Research about homework
Here's what the research kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in texas went viral last week, earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. A massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. New york city public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by duke university psychology professor harris cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and ’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of e the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no all education experts agree entirely with cooper’s vatterott, an education professor at the university of missouri-st. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school. The author of rethinking homework: best practices that support diverse needs, thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids. I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary issue has been debated for decades. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework. Acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned. A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. Throughout the first few decades of the 20th century, educators commonly believed that homework helped create disciplined minds. By 1940, growing concern that homework interfered with other home activities sparked a reaction against it. Education lacked rigor; schools viewed more rigorous homework as a partial solution to the problem. By 1980, the trend had reversed again, with some learning theorists claiming that homework could be detrimental to students' mental health. Since then, impassioned arguments for and against homework have continued to now stand at an interesting intersection in the evolution of the homework debate. Arguments against homework are becoming louder and more popular, as evidenced by several recent books as well as an editorial in ne (wallis, 2006) that presented these arguments as truth without much discussion of alternative perspectives. At the same time, a number of studies have provided growing evidence of the usefulness of homework when employed case for rk is typically defined as any tasks “assigned to students by school teachers that are meant to be carried out during nonschool hours” (cooper, 1989a, p.
Studies about homework
A number of synthesis studies have been conducted on homework, spanning a broad range of methodologies and levels of specificity (see fig. Synthesis studies on of effect , weinstein, &walberg, l effects of l effects of l, weinstein, & walberg, rk versus no rk versus no , 1992; fraser, walberg, welch, & hattie, l effects of teacher , robinson, & patall, rk versus no : this figure describes the eight major research syntheses on the effects of homework published from 1983 to 2006 that provide the basis for the analysis in this article. The cooper (1989a) study included more than 100 empirical research reports, and the cooper, robinson, and patall (2006) study included about 50 empirical research reports. The 1989 meta-analysis reviewed research dating as far back as the 1930s; the 2006 study reviewed research from 1987 to 2003. Commenting on studies that attempted to examine the causal relationship between homework and student achievement by comparing experimental (homework) and control (no homework) groups, cooper, robinson, and patall (2006) noted,With only rare exceptions, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant. Therefore, we think it would not be imprudent, based on the evidence in hand, to conclude that doing homework causes improved academic achievement. Case against gh the research support for homework is compelling, the case against homework is popular. The end of homework: how homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits kralovec and buell (2000), considered by many to be the first high-profile attack on homework, asserted that homework contributes to a corporate-style, competitive u. The authors called for people to unite against homework and to lobby for an extended school day instead. Similar call for action came from bennett and kalish (2006) in the case against homework: how homework is hurting our children and what we can do about it. They provided evidence that too much homework harms students' health and family time, and they asserted that teachers are not well trained in how to assign homework. The authors suggested that individuals and parent groups should insist that teachers reduce the amount of homework, design more valuable assignments, and avoid homework altogether over breaks and a third book, the homework myth: why our kids get too much of a bad thing (2006a), kohn took direct aim at the research on homework. In this book and in a recent article in phi delta kappan (2006b), he became quite personal in his condemnation of researchers. For example, referring to harris cooper, the lead author of the two leading meta-analyses on homework, kohn noted,A careful reading of cooper's own studies . Reveals further examples of his determination to massage the numbers until they yield something—anything—on which to construct a defense of homework for younger children. Also attacked a section on homework in our book classroom instruction that works (marzano, pickering, & pollock, 2001). Concluded that research fails to demonstrate homework's effectiveness as an instructional tool and recommended changing the “default state” from an expectation that homework assigned to an expectation that homework will not be assigned. According to kohn, teachers should only assign homework when they can justify that the assignments are “beneficial” (2006a, p. Finally, kohn urged teachers to involve students in deciding what homework, and how much, they should of kohn's recommendations have merit. For example, it makes good sense to only assign homework that is beneficial to student learning instead of assigning homework as a matter of policy. However, his misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the research sends the inaccurate message that research does not support homework. Kohn's allegations that researchers are trying to mislead practitioners and the general public are unfounded and detract from a useful debate on effective dangers of ignoring the nly, inappropriate homework may produce little or no benefit—it may even decrease student achievement. Schools should strengthen their policies to ensure that teachers use homework a district or school discards homework altogether, however, it will be throwing away a powerful instructional tool. Cooper and colleagues' (2006) comparison of homework with no homework indicates that the average student in a class in which appropriate homework was assigned would score 23 percentile points higher on tests of the knowledge addressed in that class than the average student in a class in which homework was not s the most important advantage of homework is that it can enhance achievement by extending learning beyond the school day.
