how does homework help teachers understand students

Homework: How to Effectively Build the Learning Bridge

How has the global health crisis impacted the place that homework has in student learning and the school-home connection? Homework holds its place as a school tradition, expected by students and their parents as part of the experience of growing and learning. While there is ongoing debate about homework’s effectiveness, it is traditionally seen as a tool that strengthens academics by providing learning practice at home. John Hattie’s meta-analysis of relevant research on educational practices found that the overall effects of homework on learning are positive, and that the positive effect is highest for junior high and high school students but generally neutral for elementary students. In addition, there is variability depending on the type of homework as well as student demographics (Hattie, 2008).

Schools implementing the Responsive Classroom approach, whether in person or virtually, use homework to effectively build a learning bridge between home and school. When homework is used as a tool to build social, emotional, and academic learning beyond the school day, it takes on a different look and purpose than just more work to do at home. The goal of Responsive Classroom schools is to design homework that meets the basic needs of significance and belonging for every student by strengthening relationships, differentiating what success looks like for each child, and supporting students’ social, emotional, and academic learning.

Focus on Relationships

Homework that impedes relationships— either teacher-to-student, teacher-toparent, or student-to-parent—can potentially damage the home-school partnership. When educators examine the amount, type, and expectations of homework, they often start with the impact of homework on academic achievement. But when schools look beyond academic achievement and also include relationships, they will often rethink the look and purpose of homework.

Effectively building this school-to-home connection starts by replacing homework that impedes relationships with homework that will enhance them. Examples for building these connections include ways for students to share about family traditions, cultural practices, and/or family adventures. Lauren Komanitsky, a special education teacher at Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Jackson, New Jersey, observes:

I’ve seen tremendous enthusiasm for homework and projects that involve family members and their family history. [Students] love to learn about ancestors, interesting facts and stories, and simply getting a deeper understanding of their background. It inspires pride in them and that’s important for their identity. Students also love to do surveys and interviews of their family members. I think anything designed to create good, meaningful conversation between students and their families is time well spent. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

Schools that use homework to strengthen home-school relationships embed opportunities for students to develop belonging and significance. As students share the home connections with their classmates and teachers, the classroom community will develop a larger sense of belonging because students see connections among common experiences.

Build Success for Every Student

Classrooms are diverse communities. While teachers intentionally differentiate learning during the school day, providing homework that meets the individual and cultural needs of each student requires additional attention.

One strategy for success for every student is to provide choice. Komanitsky has seen this strategy work when she has had students reflect on what they need and then select homework to meet that need:

Having kids select specific problems from a group, select what part of an overall project they are choosing to focus on, etc. . . . helps with creating a sense of autonomy. When we can give kids a choice in their learning based on their own self-reflection, they learn what it feels like to be in control of the process and this leads to more success. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

When homework is designed for success for each student, the bridge between home and school supports a higher level of success and engagement.

Include Practice of Social and Emotional Learning Skills

The first guiding principle of the Responsive Classroom approach states, “Teaching social and emotional skills is as important as teaching academic content.” Social and emotional learning (SEL) is embedded in academic learning throughout the school day. Teachers can create a bridge between home and school by suggesting opportunities for students to practice SEL skills at home and in their community. For example, parents can have their children practice speaking with confidence by having them “make a request, place an order, or thank customer service workers” (Wilson, 2014, p. 67).

In addition, homework may involve students having conversations with family members about their learning histories—the successes, struggles, and strategies t hey encountered when they were students at different levels. When family members share their learning histories, students discover the application of the SEL and academic competencies of perseverance, cooperation, and responsibility. As Komanitsky points out:

When we share how we overcame struggles in certain academic subjects, it encourages perseverance and resilience in our students. Having parents and kids discuss their personal strengths and weaknesses and how they compensate when necessary is also a really good conversation. Lauren Komanitsky (personal communication, February 7, 2021)

Homework that focuses on SEL competencies provides for the transfer of these vital skills to a variety of real-life situations, both at home and in the community.

When schools approach homework as an extension of the learning day and see it as a way to strengthen relationships—between teachers and parents, students and parents, and students and teachers—homework becomes a valuable part of the school experience for every child. Students’ needs for belonging and significance are met and strengthened when homework provides for individual success. And when educators view homework as a tool to strengthen academic, social, and emotional learning, it becomes a valuable piece of the learning puzzle for every student.

• Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
• Wilson, M. B. (2014). The language of learning: Teaching students core thinking, listening, and speaking skills. Center for Responsive Schools, Inc

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Suggested Results

• EdCommunities
• NEA Foundation

Hooked on Homework

By: Edward Graham Published: June 19, 2020

Homework often gets a bad rap. It can be time-consuming for both students and teachers, stressful, and—as some unengaged students love to point out— “boring.”

But savvy educators know that the right assignment can engage students on a more meaningful level and lead to better student involvement in the classroom.

Dr. Cathy Vatterott, a Professor of Education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs, believes that these types of engaging homework assignments are essential for impactful student learning.

“Rote tasks like worksheets are often easy to assign and easy to grade, but not always the most effective tasks for learning,” Vatterott says. “The Common Core Standards will require students to operate at higher levels of thought. Engaging tasks that allow for choice and ownership result in deeper and more permanent learning.”

It may take a little more time to create those tasks, but engaging tasks are more likely to get done and with less resistance!”

To help you create your own engaging homework, we asked your colleagues to share their tried and true assignments. Read on for their success stories.

Connect Assignments to the Real World

Terri Messing, a National Board Certified Teacher who has taught junior and high school social studies, recommends incorporating media coverage of current events into homework.

“Students watch various news stations and then compare and contrast how the story was delivered—looking for inconsistencies and forms of yellow journalism, for example,” Messing says. “Based on what they are learning in class about techniques used to persuade, students describe the techniques the station used, how they tried to entice people to watch their newscast, and what were the sources they used for their stories.”

Messing’s approach has helped her students connect their classroom learning to the real world while allowing them to grow as analytical thinkers. It’s also gotten them to pay more attention to important issues both in their own community of Port Orchard, Washington, and around the world—something that even caught the attention of their parents.

“One mom told me how she never listened to presidential debates,” says Messing. “But, because her son had to analyze the debates, she became more informed and felt for the first time that she knew who she wanted to vote for.”

Let Students Design Their Own Homework

Angela Downing, an elementary school teacher who teaches second grade in Newton, Massachusetts, asks students to come up with an original homework assignment that will teach them something new. Some popular choices have been presentations on science experiments, favorite animals, cooking, visiting museums, and interviews with community members.

Once students have completed their project of interest, they turn in a form summarizing their activity and what they learned as a result. They then present their assignment to the class.

“Students must speak in front of the class about what they learned about their topic and try to answer questions from the students,” Downing says. “They gain the self confidence needed for public speaking, and the empowerment of choosing a topic and following through to the end with perseverance. The results have been incredible! The kids have been so excited and engaged during these presentations.”

The homework is designed so that students can better visualize the connection between what they’re learning in school and real life with parental support. Downing works with parents to make sure that students have the proper resources to complete the projects. If they don’t, Downing works to provide the students with any in-school support they need to complete their assignment.

Once the projects are completed, Downing displays them “proudly in the hallway so that all of the children and adults that walk through see what our second graders are passionate about,” she says. “They linger in front of the projects and learn! I hear kids outside my door saying, ‘Cool! Wow. Look at this one!’ It has been a wonderfully motivating assignment for my students over the years.”

Give Students the Resources to do Their Work at Home

Jessica Meacham, a 17-year elementary school veteran who has taught every grade level between K-6, found a fun way to keep her students engaged at home—homework bags.

“The homework bags are literacy and math-based,” Meacham says. “Each bag contains all the necessary components to complete the activity. The bags typically take between 5-10 minutes to complete, but because they are open-ended activities, students can definitely spend longer with the bag.”

Typical bags contain math problems, journals, puzzles, books, blocks, and other hands-on resources to keep students engaged. Some include a camera as a fun way for students to document their activities.

And, because they combined independent work with some activities where they might need a little help, Meacham says that the bags are a great way for students and parents to spend time learning together at home.

“We have very active parents that love to be involved in their child's education. The idea for the bags spurred from a desire to create a parent-child activity that centered around literacy and math. The homework bags are another great way to strengthen the home and school connection.”

Incorporate Social Media into Homework

Some teachers assign homework that blends social media with classroom learning, allowing students to interact with their teachers and each other in a familiar setting.

High school government and history teacher Ken Halla, has found success merging homework assignments with Twitter.

Using the 2012 election as a timely lesson for his class, Halla and other government teachers teamed up to create a Twitter discussion for their students to live tweet the presidential debates and on election night.

Those who didn’t have Twitter accounts made their comments on Google Docs that were shared by the teacher so that they could also participate. Each time, there were over 500 tweets by the students.

“Every single comment was appropriate for the classroom,” Halla says. “It was the most fun I’ve had in a long time, sitting there waiting for the returns and having those kids—and even some of their parents—basically right there in the living room with me.”

While the students were only required to make about a dozen or so tweets, Halla says that most of them far surpassed that amount. On election night, Halla told his students that they only had to participate from 9-11 p.m. He wasn’t expecting the kind of response that he got.

“There were kids who got on at 7 p.m., and the last one got off around 2 p.m.,” Halla says. “Even former students from the school who heard about what we were doing started participating.”

Use Homework to Build Trust With Your Students

Sharon Connolly, a former middle school teacher in Walnut Grove, Arkansas, found great success in assigning a weekly free-response journal assignment to her students.

Each week, students would write about their interests, hobbies, favorite TV shows, and difficult situations in their own lives. Connolly corrected their responses for grammar and punctuation and graded them on completion, but not on content. The main goal of the journals was to get the students comfortable with expressing themselves, while allowing Connolly to build a trusting relationship in return.

“They could write about anything and everything they wanted,” Connolly says. “It was never shared with anyone else, and only I would respond to the entry. Each time I sympathized and reminded them that I could not tell without their permission, and how they could take positive steps to get through the difficult time.”

At the start of the school year, some students only wrote a sentence or two in response. By the time school ended, all of her students were comfortable writing longer entries. The journals helped Connolly grow closer with her students and gain a better understanding of what was going on in their lives.

“A lot of students have a problem with trusting their teachers, and when that happens it slows down learning,” Connolly says. “When you invest in your students, they’ll invest in you.”

‘Learning, not Working’

It can be challenging to get students to buy into the idea of homework, and some of them may never fully come around to the idea no matter what you do. But with the right approach and a little bit of creativity, you can turn homework into a truly powerful learning experience—and maybe even help a student discover a hidden passion in the process.

“Look at homework as a conversation between student and teacher that reveals their level of understanding,” Vatterott says. “Involve students in designing their own assignments based on the goal you want them to reach. Then let them share their strategies with other students. Make the focus of homework about learning, not working.”

Reference s

• 1 Engaging in Appropriate Conversations
• 2 Getting To Know You
• 3 Educators' Survival Guide
• 1 NEA Micro-credentials Professional Learning Communities
• 2 Classroom Management
• 3 Strengthening Family and Community Engagement for ESPs

Are you an affiliate?

• Grants and funding
• Tools and trainings
• New from NEA

Education News Relevant to You

• Read the latest

Stay Informed We'll come to you

Great public schools for every student.

Our websites may use cookies to personalize and enhance your experience. By continuing without changing your cookie settings, you agree to this collection. For more information, please see our University Websites Privacy Notice .

