glencoe-math-homework-research-gives-insight-to-improving-teaching-practice

Herrig Research summaries approximately 150 published regarding the effectiveness of homework and its impact on student achievement have given educators mixed messages for more than 100

H o m e w o r k 1 / 9

W H I T E P A P E R

Homework Research Gives Insight

to Improving Teaching Practice

Richard W Herrig

Research summaries (approximately 150 published) regarding the effectiveness of

homework and its impact on student achievement have given educators mixed

messages for more than 100 years Education's response during this period has

shifted dramatically so has the public's attitude toward homework

Although the late 19th century and early 20th century marked a period of

homework emphasis focusing on memorization and rote practice, the beginning of

the progressive education movement began a public dialogue regarding homework

that continues today The first systematic research of homework and its impact on

children's health was conducted by physician Dr Joseph Mayer Rice (Rice, 1897) [1]

The nation saw a shift towards homework limitation policies as the public's attitude

that homework was harmful to childhood development fueled the progressive

education movement into the 1930's [2] As the medical community's focus on

developing healthy children took on increasing importance during this period,

homework practices became a strange bedfellow with child labor practices In 1930,

the American Child Health Association, coupled homework with child labor as the

"chief causes of the high death and morbidity rates from tuberculosis and heart

disease among adolescents." [3] Further, James B Nash, Professor of Physical

Education and Health, New York University, in his 1930 research summary, declared

homework, "legalized criminality." (Nash, 1930) [4] Further homework research in

the 1930's concluded, with few exceptions, that homework in elementary and

junior high grades had little or no positive effect on achievement This conclusion

about homework was incorporated into the Encyclopedia of Educational research

(Otto, 1941) and remained unchanged until the end of the 1950s [5]

A departure from this emphasis began in the late 1940's and lasted into the 50's

An academic excellence movement began to take roots and the Soviet Union's

successful launch of the Sputnik in October, 1957, caused the nation to shift its

H o m e w o r k 2 / 9

focus once again towards a homework emphasis out of fear that the United States

was falling behind academically and the education system lacked rigor [6] So great

was this event that it spawned the passage of the National Defense Education Act

in 1958 [7][8] Stanford Medical School Professor Avram Goldstein conducted a

reanalysis of data that scholars in the 1930s assembled and his conclusions differed

significantly from those scholars He concluded homework positively influenced

student achievement in elementary and high school grades and published his

findings in The Elementary School Journal (Goldstein, 1960) [9] While this decade

saw a trend towards more favorable views regarding homework's impact on

student achievement and increased demand for homework assigned, it was

short-lived Education's emphasis again shifted away from homework in the late 1960's

but the public's focus, and education's response, once again turned towards a

homework emphasis with the release of A Nation at Risk in 1983 [10][11] [12]

Studies on the value of homework and its impact have increased since the 1960s

although conflicting results continue to surface Harris Cooper, considered to be

one of the current leading experts in homework research indicated in his findings

that twenty studies comparing the achievement of students who receive homework

with those given no homework, fourteen are pro-homework Additionally, of fifty

studies correlating time spent on homework with student achievement, Cooper

indicates that forty-three showed that students who did homework had better

achievement (Cooper, 2000)[13] The most oft-cited research summaries supporting

some positive findings between homework and achievement includes work done by

Keith (1982) (1992), Cooper (1989a), and Marzano et.alt (2001) These research

findings, and others, aren't without criticism though as Alfie Kohn demonstrates in

his article, "Abusing Research: The study of Homework and Other Examples, Phi

Delta Kappan, September, 2006 Kohn claims, "neither academic nor non-academic

justifications for homework are supported by the available evidence." [14] Despite

this discourse, the current prevailing thought within the educational community is

homework, constructed purposefully, can enhance student learning and, in turn,

positively impact student achievement

Implications for Homework Policy and Practice

We know research produces data subject to analysis Research on homework

practices is an inexact science given the many variables including definition of

homework, socio-economic demographics, amount and type of home support, and

standardized versus classroom assessment results to name but a few While a direct

cause-effect relationship cannot be drawn, there are implications that can give

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educators direction While discourse exists among researchers regarding

interpretation of results, the need to design effective homework practices reside at

the core of improving student achievement Even when those summaries concluded

that regular homework favors higher achievement, educators have tended to

"paint with a broad brush" those summaries to justify homework practices rather

than examine the specific narrow findings and assess how those findings may drive

instructional practices

The general conclusions from multiple research studies suggest that although there

is some positive correlation between homework and achievement, it varies by

grade level, amount, and type of homework assigned Generally, the positive effect

homework has on achievement appears to be almost nil at the elementary levels,

increasing slightly for upper elementary and middle school-age students, with the

greatest impact for high school students While no clear pattern emerged from

these studies that homework is more effective in some subjects than others,

although some studies showed homework is more effective for math (Cooper,

2008) [15] Recent studies focusing on the role of self-efficacy beliefs (Kisantas et al

2011) however, showed increasing the amount of time spent on mathematics

homework does not lead to higher mathematics achievement scores while

providing appropriate homework support resources and addressing self-efficacy

issues appears to have a positive effect [16] Other studies (Zimmerman & Kisantas,

