Jonathan Rauch boldly expresses his opinion on increasing higher academic achievement with a new form of education in his essay Now, for Tonights Assignment Rauch uses examples to show that students in America put in less than half as much studying as students in Japan, France and Germany. He points out that most American students have a minimal workload, so increased homework should be implemented. According to Rauch, more homework will lead to increased academic achievement. However, it fails to recognize that increased homework can increase stress on students. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I agree with Rauch that there is not enough time in the American school system, but adding more school days will leave students with a heavier daily schedule, which can lead to a decline in extracurricular activities and of sports teams. Rauch believes that more time spent in school will result in higher grades. However, it does not highlight the fact that a normal student already has difficulty maintaining school, homework, social life, as well as extracurricular activities and sports. Students need more school to educate their minds, but they also need extracurricular activities and sports to learn life skills. School education only teaches students so much. Through school, students are given the opportunity to learn and develop skills to secure a good financial future. On the other hand, through extracurricular activities and sports, students learn essential life skills that cannot be taught in the classroom. Getting involved in clubs or team activities allows students to interact with each other and gain team building skills to work well together for the greater good. Adding more school days could lead to two things: rising grades and declining extracurricular activities and sports teams or a set of grades and increased student engagement. Therefore, instead of more school days, a new method that does not overwhelm students should be put in place to bring balance to students' lives. Rauch points out that the more older students study, the more they will learn. Educational psychologist Harris Cooper states that high school students' homework can produce a substantial and positive effect on their academic performance. For example, in my high school we had to take a class called tutorial at the end of the day. During that time, students were given the opportunity to have teachers help them with their homework before going home and tackling it on their own. Most high schools could benefit from having a tutorial class, to get students on the right path to doing homework, before going home to do it themselves. The duration of a lesson is not always long enough for students to fully understand the concepts taught. When students are left to do homework on their own, they may not fully understand or incorrectly understand the material. This is due to the possibility that students are teaching themselves the wrong method. More homework could benefit student achievement only if the concepts are understood correctly. The main problem according to Rauch is that students don't test themselves simply because they don't do their homework. Rauch says that according to the 1999 National Assessment of Education Progress, 40 percent of American students do not.