Neag School of Education

How to use homework to support student success.

• by: Sandra Chafouleas
• January 13, 2022
• Community Engagement

Editor’s Note: Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Sandra Chafouleas shares insights on supporting students’ homework during the pandemic in the following piece, which originally appeared  in Psychology Today , where she publishes a blog.

COVID has brought many changes in education. What does it mean for homework?

School assignments that a student is expected to do outside of the regular school day—that’s homework. The general guideline is 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level beginning after kindergarten. This amounts to just a few minutes for younger elementary students to up to 2 hours for high school students.

The guidance seems straightforward enough, so why is homework such a controversial topic? School disruptions, including extended periods of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, have magnified the controversies yet also have provided an opportunity to rethink the purpose and value of homework.

Debates about the value of homework center around two primary issues: amount and inequity.

First, the amount of assigned homework may be much more than the recommended guidelines. Families report their children are stressed out over the time spent doing homework. Too much homework can challenge well-being given the restricted time available for sleep, exercise, and social connection. In a 2015 study , for example, parents reported their early elementary children received almost three times the recommended guidelines. In high school, researchers found an average of three hours of homework per night for students living in economically privileged communities.

“ Debates about the value of homework center around two primary issues: amount and inequity.”

Second, homework can perpetuate inequities. Students attending school in less economically privileged communities may receive little to no homework, or have difficulty completing it due to limited access to needed technology. This can translate into fewer opportunities to learn and may contribute to gaps in achievement.

There isn’t a ton of research on the effects of homework, and available studies certainly do not provide a simple answer. For example, a 2006 synthesis of studies suggested a positive influence between homework completion and academic achievement for middle and high school students. Supporters also point out that homework offers additional opportunities to engage in learning and that it can foster independent learning habits such as planning and a sense of responsibility. A more recent study involving 13-year-old students in Spain found higher test scores for those who were regularly assigned homework in math and science, with an optimal time around one hour—which is roughly aligned with recommendations. However, the researchers noted that ability to independently do the work, student effort, and prior achievement were more important contributors than time spent.

Opponents of homework maintain that the academic benefit does not outweigh the toll on well-being. Researchers have observed student stress, physical health problems, and lack of life balance, especially when the time spent goes over the recommended guidelines. In a survey of adolescents , over half reported the amount and type of homework they received to be a primary source of stress in their lives. In addition, vast differences exist in access and availability of supports, such as internet connection, adult assistance, or even a place to call home, as 1.5 million children experience homelessness in the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic has re-energized discussion about homework practices, with the goal to advance recommendations about how, when, and with whom it can be best used. Here’s a summary of key strategies:

Strategies for Educators

Make sure the tasks are meaningful and matched..

First, the motto “ quality over quantity ” can guide decisions about homework. Homework is not busy-work, and instead should get students excited about learning. Emphasize activities that facilitate choice and interest to extend learning, like choose your own reading adventure or math games. Second, each student should be able to complete homework independently with success. Think about Goldilocks: To be effective, assignments should be just right for each learner. One example of how do this efficiently is through online learning platforms that can efficiently adjust to skill level and can be completed in a reasonable amount of time.

Ensure access to resources for task completion.

One step toward equity is to ensure access to necessary resources such as time, space, and materials. Teach students about preparing for homework success, allocating classroom time to model and practice good study habits such as setting up their physical environment, time management, and chunking tasks. Engage in conversations with students and families to problem-solve challenges When needed, connect students with homework supports available through after-school clubs, other community supports, or even within a dedicated block during the school day.

Be open to revisiting homework policies and practices.

The days of penalizing students for not completing homework should be long gone. Homework is a tool for practicing content and learning self-management. With that in mind, provide opportunities for students to communicate needs, and respond by revising assignments or allowing them to turn in on alternative dates. Engage in adult professional learning about high-quality homework , from value (Should I assign this task?) to evaluation (How should this be graded? Did that homework assignment result in expected outcomes?). Monitor how things are going by looking at completion rates and by asking students for their feedback. Be willing to adapt the homework schedule or expectations based on what is learned.

Strategies for Families

Understand how to be a good helper..

When designed appropriately, students should be able to complete homework with independence. Limit homework wars by working to be a good helper. Hovering, micromanaging, or doing homework for them may be easiest in the moment but does not help build their independence. Be a good helper by asking guiding questions, providing hints, or checking for understanding. Focus your assistance on setting up structures for homework success, like space and time.

Use homework as a tool for communication.

Use homework as a vehicle to foster family-school communication. Families can use homework as an opportunity to open conversations about specific assignments or classes, peer relationships, or even sleep quality that may be impacting student success. For younger students, using a daily or weekly home-school notebook or planner can be one way to share information. For older students, help them practice communicating their needs and provide support as needed.

Make sure to balance wellness.

Like adults, children need a healthy work-life balance. Positive social connection and engagement in pleasurable activities are important core principles to foster well-being . Monitor the load of homework and other structured activities to make sure there is time in the daily routine for play. Play can mean different things to different children: getting outside, reading for pleasure, and yes, even gaming. Just try to ensure that activities include a mix of health-focused activities such as physical movement or mindfulness downtime.

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredits the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Read more about CAEP Accreditation, including the programs covered and the accountability measures .

Some content on this website may require the use of a plug-in, such as  Adobe Acrobat Viewer .

• Support the Neag School

Neag School of Education 249 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3064 Charles B. Gentry Building Storrs, CT 06269-3064

860-486-3815 [email protected]

Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn't Too Much

The study, led by professor Harris Cooper, also shows that the positive correlation is much stronger for secondary students than elementary students

• Share this story on facebook
• Share this story on twitter
• Share this story on reddit
• Share this story on linkedin
• Get this story's permalink
• Print this story

It turns out that parents are right to nag: To succeed in school, kids should do their homework.

Duke University researchers have reviewed more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and concluded that homework does have a positive effect on student achievement.

Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology, said the research synthesis that he led showed the positive correlation was much stronger for secondary students --- those in grades 7 through 12 --- than those in elementary school.

READ MORE: Harris Cooper offers tips for teaching children in the next school year in this USA Today op-ed published Monday.

"With only rare exception, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant," the researchers report in a paper that appears in the spring 2006 edition of "Review of Educational Research."

Cooper is the lead author; Jorgianne Civey Robinson, a Ph.D. student in psychology, and Erika Patall, a graduate student in psychology, are co-authors. The research was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

While it's clear that homework is a critical part of the learning process, Cooper said the analysis also showed that too much homework can be counter-productive for students at all levels.

"Even for high school students, overloading them with homework is not associated with higher grades," Cooper said.

Cooper said the research is consistent with the "10-minute rule" suggesting the optimum amount of homework that teachers ought to assign. The "10-minute rule," Cooper said, is a commonly accepted practice in which teachers add 10 minutes of homework as students progress one grade. In other words, a fourth-grader would be assigned 40 minutes of homework a night, while a high school senior would be assigned about two hours. For upper high school students, after about two hours' worth, more homework was not associated with higher achievement.

The authors suggest a number of reasons why older students benefit more from homework than younger students. First, the authors note, younger children are less able than older children to tune out distractions in their environment. Younger children also have less effective study habits.

But the reason also could have to do with why elementary teachers assign homework. Perhaps it is used more often to help young students develop better time management and study skills, not to immediately affect their achievement in particular subject areas.

"Kids burn out," Cooper said. "The bottom line really is all kids should be doing homework, but the amount and type should vary according to their developmental level and home circumstances. Homework for young students should be short, lead to success without much struggle, occasionally involve parents and, when possible, use out-of-school activities that kids enjoy, such as their sports teams or high-interest reading."

Cooper pointed out that there are limitations to current research on homework. For instance, little research has been done to assess whether a student's race, socioeconomic status or ability level affects the importance of homework in his or her achievement.

This is Cooper's second synthesis of homework research. His first was published in 1989 and covered nearly 120 studies in the 20 years before 1987. Cooper's recent paper reconfirms many of the findings from the earlier study.

Cooper is the author of "The Battle over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents" (Corwin Press, 2001).

Link to this page

Copy and paste the URL below to share this page.

• Our approach to learning
• Parent feedback
• Our social purpose
• Creativity and culture
• Expeditions
• Find a school
• Our schools in Europe
• Our schools in the Americas
• Our schools in Asia
• Our schools in the Middle East
• Admissions process
• Why boarding
• Our boarding schools
• Enquire about boarding
• Boarding life
• Boarding admissions and fees
• Discover more
• Latest News
• Explore INSIGHTS today
• A Global Family of Schools
• What is the IB?
• What is the IGCSE?

Why is Homework Important?

Why is homework important? Homework can be a divisive topic. In this article, we will discuss why it’s important and how it helps with your child’s development.

There is a strong connection between regularly completing homework and higher accomplishments in subjects such as English, Maths and Science. The Department of Education in the United Kingdom advises that spending time doing homework brings several benefits, more so for the students who put in two to three hours a night. Understanding the value of homework can help increase motivation and productivity. In this article, we’ll help you understand why homework is important and discuss all its benefits for both children and parents.

Benefits of Homework

Homework is important because it develops core skills in young children that will serve them throughout school and working life. Improved grades, discipline, time management, using resources and improving communication are all vital life skills that will open the door to unique opportunities and help children find success in their careers. Doing regular homework should be considered as an investment in your child’s future.

Through encouraging regular homework and supporting your child with their assignments, you can expect to see the following advantages:

1. Discipline of Practice

Repeating a task multiple times can feel arduous, but it’s necessary to help increase your child’s skill and understanding of a subject. Regular homework will make certain concepts easier to understand and put them in an advantageous position should they seek a vocational career.

2. Time Management Skills

Homework goes beyond just the task itself; it helps children take control of their workload and increase their time management skills. Homework is set with a deadline and taking ownership of this deadline helps them think independently and develop problem-solving skills. This is a prime example of why homework is important because time management is a vital life skill that helps children throughout higher education and their careers.

3. Communication Network

Homework acts as a bridge and can help teachers and parents learn more about how students like to learn, providing a deeper understanding of how to approach their learning and development. Many parents also want their child to receive homework so they can understand what they’re learning at school.

4. Comfortable Work Environment

Some children struggle to learn outside of their comfort zone, and while classrooms are designed to be warm and welcoming, there is often no place like home. Homework is an opportunity to learn and retain information in an environment where they feel most comfortable, which can help accelerate their development.

5. Using Learning Materials

Throughout a child’s education, understanding how to use resources such as libraries and the internet is important. Homework teaches children to actively search for information using these resources to complete tasks, and this is a skill that will be fundamental throughout their lives.

6. Revision Discipline

Regular homework helps children discover a pattern that will help them when they’re required to study for important tests and exams. Children who are familiar with a routine of completing homework will find it easy to adapt to a schedule of doing regular revision at home. Skills such as accessing learning materials, time management, and discipline will help improve how children revise, and ultimately, improve their grades.

7. Additional Time to Learn

Children learn at different paces, and the time spent in the classroom might not be enough for some students to fully grasp the key concepts of a subject. Having additional time for learning at home can help children gain a deeper understanding than they would if they were solely reliant on their time in school. Homework is important because it gives parents and children the freedom and the time to focus on subjects that they may be struggling with. This extra time can make a big difference when it comes to exams and grades.

Helping Your Child With Homework

We’ve discussed why it is important to do regular homework, but children may still find it difficult to stay motivated. Parents can play an important role in supporting their child with homework, so here are some of the ways you can help.

