake Forest and its pitching lab and it had a tremendous effect as he took a step forward with all of his stuff. He has a fastball that touches 100 mph, but it’s his easily plus slider that misses a ridiculous amount of bats. Though Burns grew up in Gallatin, Tenn., he was born in Naples, Italy, because his parents were stationed there with the military . More »

3) Rockies: Charlie Condon, OF, Georgia Many thought Condon was the best player in the Draft and he certainly put up the numbers to back up that claim. The Golden Spikes Award winner led all Division I hitters with his .433 average and 37 homers (not to mention his 1.009 SLG). It’s hard not to get excited about how his 70-grade power will play at Coors Field, even if it takes a little to figure out what position he might settle into (I guess an outfield corner). More »

4) A's: Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest A slow start because of a shoulder injury may have hurt his stock ever so slightly, but he was far too talented to slip too far. He got hot as the season wore on, finishing with 22 homers and leading Division I hitters with 78 walks. He has well above-average pop to all fields and is a complete hitter, and while he’s limited to first base, he’s a plus defender there. More »

5) White Sox: Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas We at MLB Pipeline had him as the top-ranked pitcher in the class. Smith was a Golden Spikes Award finalist, leading all Division I pitchers in batting average against (.144) and setting a record for K/9 (17.3) rate. The southpaw sits at 93-97 mph and touches 100 with his fastball and has a filthy slider that is virtually unhittable. Add in a splitter and some deception in his delivery and he has frontline starter potential. More »

2024 Draft presented by Nike: Draft Tracker | Top 250 prospects Pick-by-pick analysis: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Bazzana goes No. 1 | Wake Forest makes history | Mariners nab switch-pitcher | Top 7 Day 1 storylines | Our favorite picks | Famous family ties | Biggest steals | These picks could be new club No. 1's | Picks who could be quickest to bigs | Sons of Manny, Big Papi selected | Complete coverage

6) Royals: Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida A tremendous player who has a 70-grade fastball from the left side on the bump and tremendous power at the plate, Caglianone was announced as a two-way player when his name was called, and the Royals plan to give him a shot to do both. If I had to guess, his future will be punishing pitches, not delivering them (if he doesn't stick as a two-way player). His lack of swing-and-miss given his power is impressive. More »

7) Cardinals: JJ Wetherholt, SS, West Virginia The West Virginia standout missed a chunk of the season because of a hamstring injury, but an argument can be made that he’s one of the top pure hitters in the class. The left-handed hitter can drive the ball to all fields and is a plus runner with a very advanced approach at the plate. Some scouts felt there wasn’t much separating him from Travis Bazzana, with less power and more speed than his counterpart. More »

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Top 15 Draft picks: 1. Bazzana | 2. Burns | 3. Condon | 4. Kurtz | 5. Smith | 6. Caglianone | 7. Wetherholt | 8. Moore | 9. Griffin | 10. King | 11. Rainer | 12. Montgomery | 13. Tibbs | 14. Smith | 15. Cijntje

8) Angels: Christian Moore, 2B, Tennessee Moore’s stock kept climbing the longer Tennessee’s championship season went on. The second baseman finished as the Volunteers’ all-time (61) and single-season (34) home run leader. His improved contact led to a lot more power, which should translate well and gives the Angels their third straight college hitter who could get to Los Angeles quickly after Zach Neto (2022 Draft) and Nolan Schanuel (2023). More »

9) Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS, Jackson Prep (Miss.) There was a lot of talk about the Pirates going after a higher floor college bat, but instead they went all in with Griffin’s upside. He probably has the highest ceiling in the Draft, with four tools that rate at least plus. He has the chance to play shortstop with an easily plus arm, though he could look just as good in center field. More »

10) Nationals: Seaver King, SS, Wake Forest This gives Wake Forest its third player in the top 10. King showed his tools could translate from Division II to the ACC this year after transferring from Wingate, using his compact right-handed swing to make a ton of contact, and he might be more hit over power. He can really run and play multiple positions, with a chance to stay in the infield, but the outfield perhaps is a better fit. More »

11) Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake HS (Calif.) Take one look at the 6-foot-3 left-handed-hitting shortstop and it’s impossible not to make the Corey Seager comps. A two-way guy in high school who is up into the mid-90s off the mound, Rainer took a huge step forward in his athleticism and power to cement him as a real shortstop, giving Harvard-Westlake another first-rounder in the Draft, joining big leaguers Pete Crow-Armstrong, Lucas Giolito, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty. More »

12) Red Sox: Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M After his name was floating all over the top 10, this is a pretty soft landing spot for Montgomery, whose tremendous season at Texas A&M ended prematurely because of a broken ankle suffered in the Super Regionals. The transfer from Stanford served him well, and he’s a switch-hitter with plenty of power, doing more damage from the left side. More »

13) Giants: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State Tibbs was a solid college performer over his first two seasons but catapulted himself into conversations in the middle of the first round -- and a bit higher -- with the year he had for the Seminoles, posting a 1.264 OPS. His improved approach helped him get to more power (28 homers) and should fit the profile for a corner outfielder. More »

14) Cubs: Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State It’s a run on Seminoles! Smith shook off a rough freshman season to rake in the Cape Cod League and kept it going in his sophomore-eligible year. He cut down his swing and miss and chase considerably this spring, giving him the chance to hit for average and power at the next level, while having the chance to be a solid third baseman. More »

15) Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, SHP, Mississippi State The switch-pitching might sound like a novelty act, but Cijntje has legitimate ability from both sides. His stuff is more electric as a right-hander, and there’s a chance he might focus on that full-time as a Marcus Stroman type. This snaps a streak of three straight high school hitters taken in the first round by the Mariners. More »

16) Marlins: PJ Morlando, OF, Summerville HS (S.C.) While this might seem like the first big reach in the first round, Morlando was ranked as a mid-first round talent last offseason. He struggled through a senior season where he rarely saw a strike to hit and hasn’t always gotten to his power in games, though the plus raw pop is evident in batting practice. Miami will love his 1,000-watt personality, too. More »

17) Brewers: Braylon Payne, OF, Lawrence E. Elkins HS (Texas) That’s two slightly surprising high school bats in a row. Payne is one of the fastest players in the Draft and isn’t afraid to use it on the basepaths or while playing a very good center field. He’s not a one-tool guy, either, with the potential to have some extra-base thump. It’s the fifth straight year the Brewers have taken a hitter with their first pick, but the first of that group to come out of high school. More »

18) Rays: Theo Gillen, OF, Westlake HS (Texas) There was some late buzz that Gillen might go as high as 11 to the Tigers, but that didn’t materialize. He’s one of the better pure high school hitters in the class and he has the chance to hit for solid power in due time. An infielder in high school, it’s interesting the Rays announced him as an outfielder, and his athleticism could play very well in center. More »

19) Mets: Carson Benge, OF, Oklahoma State Benge was a legitimate two-way guy who largely pitched in relief with a fastball up to 96 mph at Oklahoma State. But his contact skills and exit velocities made it clear he was heading toward a career in the outfield. He could get a shot at playing center, but might settle in as an athletic right fielder with above-average hit and power tools. More »

20) Blue Jays: Trey Yesavage, RHP, East Carolina After Chase Burns and Hagen Smith, who were both taken in the top 10, Yesavage was the consensus next best college arm and it might surprise some he lasted to 20. He has the chance to have three plus pitches in his fastball, slider and splitter, and he has a solid spike curve to boot. There’s some effort in his delivery, but he throws strikes. It’s the third pitcher Toronto has taken with its first pick in the last four years. More »

21) Twins: Kaelen Culpepper, SS, Kansas State Culpepper moved from third to shortstop at Kansas State this year and handled that move well. He’s more hit over power right now, but there could be more pop to come, and he already uses all fields well with excellent bat speed. He could be given every opportunity to stick at short and has the potential to be a Gold Glover at third. More »

