Homework

Alicia Richards
Curriculum Development
April 13, 2009

Too Much, Not Enough, Just Right?
The Homework Debate

Aargh!! I will never finish this! My teacher is trying to kill me! I’m so going to fail! How many parents have listened to this litany of complaints about homework from their children on a regular basis? Are these gripes legitimate or are they just the whines of a twelve-year old who would rather be texting or playing Xbox?

The homework issue has had a long and often contentious history in the United States. In the early 1900’s campaigns against homework claimed it was a form of child labor that damaged children. Many cities banned homework for elementary school students. When the Russians launched Sputnik in the 1950’s, homework enjoyed a new popularity as American students were pushed to achieve. Homework lost ground in the 1960’s during the anti-Vietnam counterculture era. It was not until the 1980’s and the publication of “A Nation at Risk” that homework again gained acceptance. The United States was perceived as lagging behind other industrialized nations academically. Homework has remained popular ever since, although there have been rumblings of discontent in the last decade.

The homework battle is fueled on both sides by the desire to do what is best for students. Educators are under tremendous pressure to cover more materials in greater depth. Many people believe that in order to compete globally our students must be challenged more. Families feel stretched to the limit by escalating demands and lack of time. Educators often rely on homework to help achieve the requirements of state and national mandates. Some parents feel that homework has become all consuming, leaving little time for family and other commitments. There have been many studies purporting to examine the efficacy of homework. It is difficult to objectively evaluate the effect of homework separately from other educational issues. Due to different interpretations of the available data, homework proponents and opponents each claim that the research supports their view.

Reservations about homework focus on several aspects; educational value and objectives, time, stress and equity. A 2004 national study by the University of Michigan found that the amount of time spent on homework has increased by 51% since 1981. Is this time increase beneficial? Critics question the correlation between homework and improved student educational outcomes. Homework is often seen as meaningless busy work that does nothing to improve student’s chances for success and often turns them off to the whole learning process. Many children dislike homework and the increasing homework burden can sour them to school in general. Parents who complain about excessive homework often cite the time homework takes away from the other important parts of student’s lives: play, exercise, and family time. They believe students need a balance between work and play to remain physically and mentally healthy. Students can become stressed and frustrated when they do not fully comprehend the concepts assigned for homework. They often have no one who is qualified to help them understand the information at home. Parents report stress and family discord when working with their children on homework or trying to get them to manage their time to complete assigned work. With increasingly busy schedules homework becomes a source of great anxiety for families. Critics also object to homework because it can increase the achievement gap between social classes. Poor households are often headed by single parents who may have little education and who may be unable, because of lack of understanding or time constraints, to effectively help with homework. There may also be language barriers that make assignment comprehension difficult. Poorer students may have reduced access to resources like computers and books needed to help them complete their homework. They may also lack a quiet, secure spot in their home to work. Older students in poor families may experience pressure to help out by getting a job or providing care for younger siblings, which would negatively impact time available to spend on school work. According to a Maine Department of Education study, most of the high school dropouts from poor families cited homework problems as a contributing factor to their decision to leave school.

Homework advocates see the situation very differently. They claim that research actually shows very little change in the amount of homework assigned over the last twenty years. The increase noted by homework critics is confined to the elementary level and is primarily due to the fact that many elementary students went from having no homework assigned to having 10-20 minutes per night. Most studies show that the homework burden for high school students has actually decreased. The Brown Center on Education Policy reports that studies show that the typical student, even in high school, does not spend more than one hour a day on homework. Proponents believe that this is a relatively light homework load and it is justified by the positive impact on students. How can people claim serious concern about American student’s performance compared to other nations and then complain that student’s are given too much homework? Homework is a tool that can be used to increase student achievement in an increasingly competitive global economy. Homework instills good study habits, regardless of the subject involved. By doing homework students learn valuable time management skills, how to use resources effectively, independence and responsibility. These are skills that students will find useful throughout their education. Another positive aspect of homework is that it can be a bridge between school and home. Parents discover what their children are actually learning in school and get to be involved in the process. Homework increases the communication between teachers and families.

Studies have shown that homework does contribute to student achievement. On an elementary level, it teaches them important study skills and reinforces new concepts. On a middle and high school level, homework has been shown to have a strong causal relationship with improved performance on standardized tests and better grades. Homework gives students the opportunity to practice new skills and reflect on what they have learned. It improves comprehension and retention of information. It allows more in-depth study of a subject than class time permits.

Teachers who assign meaningful, carefully planned homework can avoid some of the controversy surrounding the practice. Assignments need to have a clear purpose and be useful to student learning. Homework should be aligned with curriculum and should reinforce and enhance lessons. Homework that is stimulating and thought provoking will engage students in the process. Teachers should take care to assign a reasonable amount of homework; the National Education Association and the National PTA both provide guidelines. Certainly there are some students who have an unfair homework burden but they are a small percentage. Most students will benefit from sensible homework assignments. In the end, it is only fair to expect to work a little harder to achieve educational success.

Resources


Brown Center on Education Policy
http://www.brookings.edu/brown.aspx

The Center for Public Education
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.1427855/k.BEB0/Home.htm

Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin182.shtml

The Harvard University Gazette
http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/09.28/homework.html

The Myth About Homework
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376208-1,00.html

Rethinking Homework
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/rethinkinghomework.htm