2005; Kisantas & Zimmerman, 2009) reported self-efficacy for learning a predictor

of GPA [17] Findings suggest homework should be well-designed according to

purpose

While most of the research summaries discussed in this article focus on homework

and its relationship to student achievement, it should be noted that outside of the

educational community, recent developments in the field of brain research has

produced increased knowledge of how the brain learns, processes, and retains

information More importantly, this research has taken an important place in some

teacher education and professional development programs across the nation

Educators could benefit by understanding how the brain processes information

(Stahl, 1985) [18] and in particular, working memory capacity (Miller, 1956) [19] and

develop instructional practices using this knowledge An educator's effectiveness

can be enhanced with knowledge of how memory (Buckner, Kelly, and Petersen,

1999; Wagner et al., 1998) [20] and retention (Buzan, 1989; Thomas, 1972) [21]

Perhaps as important, an educator should be aware of how the brain fabricates

misinformation during recall (Shallice, 1999) (Gazzaniga,1998a, pp 156-158) [22]

The implication for educators and their practice, while absent direct cause-effect

data, has given focus to specific instructional practice developments Classroom

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teachers and school leaders need to reflect on their practices and ask themselves is

what they are doing working? If not, they need to turn to those dedicated to

reviewing research; those who have gleaned trends and implications from the

research to propose changes in instructional practices, in particular, homework

Some of those proposed considerations follow:

Homework, to be effective and to support learning, should exhibit five

characteristics: [23]

Purpose: assigning homework practice, elaboration, or preparation,

Efficiency: showing evidence of learning and good use of time,

Ownership: customize tasks to fit student learning styles and interests,

Competence: differentiate assignments to ensure student success, and

Aesthetic Appeal: structure homework to appear appealing for students

Student engagement, during lesson delivery, guided practice, and assigned homework, should

be a critical consideration when designing instruction Homework should be just as engaging and aesthetically appealing as the lesson itself, perhaps more so It should involve the use of color, illustrations and photos, and real-world examples

The general prevailing conclusions and recommendations for homework include:

• Create support structures for homework including journals that help

students organize assignments and provide communication between

student, teacher, and parents (Vatterott, 2010)

• Effective homework allows space for students to take notes, organize

thoughts, show their work, ask clarifying questions of the teacher, and

defend their position Such features help students develop crucial study

skills as they learn to outline, identify key points, and organize their

thoughts and notes Homework that is embedded in the same book as

the instructional lesson can also create a strong support structure by

offering point-of-use help and references for students This is particularly

helpful for parents who are struggling to help student with their

homework

• Districts and schools should establish clear policies regarding the use of

homework (Cooper H, 2000)

• Time limit recommendations should involve consideration of student

development level, quality of home support, and grade level

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Recommendation by the National Parent Teacher Association and

the National Education Association (2000) include:

 10-20 minutes/day grades K-2

 30-60 minutes/day grades 3-6

Cooper (1994, 2000) suggests:

 one to three assignments/week taking 15 minutes or less/Grades 1-3

 two to four assignments, 15-45 minute assignments/week/Grades 4-6

 three to five assignments, 45-75 minute assignments/week/Grades 7-9

 four to five assignments, 75-120 minute assignments/week/Grades 10-12

 10 minute rule guideline: 10 minutes/grade level nightly

Connors (1992) suggests:

 grade 5, 30-60 minutes/night

 grade 6, 30-60 minutes/night

 grade 7, 45-90 minutes/night

• Teachers assign homework at instructional levels that match student's

skills (differentiated assignments) (Rademacher, Deshler, Schumacher, &

Lenz, 1998; Rosenberg, 1989)[24]

• Assign positive consequences for homework completed; avoid negative

consequences for homework not completed (Cooper 2000)

• Students should receive timely and specific feedback beyond a check

mark or grade that includes imbedded instructive comments on all

homework assigned (Butler, 2000; Tavares, 1998; Cooper, 2000:

Vatterott, 2009)


• Consider distributed practice, focused practice over several days or

weeks, to enhance mastery (Anderson, 1995; Newell & Rosenbloom,

1981)[25]

• Define parental involvement to include facilitation of homework

completion not content instruction Parents should provide a consistent

time and place in the home for their children to complete homework

(Balli, 1998; Balli, Demo, & Wedman, 1997, 1998; Perkins & Milgram,

1996)[26]

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Notes

1 Gill, B P., Schlossman, S L (2004) "Villain or savior? The American discourse on

homework," Theory Into Practice, 43(3), 174-181, Summer 2004, Copyright 2004

College of Education, The Ohio State University

2 Vatterott, C (2009) "Rethinking Homework," ASCD, chapter one

3 Gill & Schlossman, 2004, op cit., p 175

4 Gill & Schlossman, 2004, op cit., p 176

5 Gill & Schlossman, 2004, op cit., p 176

6 Vatterott, C 2009, op cit., chapter one

7 "Homework," The Balanced View, (2002 June) Volume 6, p 1, Westchester

Institute for Human Services Research,

http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/bv/homework.pdf 03/10/2011