22) Orioles: Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina The Orioles aren’t afraid of guys who have some swing and miss in their game (Jud Fabian, a 2022 Draft pick), and they got one of the toolsiest performers as a result. He had two 20-20 seasons at North Carolina and is a potential Gold Glove center fielder, but he will have to work on a strikeout rate that crept up to 27.5 percent in 2024. More »

23) Dodgers: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee HS (Fla.) Because of an injury over the summer, the former two-sport standout -- he was his high school’s QB -- wasn’t seen on the showcase circuit, but he jumped up boards with his performance this spring in Florida. He has plus-plus speed and took big steps forward in his swing decisions along with his ability to play shortstop. It’s the second straight year the Dodgers have taken a premium prep athlete after taking Kendall George last year. More »

24) Braves: Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS (Ariz.) The Braves likely didn’t expect Caminiti, the best left-hander in the class, to be available here. Because he reclassified, he’s one of the youngest players in the class at 17 years old and offers a ton of upside. Caminiti has the chance to have a legit four-pitch mix and was spinning the ball more consistently last spring. The Braves have taken a pitcher with their first pick in five straight Drafts (two high schoolers). More »

25) Padres: Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City HS (Okla.) It’s another Draft and another high schooler selected in the first round by the Padres. This makes eight in a row for San Diego, and the fourth prep arm (three of them lefties). Mayfield is the second high school lefty in a row here and has a ton of projection in his 6-foot-4 frame with a potential three-pitch mix led by his fastball and changeup. More »

26) Yankees: Ben Hess, RHP, Alabama There was more and more buzz that the Yankees wanted an arm here, and when the top college ones already announced were off the board, they opted not to go with a high school arm. Hess gives off Lance Lynn vibes with his big 6-foot-5 frame and could develop into a solid No. 2 or 3 starter with four pitches, led by a plus fastball and slider, if he can throw more strikes. More »

27) Phillies: Dante Nori, OF, Northville HS (Mich.) There was talk that the Phillies were leaning college hitter after going high school four years in a row (two bats, two arms), but they opted for Nori and his considerable tools. Not deterred by him being an older high schooler (19 years old), the Phillies are getting a no-doubt center fielder with easily plus speed and an outstanding approach from the left side of the plate. More »

28) Astros: Walker Janek, C, Sam Houston There were three college backstops generally thought to be in first-round conversations and many felt Janek was the best all-round catcher of the bunch. He’s agile behind the plate and has plus arm strength while showing off impressive bat speed and strength from the right side of the plate. More »

29) D-backs: Slade Caldwell, OF, Valley View HS (Ark.) Don’t let the size deceive you. Caldwell might only be 5-foot-9 but he can really hit, generating a ton of line-drive contact to all fields and enough bat speed to provide more pop than you might think. He’s an aggressive player who should play center field long-term as a pro. That’s four straight bats in the first round for the D-backs. More »

30) Rangers: Malcolm Moore, C, Stanford We’d been projecting a college catcher to the Rangers for quite some time, and it was a matter of which one would be available. It turned out it was the left-handed-hitting Moore from Stanford. His surface numbers weren’t outstanding this year, but his underlying metrics were, and he has the chance to hit for average and power. He’s improved behind the dish, too, though his bat is ahead. More »

Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks

31) D-backs: Ryan Waldschmidt, OF, Kentucky Waldschmidt had a breakthrough season at Kentucky to vault him into many first-round conversations. He makes a ton of contact, doesn’t chase and produces high exit velocities. Fully recovered from a knee injury, he also started recording plus run times, and that speed could give him a shot in center.

32) Orioles: Griff O'Ferrall, SS, Virginia O’Ferrall’s instincts and makeup help him play above his tools and give him the chance to be an everyday shortstop eventually. He has terrific bat-to-ball skills and an advanced approach with feel for the barrel. He’s a smart baserunner and his footwork helps him be a solid defender as well.

