Research Summary

• In a 1989 paper, Cooper, a leading researcher in the area of homework, summarized the findings of the meta-analysis that he conducted that same year. His main conclusions were that homework has no positive causal or correlation relationship with increased achievement in elementary school. In middle school, there was a small positive correlation between the amount of time spent on homework and achievement. In high school, the results were similar to those for middle school students, but the effects were larger. In the experimental research that Cooper reviewed, he found that students showed higher levels of achievement when they were given homework as compared to students who were given no homework. The effect of homework was halved when it was compared to a condition in which students were given an alternative in-school assignment, rather than no homework. Cooper concluded his review by recommending homework at all levels of schooling, including elementary school, in order to “develop good study habits, foster positive attitudes toward school, and communicate to students the idea that learning takes place at home as well as at school” (1989, p. 90). He made these recommendations even though he had previously stated that there is no research to support the idea that homework will produce these outcomes.

• Studies that tie increased homework time to higher grades are suspect because a great deal of homework in school is graded, and therefore increased time spent on homework could lead directly to higher grades, even if no learning occurred as a result of the homework. Keith, Diamond-Hallam, and Fine (2004) found that homework completed out of school had a strong effect on achievement, as measured by both GPA and test scores, while homework completed in school had almost no effect on achievement. Presumably both in-school and out-of-school assignments contributed to a student’s grade, so the fact that only out-of-school assignments had an effect is persuasive. However, these results do not prove a causal relationship. Doing homework out of school may involve some of the same attributes that likely contribute to achievement, such as effort, motivation, and time management skills. The correlation between more time spent on homework outside of school, and achievement may simply be a by-product of a student possessing these qualities.

• Dettmers, Trautwein, and Lüdtke (2009) examined the results of the 2003 cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which measured mathematics achievement for students from 40 countries. The researchers found students attending schools that, on average, assigned more homework did better on the test than students attending schools that assigned less homework. At the level of individual students, increased homework time was not always correlated with higher achievement on the test, meaning that students who spent more time on their homework did not necessarily score higher on the test. The researchers speculate that this might be because students with less prior knowledge or poor study skills might take longer to complete a homework assignment and score lower on the achievement test than students with more prior knowledge or better study skills. When the average socioeconomic levels of the schools and the students’ tracks were included in the analysis, the strength of the correlation between homework time and achievement was greatly reduced.

• In 2010, Dettmers, Tautwein, and Lüdtke looked at the quality of homework assignments, and how that was related to several factors including homework time, effort, expectancy (how well students expected to do on the homework), and achievement in math. The researchers found that homework quality was positively correlated with time spent on homework at both levels, effort at the student level and achievement on the math test at the class level. When the challenge level of the homework was considered, there was a negative correlation with effort and expectancy at the student level, but at the class level it was associated with higher math achievement. The authors discuss the seeming contradiction of their results as they relate to the challenge level of homework assignments: “the complexity of our results reflects the difficulties teacher face in their daily routine” (Dettmers et al., 2010, p. 478) and later “the current literature suggests that teacher should assign adequately difficult tasks to improve students’ motivation and effort and challenging but well-structured tasks to foster students’ performance.” (p. 479)

• According to Vatterott (2009), the contradictions in homework research can be attributed to several factors. First, the amount of time spent on homework is often the measure used when the quality of instruction and homework, as well as the individual nature of the student are not taken into consideration. Second, the measures of achievement are imperfect because standardized tests often reflect socioeconomic status, and aptitude, while grades and teacher designed tests are often more a measure of compliance than learning. She also suggests that a belief in the usefulness of homework are so ingrained in researchers that they often try to explain away results that do not meet their expectations, and may even make recommendations that are not supported by their own research. Vatterott suggests that teachers can rely on their own knowledge and research about the brain and learning that is more conclusive. Her recommendations include only assigning quality homework and tailoring the assignment to the child through differentiation.

• Kohen (2006), a vocal critic of homework, and controversial figure in educational research, says that there is very little research to support the use of homework. His claim is that correlations between homework and achievement are nonexistent in younger grades and weak in the higher grades. He also states that these weak associations become even smaller when factors like teacher quality, children’s socioeconomic status, etc are considered. Kohen believes that the belief in homework is so ingrained in researchers that they are not objective, but will use almost any result to show support for the use of homework. Kohen’s language is inflammatory, but he has an important point that assumptions need to be questioned when the benefits of homework are considered.

• Of 39 math instructors, from the middle school, high school, community college, or university levels, who responded to a survey designed for this project, only three said that homework was not a part of the grade that they assign students for their class. Two of these were middle school teachers, and one was a community college instructor. About 28% of the instructors surveyed mentioned problems that they have with homework. These problems ranged from not knowing that the work was the students’ own to the belief that not enough homework is assigned at the elementary level causing students to be unprepared for the amount assigned in middle school. One university instructor said that since there is a lot more support now available to students, they do much better on homework, but the increased support may create a “false sense of security” because they rarely do problems completely on their own. In addition to these 28%, several teachers mentioned that they would like to find ways to avoid grading homework, but that students do not value what is not graded.

• On a survey of 55 parents, 83% believe that homework reinforces their child’s learning. 26% report that their child does not regularly complete homework, and 38% say that homework has not been
a positive experience for their student this year. One parent said “We are an extremely busy family and often there is just not time for homework. I have never been a big supporter of homework as I think that if you have my child for several hours every week that ought to be enough time to teach them what they need to learn and be able to have "down time" at home.” Another parent said “It seems like math homework has been sporadic this year. The first half of year there seemed to be very little homework. It makes sense to have homework become a routine activity, but it is difficult to do this when no homework is assigned.” Several parents mentioned that their children are busy outside of school, and that it can be difficult to find the time to get homework done. Overall, these parents seemed to be supportive of homework, but many were frustrated when their children did not want to do the homework, or when they did not feel capable of helping when their children had questions.

• Several students were also surveyed for this projects. Students were not very forthcoming in their survey, but 70% mentioned time when asked what they like least about homework, either not having enough time to complete, or not liking the amount of time that it required.

References

Cooper, H. (1989). Synthesis of Research on Homework. Educational Leadership, 47(3), 85-91.

Dettmers, S., Trautwein, U., & Lüdtke, O. (2009). The relationship between homework time and achievement is not universal: Evidence from multilevel analyses in 40 countries. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 20(4), 375-405.

Dettmers, S., Trautwein, U., Ludtke, O., Kunter, M., & Baumert, J. (2010). Homework works if homework quality is high: Using multilevel modeling to predict the development of achievement in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 467-482.

Keith, T. Z., Diamond-Hallam, C., & Fine, J. G. (2004). Longitudinal effects of in-school and out-of-school homework on high school grades. School Psychology Quarterly, 19(3), 187-211.

Kohn, A. (2006). Abusing research: The study of homework and other examples. Phi Delta Kappan. 88(1), 9-22.

Vatterott, C. (2009). Rethinking homework: Best practices that support diverse needs. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.