1. Homework-friendly Area

Having a dedicated space for children to do homework will help them stay focused. Make sure it is well-lit and stocked with everything they’ll need for their assignments.

2. Routine Study Time

A regular routine helps children get used to working at home. Some children work best in the morning, while others may prefer the afternoon. Work out a routine where your child is their most productive.

3. Make Sure They’re Learning

Homework is important, but only if children use this time to learn. If you do the work for them, they’re not going to see any of the benefits we listed above. It’s important you’re there to support and help them understand the work, so they can do it themselves.

4. Praise Work and Effort

Recognising the hard work that they’re putting in and praising them for it is a great way to get children to respond positively to homework. Pin their impressive test grades up in their homeworking space or around the house for extra motivation.

5. Make a Plan

Children can get overwhelmed if they have a lot of work to do. On homework-heavy nights, help them make a plan and break down the work into sections. This will help make the work more manageable. If your child responds well to this, you could do this each time they sit down to do work at home.

Understanding why homework is important and oftentimes necessary helps improve both motivation and productivity in young children. It also makes parents aware of the role they can play in supporting them. At Nord Anglia Education, we focus on bringing children, parents, and teachers together in a common effort to improve student learning through homework. You can learn more about our schools and the curriculum we teach by exploring our schools .

Want more of the latest insights into education?  Read our INSIGHTS publication here !

Related news

The evolution of exams

Happy International Women’s Day!

Dr Leslie Williams, Senior Programme Lead, Social Impact celebrates International Women’s Day 2024.

How to make friends

Want to learn the do’s and don’ts for helping your child make friends? Read our tips and tricks from this quick guide.

Nord Anglia Education launches international metacognition research with Boston College

Want to hear from us?

By joining our mailing list, we can keep you up to date with any future newsletters, events and announcements from our family of 80+ premium schools.

[email protected]

(+44) 020 7131 0000

• About Nord Anglia Education
• Media contacts
• Global Campus
• Press Releases

We use cookies to improve your online experiences. To learn more and choose your cookies options, please refer to our cookie policy .

share this!

January 18, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

trusted source

Q&A: Does homework still have value? An education expert weighs in

by Vicky Hallett, Johns Hopkins University

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein, co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools, which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program.

For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions.

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education.

By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas.

To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way.

Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools, a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on 'no homework' policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level . "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement. However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school .

One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

Provided by Johns Hopkins University

Explore further

Feedback to editors

The Milky Way's eROSITA bubbles are large and distant

Jun 29, 2024

Saturday Citations: Armadillos are everywhere; Neanderthals still surprising anthropologists; kids are egalitarian

NASA astronauts will stay at the space station longer for more troubleshooting of Boeing capsule

The beginnings of fashion: Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress

Jun 28, 2024

Analysis of NASA InSight data suggests Mars hit by meteoroids more often than thought

New computational microscopy technique provides more direct route to crisp images

A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth Saturday. Here's how to spot it

Tiny bright objects discovered at dawn of universe baffle scientists

New method for generating monochromatic light in storage rings

Soft, stretchy electrode simulates touch sensations using electrical signals

Relevant physicsforums posts, how is physics taught without calculus.

Jun 25, 2024

Is "College Algebra" really just high school "Algebra II"?

Jun 16, 2024

UK School Physics Exam from 1967

May 27, 2024

Physics education is 60 years out of date

May 16, 2024

Plagiarism & ChatGPT: Is Cheating with AI the New Normal?

May 13, 2024

Physics Instructor Minimum Education to Teach Community College

May 11, 2024

More from STEM Educators and Teaching

Related Stories

'There's only so far I can take them': Why teachers give up on struggling students who don't do their homework

Sep 27, 2022

Should parents help their kids with homework?

Aug 29, 2019

What's the point of homework?

Sep 1, 2021

How to help your kids with homework—without doing it for them

Jan 24, 2020

Is homework useful for kids? If so, what age should it start?

Nov 30, 2022

Doing homework is associated with change in students' personality

Oct 6, 2017

Recommended for you

Early childhood problems linked to persistent school absenteeism

Jun 26, 2024

AI-generated exam submissions evade detection at UK university

AI predicts upper secondary education dropout as early as the end of primary school

Study reveals complex dynamics of philanthropic funding for US science

Jun 10, 2024

First-generation medical students face unique challenges and need more targeted support, say researchers

Investigation reveals varied impact of preschool programs on long-term school success

May 2, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

The New York Times

The learning network | does your homework help you learn.

Does Your Homework Help You Learn?

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

• See all Student Opinion »

New research suggests that a lot of assigned homework amounts to pointless busy work that doesn’t help students learn, while more thoughtful assignments can help them develop skills and acquire knowledge. How would you characterize the homework you get?

In the Sunday Review article “The Trouble With Homework,” Annie Murphy Paul reviews the research on homework:

The quantity of students’ homework is a lot less important than its quality. And evidence suggests that as of now, homework isn’t making the grade. Although surveys show that the amount of time our children spend on homework has risen over the last three decades, American students are mired in the middle of international academic rankings: 17th in reading, 23rd in science and 31st in math, according to results from the Program for International Student Assessment released last December. In a 2008 survey, one-third of parents polled rated the quality of their children’s homework assignments as fair or poor, and 4 in 10 said they believed that some or a great deal of homework was busywork. A new study, coming in the Economics of Education Review, reports that homework in science, English and history has “little to no impact” on student test scores. (The authors did note a positive effect for math homework.) Enriching children’s classroom learning requires making homework not shorter or longer, but smarter.

She goes on to enumerate some of the aspects of effective independent assignments, like “retrieval practice,” which basically means doing practice tests to reinforce learning and commit it to memory, and “interleaving,” in which problems are not grouped into sets by type, but rather scattered throughout an assignment, which makes the brain work harder to grasp the material.

Students: Tell us how effective you think your homework is. What kinds of assignments seem pointless? Which ones are confusing or frustrating? Which ones are most engaging and interesting? Which ones are you fairly sure help you learn and grow?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that include a last name.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

“I see homework as a big part that helps me learn and grow” that’s what I always said up till I was moved to a different math class. My old math teacher made math easy and fun as well as understandable. But when I was moved I got confused easily, I found it boring, and I even found paying attention hard. Then there’s my English class. I love English with all my heart but my teacher makes me feel like I’m in Preschool! She has hand signs for every rule and if we don’t do them we get more homework! She always puts us into groups and so far every group I’ve been placed in I can’t get along in. One group wouldn’t let me talk and when I gave my opion they scolded me and said I was wrong though it was an opion lesson… Another group was lazy and since I ran out of my medicine that helps me focus, I was lost and told them I need their help to help me keep up with what’s going on yet they let me drag along! History was never my strong point from the start even though my dad is a History teacher. But when I got into a certain class I couldn’t stand it! I was miles behind in homework and around every corner was either homework or projects! I asked for help and I got yelled at! I’m sorry but sometimes homework feels like slave work since I don’t get anything out of good grades except a smile and/or a pat on the back and that’s it. Yes homework can be good for you but there is a limit of how much a student can handle before they collaspe underneath all of that work! But I love it when teachers make homework fun or competive (which we normally do now and days)! Cause that’s when I’m having a blast! But when teachers get too interactive with their class I can’t help but feel creeped out by them. (Cough, Cough, English teacher, Cough, Cough) I do love school but right now…its like they don’t want us going out and enjoying life…

Back at my old school I was drowning in homework! I just couldn’t get the chance to sit back and be young! It was just too much! In every class I had homework! Study this, learn that, solve this, and every where in between! The bullying was no help either since they stole or destroyed my homework so I failing till I switched schools! My suggestion to all you kids who don’t like homework….DON’T GO TO [name of school removed]!!!!!!!! Especially if you’re like me and are considered one of the special kids since the teachers don’t flex to your needs!

At my school , we all think that homework helps people learn in so many different ways. You do your homework to get better grades on test scores because some of the homework you get will have some stuff that can be on test. Another reason is that homework can get you better grades if you just hand it in. You can learn from homework. In my opinion.For example, I had to take notes in algebra yesterday for homework and only took 10 minutes it really help a lot the next day because we had a little mini quiz on it !

Doing my homework every night helps me learn because it helps me remember the lesson gone over in class that day. It also makes it easier to follow the next lesson, which is usually an extension from the lesson the day before.

Homework helps me learn because it’s a review of what we learned in class. Sometimes they give too much work though.

I feel like it all depends on if you understand the work. If a teacher taught you a new topic in class and you didn’t understand it, I dont think you would understand it if you did it again. If you understood it, It would help you because you are repeating the problems.

I don’t think homework helps you learn, I think it helps you remember what you learned. Homework is more of a review of what you did in school during the day, rather than a new subject to learn on a whole.

I personally am not a big fan of homework though, I think that some teachers don’t really realize that we have several other classes which also give us homework, and we sometimes end up with a large amount by the end of the day.

But I’m sure that my procrastination has a lot to do with it as well.

Homework definitely helps me learn. By the time i get home from school some subjects become unfamiliar and homework help reinforce what i learned in class. Better students do their homework and teachers recognize that frequently. Repetition of your homework also helps memorize which you could benefit from on tests and other classwork activities.

Depending on the subject or the assigment, homework can either be redundant or effective. Assignments which make you copy straight out of a textbook are redundant. These assignments are redundant because students hardly put all that much effort into it. By copying a textbook, people aren’t focused on the material, because they are just focusing on getting the assigment done. Straight copying is seen as boring or even in some cases ‘annoying’ by students, which translates into them not learning what they need to learn. Assigments where students are interactive and aren’t just being taught the textbook are interesting and that’s when students learn the most. Writing samples when students are asked for their opinion and to have their voice heard are deemed the most interesting. Thus, being because students then have the ability to share what they’ve learned in their own words and also get to apply their knowledge in their own voice.

On the other hand, when homework is done effectively, the end product will be better grades. If a student neglects to do homework, whether interesting or boring, it will show in their grades. Students who do apply their strongest efforts into their homework will ultimately contribute to better grades.

I think that homework is pointless when the teachers give us homework that is for fun and we have to waist our time doing little projects when we can be doing other more important things like studying. I think that most homework is important I just don’t like it when teachers give too much and it becomes over whelming and I can’t have time to study because it would be too late and then I wouldn’t be able to sleep. If anything I think teachers should give us homework but give us one big homework a week and we work on it for the whole week which it would be due on Friday and then get a test grade for it since it was a big homework. If teachers wouldn’t do that I would love if teachers would give us only three days of homework a week and Fridays we would get a test.

Homework is assigned so that students can practice what they have learned in school and see if they can remember what happened in class. Personally, the homework that has been assigned to me lately has been nothing but busy work that I feel is pointless. The truth is most of the modern day students don’t see the value in doing homework but the discipline and the practice for the real world really are fundamental. The most confusing type of homework assignments that we have come with little to no instructions. When teachers give assignments on things that they haven’t covered yet seems pointless to me since it really isn’t evaluating anything at all. Another type of pointless homework would be the ones in which there is so much repetition that it becomes pointless. In my personal life ive been faced with all types of homework. I believe homework is fundamental to the development of the mind and I will keep doing my homework.