Compensation pick

33) Twins: Kyle DeBarge, SS, University of Louisiana at Lafayette A high school catcher, DeBarge moved to shortstop at Louisiana-Lafayette and has the chance to stick there at the next level with a strong arm and quick hands. He’s a contact-first hitter with excellent pitch recognition and a quick right-handed swing, and while he hasn’t driven the ball that much, there’s some sneaky pull pop.

Competitive Balance Round A

34) Brewers: Blake Burke, 1B, Tennessee A big part of Tennessee’s College World Series-winning team, Burke offers a ton of left-handed power thanks to bat speed, strength and leverage. He’s made more contact to get to that power more and it’s his bat that will carry him as a first-base-only profile.

35) D-backs: JD Dix, SS, Whitefish Bay HS (Wisc.) That’s three bats in a row for the D-backs, two from the high school ranks. Dix is a switch-hitting gamer with some tools. A shoulder injury slowed down his production some at the plate and his ability defensively, though he has the chance to stick at short, reminding some of a more athletic D.J. LeMahieu type.

36) Guardians: Braylon Doughty, RHP, Chaparral HS (Calif.) We don’t know yet what the Guardians will sign Travis Bazzana for, but it’s assuredly below the $10.57M assigned value to the top pick. That savings will allow them to go after some high-end talent like Doughty, a Southern California prep arm whose name was being mentioned in the first round.

37) Pirates: Levi Sterling, RHP, Notre Dame HS (Calif.) The Pirates are going all-in on upside. After getting Konnor Griffin and his multiple tools at No. 9, they went for Starling’s upside on the mound. He didn’t have a great spring, but he could take a big step forward now that he’ll be focusing on pitching only and no longer playing shortstop, a la top Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler.

38) Rockies: Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa From a pure stuff perspective, there were few arms better than Brecht in this class. The effectiveness of his heater that touches triple digits and his nasty upper-80s slider can be Paul Skenes-esque. Command has been the big issue, but that was trending in the right direction at the end of his junior season at Iowa.

39) Nationals: Caleb Lomavita, C, UC Berkeley The third of the three college catchers to come off the board, there had been early buzz the Nationals might have been interested in Lomavita at No. 10. He’s an aggressive hitter who has the chance to hit for average and power, especially if he can refine his approach a bit, while sticking behind the plate.

Best of the rest from Night 1

Here are 10 picks from the first night of the Draft that came after the first 39 picks and stood out:

40) A’s: Tommy White, 3B, LSU There might be some concern about his defensive home, but Tommy Tanks hit 75 homers over three years at NC State and LSU, with many thinking his power potential belonged in the first round.

41) Royals: David Shields, LHP, Mt. Lebanon HS (Pa.) There was a lot of talk the Royals wanted him at 39, but they traded that pick to the Nationals, so they’re happy to land the athletic former QB who is a projectable prep lefty here.

44) Nationals: Luke Dickerson, SS, Morris Knolls HS (N.J.) Dickerson is a terrific athlete who was also a hockey standout and came on late after finishing off a state championship on the ice. He’s a plus runner with a chance to stay up the middle and has some power to tap into.

47) Pirates: Wyatt Sanford, SS, Independence HS (Texas) One of the many prep shortstops who were mentioned as potential top-39 pick, Sanford is one of the best defenders of the group with good bat speed from the left side of the plate.

51) Reds: Tyson Lewis, SS, Millard West HS (Neb.) Lewis was getting some first-round buzz thanks to him showing more impact with his left-handed swing, solid speed and the ability to stay up the middle on the infield.

52) Padres: Boston Bateman, LHP, Adolfo Camarillo HS (Calif.) It’s not easy to find 6-foot-8 lefties, but the Padres did here in Round 2, and this one has one of the better pure curveballs in the class to go along with a fastball that touches 97 mph.

