Homework, Perfectionism, Stress and Neurodivergency
I would like to give credit to Corgi Adams, Esme Vessenes, Tallis Guthrie, Nora Sharma and Rowan Flanagan for giving me the inspiration to write this piece.
You’ve likely heard the saying: “if you were a straight-A student, get ready to accept a B at Exeter” or “there are more letters in the alphabet than A.” All of these sayings reflect a dark truth about Exeter’s academic environment.
A large portion of students at Exeter holds themselves to a high standard, in that it is virtually unacceptable to achieve anything lower than a 90% in their tests or exams (which is an equivalent of a B+). At this point, seeing the letter B in their mid-term and end-of-term reports (B+ included) is considered to be subpar. Many of my own friends take their GPA very seriously. To students who hold themselves to a high academic standard, their GPA is the end-all-be-all measure of academic competency, as well as a quantitative score of their intellectual strength. Neurodivergent students, on the other hand, have struggled to even maintain an expected average of 9.0 GPA. Exeter’s academic climate has created stress and fatigue for neurodivergent students. Should this really be the primary aim of the Exeter learning experience? To place great importance on GPA and grades?
Grading students’ work, particularly with letters, is the most universal means of evaluating academic performance and understanding. However, can grades diminish students’ interest in the actual learning process itself? We must understand the motivational psychology of students: one tenable theory states motivation is the result of an interaction between positive and negative reinforcers. Grades can either be positive or negative reinforcement. For example, some students will be motivated because they want to acquire a high grade, but some students may be driven more by their fear of failure. In my opinion, when a student is asked to learn particular information for an exam to receive a good grade and avoid failing, they are more likely to look at the revision as a task that’s necessary to get a good grade rather than an actual interesting learning procedure. So, has the use of grades quashed the drive to learn? Has the motivation to learn been replaced by the motivation to avoid failing?
Some students, however, embrace their grades because of their efforts. Esme Vessenes, a prep, says “I’m goddamn proud of my Bs; I worked hard winter term and am still here, fully prepared to work even harder this term. But, I should be allowed to criticize how much work I am expected to do. I personally need to do all of my homework in order to learn what I’m supposed to learn properly, so I have no choice but to spend eight hours doing homework nightly.”
Currently, Exeter expects all students, including students with neurodivergent conditions, to complete 70 minutes of homework per class per night (this would mean five hours and 50 minutes for a student with 5 classes). According to the National Education Association, a reasonable amount of homework is 90 minutes total for a 9th grader every night (10 minutes x grade level). Before experiencing Exeter, students probably expected Exeter to be a very academically changing school. However, to be forced to sacrifice up to twice, or even three times the amount of free time they once had caused many students to feel fatigued and exhausted. Moreover, many students agree that it takes longer than expected to complete all homework, oftentimes by over 2 to 3 hours. Nora Sharma, a prep, says, “I got good grades last term because I overworked myself and kissed up to teachers.” This reflected a harmful effect on the Academy’s expectations of students.
Moreover, a large group of students on campus have neurodivergent conditions, causing students to have difficulty in learning and processing. Examples of neurodivergence include people who live with dyslexia, ADHD, or autism. The Academy is not doing a sufficient job of supporting such students with neurodivergent issues. After talking to several students on campus, a common sentiment was expressed. Neurodivergent students experience significant fatigue, as well as the amplification of the amount of daily stress. Neurodivergent students need more time to rest. Neurodivergent students on average take a significantly longer time to complete their homework compared to neurotypical ones; this often eats into their time to rest for the next day. Moreover, the Spring Term schedule is only adding fuel to the fire. Many students feel like the current schedule is mentally exhausting, transitioning from an average of 3 classes per day combined with asynchronous blocks or assignments to an average of 4-5 classes per day. The jump from the last term to this term was too sudden and abrupt for students who spent half their year trying to adapt to Zoom classes and online schooling. Students, including those with neurodivergent issues, need more time to adjust and recover from the consequences of Zoom online learning.
So, how can the Academy better support neurodivergent students, as well as reduce the amount of daily stress students are experiencing? One way of doing so includes reducing the homework expectation for students on a nightly basis. Most students have on average 4-5 classes a day, alongside sports and other commitments. This expectation of homework is unreasonable, as it takes away the downtime needed to socialize and recover. Many students on campus take their GPAs and grades very seriously. It is time for the Academy to change the way it measures academic prowess. Participation in Harkness needs to be amplified in terms of its effect on students’ grades, as the process of a Harkness discussion focuses on the students’ learning process and understanding, not just their ability to complete a worksheet or a weekly quiz. It’s time we hinder the importance of grades and GPAs in order to encourage students to develop a desire for learning. The Academy must also increase its efforts to assist neurodivergent students by establishing more reasonable academic standards as well as improving the support network for students with major neurological problems. It’s about time we focus on what really matters: the learning process.