I go to an American school in Bogota, Colombia. Recently in my school I have been getting exaggerated amounts of homework, and most of it has no impact on my learning. I say this because the homework I am assigned is just “busywork” and keeps me up until late hours in the night. The homework I am given is also extremely long and not smart, it is just a very basic review of what we did in class that day. Homework like that is a waste of time since if the student is good and pays attention in class he should know all of the material and shouldn’t be forced to demonstrate it through homework. I believe that what should be improved in not the quantity but the quality of the homework we are assigned. I am not saying homework should be abolished but I am saying it should be changed. If a student is overwhelmed with homework his academic development would also be affected. For example if a student has allot of homework he will probably stay up at night doing it. Maybe he will finish his homework around 10 or 11 in the night. The next day he will have to wake up very early and will only get about 5-6 hours of sleep. In order for the teenage brain to develop correctly a kid needs 8 hours of sleep. So. excessive amount of homework leads to a very tired, unmotivated and less active student. In my school I think the only homework assignments that help me learn are the math ones.

Each subject is different and each grade in school requires a different amount of practice. For example, Math is a subject that I believe needs out-of-classroom practice no matter what grade you are in, or what topic you are covering. It is one of the most essential aptitudes one must acquire in order to be successful in life. Language, whether it be english, spanish, or etc, is also a subject that is vital for an accomplished life. I believe that one must practice in order to become and eloquent speaker and writer, but i only think that a small amount of homework should be given, especially once one reaches the ends of high school. A subject that I feel doesn’t need practice outside of school is history. For me, history is more like a gossip story with dates that “should” be remembered than anything else; therefore, I don’t believe that homework would be necessary to enforce a subject like that.

The idea of having to work all night, studying for a billion exams the next day, getting the college applications going, and practicing a sport isn’t something strange for the average senior at CNG. It seems as if the need to excel at everything might just be the COD of many high school students. As college admissions become more competitive, as more and more people take AP exams and admissions tests there is a greater weight on our shoulders. But is it really worth it? I mean, even if everything goes the way we want it to, was it really worth all our time and energy? There are just better things to do with my life. I would prefer to go deeper into the sciences, write of some philosophical tendency I’m being carried into, do more social work, etc. But I need to commit to an organized agenda, learn the Standards I’m supposed to be learning and show my progress through time. These are fancy ways of creating a level playing field so students can be compared. Is this really what learning has become?

Practice makes perfect some might say. There is no arguing about that. Success in those specific tasks, such as doing homework or working on a particular project that requires zero creativity clearly needs those levels of repetitive practice and great memory. But are we supposed to do this the rest of our lives? I don’t think so. Harris Cooper, a professor from Duke University dedicated to homework research states that “even for high school students, overloading them with homework is not associated with higher grades” (Cooper). I’m sorry, so isn’t homework even doing what its supposed to be doing? The counter-productivity of too much homework, especially in such a critical moment as in college application season, makes the whole educational system lose credibility. Are we being trained to do something we aren’t going to really do or even need in the future? What is the real purpose of doing homework when we aren’t truly learning from it?

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe homework is critical in developing certain skills. How were we supposed to learn basic arithmetic operations without those tons of worksheets and problem sets? Yes, homework is a useful tool but only when used consciously. Statistical evidence seems to agree with this: “teachers in many of the nations that outperform the U.S. on student achievement tests–such as Japan, Denmark and the Czech Republic–tend to assign less homework than American teachers, but instructors in low-scoring countries like Greece, Thailand and Iran tend to pile it on” (Wallis). The need to assign homework, to put a million grades in is too antiquated in my opinion. What’s the problem with guiding classes to a true educational experience and leave behind the limitations of grading, of classifying students, of making them lose all interest, worse yet lose passion for learning and generate hatred towards certain areas of knowledge while capturing valuable time that is needed to explore others?

It depends on what type of homework and the time that it takes to finish it. The homework that I get from English, history, science, and math benefit me and my grades a lot. From my three band classes, and P.E. class, I usually do busy work. I love how the school is run… I learn a lot from the class just itself, and from school assemblies, etc. First, I have to learn before I get my grades… meaning, I don’t care what my grades are like until I actually know and understand the material and knowledge that I learned at school. What we learn from school and from homework are is different. We learn more at school and then apply what we learned in our homework. So most of the time we don’t learn anything that much from homework.

Homework assignments should be provided, but once a month. It allows children to have freedom, and actually feel like life is not all about study and going to a prestigious university.

Homework wastes our time, and in recent articles they say that school’s are killing creativity, and now there is an uproar about homework not providing learning material.

What homework should be is a subjet, say history, and children can choose one that interests them, and they could research it for a month. And after the month is up children can present in class, so that means the child knows thoroughly about their topic and can explain well to their friends, and also they will have an opportunity to listen to other peoples’ research.

I wish we didn’t have homework, because the learning network is providing us with a great amount of resources that homework, in a year, can’t accomplish.

40 hours per week, 8 hours a day, is the legal limit of hours an adult can work in California without being payed overtime. An employee must be payed 150% their usual salary for every hour they work past 8 hours a day. I spend between 34 and 39 hours per week at school, not counting homework (aprox. 10-15 hours per week). My suggestion is that any work assigned to students requiring them to spend more than 40 hours a week on academics be graded with a bonus of 50% the student’s grade. This would encourage students to do well in order to have a higher bonus, and would discourage teachers from assigning so much work (since we all how much giving out bonus points pains them!) As for the questions: I think that homework is effective as long as it will help improve a student’s understanding and execution of course material. As a general rule, I don’t think it’s very useful to be assigned more than one assignment in each category of homework to a class (1 chapter to read, 1 exercise, 1 essay). 5 math exercises is 5 too many if I understand the lesson, and 4 too many if it is the teacher’s goal to find out whether or not I do. As a student, I have a limited amount of time and love to divide up into my work. I find work that leaves the thinking up to the student to be the most engaging and helpful to my understanding: the fewer details on how I should do the assignment, the more I work to make it reflect my understanding of the topic.

It is interesting to write your homework in your free time at home. Homework and assignments are important for innovation and elaboration. Take your time in doing your homework because this will help you understand the lesson more.

i think this is the best amendment ever.

Sense at my school , school just started we do not have that much homework. But I’ve hear a lot of people say that towards the middle of the year is when everyone’s backpack’s become really heavy. Teacher’s start giving more than one homework assignment per class. So I think that homework does not help you learn because you do work at school why do you need to do it again at home? I think teacher’s do that because they want to figure out if you are capable to do the same thing at home and also because they just want us to have some type of work to do at home. Once again I do no think that homework helps you learn.

I personally don’t think homework helps a student learn. I feel if you don’t get what the teacher teaches in class then I personally don’t get the homework at all. If I don’t get the subject then I personally to the homework wrong and I’m sure that other people do it wrong too. My teachers all say that they don’t give so much homework and they really don’t, but since they all give about 20-30 minutes of homework each subject, it piles up.I think that homework is effective as long as it will help improve a student’s understanding and execution of course material. I personally don’t think that homework always helps, but it does.

I think that homework is useful sometimes, but not always. Most of the time, it is just the same thing we did in class, and if we didn’t get it then we still won’t get it at home, primarily because our parents have no clue about how to do it either.

i think that homework should not in are school systems because homework is just practice and i know that practice makes perfect but when you got 5 subjects it add to a lot. I also i believe that all homework (practice) is just studying and unless we have i don’t want to take the time for nothing but another school day

1) What kinds of assignments seem pointless?

I don’t believe that any assignments are pointless, because teachers always have a reason for giving homework. However, teachers often give homework where the effort on the part of the student outweighs the teacher’s goal. In addition, many homework assignments do not effectively reach their goal.

2) Which ones are confusing or frustrating?

Assignments are usually not confusing, although sometimes, when given very easy assignments, I do not understand what the point is (which does not mean that the assignments are pointless — the point is simply mysterious to me). I get most frustrated by homework when I receive virtually identical assignments at regular intervals, but never get feedback from the teacher. When this happens, I cannot improve because I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. For example, our French teacher has given us this assignment three times this year: Comment on a predetermined stanza of a Baudelaire poem. The first two stanzas earned me 17 (out of 20) with no corrections other than grammatical mistakes. For the third assignment, I have written a very similar analysis and I expect to get a very similar grade. If there are 20 possible points and I didn’t get all of them, why did the teacher not provide any comments?

3) Which ones are most engaging and interesting?

Honestly, although I understand the value of homework, I do not enjoy doing it (unless it involves creativity, but with no art, music or creative writing classes in high school, this is extremely rare).

Which ones are you fairly sure help you learn and grow?

I believe all homework helps me learn and grow — the question is whether the amount of growth induced by the homework is worth the effort involved.

Yes, some homework are important. Like learning rhetoric at home to be able to talk about it in class. Doing a math problem to make sure the lesson is understood. But is doing ten exercises on a lesson we did not fully go over because the teacher did not manage to end the lesson on time and now needs us to try to figure it out on our own useful? Is doing forty little problems with the same math equation over and over again necessary? I believe it is not. I believe some teachers are using a lot of useless homework because they must think in some way that it will be beneficent one day or another. They are often wrong. Unless a whole class of twenty students decided they want to be physician, i do not understand why learning what is the kind of relation between the Earth and the Moon, over a dozen of exercises, is in anyway useful. Also, a teacher might think they are doing the right thing, making us practice something that is already learned in class, by giving its students five exercises. Sure, it is not a bad idea. But since all the teachers, or most of them, are looking to do the right thing, five teachers that wants you to practice with some homework exercises, becomes twenty-five exercises for the students. Over something they either understood, or not understood. In any case it’s frustrating. If you understand what it is about then you are just wasting your time doing those exercises. If you did not understand it, you are going to spend ten minutes on each question, usually ending by guessing wrong, when all it could have taken was another clear explanation from the teacher. So yes, homework can be useful, and it often is, but not always.

What's Next

Donate (opens in a new window)

Classroom Management

Effective Practices for Homework

On this page:, homework facts, practices that are less effective, practices that are more effective, homework has four basic purposes:.

• Practice (e.g., after the teacher has directly taught a math algorithm in class, the homework is to complete several problems requiring use of that algorithm).
• Preparation (e.g., pre-reading or looking over a new unit of study in a text for the next class meeting).
• Study (e.g., reviewing content to prepare for a test).
• Extend or elaborate (e.g., completing a project or paper on a topic such as investigating the causes of the Vietnam War).

Of these purposes, the most valuable in producing measurable academic gains is practice for the purpose of building proficiency, maintaining mastery or both. This is not to say that the other purposes lack legitimacy. However, in existing studies, it is evident that when homework is used to build fluency and maintain proficiency, student performance is most positively affected.

Practice can be provided via homework in two ways, single-skill or cumulative . Single-skill assignments are appropriate when students are mastering the taught skill itself; cumulative assignments are valuable when students are learning to determine which skill to use and then applying it. The example about teaching a math algorithm is a single-skill format. If the assigned homework included the newly learned algorithm along with some previously learned skill, it would be considered cumulative. Cumulative practice is critical for skill maintenance and is included in any model of effective teaching practices. Skill maintenance is especially difficult for students with LD.

A critical idea here is that the student must have demonstrated competence in the skill being practiced before being asked to do it independently (i.e., as homework). Research indicates students should be able to perform a skill at 90% accuracy before it should be assigned as homework for independent practice.

Researchers have examined homework in many different ways. In addition to assessing what homework practices are beneficial, they have been able to describe how and when homework is assigned. Here are some important facts about homework that one can learn from the research literature.