55) Mariners: Ryan Sloan, RHP, York Community HS (Ill.) The Mariners discussed taking Sloan in the first round, so getting him here must have gotten their Draft room pumped as Sloan was our second highest-ranked high school righty.

57) Brewers: Bryce Meccage, RHP, The Pennington School (N.J.) The nephew of Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage, Bryce didn’t give up a hit all spring (albeit in a small sample) and has a big league body at 6-foot-4 with the chance to have a legit four-pitch mix.

60) Twins: Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee I had Amick going to the Twins in the first round in our mock draft (do I get partial credit?). It’s unclear why he lasted this long, but could this be the second straight year the Twins got a really good college bat in this round? (They picked 2024 Futures Game participant Luke Keaschall last year.)

68) White Sox: Blake Larson, LHP, IMG Academy (Fla.) One more projectable prep lefty to talk about here, with Larson having the potential to eventually have three plus pitches, even if it takes him a while, though he’ll have to improve his command to get there.

40) A's: Tommy White, 3B, LSU

41) Royals: David Shields, LHP, Mt. Lebanon HS (Pa.)

42) Rockies: Jared Thomas, OF, Texas

43) White Sox: Caleb Bonemer, SS, Okemos HS (Mich.)

44) Nationals: Luke Dickerson, SS, Morris Knolls HS (N.J.)

45) Angels: Chris Cortez, RHP, Texas A&M

46) Mets: Jonathan Santucci, LHP, Duke

47) Pirates: Wyatt Sanford, SS, Independence HS (Texas)

48) Guardians: Jacob Cozart, C, NC State

49) Tigers: Owen Hall, RHP, Edmond North HS (Okla.)

50) Red Sox: Payton Tolle, LHP, TCU

51) Reds: Tyson Lewis, SS, Millard West HS (Neb.)

52) Padres: Boston Bateman, LHP, Adolfo Camarillo HS (Calif.)

53) Yankees: Bryce Cunningham, RHP, Vanderbilt

54) Cubs: Cole Mathis, 3B, College of Charleston (SC)

55) Mariners: Ryan Sloan, RHP, York Community HS (Ill.)

56) Marlins: Carter Johnson, SS, Oxford HS (Ala.)

57) Brewers: Bryce Meccage, RHP, The Pennington School (N.J.)

58) Rays: Emilien Pitre, 2B, Kentucky

59) Blue Jays: Khal Stephen, RHP, Mississippi State

60) Twins: Billy Amick, 3B, Tennessee

61) Orioles: Ethan Anderson, C, Virginia

62) Braves: Carter Holton, LHP, Vanderbilt

63) Phillies: Griffin Burkholder, OF, Freedom HS (Va.)

64) D-backs: Ivan Luciano, C, El Shaddai Christian Academy (P.R.)

65) Rangers: Dylan Dreiling, OF, Tennessee

Competitive Balance Round B

66) Rays: Tyler Bell, SS, Lincoln Way East HS (Ill.)

67) Brewers: Chris Levonas, RHP, Christian Brothers Academy (N.J.)

68) White Sox: Blake Larson, LHP, IMG Academy (Fla.)

69) Twins: Dasan Hill, LHP, Grapevine HS (Texas)

70) Marlins: Aiden May, RHP, Oregon State

71) Reds: Luke Holman, RHP, LSU

72) Tigers: Ethan Schiefelbein, LHP, Corona HS (Calif.)

73) A's: Gage Jump, LHP, LSU

74) Angels: Ryan Johnson, RHP, Dallas Baptist (Texas)

High Schools Assign 3.5 Hours of Homework a Night, Survey Estimates

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Amidst the current backlash against homework, it would be helpful to get some real data on how much homework we’re actually talking about.

The college of education at the for-profit University of Phoenix recently took a stab at it, asking Harris Poll to survey teachers about the hours of homework they require and why they assign it. The pollsters talked to 1,005 teachers in public, private, and parochial schools across the United States, a group designed to be a representative sample of the nation’s 3.7 million teachers.

