As a result, homework can shape family dynamics and weeknight schedules. For better or worse, many parents help or are involved in their child’s homework in some way. 6 Even without a connection to academic achievement, Cooper still recommended assigning homework to younger students because it helps “develop good study habits, foster positive attitudes toward school, and communicate to students the idea that learning takes work at home as well as school.” 7įar from academia, parents-not surprisingly-are some of homework’s most ardent supporters and, also, its most vocal critics. However, there was no evidence of the same correlation for younger students. According to Cooper’s research, for students in late-elementary grades through high-school, there was a link between homework and improved standardized test performance. In 1989, prominent homework scholar Harris Cooper published a meta-analysis of more than 100 studies on homework in a survey that found a correlation between homework and performance on standardized tests, but only for certain grade levels.

Taking the opposite view, researchers Robert Marzano and Debra Pickering have voiced their support for purposeful homework that reinforces learning outside of school hours but still leaves time for other activities. 4 He questions why teachers continue to assign homework given its mixed research base.

Homework skeptic Alfie Kohn has questioned the benefit of homework, arguing that its positive effects are mythical, and in fact, it can disrupt the family dynamic. More than 100 years later, homework remains a contentious issue, and the debate over its value rages on, with scholars coming down on both sides of the argument.

Homework for high schoolers