The great homework debate has raged for decades: What kind of homework is most effective? How much is too much? Does homework widen or close equity gaps? And does it actually improve learning?

Now, the arrival of artificial intelligence has added a new complication: How can a teacher tell whether a completed assignment reflects a student’s own work or is the output of a chatbot like ChatGPT?

The only certainties are that a sound homework policy should meaningfully support learning without overwhelming students or teachers.

Here, veteran educators share their strategies for creating homework that’s worthwhile and effective.

Homework should reinforce classwork. “Homework can be really onerous if it’s new material, so it should always be a review or a practice of skills you’ve already taught,” says Benjamin Jones, a Big Apple Award-winning special education teacher at PS 449 in the Bronx.

Christine Hanley, a UFT Teacher Center field liaison on Staten Island, agrees. “Based on your formative assessments during the class, identify that one thing that students are struggling with that will be helpful to you in the next lesson,” she advises. For example, if students are stumped by multidigit subtraction with regrouping, assign two or three problems that target that skill, differentiating as needed.

Adapt to a world with AI chatbots. Amy Matthusen, a Big Apple Award winner and a high school English teacher at East-West School of International Studies in Queens, assigns only reading for homework — never writing. “I don’t trust any writing done outside of class,” she says, noting that even before AI, it was difficult to gauge how much support students were getting at home.

Instead, Matthusen has students write a short, timed response in class to the previous night’s reading. The responses are open-book and open-notes, giving even students who didn’t finish the reading a chance to absorb the material.

Jones asks students to do their math homework on paper and show their work or explain how they arrived at their answers. While this doesn’t eliminate the possibility of AI use, it ensures that students engage with the material because they must work on paper and document their reasoning.

Make sure students have support. Equity remains a big issue in the homework debate: Some kids have time, space and support at home, and others don’t. Jones uses the first 20 minutes of the day to work on the previous night’s homework with students who are struggling, while other students work on “challenges” or extensions.

Some teachers post links to instructional videos tied to the classroom lesson for students who need extra practice or a different approach.

You can also direct students to Dial-A-Teacher, the UFT’s homework helpline available in nine languages and for all grade levels, at 212-777-3380.