• Benefits vary by age. The older the student, the more likely homework will have a beneficial effect.
• Optimal time per night spent on homework varies with grade level. For, primary, upper elementary, middle school, and high school grades, the optimal time is about 20, 40, 60, and 90 minutes, respectively.
• Homework is given often. Reports indicate that students may get as many 400 assignments per year in grades 7-10.
• Homework has significant effects on grades. Up to 30% of course grades in grades 7-10 is based upon homework.
• Homework affects test scores. Successful completion of homework has been associated with gains (up to 15 percentile points) on standardized test scores.

Historically, individualization has been integral to effective education for students with Learning Disabilities. However, homework has been neglected as an area warranting individualization, especially for students served in inclusive settings. Studies show general education teachers and students accept modifications for students with Learning Disabilities for many areas of instruction (e.g., testing modifications), but when it comes to homework, they are less accepting of individualization.

However, the result of not individualizing homework can be devastating. Indeed, if students are assigned a task they are unable to complete independently or that takes them inordinate amounts of time to complete, the probability of their attempting the task is greatly reduced and they run the risk of practicing errors with serious consequences. Therefore, not individualizing homework is not an effective practice. Other ineffective practices are listed in the table below.

Research has also provided direction about some practices that are especially beneficial. Teachers of students with Learning Disabilities probably should employ these practices, as they are likely both to help the student acquire the content or skills being learned as well as help students to complete homework in the future. For teachers collaborating with colleagues in general education settings, these are practices that probably should be promoted. Effective homework practices are listed in the table below.

There are over 500 articles and books on the topic of homework but only a few are actual research studies. In the area of LD there are fewer than a dozen. This guide presents a compilation of the implications for practice from those studies. Based upon this research there are three big ideas to remember when using homework:

• The best use of homework is to build proficiency in recently acquired skills or to maintain skills previously mastered.
• Homework should be individualized.
• Teachers should evaluate homework and provide detailed feedback to students.

Liked it? Share it!

Bryan, T., Nelson, C., & Mathur, S. (1995). Homework: A survey of primary students in regular, resource, and self-contained special education classrooms. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 10 , 85-90.

Cooper, H. (1989). Synthesis of research on homework. Educational Leadership, 47 , 85 91.

Cooper, H., & Nye, B. (1994). Homework for students with learning disabilities: The implications of research for policy and practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27 , 470-479.

Epstein, M. H., Polloway, E. A., Foley, R. M., & Patton, J. R. (1993). Homework: A comparison of teachers’ and parents’ perceptions of the problems experienced by students identified as having behavioral disorders, learning disabilities, or no disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 14( 5), 40-50.

Hughes, C. A., Ruhl, K. L., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (2002). Effects of instruction in an assignment completion strategy on the homework performance of students with learning disabilities in general education classes. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 17 , 1-18.

Hughes, C. A., Ruhl, K. L., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1995). The assignment completion strategy. Lawrence, KS: EDGE Enterprises.

Hughes, C. A., Ruhl, K. L., Rademacher, J. A., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1995). Quality quest planner. Lawrence, KS: Edge Enterprises.

Hughes, C. A., Maccini, P., & Gagnon, J. C. (2003). Interventions that positively impact the performance of students with learning disabilities in secondary general education classrooms. Learning Disabilities: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 12 (3), 32-44.

Lenz, B. K., Ehren, B. J., & Smiley, L. R. (1991). A goal attainment approach to improve completion of project type assignments by adolescents with learning disabilities. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 6 , 166-176.

O’Melia, M. C., & Rosenberg, M. S. (1994). Effects of cooperative homework teams on the acquisition of mathematics skills by secondary students with mild disabilities. Exceptional Children, 60, 538-548.

Otto, W. (1985). Homework: A meta-analysis. Journal of Reading, 28 , 764-766.

Paschal, A., Weinstein, R., & Walberg, H. (1984). The effects of homework on learning: A quantitative synthesis. Journal of Educational Research, 78 , 97-104.

Polloway, E. A., Foley, R. M., & Epstein, M. H. (1992). A comparison of the homework problems of students with learning disabilities and nonhandicapped students. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 7 , 203-209.

Putnam, M. L., Deshler, D. D., & Schumaker, J. B. (1993). The investigation of setting demands: A missing link in learning strategy instruction. In L. Meltzer (Ed.), Strategy assessment and instruction for students with learning disabilities: From theory to practice (pp. 325-354). Austin, TX: PRO-ED.

Rademacher, J. A., Deshler, D. D., Schumaker, J. B., & Lenz, B. K. (1998). The quality assignment routine. Lawrence, KS: Edge Enterprises, Inc.

Rademacher, J. A., Schumaker, J. B., & Deshler, D. D. (1996). Development and validation of a classroom assignment routine for inclusive settings. Learning Disability Quarterly, 19 , 163-178.

Rosenberg, M. S. (1989). The effects of daily homework assignments on the acquisition of basic skills by students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22 , 314-322.

Sah, A., & Borland, J. H. (1989). The effects of a structured home plan on the home school behaviors of gifted learning-disabled students with deficits in organizational skills. Roeper Review, 12 , 54-57.

Salend, S. J., & Gajria, M. (1995). Increasing the homework completion rates of students with mild disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 16 , 271-278.

Salend, S. J., & Schliff, J. (1989). An examination of the homework practices of teachers of students with learning disabilities. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 22 , 621-623.

Trammel, D. L., Schloss, P. J., & Alper, S. (1994). Using self-recording , evaluation, and graphing to increase completion of homework assignments. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27 , 75-81.

Related Topics

How a Teacher Can Improve Students’ Homework Performance

One of the great struggles of modern education is getting students to finish their homework. Even worse, when homework does get completed, students often lack the understanding of the subject matter to perform well. So, teachers have two issues to face when it comes to homework.

On the one hand, teachers do want their students to turn in their homework. However, they also don’t want to send homework home that students don’t know ho to complete. There’s no point in assigning homework that students don’t understand and just guess their way through.

So, what can teachers do to improve the situation? Each of these issues can be tackled by adopting different strategies.

Increasing Homework Completion

Getting students to finish their homework may be a bit easier than getting people to complete their homework well, so it makes a good first topic to tackle. Here are a few strategies that teachers can adopt to make sure students want to get their homework done.

Integrate Students’ Interests into Your Methods

The first and easiest approach to improving students’ desire to complete their homework is to integrate what they’re interested in to your approach. When students’ interests are part of the curriculum, they’re more likely to get it done.

In one research study, conducted by Michelle Hinton and Lee Kern, homework completion went from only 60% to more than 95%. The trick, then, is to find out where your students’ interests lie and finding ways to mix them into homework assignments.

An easy way to do this is by looking to technology. Now, more than ever, kids are connected to the internet. When they’re not playing games online, they’re surfing the internet on their computers or using social media over their mobile phones. It’s not unusual for kids to use tablets these days. So, how can teachers take advantage of this? In this example, teachers could create an online portal where students have access to their work and can engage with each other.

An online social media site, like a Facebook page, gives students the chance to interact with one another. Homework could be assigned through the portal and online discussions used to connect students, who can help one another with the work. Technology is among the easiest ways for teachers to integrate student interests in a time of unparalleled connection.

Create Completion Tools

One way that teachers can help ensure that students get their homework done, particularly if they themselves have trouble sticking to schedules, is by creating tools that they can use to help their students keep track of what’s due. The easiest way to do this is by creating a homework calendar.

A physical version of this might be kept in the classroom on a large display, allowing students to regularly review what’s due and when. A blank copy of this calendar can be given to students so that they can fill in dates and remove them based on how the class is moving along.

However, an even better way of creating a calendar for students is by making an online one. As noted, social media sites are great ways of keeping students up to date on what is due and when. An online calendar can be maintained on a class website or social media sites where students can easily review changes to the calendar. The power of the internet has made it much easier for teachers to keep students up to date on changes happening in the course.

Establish a Routine

Very often, teachers fall into the trap of getting behind in their work and assigning homework on days they don’t intend to. Maybe they mean to assign it one a Monday but, because they fall behind in their lessons, they instead assign it on a Tuesday. This is actually a really easy way of hurting the chances that your students will turn in their work.

Kids, like adults, benefit from having a routine. They don’t like having to guess what days they’ll need to turn in homework. Because their lives are already so hectic, it’s not uncommon for them to get confused about what work is due on what days By having a regular routine, you’ll help improve the chances that the homework gets turned in. If homework is assigned every Monday and due every Wednesday, make sure that you stick to that routine.

Week to week, students are regularly having to balance their personal lives with their academic ones. They also have to integrate extracurricular activities. In all of the chaos, it’s not uncommon for students to mix up days when homework is due for certain classes. A regular routine will help ensure that this doesn’t happen.

Improving Homework Completion and Performance

Some strategies for improving homework completion are also well suited for improving performance. Here are just two approaches you can consider to help you not only ensure students not only turn in homework more regularly but perform better on the work they do.

Adjusting Difficulty

Sometimes, students don’t finish homework not because they lose track of what’s due, but because they simply struggle with the material. In class, teachers are taught to differentiate their instructions.

Each student learns at a different pace, and teachers are most effective when they understand how to assign work that’s of different levels of difficulty. However, this isn’t a lesson that should stay restricted to the classroom. Teachers should also take the time to develop differentiated homework. By adjusting the difficulty, teachers make it all the more likely that homework will get done.

This strategy may best be used by adopting testing that’s not so much designed to grade students as much as to simply gauge which students need the most support. Teachers need to have a firm grasp on what their students are capable of and what they know and do not know.

Unfortunately, students can sometimes feel pressured under test conditions. For struggling students, this can make it all the more likely that they’ll underperform. It may be useful to consider tests that are non-graded but still provide insight into how students are performing. This sort of low stakes assessment may help provide an accurate picture of what students need the greatest adjustment to the homework you give them.

Provide Additional Resources

Another way that teachers can help guarantee that teachers will complete their work is by providing additional resources that students can use when getting their work done. Sometimes, this might mean pointing to resources that students can find in the library. At other times, this might mean pointing to websites that can help get students through their lessons.

For instance, YouTube has become a wildly popular resource for teachers. Now, more than ever, YouTube is filled with instructional videos that can help guide students through particularly difficult problems. There are also countless videos that discuss the plots of books or take students through science and math problems.

However, with the modern internet, teachers can also provide their own additional resources. Websites and social media sites can be used to make posts and host files that students can access. These files might provide additional context about a historic event or guides through particularly hard math problems.

This can be a more time-consuming effort if teachers want to put together their own resources from scratch. However, it’s also not difficult for teachers to find resources that they can host online. Using this approach can reduce the associated with putting together a teacher’s own original materials.

Improving Homework Performance

Finally, there are also approaches that are tailored toward improving homework performance. These strategies make it more likely that your students will do better on the homework that you assign.

Get Parents Involved

This is time consuming, but it can have one of the best payoffs if you’re trying to improve outcomes in student homework. Parent involvement is linked to numerous benefits among students. When parents get involved in their child’s education, it leads to better performance and a higher level of engagement. Those benefits carry over to homework.

One study conducted among sixth and seventh graders revealed that when parents helped their children with their homework, it led to better outcomes. This study was interesting not only because it benefited students in general, but specifically because it helped at-risk students.

These students are often those who are most likely to underachieve. Due to various circumstances, ranging from a lower socioeconomic background to violence in the community, at-risk students often perform more poorly than students who are not at risk.

Despite the chance that these students will perform more poorly on homework, researchers discovered that their performance jumped when parents became involved. This intervention did require effort and time. Parents had to be trained in how to help their children. However, the results were clear.

