Does Homework Help or Hurt Our Kids?

Parents who have watched their children slugging overloaded backpacks through the front door or who have struggled themselves with balancing helping their children with homework and just wanting to do anything else at the end of the day, are no strangers to the debate about the value of homework. As Americans try to bring their students to the forefront of academic excellence in the global setting, there are real questions about the effectiveness of homework in achieving these goals. There is no denying that American students are not the top performers in test assessments and appear to be graduating high school with lower scores than their global peers. What is debatable is the true effectiveness of homework, and the research has conflicting, confounding, and questionable results on both sides of the debate.

The History of Homework

A report published by the Center for Public Education in 2007 attempts to evaluate the history of and research surrounding the issue of homework in America. As a home school parent I have very mixed experiences and opinions on the topic, but this report does clarify several misgivings about the value of homework. According to this report, homework in America has taken several historic turns.

In the late 1800s children younger than grade 4 rarely received homework, while students in upper grades received 2-3 hours each night.
During the early 1900s the public seemed to revolt against homework, including going so far as to blame it for childhood mortality.
Moving into the Cold War led to a renewed respect for homework, as the public opinion changed to one worrying that Russian children might be smarter than American children.
Focusing concerns on the Vietnam War, public sentiment again swung away from the importance of homework and viewed it as too much pressure for American children.
The publishing by the National Commission on Excellence in Education of A Nation at Risk in 1983 again emphasized the value of homework, and many parents shifted their views in agreement. Through the 1990s homework was seen as clearly providing academic benefits and character building opportunities.
Currently, the debate rages on about the importance of homework, how much is too much, and how public policy affects how teachers teach. It seems that as political paradigms shift, so do the public opinion polls on the value of homework.

As more research is done on the topic there appear to be several ideas coming forth about homework and its place in academia for Americans.

The Benefits of Homework

Homework provides opportunities for delayed recall activities. It is one thing for students to regurgitate the information presented in class, but another thing entirely to retain that information and independently use it at home later.
It is a way for parents to be involved with their students’ education. Several studies cited in the report indicated that one of the benefits of homework is that students and parents have a reason to interact each day, therefore having positive family influences.
Homework gives students opportunities for responsibility and independent thinking skills. Corno and Xu (2004) found through their research that students who were given homework learned time management skills and independent study habits.
It can be a source of academic improvement in certain subjects for certain students. One 1995 study by Townsend showed that 3^rd graders who received homework had higher vocabulary scores. In 2003 another study by Van Voorhis found that students who completed more science homework assignments achieved higher graders, especially if the assignments were interactive and required the aid of an adult at home.

The Dangers of Homework

There can be a stress on family time and resources at home. Several researchers cited in this report all found the same dangerous theme – students who were from lower socioeconomic backgrounds had much harder times completing homework well because their parents were often working multiple jobs. This stress on family resources leads to an increase in the academic gap.
Homework in some cases should just be labeled “busy work” that takes away time that could be spent on other worthwhile activities. Several studies indicate that homework takes away opportunities for outside activities, limiting exposure to other beneficial endeavors. By the time children come home from school, do their homework, and possibly have an extracurricular practice, there is little room for family time, physical exercise, or personal interests and hobbies.
The overloading of students with invaluable homework can also lead to negative attitudes about academics, increasing the likelihood that students won’t complete their education. Calling it the satiation effect, researchers say that too much homework leads to emotional and physical fatigue as students are overexposed to academic pressures outside of school.
Homework is sometimes not intrinsically valuable to academic achievements. In 1999 Swank found that there were no differences in math scores between groups of students who did and did not do homework.
One of the most outspoken researchers against the value of homework, Kohn in 2006 wrote The Homework Myth, where he argued that there is no evidence linking homework with any types of benefits whatsoever, either academic or otherwise. Kohn says that the research that does indicate value of homework is not sufficiently organized or originating from valid research methods.

Teachers who assign homework in order to fill a quota set by a school district or in order to achieve certain national test scores are not setting children up for tangible success in their real lives. Care needs to be taken that teachers are taught about appropriate homework types and amounts, focusing on the total academic results. Do our 3rd graders really benefit from extra hours each week outside of the full days they already put in at school?

There seems to be a different answer to the question of the value of homework in every corner of society. What does seem to be clear, though, is that homework is only valuable when it is thoughtful and students are supplied with the resources with which they need to complete it successfully. Homework should not result in children losing other “real world” opportunities outside of the classroom. There is too much to be learned every day outside of brick and mortar schools to allow homework to ruin it for our children.

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