Dr. Cathy Vatterott Bio

Dr. Cathy Vatterott is Professor Emeritus of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. As a former middle school teacher and principal, and the parent of a college graduate, she has experienced homework from a variety of perspectives.

She is the author of four books: Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs, 2nd edition (ASCD, 2018), Rethinking Grading: Meaningful Assessment for Standards Based Learning (ASCD, 2015), Becoming a Middle Level Teacher: Student-focused Teaching of Early Adolescents (McGraw Hill, 2007), and Academic Success through Empowering Students (National Middle School Association, 1999). She frequently presents at national conferences and serves as a consultant and workshop presenter for K-12 schools on homework, grading practices, and teen stress.

Dr. Vatterott has been researching, writing, and speaking about K-12 homework for over 20 years and is considered an international expert on homework. She has been interviewed by television, radio, print and online media on four continents, including the New York Times, National Public Radio, Time.com, USA Today, BBC World News Service, the Globe and Mail, and the Guardian. She serves on the advisory board for Parents magazine and is often a resource for writers from parenting magazines and educational organizations.

She first became interested in homework in the late 1990’s as the frustrated parent of a 5th grader with learning disabilities. Since then, she has presented her homework research to over 13,000 educators and parents in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Her work with schools has been the catalyst for her latest research on teen stress. Her most recent article, “The teens are not alright”, appeared in the May 2019 issue of Educational Leadership

She can be reached through this website or at vatterott@umsl.edu