Over the course of a 10w-eek homework program, students saw improved marks in mathematics. This showed that with help from appropriately trained parents, even students who were at the greatest risk of failing saw improvement in their performance.

Flip Your Classroom

Now this is another radical idea that some teachers may want to consider if they’re ready to really make significant changes to how they approach in-class versus homework.

The idea of the flipped classroom is fairly simple. Using this model, teachers take homework and, instead of having students do it at home, have their students do it in the classroom. This approach is beneficial because it lets teachers, who have all the knowledge and experience necessary to guide their students, assist their class with the completion of the work.

If the students are doing their ‘homework’ in the classroom though, then what are they doing at home? Well, the flipped classroom also means flipping instruction so that it happens at home instead of the class. In a flipped classroom, teachers do some teaching in the class and introduce lessons. However, they leave the majority of text reading to be done at home.

Teachers may put additional videos and resources online, but the majority of instruction occurs at the student’s house, not the classroom. When students arrive in class, they’re expected to have learned the basics of their lessons. Teachers review these lessons briefly and go through some introductory instruction. Then, teachers guide them through more difficult work.

The most active part of the lesson is left for the classroom, where students can engage with one another and their teacher. The most passive part of the lesson, on the other hand, is left at home. Learn more about the flipped classroom .

Homework Clubs

At some point, it’s up to educators and administrators to come together to find ways of improving academic performance together. Many students who struggle on homework at home may benefit from a more community-oriented approach. For this reason, schools should focus on putting together an environment where students can do homework together under the supervision of adults.

Study halls should serve this purpose, but they often do not. Instead, students tend to complete most of their homework independently when in a study hall. This is often because students from many different classes find themselves together with a single adult who specializes in a limited number of topics. Instead of depending on study halls to help students get their work done, schools can put together homework clubs that will help students perform better on their work.

Homework clubs bring together students to work together under the supervision of parents and teachers. Homework clubs are structured. They meet together at regular times and often involve groups of parents or teachers that oversee the club. Just like any other club, like chess or drama clubs, they require adult supervision. This supervision is particularly important for homework clubs though, where students need the help and support of adults to help them improve their scores.

The best part about homework clubs is that they take the negative feelings off of homework and help students enjoy their academics more. Students get to work outside the classroom alongside friends. These clubs don’t have to be held in a school. They can also be held in a library, for instance.

Homework clubs typically happen right after school though, so these clubs should be held somewhere near the school. Homework clubs provide a positive environment where friends can be together and work on their homework as a group. Overseeing them are trained individuals who can help them in a variety of topics, almost like a tutoring center.

There are countless ways that homework performance can be addressed. For some teachers, the emphasis may be on simply improving homework completion. The steps for doing this are often easier than the steps required of improving homework performance. Teachers can help students complete their work more frequently simply by being consistent, providing calendars, or making the homework more engaging.

Improving academic performance is a bit trickier, but there are many ways to get this done as well. There are steps teachers can take independently, like flipping their classroom or providing additional resources to students. However, larger changes require a commitment from teachers, administrators, and parents. Homework clubs can be a fun approach to getting homework done, but it requires having the proper venue, the appropriate number of supervisors, and the commitment to helping students day in and day out.

Regardless of what approach teachers take, this list of interventions includes many ways that homework completion and performance can be improved. Which approach is best depends on the teacher and their own assessment of the needs of their classroom.

Similar Posts:

• 35 of the BEST Educational Apps for Teachers (Updated 2024)
• 20 Huge Benefits of Using Technology in the Classroom
• The Flipped Classroom: The Definitive Guide

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment.

Get Started Today!

• Centre Details
• Ask A Question
• Change Location
• Programs & More

Homework Help: Everything You Need to Know

Homework has always been a point of contention among students, parents, and educators. While some students may consider it a burden, there are several reasons why homework exists and why it is a must for academic success. 

In this ultimate guide to homework, we will explore the benefits of homework, the right amount of time to spend on assignments, valuable tips and strategies to overcome difficulties, and where to find homework help. 

Whether you are a student looking for ways to improve your homework routine or a parent seeking guidance about how to help your child, this guide can help!

If you’re looking for a particular subject, click to jump to a section. 

• Why homework?
• Benefits of homework 
• The right amount of time spent on homework
• Finding homework motivation 
• Managing homework anxiety
• Effective homework planning
• Understanding homework assignments
• Breaking down homework assignments 
• Overcoming homework difficulties 
• Getting homework help 

The Big Question—Why Homework?

As long as there has been school, there has been homework. And when there’s homework, there are teachers, parents, administrators, education experts, politicians, and students with strong opinions about the value of homework. 

Homework often raises the question of its purpose and relevance. But there are several reasons why homework is assigned.:

• Revisit Concepts : Homework allows students to review and reinforce what they have learned in class, helping them retain information better and longer.
• Prepare for Upcoming Classes : Completing homework tasks prepares students for future lessons, enabling them to participate and engage in classroom discussions.
• Build Persistence and Determination : By working on problems at home, students develop key skills such as persistence, problem-solving, and determination.
• Develop Useful Habits : Regular homework practice helps students develop discipline, time management skills, and a strong work ethic essential for academic success and beyond.
• Avoid Negative Consequences : Neglecting homework can result in negative consequences such as low grades, missed opportunities, and disciplinary actions.

Homework plays a key role in education and should not be overlooked by parents or students. 

Check out the pros and cons of homework .

Benefits of Homework

Contrary to popular belief, homework provides several benefits that contribute to a student’s academic progress and general development. Here are five key homework benefits:

• Enhanced Learning : Homework allows students to dive deeper into the subject matter and conduct additional research beyond the classroom. This helps to create a deeper understanding of the topic. 
• Time Management Skills : With many assignments and deadlines to meet, homework teaches students how to manage their time and prioritize tasks.
• Independent Work : Homework creates independence and self-reliance. Students are responsible for completing their assignments without relying on peers or teachers.
• Communication Skills : Writing essays and other assignments improves students’ communication skills. This helps them articulate their thoughts and express their opinions effectively.
• Resource Utilization : Homework encourages students to explore various resources beyond the internet, such as books, magazines, and journals. This helps to foster a broader understanding of the subject.

What’s the Right Amount of Time to Spend on Homework?

Determining the appropriate time allocation for homework is essential to balance academic commitments and personal well-being. 

The Toronto District School Board offers a simple guideline to help determine how much homework is appropriate at each grade level. Following the guideline of 10 minutes per grade level, each grade should have this amount of homework: 

• 30 minutes in Grade 3
• 40 minutes in Grade 4
• 50 minutes in Grade 5
• 60 minutes in Grade 6
• 70 minutes in Grade 7
• 80 minutes in Grade 8

While these time frames provide a rough estimate, it is essential to consider individual circumstances and adjust accordingly.

Ultimate List of Homework Help

Finding Homework Motivation

Even if your student loves school, homework can sometimes be a downer. Motivation is crucial to completing homework effectively. Maintaining Motivation is not always the easiest. 

Here are some strategies to keep motivation on track:

• Make a Plan : Create a plan to get homework completed. Make a list of everything your student needs to do and give specific timeframes in which it should be done.  
• Use the Reward System : Set rewards for your student, such as enjoying a favourite treat or engaging in an activity they want once they’ve completed their tasks.
• Set Long-Term Goals : Set goals for each semester or academic year, and reward your students with something significant once goals are met.
• Stay Organized : Use a planner and ensure that your student writes down all their upcoming assignments, tests and events so you can keep track of everything in one place. 
• Be Positive : The key is to approach homework with a positive attitude. Show your student that this is an opportunity to learn and grow instead of a chore that has to be completed. 

Staying motivated is the key to homework success.

Getting Help With Homework Anxiety

Homework anxiety can be a massive hurdle for many students. Homework anxiety can cause stress for students and delay the completion of their homework. Recognizing the signs of homework anxiety is crucial in order to address the issue. 

Factors such as being overly anxious or striving for perfection can contribute to homework anxiety. But various solutions can help reduce anxiety and help with homework:

• Set Time Limits : Devoting a specific time slot for homework can provide a sense of structure and ease anxiety. This helps with improved time management and can be especially beneficial if your student struggles to start or complete tasks.
• Take Breaks : Incorporating regular breaks into your student’s study routine can help with homework anxiety. During the breaks, engage in activities like brisk walks, coffee breaks, or listening to music to shift your student’s focus away from assignments and recharge their mind.
• Seek Support: If self-help strategies aren’t working, consider speaking to a professional. Therapists and counsellors are trained to help individuals overcome anxiety. In times like these, seeking therapy can be a valuable resource for guidance and support.

Remember, you don’t have to face homework anxiety alone. You can effectively manage and overcome homework anxiety at home by implementing these strategies and seeking appropriate help. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health and wellness, you can find help and resources here.

Effective Homework Help Planning and Scheduling

When homework is piling up, it can feel overwhelming. Students must manage their time efficiently to stay on track and not get left behind. With a good schedule and proper planning, students won’t have to worry about missing homework assignments or not having enough time to finish them. Plus, it’s surprisingly easy to put a homework plan together. 

Follow these straightforward steps to get started:

• Assess the Workload : Before diving into the tasks, take a moment to check the entire workload for the day or week. This assessment will give you a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished.
• Set Priorities : Determine which assignments can be completed quickly and which need in-depth research and analysis. Consider each task’s deadlines to establish priorities.
• Create a Plan : With a clear understanding of the tasks and their order of importance, develop a final plan and establish a routine for success. Be prepared to make adjustments along the way. Don’t forget to consider the satisfaction of checking completed tasks off a list—it can work wonders for motivation!
• Choose a Homework Space : Choosing a specific time and place to complete homework is essential. Many people underestimate the value of their study environment on their success. Find a clean desk, gather all the necessary materials, and create a focused study space .

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively plan and schedule your child’s homework, maximizing their productivity and creating a conducive environment for successful studying.

See how Oxford Learning can help with assignments and homework .

Mastering Assignment Understanding

Understanding what the homework assignments are asking for is crucial. If your child is taking the wrong turn at the beginning can hinder their progress and prevent them from correctly completing their homework assignment. Similarly, you need to be more accurate with homework instructions to ensure your student’s grades.  

There’s a helpful trick to unravelling assignment requirements. When reading the task with your child, pay close attention to the following keywords ; they act as clues to what your student needs to do.

Here’s a cheat sheet on how to find keywords:

• Name, Define, or Arrange : These words show that your student should get the necessary information and present it clearly and organized.
• Explain or Summarize : When encountering these words, your child’s task is to convey the information in their own words, providing a concise yet comprehensive understanding of the topic.
• Apply or Illustrate : Your student should use their knowledge to solve a problem or show how a concept can be implemented.
• Analyze, Contrast, or Examine : These keywords prompt your child to delve deeper, comparing various elements and exploring their connections. It requires a thorough examination and critical assessment.
• Evaluate or Predict : Here, your child is expected to draw conclusions based on their knowledge, critically analyze the information, and make informed judgments or predictions.
• Provide Examples : This entails finding supporting evidence to substantiate your student’s conclusions and using relevant examples to reinforce their points.

By focusing on these keywords, students will understand the assignment better and start working with a clear understanding of what is required. These tips help students meet the assignment expectations and get the best grades possible.