Effects of homework on students
Drop the use of homework, then, a school or district would be obliged to identify a practice that produces a similar effect within the confines of the school day without taking away or diminishing the benefits of other academic activities—no easy accomplishment. To enact effective homework policies, however, schools and districts must address the following gh teachers across the k–12 spectrum commonly assign homework, research has produced no clear-cut consensus on the benefits of homework at the early elementary grade levels. Even so, cooper (1989b) still recommended homework for elementary students rk for young children should help them develop good study habits, foster positive attitudes toward school, and communicate to students the idea that learning takes work at home as well as at school. Cooper, robinson, and patall (2006) meta-analysis found the same pattern of stronger relationships at the secondary level but also identified a number of studies at grades 2, 3, and 4 demonstrating positive effects for homework. 2007), cooper noted that homework should have different purposes at different grade levels:For students in the earliest grades, it should foster positive attitudes, habits, and character traits; permit appropriate parent involvement; and reinforce learning of simple skills introduced in students in upper elementary grades, it should play a more direct role in fostering improved school 6th grade and beyond, it should play an important role in improving standardized test scores and spent on of the more contentious issues in the homework debate is the amount of time students should spend on homework. The cooper synthesis (1989a) reported that for junior high school students, the benefits increased as time increased, up to 1 to 2 hours of homework a night, and then decreased. The cooper, robinson, and patall (2006) study reported similar findings: 7 to 12 hours of homework per week produced the largest effect size for 12th grade students. The researchers suggested that for 12th graders the optimum amount of homework might lie between 1. For example, good and brophy (2003) cautioned that teachers must take care not to assign too much homework. Robinson, and patall (2006) also issued a strong warning about too much homework:Even for these oldest students, too much homework may diminish its effectiveness or even become counterproductive. 92), which states that all daily homework assignments combined should take about as long to complete as 10 minutes multiplied by the student's grade level. He added that when required reading is included as a type of homework, the 10-minute rule might be increased to 15 ng on the amount of time students spend on homework, however, may miss the point. A significant proportion of the research on homework indicates that the positive effects of homework relate to the amount of homework that the student than the amount of time spent on homework or the amount of homework actually assigned. Thus, simply assigning homework may not produce the desired effect—in fact, ill-structured homework might even have a negative effect on student achievement. Teachers must carefully plan and assign homework in a way that maximizes the potential for student success (see research-based homework guidelines). In addition, many parents report that they feel unprepared to help their children with homework and that their efforts to help frequently cause stress (see balli, 1998; corno, 1996; hoover-dempsey, bassler, & burow, 1995; perkins & milgram, 1996). And colleagues conducted a series of studies to identify the conditions under which parental involvement enhances homework (epstein, 2001; epstein & becker, 1982; van voorhis, 2003). Beyond the gh research has established the overall viability of homework as a tool to enhance student achievement, for the most part the research does not provide recommendations that are specific enough to help busy practitioners. This is the nature of research—it errs on the side of assuming that something does not work until substantial evidence establishes that it does. The research community takes a long time to formulate firm conclusions on the basis of research. Homework is a perfect example: figure 1 includes synthesis studies that go back as far as 60 years, yet all that research translates to a handful of recommendations articulated at a very general addition, research in a specific area, such as homework, sometimes contradicts research in related areas. For example, cooper (2007) recommended on the basis of 60-plus years of homework research that teachers should not comment on or grade every homework assignment. But practitioners might draw a different conclusion from the research on providing feedback to students, which has found that providing “feedback coupled with remediation” (hattie, 1992) or feedback on “testlike events” in the form of explanations to students (bangert-drowns, kulik, kulik, & morgan, 1991) positively affects (2006) pointed out the similarity between education research and medical research. She commented,When reported in the popular media, medical research often appears as a blunt instrument, able to obliterate skeptics or opponents by the force of its evidence and arguments.