High school teachers interviewed said they assign an average of 3.5 hours worth of homework a week. For students who study five days a week, that’s 42 minutes a day per class, or 3.5 hours a day for a typical student taking five classes.

Middle school teachers (grades 6-8) assigned roughly the same amount: 3.2 hours of homework a week, or 38.4 minutes a day per class. That adds up to 3.2 hours of homework a night for a student with five classes. K-5 teachers said they assigned an average of 2.9 hours of homework each week.

The data reflect what anecdotally shocks many parents: homework loads jump in middle school.

Teachers’ top three reasons for assigning homework were to see how well students understand lessons, help students develop essential problem-solving skills, and show parents what’s being learned in school. Just 30 percent of teachers chose covering more content as one of their top reasons for assigning homework.

The survey also finds that the longer a teacher has been in the classroom, the less homework they assign, said Tanya Burden, a spokeswoman for the University of Phoenix.

Here’s a breakdown of weekly homework assigned, by years of experience:

• 3.6 hours (teachers with less than 10 years in the classroom)

• 3.1 hours (teachers with 10 to 19 years in the classroom)

• 2.8 hours (teachers with more than 20 years in the classroom)

Homework has come under fire from parents and administrators who worry that hours of after-school assignments are stressing students out . Education Week recently reported on research indicating that students with heavy loads of homework were significantly more likely to be sleep-deprived, particularly if the homework load had jumped between ages 12 and 15. Others question whether required assignments are necessary for learning .

But doth Americans protest too much? The Atlantic recently ran a group of photos showing children doing homework after natural disasters and war had displaced them. It’s a good reminder that in many places, homework is considered a privilege, not a burden.

CORRECTION (Feb. 28): The original version of this blog post included incorrect figures on the time for homework assigned each day per class for both high school teachers and middle school teachers.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Time and Learning blog.

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Homeschool Help and Curriculum

How to Homeschool High School: What Assignments to Grade and How

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By request: How to homeschool high school: What assignments to grade and how to do it.

When I was homeschooling middle school and elementary school with my kids, I rarely graded anything. My goal, at that time was to encourage my homeschoolers to love learning. I did not need grades to do that. We graded spelling tests and would re-take them until I was sure the kids had mastery of the words, but that was about it.

Then we got to high school. In high school grades count! After all, we have to have a transcript with credits and grades and GPA!

So I had to adjust some goals for high school and start grading things. The question was: What should I grade? How do I grade?

One of the first things I learned was: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school! That means, there’s not ONE right way to grade. Each teen is different: different goals, different abilities, different needs. That said, there are some guidelines you can use to help.

What Assignments to Grade and How

The first thing you need to do when deciding what and how to grade, is to clarify your goals for each subject. You do not need to get all stressed about it, but it will help if you write these goals down.

For a reluctant or struggling learner, you might want to keep goals simple.

Grade generously, if they deserve it. (You get to decide what that means. For instance, for all of my kids, there was an “attitude” component to subjects they did at home. This replaced what might be a “class participation” grade in a group or co-op class. So my kids who did their work but had a bad attitude, their grade reflected that- because one of my goals was to develop character.)

For average learners, you may grade more assignments

But you may allow re-takes and re-do’s in classes that will matter to life success. In these courses you would be aiming for mastery of a subject, which is more important than a grade on a transcript.

For college-bound learners, you may want to grade many assignments

• Grading many assignments will benefit a college-bound teen in several ways:
• Gets them used to being graded (if they had one of those ungrading parents)
• Helps them learn to work for a grade (I know that’s hard for those of us who have worked against that, but teens need to learn to set grade-earning goals for good transcripts.)
• Helps them learn to use tools, such as rubrics and syllabi, that they will be using in college
• Helps them develop self-discipline

For most subjects, you can follow these three variations of grading (we will discuss writing assignments in more detail below):

Only quizzes, tests and projects.