Breaking Down Homework Assignments

When students are faced with an overwhelming amount of work, it’s crucial to have a strategy to tackle it and minimize stress. Rather than hoping for the task to shrink magically, take proactive steps to break it into manageable parts. 

Here’s a practical approach to overcoming daunting homework assignments:

• Create an Assignment List : Take a sheet of paper and write down all the tasks to complete, along with the deadlines. This list will serve as a visual representation of their workload.
• Differentiate Between Easy and Hard Tasks : Assess each assignment and determine which ones are easier to do, need more effort, or pose a more significant challenge. Start with the more manageable tasks to build momentum and boost motivation.
• Divide and Conquer : Break homework into smaller, manageable parts. Identify any sub-tasks or components that need to be completed for more manageable tasks. For the more challenging assignments, determine if they can be further divided into smaller steps or stages. This approach will make the workload appear less daunting and allow students to focus on one task at a time.
• Take Well-Deserved Breaks : Take a break after completing a session or task. By beginning to work on assignments early enough, there will be time for rest and rejuvenation. These pauses are beneficial for maintaining productivity and contribute to a positive mood.

Adopting this systematic approach allows students to navigate assignments effectively without feeling overwhelmed. Breaking assignments down into manageable parts helps to maintain focus, build momentum, and experience a sense of accomplishment. Learn more on how to break down homework assignments .

Remember, with proper planning and perseverance, even the most challenging tasks can be conquered.

Overcoming Homework Difficulties

Difficulty with homework is a common challenge for many students. Finding effective ways to overcome these difficulties is crucial, whether it’s a lack of motivation or specific obstacles. 

Here are some common problems students encounter and strategies to address them:

Problem : Rushing through homework

Solution : when assignments feel tedious or repetitive, rushing through them is easy. however, this approach often leads to subpar work. .

To combat this, try the following:

• Mix Up the Order : Instead of completing tasks in the same sequence every time, change the order. This variation makes the process less monotonous and helps maintain focus.
• Break it Down : If a lengthy assignment feels overwhelming, break it into smaller, manageable parts. By tackling one section at a time, you can maintain productivity and avoid the temptation to rush.

Problem : Not able to do homework alone

Solution : some students need help with home independently and require external support or company. .

To address this issue:

• Join a Study Group : Collaborating with peers working on homework assignments can provide the necessary motivation and companionship. Study groups allow for discussions, sharing of ideas, and clarifying doubts, enhancing the overall understanding of the material.
• Find a Tutor : Tutoring can significantly help students when they are having difficulty studying or doing homework alone. A tutor can solely be there as support for your child when they need help, and they can also help foster and develop your child’s homework and study habits.

Problem : Failing to retain information

Solution : memorization can be challenging for some students, but effective strategies can significantly enhance retention. .

Consider the following approaches:

• Use Varied Presentation Methods : Instead of relying solely on large chunks of text, explore alternative ways to present and organize information. Experiment with mind maps, tables, graphs, or visual aids that help illustrate concept relationships and connections. This multisensory approach can improve comprehension and aid memory recall.
• Practice Active Learning Techniques : Instead of passively reading or reviewing material, engage in active learning strategies. This can include summarizing key points in their own words, teaching the concepts to someone else, or creating flashcards for self-quizzing. These methods encourage active engagement with the material and enhance retention.

Getting Help with Homework

When all the tips and tricks are being used, and homework still seems like an uphill battle, it’s time to turn to the experts.

Here are a few avenues to explore for homework assistance:

• Reach Out to Your Child’s Teacher : Their teacher should be your first point of contact when seeking guidance for your child’s homework. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice or clarification. Approaching the teacher with questions is an essential step in getting involved in your child’s academic success.
• Find a Study Group or Study Buddy : Being part of a study group or having a study buddy allows your child to ask questions and engage in discussions with fellow students. Explaining concepts to others and hearing their perspectives can deepen your students’ understanding and will enable them to explore alternative memorization techniques. 
• Consider Getting a Tutor : A private tutor can offer personalized assistance tailored to your child’s specific needs. Invest in the support of a tutor to gain valuable insights and additional guidance.

Remember, seeking help is not a sign of weakness but a smart and proactive approach to overcoming challenges. With the proper support and guidance, your child will gain confidence, enhance their understanding, and succeed in their homework.

Consult with a professional tutor to get homework help .

Reading for Pleasure is on the Decline —Summer Is the Time to Fix It

Can you enhance study sessions with background music, related homework resources.

Homework, Organization, Studying

Homework procrastination: why do students procrastinate.

Understanding Dysgraphia and How Tutoring Can Help

Unwrapping the 12 Days of Holiday Skills

Canadian Attitudes Toward Homework

Find an oxford learning ® location near you, we have over 100 centres across canada.

This One Change From Teachers Can Make Homework More Equitable

• Share article

Homework can deepen inequities for low-income students at school if teachers judge students’ effort by their families’ involvement.

That’s according to a new study in the journal Educational Researcher, which found teachers were more likely to attribute missed homework to irresponsibility or parent disinterest with low-income students and students of color than with wealthier or white students.

The study was part of a broader longitudinal study of more than 4,000 middle school students and their teachers. Researchers observed 80 students and their teachers and conducted in-depth interviews with both, as well as with the students’ families.

Across both elementary and middle schools, “teachers were interpreting homework through this meritocratic lens, seeing it as the product of motivation and competence and effort, and not as the product of the kinds of circumstances that students or their families might be facing at home,” said Jessica McCrory Calarco, an associate professor of sociology at Indiana University and the lead author of the study.

“When teachers use that cultural framework to interpret what’s going on in their classrooms, it can lead them to judge and punish students and treat students in potentially harmful ways,” Calarco said.

As one teacher in the study noted, “I’ve had a few students this year who have been reluctant to do homework. It’s been mainly the [lower-level students]. Probably math isn’t their favorite subject, so they wouldn’t want to do their math homework, even when it’s easy. And when it’s not easy, they especially don’t want to do it.”

The findings are “unfortunate but not surprising,” said Joyce Epstein, a homework researcher and the director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in Calarco’s study.

“Parents are in fact interested in their children’s work and success. What they’re not interested in is being told they’re supposed to know how to teach every subject at every grade level, just because somebody said it was a good idea,” Epstein said.

Teachers who took a meritocratic approach to homework were more likely to adopt punitive homework policies: giving extra credit on tests for students who turned in homework, or keeping students back from recess for not completing it, for example. Meritocratic teachers also were more likely to assign homework that students could not complete independently, either because it was too difficult or required input from parents.

One mother of a 5th grader in the study said she barely passed her GED high school equivalency exam, and often struggled to help her son with math. “I still can’t really figure out division. . . . [Jesse will] ask me a question, and I’ll go look at it, and it’s like algebra, in 5th grade,” the mother told researchers. “Sometimes you just feel stupid because he’s in 5th grade, and I’m like—I should be able to help my son with his homework in 5th grade.”

In an earlier related study using the same students, Calarco and her colleagues also found teachers felt significant pressure from affluent and white parents to excuse their children when they failed to complete homework. Existing homework policies tended to be applied in favor of students of parents who were highly involved in the school.

“It wasn’t a consistent application of rules,” Calarco said. “It was much more rooted in the status and the power of families ... not only in terms of who actually was able to provide more hands-on help at home, but also in the extent to which teachers felt that they had to grant exemptions to students from more privileged backgrounds.”

Designing better homework

Prior research suggests the majority of parent homework help ends up being counterproductive, including doing work for a student or providing confusing or inaccurate explanations for a concept.

“Homework is important, proven to be useful for children’s learning, but we can all do better in designing good homework as opposed to just more of it,” Epstein said.

She argued that teachers should be given more time to work with each other and parents to design homework policies and assignments.

“We should never ask parents to teach a school subject. They don’t want to do it, they can’t do it, they shouldn’t be asked to do it,” Epstein said. “What we’ve learned is that to increase the family connection with their child on homework, ... you design homework to help the student become the leader in this work.”

Among the recommendations:

• Do not design homework that requires parents to teach or check content knowledge.
• Ensure students can complete assignments at home without help.
• Design separate, ungraded assignments to engage families (e.g. a family oral history project). “If we design homework so the youngster is showing, sharing, demonstrating what they’ve learned in class, the parent becomes an appreciator of how the youngster is growing their skills and abilities,” Epstein said.
• Incorporate supplemental exercises or model lessons in separate communications with parents, such as school newsletters or literacy nights.

Sign Up for The Savvy Principal

Edweek top school jobs.

Sign Up & Sign In

• Our Mission

How to Help Students Develop the Skills They Need to Complete Homework

Middle and high school students can learn to work more efficiently by using strategies that improve their executive function skills.

The effects of homework are mixed. While adolescents across middle and high school have an array of life situations that can make doing homework easier or harder, it’s well known that homework magnifies inequity . However, we also know that learning how to manage time and work independently outside of the school day is valuable for lifelong learning. From the homework wars  to students who have little time for homework to students who don’t even know where to begin, everyone can agree that kids who can self-regulate and engage in independent rehearsal are better positioned for whatever the future holds.

How can we empower students to overcome barriers to doing homework well?

Executive Functioning

Homework is partially an assessment of executive functioning. Executive functioning and self-regulation take time to develop. They depend on three types of critical brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-regulation .

Let’s break this down to consider how to improve their efficiency.

Working memory: Don’t hold everything in your head; it is not possible. When doing homework, students should write down their ideas, whether they are notes while reading, numbers when working through a math problem, or non-school-related reminders about chores, such as remembering to take the dog for a walk. Clearing working memory for the immediate task at hand allows the brain to focus as the strain is reduced.

Mental flexibility: As students build their independence and grow their homework routines, seeing an array of strategies, or more than one way to solve a problem, is important. Consider the results when a child gets stuck and doesn’t know what to do to get unstuck or when one keeps trying the same failed approach. Chunking homework helps simplify the process. When stuck, a student looks at a smaller piece, which makes it easier to see other solutions. More practice with mental flexibility happens when others model thinking in different ways, and students practice flexible thinking with partners by asking them: What is another way? Use this bubble map to chart out multiple ways.

Self-regulation: Learning how to prioritize work and stick with it by not giving in to impulses is a skill that students develop over time . One way to teach self-regulation is to have students practice control by concentrating for short periods of time with the goal of building up to longer, more sustained periods of time as the year progresses. For a child who struggles with reading for an extended time, start with five minutes and then build from there.

Another self-regulation tip is creating a plan to overcome distractions. What happens when the child stumbles? Three minutes into reading and a student is reaching for their cell phone. Recommend that they practice moving the cell phone away from the homework area, and summarize before returning to the reading. Stops and starts are frustrating and often result in lost homework time. Have students practice responses to distraction, and make this part of their homework. When a student struggles to stay on task, they should be encouraged to remove any distraction in order to regain focus.

Use classroom assessment as a tool to plan for and support student homework. Record the following information for students:

• Do they write, read, and/or solve problems in class? For how many minutes independently?
• What is the quality of their work? Are they actually learning, or are they just going through the motions?
• Do they know how to strategize on their own or get help from a peer when they’re stuck? Observe them and take notes, and/or have them reflect on this question.

We cannot expect that students will independently practice a skill they don’t engage with during class. If it doesn't happen in the classroom, it's not going to happen at home. The teacher should be able to realistically gauge how much and what students might achieve at home. A suggestion to build independence is to use task analysis . Here is a model . For students who struggle with getting homework done, at first they may not actually do homework; rather, they practice the routines of setting up and getting started.