Homework vs no homework statistics
The serious medical journals convey the sense that medical research is an ongoing conversation and quest, punctuated occasionally by important findings that can and should alter practice, but more often characterized by continuing investigations. The answer is certainly not to wait until research “proves” that a practice is effective. Instead, educators should combine research-based generalizations, research from related areas, and their own professional judgment based on firsthand experience to develop specific practices and make adjustments as necessary. Like medical practitioners, education practitioners must develop their own “local knowledge base” on homework and all other aspects of teaching. Educators can develop the most effective practices by observing changes in the achievement of the students with whom they work every ch-based homework guidelinesresearch provides strong evidence that, when used appropriately, homework benefits student achievement. To make sure that homework is appropriate, teachers should follow these guidelines:Assign purposeful homework. Legitimate purposes for homework include introducing new content, practicing a skill or process that students can do independently but not fluently, elaborating on information that has been addressed in class to deepen students' knowledge, and providing opportunities for students to explore topics of their own homework to maximize the chances that students will complete it. Students should be able to complete homework assignments independently with relatively high success rates, but they should still find the assignments challenging enough to be e parents in appropriate ways (for example, as a sounding board to help students summarize what they learned from the homework) without requiring parents to act as teachers or to police students' homework lly monitor the amount of homework assigned so that it is appropriate to students' age levels and does not take too much time away from other home , s. The case against homework: how homework is hurting our children and what we can do about it. Interactive homework in middle school: effects on family involvement and science l of educational research, 96, 323–g, h. Time, 168(10), a more detailed response to kohn's views on homework, see marzano & pickering (2007) and marzano & pickering (in press). Marzano is a senior scholar at mid-continent research for education and learning in aurora, colorado; an associate professor at cardinal stritch university in milwaukee,wisconsin; and president of marzano & associates consulting firm in centennial, colorado;. The average high school student spends almost seven hours each week doing homework, it's surprising that there's no clear answer. Homework is generally recognized as an effective way to reinforce what students learn in class, but claims that it may cause more harm than good, especially for younger students, are 's what the research says:In general, homework has substantial benefits at the high school level, with decreased benefits for middle school students and little benefit for elementary students (cooper, 1989; cooper et al. Assigning homework may have academic benefits, it can also cut into important personal and family time (cooper et al. Student’s ability to complete homework may depend on factors that are outside their control (cooper et al. Goal shouldn’t be to eliminate homework, but to make it authentic, meaningful, and engaging (darling-hammond & ifill-lynch, 2006). Homework should be rk can boost learning, but doing too much can be detrimental the national pta and national education association support the "ten-minute homework rule," which recommends ten minutes of homework per grade level, per night (ten minutes for first grade, 20 minutes for second grade, and so on, up to two hours for 12th grade) (cooper, 2010). A recent study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90-100 minutes of homework per day, their math and science scores began to decline (fernández-alonso, suárez-álvarez, & muñiz, 2015). Giving students too much homework can lead to fatigue, stress, and a loss of interest in academics -- something that we all want to rk pros and rk has many benefits, ranging from higher academic performance to improved study skills and stronger school-parent connections. Here's a handy reference chart that lists the research-based pros and cons of homework:Grade level makes a gh the debate about homework generally falls in the "it works" vs. High school students generally get the biggest benefits from homework, with middle school students getting about half the benefits, and elementary school students getting little benefit (cooper et al. Since young students are still developing study habits like concentration and self-regulation, assigning a lot of homework isn't all that s should be supportive, not -designed homework not only strengthens student learning, it also provides ways to create connections between a student’s family and school. Homework offers parents insight into what their children are learning, provides opportunities to talk with children about their learning, and helps create conversations with school communities about ways to support student learning (walker et al.
