9/11/2016

HomeworkorNot?Thatisthe(Research)Question.|DistrictAdministrationMagazine

HomeworkorNot?Thatisthe(Research)
Question.
Weighingtheconflictingevidence.
AlisonDeNiscoDistrictAdministration,March2013

AFloridaVirtualSchoolstudentspendspartofhisdayonlineforschoolwork,atschoolorhome,anywhere
thereisaninternetconnection.Thetermhomeworkbecomesobsolete.

Woeuntotheadministratorwhoventuresforthintothehomeworkwars.
Scaleitback,andparentswillbeatyourdoorcomplainingaboutalackofacademicrigor.Dialitup,andyoull
getanearfulfromotherparentsaboutinterferencewithafterschoolactivitiesandfamilytime.
Ifyourelookingtobolsteryourparticularpositionwithresearchresults,youreinluck,becausethere
arestudiesthatbackthemoreisbetterapproachandothersthatsupportthelessisbettertack.

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HomeworkorNot?Thatisthe(Research)Question.|DistrictAdministrationMagazine

Homeworkhasbeenahottopicforanumberofyearsnowbecauseitaffectssomanypeople,saysRobertH.
Tai,aprofessorattheUniversityofVirginiasCurrySchoolofEducationwhohasresearchedthetopic
andconducteda2012study,WhenIsHomeworkWorththeTime?Afterstudyingtranscriptsanddatafor
morethan18,000sophomorestudentsnationwide,hefoundnosignificantrelationshipbetweentimespenton
homeworkandgrades,butdidfindapositiverelationshipbetweenhomeworkandperformanceon
standardizedtests.Homeworkshouldactasaplacewherestudentspracticetheskillstheyvelearnedinclass,
Taisays.Itshouldntbeasituationwherestudentsspendmanyhourseverynightporingoversomething
[new].

InFavorofHomework
A2004nationalsurveyconductedbytheUniversityofMichiganfoundthattheamountoftimespent
onhomeworkhadrisen51percentsince1981.Mostofthisincreasewasfoundamongyoungerstudents,with
dailyhomeworkfor6to8yearoldsincreasing,onaverage,fromabout8minutesin1981to22minutesin
2003.
Thereisapositiverelationshipbetweentheamountofhomeworkstudentsdoandtheirachievement
outcomes,accordingtoa2006studybyHarrisCooper,directorofDukeUniversitysPrograminEducation,
whichanalyzedandcombinedtheresultsofdozensofhomeworkstudies.Thestudiesfoundthatstudentswho
hadhomeworkperformedbetteronclasstestscomparedtothosewhodidnot.Twelvestudieslinkingthe
amountofhomeworktoachievementandcontrollingforotherfactors,suchassocioeconomicstatus,alsofound
apositivelink.Of35studiesthatsimplycorrelatedhomeworkandachievement,withnoattempttocontrolfor
studentdifferences,about77percentalsofoundapositivelinkbetweentimeonhomeworkandachievement.
However,saysCooper,therewasonegroupinthestudyforwhichhomeworkwasnotcorrelatedwith
achievement:elementaryschoolstudents.Forthesechildren,thereportstatesthattheaveragecorrelation
betweentimespentonhomeworkandachievementhoveredaroundzero,ornorelationship.Thismaybe
becauseyoungerstudentshavelessdevelopedstudyhabitsandarelessabletotuneoutdistractionsathome,
Coopersays.

TheCaseforLess
Otherresearchhasyieldedotherinterpretationsabouttheusefulnessofhomework.Theauthorsof
ReformingHomework:Practices,LearningandPolicies(PalgraveMacmillan,2012)evaluatedhomework
researchandconcludedthatitdoesnotsignificantlyimpactachievementandcanevenbedetrimental.One
studyfromPennStatethatanalyzeddatafromthelate1990sfoundthat,incountrieswithhighhomework
demands,studentperformanceontheinternationaltestofachievementknownasTrendsinMathematicsand
ScienceStudywaspoorerthanthosewithlessrigorousafterschoolassignments.Theauthors,bothprofessorsat
Australianuniversities,donotcallforahomeworkban,buttheydorecommendlesshomework,aswell
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ashomeworkassignmentsofahigherquality,ratherthanlargeamountsofdrillandpracticework.
Further,Taiandcolleaguesstudy,WhenIsHomeworkWorththeTime?alsofoundthatsophomoreswho
spentmoretimeonafterschoolassignmentsdidnotfareanybetterorworsewithgrades,butdidperformbetter
onstandardizedtests.Basedonourresearch,itappearsthatthemosteffectiveuseofhomeworkmaybetohelp
studentssharpentheirskillswiththingsthattheyalreadyknowhowtodo,ratherthantryingtousehomeworkas
anextensionofclasstime,Taisays.Issuesoftenarisewhenstudentsandparentsdonotunderstandtheaimof
thehomeworkassignments,Taiadds,anditisimperativeforteacherstomakethepurposeclear.
A2011studyintheJournalofAdvancedAcademicsfoundthatitwasthesenseofselfeffcacystudents
feltwhilecompletinghomeworkassignments,andtheavailabilityofresources(suchasaquietplacetowork
andaccesstoacomputer)thatledtoincreasedmathematicsachievementonaninternationalexam.Andstudents
whospentmoretimeonhomeworkperformedworseontheexam,theresearchersfound.Althoughthiswasa
surprisingfinding,alackofunderstandingofasubjectcanleadtoineffcientanddisproportionateeffort,aswell
asdiminishedmotivation,thestudystates.Theresearchersadd,Thisobservationfitsthenotionthatstudents
whohavelowmathematicsscoresandspendmoretimeonmathematicshomeworkdoitpreciselybecauseof
lowselfeffcacyandfewersupportresources.