Direct Instruction

The following are some techniques that help students with homework:

• Mindful meditation to gain focus
• Prioritizing and estimating time
• Filtering out distractions

Peers as Partners

Class partnership routines need practice. With strong partnerships, kids learn how to support and learn from each other. Access to teachers will never match the unlimited access to peers. The hours that students who achieve at high levels put in after class are often spent alone rehearsing the content or with peers who push each other to improve.

Class-to-Home Connection

While some students struggle with executive functioning, others rush through their homework. The most important step in having homework count is to make it seamless, not separate from class. Homework flows from classwork. Especially with a mix of synchronous and asynchronous work, now there is no homework, just work done for our classes. Consistent instructional goals with engaging and meaningful tasks help students see the value in working beyond the last bell.

K-12 Resources By Teachers, For Teachers Provided by the K-12 Teachers Alliance

• Teaching Strategies
• Classroom Activities
• Classroom Management
• Technology in the Classroom
• Professional Development
• Lesson Plans
• Writing Prompts
• Graduate Programs

The Value of Parents Helping with Homework

Dr. selena kiser.

• September 2, 2020

The importance of parents helping with homework is invaluable. Helping with homework is an important responsibility as a parent and directly supports the learning process. Parents’ experience and expertise is priceless. One of the best predictors of success in school is learning at home and being involved in children’s education. Parental involvement with homework helps develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom. Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits including spending individual time with children, enlightening strengths and weaknesses, making learning more meaningful, and having higher aspirations.

How Parental Involvement with Homework Impacts Students

Parental involvement with homework impacts students in a positive way. One of the most important reasons for parental involvement is that it helps alleviate stress and anxiety if the students are facing challenges with specific skills or topics. Parents have experience and expertise with a variety of subject matter and life experiences to help increase relevance. Parents help their children understand content and make it more meaningful, while also helping them understand things more clearly.

Also, their involvement increases skill and subject retention. Parents get into more depth about content and allow students to take skills to a greater level. Many children will always remember the times spent together working on homework or classroom projects. Parental involvement with homework and engagement in their child’s education are related to higher academic performance, better social skills and behavior, and increased self-confidence.

Parents helping with homework allows more time to expand upon subjects or skills since learning can be accelerated in the classroom. This is especially true in today’s classrooms. The curricula in many classrooms is enhanced and requires teaching a lot of content in a small amount of time. Homework is when parents and children can spend extra time on skills and subject matter. Parents provide relatable reasons for learning skills, and children retain information in greater depth.

Parental involvement increases creativity and induces critical-thinking skills in children. This creates a positive learning environment at home and transfers into the classroom setting. Parents have perspective on their children, and this allows them to support their weaknesses while expanding upon their strengths. The time together enlightens parents as to exactly what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Virtual learning is now utilized nationwide, and parents are directly involved with their child’s schoolwork and homework. Their involvement is more vital now than ever. Fostering a positive homework environment is critical in virtual learning and assists children with technological and academic material.

Strategies for Including Parents in Homework

An essential strategy for including parents in homework is sharing a responsibility to help children meet educational goals. Parents’ commitment to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and participating in homework supports a larger objective. Teachers and parents are specific about the goals and work directly with the child with classwork and homework. Teachers and parents collaboratively working together on children’s goals have larger and more long-lasting success. This also allows parents to be strategic with homework assistance.

A few other great examples of how to involve parents in homework are conducting experiments, assignments, or project-based learning activities that parents play an active role in. Interviewing parents is a fantastic way to be directly involved in homework and allows the project to be enjoyable. Parents are honored to be interviewed, and these activities create a bond between parents and children. Students will remember these assignments for the rest of their lives.

Project-based learning activities examples are family tree projects, leaf collections, research papers, and a myriad of other hands-on learning assignments. Children love working with their parents on these assignments as they are enjoyable and fun. This type of learning and engagement also fosters other interests. Conducting research is another way parents directly impact their child’s homework. This can be a subject the child is interested in or something they are unfamiliar with. Children and parents look forward to these types of homework activities.

Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits. Parental involvement and engagement have lifelong benefits and creates a pathway for success. Parents provide autonomy and support, while modeling successful homework study habits.

• #homework , #ParentalInvolvement

More in Professional Development

Utilizing Canva to Work Smarter Not Harder

Teaching is a balancing act, with constantly juggling creating lesson plans, grading papers,…

Chill Out & Tune In: The Ultimate Summer Guide to Books & the Best Education Podcasts

Summer is the perfect time to unwind and recharge for the upcoming school…

How Sensory Rooms Help Students with Autism Thrive

Students with autism often face challenges in the classroom due to their sensory…

Establishing a Smooth Flow: The Power of Classroom Routines

Learners thrive in environments where there’s structure and familiarity, and implementing classroom routines…

Teamwork & Collaborative Learning

Students working independently are capable of learning deeply, and it is likely that those of us who teach undergraduate students are well suited to this sort of intellectual method. Nevertheless, structuring learning so that students are required to respond to one another’s ideas, create a product together, and, more to the point, teach each other, can be an effective teaching strategy. Collaborative or cooperative learning (or, on occasion, “group work”) has stimulated significant literature. 

“Cooperative learning is an educational approach that promotes interaction among students and shared responsibility for academic achievement”  [Stein, R. & Hurd, S. (2000).  Using Student Teams in the Classroom.  Bolton MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.:  https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED446603 ]

The following examples are among the most well-known types of collaborative learning:

• Give students a discussion prompt, question, short problem, or issue to consider.
• Individuals work briefly on a response.
• Peers report their responses to each other in pairs.
• Some (or all) pairs summarize their discussion for the large group.

Think-pair-share is a low-stakes, low-effort strategy for active learning and abbreviated collaboration. Students must work independently, communicate their ideas to peers, consider peer responses, and share that discussion in a way that begins to synthesize an exchange. While it is unlikely that all pairs in a class will have the opportunity for the last step, calling on random pairs means that most should be prepared. Think-pair-share requires that students act, instead of passively listening.

Problem-based learning (or PBL) introduces a specific problem to students, usually in groups, over an extended period, and requires that they understand the problem and begin to propose a response or solution. PBL begins to approximate the sort of work scholars do (think of the “problem” as a sort of research question), as well as the way students may need to approach problems in their lives after higher education.

Guided Design, a type of PBL, leads students through steps as they work on a problem. So, for instance, groups might do preliminary research and report back simultaneously, identify stakeholders and report back simultaneously, propose compromises and report back simultaneously, etc. For more information about PBL visit the University of Delaware’s Problem-Based Learning Site at  www.udel.edu/inst  and come to talk to us at the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center.

Case studies provide students with sample problems from experience. So, for instance, students in microbiology might propose a response to a waterborne viral outbreak. Find more examples for the sciences and humanities at the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science .

Simulations ask students to adopt roles as they perform the work of a problem-solving group. Students of government and politics, for example, might take on the roles of business owners, city council members, and neighborhood advocates in a zoning dispute.

Peer teaching is a very effective means for both the student-as-teacher and student-as-learner to learn new concepts. One example of peer teaching is tutoring, which means guiding the learning of a newer student. This can be as informal as a brief discussion in which a student explains a concept or clarifies a misunderstanding. Supplemental instruction is the extended guidance students receive over an entire course from a secondary source (e.g., a tutor). Presentations ask students to communicate course material to their peers effectively. This requires more than restating content or paraphrasing the day’s readings.

Small group discussion offers students the chance to interact with peers, to listen, and to teach. Effective small group discussion is guided by clear directions and asks students to share a product (a summary of discussion, a consensus view with minority report, or even a critique of the discussion prompt).

Peer editing   guides students as they review each others’ drafts of written work. This foundation of the craft of academic writing serves to teach both editor (who must learn to read critically and communicate criticism) and writer (who must learn to consume, evaluate, and incorporate feedback). When requiring peer editing, articulate clear expectations, instead of simply asking students to read and evaluate writing (e.g., have them identify a thesis statement and assess the strength of the writer’s evidence).

The  jigsaw strategy  breaks problems into small parts and assigns parts to groups who report back, contributing a piece of the puzzle’s solution. For example, each student in a group might be assigned a distinct article to read on a shared topic or issue; each would present that article to the group to synthesize all articles. See Step-By-Step Instructions for the Jigsaw Strategy .

To increase the structure and student engagement in collaborative activities, instructors can assign group roles. Group roles can promote accountability and support students in staying on task.  Some examples of group roles (POGIL, 2016) are below:

• Manager  or  Facilitator : Manages the group by helping to ensure that the group stays on task, is focused, and that there is room for everyone in the conversation.
• Recorder : Keeps a record of those who were in the group, and the roles that they play in the group. The recorder also records critical points from the small group’s discussion along with findings or answers.
• Spokesperson  or  Presenter : Presents the group’s ideas to the rest of the class. The Spokesperson should rely on the recorder’s notes to guide their report.
• Reflector  or  Strategy Analyst : Observes team dynamics and guides the consensus-building process (helps group members come to a common conclusion).

For more information on Group Roles, you can utilize this resource from Washington University in St. Louis.

While there is of course some resistance to collaborative learning (think, for example, of your own experiences carrying the weight of the group whose participants may have not all contributed equitably), when planned carefully it helps to satisfy a number of goals. It requires active learning, in which students must engage with course material in ways lecturing alone cannot support. It takes advantage of the notion that teaching is learning and provides a structure for peer teaching. It supports multiple learning styles by adopting a heterogeneous approach (some students write, some discuss, some edit, some listen and synthesize, some move around to gather findings from different peers, etc). Finally, by simply unsettling what students are often used to (e.g., extended lectures with little or no contribution from inactive students), collaborative learning reminds students that learning requires more than listening, and that reminder may be an early step toward metacognition, the practice of thinking about (and recognizing) how we learn.

As you develop collaborative approaches, bear in mind the following:

• Do not simply put students in groups with vague directions to discuss a topic. Instead, focus the discussions with a question or topical conflict.
• Organize groups with a purpose. Have a learning objective in mind: Would it make more sense to assign groups randomly, to allow peers to organize themselves into groups, to place students together with those whose performance has been similar? There are rationales for each of the preceding; just be sure your strategy is not arbitrary.
• Always require a product of groups’ work, even if it is as informal as a brief summary of their discussion. Accountability will motivate students put in their full effort and the product will serve as a means of assessing their understanding.
• Consider ways for assigning roles, but resist appointing a “leader,” upon whom more responsibility will fall than his or her peers. Instead, think about roles that share work (e.g., facilitator, recording secretary, spokesperson).
• For long-term collaborative projects, require regular interim reports.
• Be attentive to student schedules. If requiring regular collaboration that demands face-to-face meetings, allow those meetings to take place during class.
• As with any method, be wary of overuse. If each class meeting relies on group work learning may be no more lasting than if each class relied exclusively on uninterrupted lectures.
• Always prepare and distribute a grading rubric for collaborative projects that will be graded.

Resources:  The TLTC maintains a library which includes several works on collaborative learning. Consider reviewing one or more of the following:

• Cuseo, J.B .  (1996).  Cooperative Learning: A Pedagogy for Addressing Contemporary Challenges & Critical Issues in Higher Education  Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. 
• Davidson, N. & Worsham, T. (Eds.). (1992).  Enhancing Thinking through Cooperative Learning.  New York: Teachers College Press.
• Stein, R. F. & Hurd, S. (2000).  Using Student Teams in the Classroom: A Faculty Guide . Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company Inc.