Jump Rope and Hoops for Heart - School District 68

The Value of HomeworkBy Peter Skipper, Uplands Park Elementary PrincipalHomework at first appears to be a simpletopic but it is not. It can be controversialand even in academic circles its value is debated,particularly at the elementary level.It is not my purpose in this article to describe the debate butto indicate that there is a diversity of attitudes about thevalue of homework. Some of those attitudes are culturallybased, some are socio-economically influenced, and some relateto parenting style.Traditionally, homework was given for simple tasks likememorization and practice to discipline the mind.What does research say about homework? Studying thetopic of homework is difficult because most researchers are notin homes observing homework as it is being carried out. Moststudies are based upon student and family surveys. Like learning,homework is a very individual enterprise.Studies that compared students who did homework to studentswho did not showed that generally students doing homeworkscored better on tests. Other studies compared the timespent on homework to achievement and positive results weregenerally found up to a cut-off point, a point of diminishing returnswhen the mind could no longer benefit from further study.However, in the earlier grade levels, there was no evidenceof improved academic performance based on homework. Forstudents in Grades 6-9 studies show a slight improvement inachievement based upon homework of less than one hour. Forhigh school students in Grades 10-12 research indicates there arebenefits in achievement with up to two and a half hours of homeworkper night. After this achievement declines or remains flat.It is evident that research does indicate that as students maturemore time spent on homework does result in higher gradesbut this is not the case for younger students.There is an informal homeroom rule that roughly coincideswith research about the appropriate amount of homework toprovide for different grade levels. Long endorsed by most teachersand educational associations is the “10 minute rule.” Thisrule states that the maximum of nightly homework should notexceed ten minutes per grade level. So a sixth grader should nothave more than 60 minutes of homework per night and a 1stgrader no more than 10 minutes.Compounding the homework debate is the considerationthat, as in school work, different students have different workingspeeds and time and attention to task. More time spent onhomework could just indicate a slower working speed.Needless to say the learning that is accomplished is more importantthan the time it takes to learn it. A principle of learning is10 - ConnectED - Spring 2011Uplands Park Elementary Principal Peter Skipper with Uplands Parkstudents from Grades 4 to 7that individuals learn at different rates. Some students may need tospend more time in study than others to learn concepts and skills.The quality of homework of course plays a role in understandingand developing skills and knowledge. The long termgoals are to develop self-discipline, improve academic skills andto increase learner confidence.Homework typically supports learningin one of the following ways:• Pre-learning to provide an introduction or provide backgroundto a topic coming up for discussion.• To check for understanding for the student to explain whatis happening and why.• The practice of rote skills such as multiplication tables andspelling words. However, such practice should only takeplace after teachers have checked for understanding as studentscan practice something incorrectly and internalizemisconceptions which are hard to get rid of.• Processing for students to reflect or think about what waslearned, come up with new questions to ask, apply skills andknowledge into new situations and otherwise show theycomprehend or see the ‘big picture’.Another reason is to extend learning time for students unableto complete work during school time (they should understandwhat it is they are to do).Homework should have an academic purpose, help developstudent competence, assist in developing ownership of theirlearning and be generally interesting.If you have any questions about homework practices in yourchild’s class, talk to your child’s teacher. Your child’s teacherknows your child’s learning style, and will be able to outline foryou the rationale for and benefits of the homework that is assignedin the classroom. &Source: Rethinking Homework by Cathy Vatterott (2009)