InternationalDebate
In2012,FinlandandSouthKoreacameinatnumbers1and2,respectively,ontheGlobalIndexofCognitive
SkillsandEducationAttainment,whichrankscountriesbasedoninternationaltestscores,literacy,and
graduationrates(theUnitedStateswasrankedatnumber17).Thoughtheirstudentsoccupythetopspots
globally,thesetwonationsapproachhomeworkandlearninginradicallydifferentways.
FinlandfollowsaEuropeaneducationalmodel,characterizedbyshortschooldaysandfewhomework
assignments.SouthKorea,likemanyEastAsiancountries,incontrast,haslongschooldaysfollowedby
tutoringsessionsandafocusonrotelearningassignments.Itishardtofindtwoeducationsystems
moredifferent,saystherankingsreportTheLearningCurve:LessonsinCountryPerformanceinEducation.
Thereportadds,Closerexamination,though,showsthatbothcountriesdevelophighqualityteachers,value
accountabilityandhaveamoralmissionthatunderlieseducationefforts.
France,rankedatnumber25,isconsideringadifferentapproach:lastfall,theFrenchgovernmentproposed
doingawaywithhomeworkinelementaryandjuniorhighschoolaltogether,arguingthatitputspoorerstudents
andthosewithdifficulthomesituationsatadisadvantage.Educationispriority,FrenchPresidentFrancois
HollandesaidinanOctoberspeechatParissSorbonneUniversity.Aneducationprogramis,bydefinition,a
societalprogram.Workshouldbedoneatschool,ratherthanathome.

NontraditionalModels
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HomeworkorNot?Thatisthe(Research)Question.|DistrictAdministrationMagazine

Now,theveryconceptofhomeworkisbeingdisruptedbytheadventoftheflippedclassroom,whichinvolvesa
teacherspresentationbeingdeliveredoutsideofclass,viaavideothatstudentsviewathome,whileclasstime
isusedforactiveproblemsolvingbystudents(whichwouldtraditionallybeconsideredhomework)andone
tooneorsmallgrouptutoringwiththeteacher,saysKariArfstrom,executivedirectoroftheFlippedLearning
Network,anationalclearinghouseonthemethod.
ClintondaleHighSchoolintheClintondale(Mich.)CommunitySchoolDistrictusesflippedlearning,which
helpedstudentsmakestridesinhomework.Thedistricthas75percentofitsstudentsreceivingfreeorreduced
pricelunch.Andthreeyearsago,theschoolbegantransitioningtoaflippedmodeltotrytoengageastruggling
studentpopulation.Homeworkcompletionrateswerearound30percent,andkidswerestrugglingwhenwe
askedthemtopracticeathome,saysPrincipalGregGreen.Wedecidedtolookatreversingit,anddoing
homeworkinschool.
Today,Clintondalestudentscompleteminiaturelessonsathome,whichcouldinvolvewatchingapresentation,
reading,orreviewinginformation,Greensays,butmostofthework,suchaswritingessaysandperforming
mathproblemsets,isdoneinclass.Studentswillhaveahalfanhourofworkpernightonaverage,Greensays,
oftenwatchingtwoorthreevideosthatarefivetosevenminuteslongeach.
Theresultshavebeenpositive:Theschoolsaveragestudentfailureratedroppedfromaround35percentto
under10percentsinceimplementingtheflippedmodel,Greensays,andstatetestscoresincreasedinevery
subject.Attendancewentupabout4percent,nowhoveringaround94percent,andthegraduationrateincreased
from80to90percent.Itsbeenquiteanevolutionhere,Greensays,inlargepartbecauseteachersarethere
tooffereffectivefeedbackandclarifywhenstudentsmaybestruggling.Researchtellsusweshouldhavekids
engagedinrigorouscontent,haveaccesstotechnology,andgiveimmediatefeedback,andthisallowsustogive
ittothem.

HowMuchIsEnough?
AccordingtoaparentguidereleasedbytheNationalPTAandtheNationalEducationAssociation,most
educatorsagreethatforK2students,homeworkismoreeffectivewhenitdoesnotexceed1020minutesdaily
forstudentsingrades36,3060minutesadayisadequateandinjuniorandseniorhigh,theamountof
homeworkwillvarybysubject,withmanydistrictpoliciesstatingthathighschoolstudentsshouldexpectabout
30minutesofhomeworkpercourse.
HarrisCooperofDukeUniversityconcludes,inanopedpiecedistributedbytheDukeUniversityOffceof
Communications:
Practiceassignmentsimprovescoresonclasstestsatallgradelevels
Alittleamountofhomeworkmayhelpelementaryschoolstudentsbuildstudyhabits
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HomeworkorNot?Thatisthe(Research)Question.|DistrictAdministrationMagazine

Homeworkforjuniorhighstudentsappearstoreachthepointofdiminishingreturnsafterabout90minutes
pernight
Forhighschoolstudents,homeworkiseffectiveuntilbetween90minutesand21/2hoursofhomework
anight,afterwhichreturnsdiminish.
Itremainsdiffculttoshowcausationbetweenincreasedhomeworkandhigherachievement,duetoinfluencing
factorssuchasteachereffectivenessandclassparticipation,researcherssay.Mostagreethathomeworkshould
bepurposeful,andthatmoredoesnottranslatetobetter.
Busyworkturnsstudentsofffromlearning,saysLynnFontana,chiefacademicoffcerofSylvanLearning,
anationaltutoringchainthatprovideshomeworkhelpforpreK12students.Iftheycanseetheconnection
betweenwhattheyredoingashomeworkandwhattheyneedtoknow[forclass],theyaremuchmorewillingto
dothehomework.
AlisonDeNiscoisstaffwriter.

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