• Daily homework assignments are required work but not graded.
• Make sure you are clear with your teen how the grading is done. (If you have a syllabus , you can include this information.) You can say quizzes might count 30% of the grade. Tests and projects would count the other 70%. (Adjust percentages according to your preference- there is not a standardized formula for this.)
• For many assignments, you can use a rubric (included in 7Sisters writing guides or make your own) .
• For Math, Vocabulary, Literature Guides and Textbooks, use the answer key for grading. ( 7Sisters curriculum includes answer keys .)

Tests, projects, daily assignments and attitude/participation

• This is a good way to grade when you know you need to stay on top of comprehension and attitude. In this case, you will be doing a lot of grading but it will help those teens who need this level of supervision.
• In a case like this you might grade: tests and projects 75%, daily assignments 15% and participation/attitude 10%. (Again, adjust percentages according to your preference.)

Tests, projects and participation/participation

• Same as above but skip the daily assignments.

(Also check out this Homeschool Highschool Podcast episode about assigning grades .)

Okay, now for a little bit on writing assignments:

English/language arts:.

ELA has 5 different components:

• Public Speaking

Writing is complicated and will have very different goals for different learners. Here are some suggestions:

For a reluctant or struggling learner.

You might want to keep the goals simple: Was your teen able to complete the assignment? You might start with a Pass/Fail system.

As the year progresses, work slowly to increase expectations. Begin to grade but grade generously and explain how you are grading. (As you know, 7Sisters Writing Curriculum has rubrics OR you can develop your own .)

We 7Sisters have our teens, no matter which level they are working, do four kinds of writing each year:

• Poetry ( 7Sisters Introductory Poetry has bite-sized assignments and helps struggling learners learn to use words more effectively)
• Short Stories
• Research Papers (You can go really easily with this freebie report-style paper or this Research Readiness Guide)

Remember, YOU know your homeschool high schooler. Grade according to your goals and what they need.

For average learners

Adjust the numbers and lengths of writing assignments to fit goals, age, and needs . Average learners can have some writing assignments that are just for fun (graded pass/fail). Poetry and short stories would be a good example of this. These writing assignment teach word usage and thinking skills but sometimes can feel intimidating to students without much experience. Build these good skills with a generous grading system.

Grade essays and research paper assignments using a rubric. Make sure your teens use the same rubric to guide their writing. They can grade themselves with the rubric before passing it onto you for official grade. Here’s a guide for creating your own rubrics , but as you know 7Sisters Writing curriculum includes rubrics. Allow re-dos until the grade is A-level.

Grading poetry can be different. Here’s a post with tips .

For college-bound learners

You can use the same guidelines as those for average learners but I would not suggest re-dos after a final draft is handed in. (Rough drafts can have a gazillion re-dos.)

Grade each assignment using a rubric. Make sure your teens use the same rubric to guide their writing. They can grade themselves with the rubric before passing it onto you for official grade. Here’s a guide for creating your own rubrics , but as you know 7Sisters Writing curriculum includes rubrics.

Okay, let’s get real about this. We asked our homeschool friends for a few tips about grading.

Here’s what our wonderfully honest friend, Ticia, at Adventures in Mommydom said:

Grading: Lock myself in a room with a pile of papers, proceed to grade said papers and grumble about how I’m so put upon, and why didn’t I do this earlier? Try to decipher handwriting and generally complain about how I hate grading. Give work back to kids that needs correcting. When done disappear into my bedroom with a giant cup of Dr Pepper, maybe some chocolate, a book, and run a bath for myself.

For more tips for grading, along with rubric, download this freebie .

Remember: There’s not ONE right way to homeschool high school! There’s not ONE right way to grade. YOU decide what’s best for your teen’s goals. As long as you are honest, you have a lot of leeway!

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Vicki Tillman

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How many essays do you have your students write per year? Am I an essay maniac?

I sent out an end-of-year survey, and by far the most prevalent feedback (other than “play more games” and “spend more time with friends”) is for me to have my students write less essay. We averaged four essays per quarter in the first 3 quarters of the year. Is that too much?