Homework

Homework consists of tasks related to their school studies which students are expected to complete outside school hours.

Homework has been a perennial topic of debate in education (Marzano & Pickering, 2007).

Research-Based Homework Guidelines:

Research provides strong evidence that, when used appropriately, homework benefits student achievement (Cooper, Robinson & Patall, 2006). When used ineffectively, homework may have a negative effect on student achievement. There is limited evidence that homework has positive effects in grades K-6, and some evidence that it has negative effects (Cooper, Robinson & Patall, 2006).

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 interest. If the student does not experience homework as relevant, interesting, challenging, or stimulating, it is unlikely to have a positive effect.
• Design homework to maximize the chances that students will complete it. For example, ensure that homework is at the appropriate level of difficulty. 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 interesting.
• Involve 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 completion.
• Carefully 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 activities. Cooper (2006) suggested that research findings support the common “10-minute rule" which states that, for grades 7 and up, all daily homework assignments combined should take about as long to complete as 10 minutes multiplied by the student's grade level (this includes independent reading or work on projects).

Focusing 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 is engaged in rather 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.

This relates back to the first bullet. Students report that they want homework to feel important, and that it should help them toward their goals. By contrast, they report that much of the homework that’s given can seem random and feels like busy-work (Cushman, 2010). To be effective homework must be engaging and stimulate interest, appropriately mix practice of current skills with challenge (which requires differentiation), and build students' sense of efficacy.

Sources:

Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987-2003. Review of Educational Research, 76(1), 1-62.

Cushman, K. (2010). Chapter 8: Is homework "deliberate practice" Fires in the mind: What kids can tell us about motivation and mastery. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Marzano, R., & Pickering, D. (2007). Special topic: The case for and against homework. Edcational Leadership, 64(6), 74-79.