voting and studies on homework and Gulf War Syndrome

Today I went to vote and learned that the closest branch of the local community college has indoor/outdoor carpeting in it. Also felt-tip pens with their caps off for filling in circles on the ballot, but those were all the way over in the little voting booths, and I couldn't smell them anyway because I had to wear my big, serious mask on account of the carpet. It was entertaining to get out and stir up the eight bored volunteers (it was 1:30 pm, and the place was empty), but I'm going to be all organized for November and get a mail-in ballot.

Onward to the news. It says here and here that studies show elementary school kids' test scores don't go up if they're given homework except for maybe a little reading. Middle schoolers' scores top out with between 60 and 90 minutes of homework per day, and high school students' scores with two hours. Despite this sort of information, teachers are frequently required to pile it on, so they do. Here's a quote from the author of "The Homework Myth," who is famous for harping about standardized tests:

"I am always fascinated when research says one thing and we are all rushing in the other direction," [Alfie] Kohn said.

I am not fascinated. Learning one thing and doing something else annoys the [bad word] out of me, unless it's a study reporting that some food or other will protect/kill you. Those I learned to take with a grain of salt. (Sorry.)

On to the last quote in the Post article, this one from a 16-year-old 11th grader:

"I feel like I'm learning more when I'm reading than when I'm filling out math sheets," she said. "If homework were eliminated? I'd read anyway."

What the heck kind of math do 11th graders learn that can be done on math sheets? Beginning algebra? Ok, I'm just bitter - I was forced to read literature in high school, but I have no real feel for it, so if I hadn't had homework, I would have stuck to the good stuff, aka science fiction, fantasy, and Dick Francis.

I learned one more thing today. A panel that studied a bunch of studies on Gulf War Syndrome recognized that affected vets are clearly sicker than they should be but concluded that since vets don't all have exactly the same symptoms, Gulf War Syndrome doesn't exist. If they had read any science fiction at all as students, it's possible that they could wrap their tiny brains around the concept of a new kind of illness, but, since fellow EIs' health and treatment is affected by their decision, I hope they all get eaten by bug-eyed monsters.