Motivation plays a key role in learning, and parents can cause unintentional harm by not giving their children enough space and autonomy to do their rk across the , the developers of the international pisa test, published a 2014 report looking at homework around the world. They found that 15-year-olds worldwide spend an average of five hours per week doing homework (the u. Surprisingly, countries like finland and singapore spend less time on homework (2-3 hours per week) but still have high pisa rankings. These countries, the report explains, have support systems in place that allow students to rely less on homework to succeed. Were to decrease the amount of homework assigned to high school students, test scores would likely decrease unless additional supports were rk is about quality, not r you're pro- or anti-homework, keep in mind that research gives a big-picture idea of what works and what doesn't, and a capable teacher can make almost anything work. No homework; instead, we should be asking ourselves, "how can we transform homework so that it's engaging, relevant, and supports learning? Parental involvement in homework: a review of current research and its implications for teachers, after school program staff, and parent leaders. Cambridge, ma: harvard family research more about student engagementcurious homework: an inquiry project for students and rk, sleep, and the student brain. Work really works in developing their subject point, avanthika, which is why homework tends to be more effective in high school, where subject matter plays a larger is a very insightful read. As the parent of both an elementary and a middle school student, i can see the frustration for homework early, but the necessity to set up a routine and expectation for it. Having read marzano, vatterott, and kohn, i realized that, as an elementary teacher, i needed to start questioning my use of homework. Unfortunately, somehow, teachers tend to believe that their homework policies fall in line with the research and nothing changes. We assume that our homework assignments are fulfilling the pros, and simply make excuses about the cons. If lessons and assignments were more engaging and students enjoyed learning more, i don't think we would need homework; plus, i should facilitate their practice anyway. And, secondly, it's hard for me to justify homework when it forces itself into personal and family time. Plansclassroom managementschool lifeteaching strategiesadvice & & awardsread across americanational teacher day may 9, 2017annual meeting and representative assembly (ra)meetings & eventsamerican education week: november 13-17, and ideas/teaching strategies/articles & resources/research spotlight on to: tools and ideas / teaching strategies / articles & resources / research spotlight on ch spotlight on reviews of the research on best practices in in: teaching researchers are urging schools to take a fresh look at homework and its potential for engaging students and improving student performance. Research doesn't have all the answers, but a review of some existing data yields some helpful observations and much homework do students do? Homework overload is the exception rather than the norm; however, according to research from the brookings institution and the rand corporation (see the brown center 2003 below). Their researchers analyzed data from a variety of sources and concluded that the majority of u. Students spend less than an hour a day on homework, regardless of grade level, and this has held true for most of the past 50 years. In the last 20 years, homework has increased only in the lower grade levels, and this increase is associated with neutral (and sometimes negative) effects on student much is appropriate? National pta recommendations fall in line with general guidelines suggested by researcher harris cooper: 10-20 minutes per night in the first grade, and an additional 10 minutes per grade level thereafter (e. High school students may sometimes do more, depending on what classes they take (see review of educational research, 2006). At the elementary school level, homework can help students develop study skills and habits and can keep families informed about their child's learning.
