> It seems that every teacher feels the need to assign an hour a day. Some school districts (including Arcadia, California, where I live) set standards specify

> It seems that every teacher feels the need to assign an hour a day. Some school districts (including Arcadia, California, where I live) set standards specifying how much time different grades should spend on homework "on average". For 5th grade, the standard here is 50 minutes. So the teacher "feels the need" because that's what his/her bosses say to do. From what I've heard, those standards are driven at least in part by the expectations of the parents.