8 "Why did homework start to increase in the 1960s?" Answer Encyclopedia, online

reference,

http://answers.encyclopedia.com/question/why-did-homework-start-increase-1960s-658369.html

9 Gill & Schlossman, 2004, op cit., p 177

10 "Homework," Wikipedia, online reference,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homework last modified 21 July 2011, 20:25

11 "Homework," The Balanced View, (2002 June) Volume 6, op cit., p 1

12 Vatterott, C 2009, op cit., chapter one

13 Cooper, H (2000 March) “Homework Research and Policy: A Review of

Literature,” Research/Practice Newsletter, 2(2), Center for Applied Research and

Educational Improvement (CAREI), University of Minnesota

14 Kohn, A (2006) "Abusing Research: The Study of Homework and Other

Examples," Phi Delta Kappan, September 2006, 88(1) pp 8-22

15 Cooper, H (2008) "Homework: What the Research Says." Research Brief,

National Council of the Teachers of Mathematics, Reston, VA

H o m e w o r k 7 / 9

16 Kisantas, A., Cheema, J & Ware, H (2011) Mathematics Achievement: The Role

of Homework and Self-Efficacy Beliefs," Journal of Advanced Academics, Winter

2011, 22(2), pp 310-339

17 Ramdass, D & Zimmerman, B (2011) "Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The

Important Role of Homework," Journal of Advanced Academics, Winter 2011, 22(2),

pp 194-218

18 Sousa, D A (2001), "How the Brain Learns," 2nd edition, pp 37-38, Thousand

Oaks, CA: Corwin Press 305pp

19 Sousa, 2001, op cit pp 44-45

20 Sousa, 2001, op cit pp 86-87

21 Sousa, 2001, op cit pp 88-94

22 Sousa, 2001, op cit pp 114-115

23 Vatterott, C (2010) "5 Hallmarks of Good Homework," Educational Leadership,

September 2010, pp 10-15

24 "Homework and Practice," (2005) Focus on Effectiveness, Research Based

Strategies, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

25 Plato, J (2000) "Homework and Its Role in constructivist Pedagogy," CTER

Master's Program Brief, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

26 Plato, 2000, op.cit p 9

References

Connors, N A., (1992) "Homework: A New Direction," Columbus, OH; Corwin Press

Cooper, H (1989a) "Homework." White Plains, NY: Longman

Cooper, H (1989b, November) "Synthesis of research on homework." Educational

Leadership, 47(3), 85-91

Cooper, H (1994) "The battle over homework: An administrator's guide to setting

sound and effective policies." Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

H o m e w o r k 8 / 9

Cooper, H (2000 March) “Homework Research and Policy: A Review of Literature,”

Research/Practice Newsletter, 2(2), Center for Applied Research and

Educational Improvement (CAREI), University of Minnesota

Focus on Effectiveness, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Portland,

Oregon

National PTA, http://www.pta.org?parentinvolvement/adcouncil/homework.asp

Gill, B P & Schlossman, S L., "Villain or Savior? The American discourse on

homework, "Theory Into Practice, 43(3), 174-181,Summer 2004, Copyright

2004 College of Education, The Ohio State University

"Homework," The Balanced View, (2002 June) Volume 6, p 1, Westchester Institute

for Human Services Research,

http://www.sharingsuccess.org/code/bv/homework.pdf 03/10/2011

last modified 21 July 2011, 20:25

"Homework and Practice," (2005) Focus on Effectiveness, Research Based Strategies,

Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Kitsantas, A., Cheema, J & Ware, H (2011) Mathematics Achievement: The Role of

Homework and Self-Efficacy Beliefs," Journal of Advanced Academics,

Winter 2011, 22(2), pp 310-339

Kohn, A (2006) "Abusing Research: The Study of Homework and Other Examples,"

Phi Delta Kappan, September 2006, 88(1) pp 8-22

Marzano, R J., Pickering, D.J & Pollock, J E (2001) "Classroom Instruction That

Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement,"

ASCD

Marzano, R J & Pickering, D J (2007) "Special Topic/The Case For and Against

Homework" Educational Leadership, March 2007, 64(6), pp 74-79

Plato, J (2000) "Homework and Its Role in constructivist Pedagogy," CTER Master's

Program Brief, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

H o m e w o r k 9 / 9

Ramdass, D & Zimmerman, B (2011) "Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The

Important Role of Homework," Journal of Advanced Academics, Winter

2011, 22(2), pp 194-218

Sousa, D A (2001), "How the Brain Learns," 2nd edition, pp 37-38, Thousand Oaks,

CA: Corwin Press 305pp

Vatterott, C (2000) "Rethinking Homework," session presentation, National Middle

School Conference, November, 2000

Vatterott, C (2009) "Rethinking Homework," ASCD 180pp

Vatterott, C (2010) "5 Hallmarks of Good Homework," Educational Leadership,

September 2010, pp 10-15

"Why did homework start to increase in the 1960s?" Answer Encyclopedia, online

reference,

http://answers.encyclopedia.com/question/why-did-homework-start-increase-1960s-658369.html