Advise schools or districts to include teachers, parents, and students in any effort to set homework policies. Policies should address the purposes of homework; amount and frequency; school and teacher responsibilities; student responsibilities; and, the role of parents or others who assist students with students have too much homework? 10 out of 112 comments |add your commentalluha akbar | 2016/05/30when i was in pakistan i made sure to do my homework on the layout of the twin towers so when i flew my plane into it i knew where to bombtom | 2016/05/24no help at | 2016/05/23where does the gathering of special items such as shoe boxes, costumes, etc fall into the homework timeline? Bobby | 2016/05/06dooooooooooooooo meeeeeeeeeeeee harddddddddddddddddddddddddmarco ortiz | 2016/05/06**** her right in the *****dat boi | 2016/05/06look up boi | 2016/05/06my **** is a foot long and **** homeworkboi if you dont | 2016/05/03booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooisuck | 2016/04/27lolololpewdiepielololololololoblue | 2016/04/27yo listen up heres a story, about a little blue guy who lives in a blue world! Blue-ba-be-dee-ba-be-damicheal rocha | 2016/04/26dooooo meeee harddd 69 me | 2016/04/2669 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 69 695th grade student | 2016/04/26to much homework kamehamehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa7th grade student | 2016/04/25homework leaves me almost no time to do other activities like reading drawing, family time, outside activities, school clubs, and stuff. Even during vacation i had to do a 5 page essay for social studies, which took up almost the whole week of my | 2016/04/21this is coolwell educated student | 2016/04/18i am doing a research ooo | 2016/04/13oooooooooono | 2016/04/12i like part about hmwkmichael | 2016/04/11this research and article is outdated. Rock me like a hurricanesmart alac | 2016/03/29i find this article to be most truthful with all of the facts on how homework shouldn't be assigned to poor lads with either after after school work or activities. To better manage to-do and priority, we set up a whiteboard in the study room to list daily and weekly due homework for these two subjects, this past weekend there were six(6) bullet items on the board. There will need to be a better coordination and balance systems in place at schools so our kids can be challenged but not kunt | 2016/02/29i totally agreety decker | 2016/02/28hello, my name is ty decker, i am 13 years old and i hate school/homework more than anything else in my life. I've seen a lot of idiotic comments on this page that make homework look like it actually is needed. I know people that go to 8 hours in middle school) add in two hours of homework a day and you are working 50 hours weekly. And giving a certain number of time that is homework overload is complete ****, the difficulty of the homework, whether you're good at the subject, and whether you had a stressful day at school can determine homework overload, so it's different for everyone. Now i'm going to talk about your messed up "education" system) one of the biggest faults in your system is the grade system, most teachers have weighted grades on tests, so if you do good at homework, but terrible at tests, you're screwed. Mnbvcxzpatty | 2016/02/09homework is awfulhomework hurts kids physiclay | 2016/02/04home work can cause seroise stress and can hurt kids from lack of sleep and the amount of stress from having to much homework or not having enough time to do it from sports or activities, it also causes parents to stress from their kids having health problems from homework..... Homework is harmful (i am 13 and yes i have done my reaserch, srry for my lack of spelling xd)************************ | 2016/02/04homework is almost as bad and random as ur mom's ******. And i'm 12 years youngmatthew | 2016/02/02homework is the greatest thing everla'tonya | 2016/02/02i agree that homework is very important and a necessity to make sure that students complete in class work that they did not finish and for the practice or preparation for a project/exam/etc. However, i have concerns when the recommendation for homework time is 10 min/grade, but my child gets that much from just one teacher, who does not consider that he has homework for other classes. Homework is more important than extracurricular activities, however we need well rounded kids and those extracurricular activities help with 404 | 2016/01/26i think people who spend more than 3 hours a day are probably just fooling around too much. Teach them how to focus and how not to be parents taught me how to focus on homework and now homework only takes about 15 minutes. Haykin | 2016/01/25my first grade grandson has 2 hours of homework per night, as he had in kindergarten. The studies proving that there is a positive correlation between homework and achievements is overwhelming. People need to stop hating homework and start working on it especially when it is helping them. As for people who can't find time to do homework due to sports and other activities, make time. Better to focus on your | 2016/01/22while that erpy slurp | 2016/01/21homework :)conner | 2016/01/21people shouldnt have too much cher | 2016/01/20thank you!
This helped so much for a project im doinglife help | 2016/01/20hey now hey now i like the way you bring that back hey now hey now dose yo mama know you dance like thatriley burgess 12 twin | 2016/01/20hw is doumbhi | 2016/01/20i hate homework it is boringhi | 2016/01/20hi waz uk | 2015/11/24these are some very thought provoking comments... 2015/10/27dfghjkjhgfdddfghmost recent | type this text in the box below:Anc_dyn_linksresearch spotlight on best practices in _dyn_linksresearch reports & statistics.
