Homework Controversy: Article Analysis

In the beginning of the twentieth century homework was viewed as an exceptional practice that helped students learn through practice and repetition. In recent years parents and educators were concerned that homework is taking away from “social experience, outdoor recreation, and creative activities” These experiences are necessary to a good childhood. So, let’s think about it, is homework necessary for success in school?

One of the most controversial topics in education today is homework. This debate has been going on for decades, as teachers, administrators, and parents disagree on whether homework should be assigned, and if assigned, then what the right amount of homework should be. The time students spend on homework has increased over the years. “High school students get assigned up to 17.5 hours of homework per week, according to a survey of 1,000 teachers” (Bidwell). Recently, more fuel has been added in this debate because younger students in particular are receiving much more homework than before. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, states that “The amount of homework that younger kids – ages 6 to 9 – have

“Homework is arguably the worst punishment inflicted upon the student body.” One would think this extreme statement would come from the 10-year boys and girls who complain to their parents about the homework they have to complete. However, Rodney Jones starts of his argument against homework using this statement. He argues that homework does not help children taking up all their time. Continuing, he explains how parents should extend child’s knowledge out of school instead of homework and in the end these assignments do not help students grade. However, in contrast of Jones’ beliefs homework indeed benefits children’s learning through the small amounts of extra practice it gives to help the students excel.

The debate regarding exactly how much homework is too much homework has been an ongoing debate for years. As of right now, there seems to be no end in sight for this debate. Various adults believe that if children do not obtain homework, then they are not learning properly. However, numerous children are obtaining a substantial amount of homework per night, as well as per each class. Once a child exceeds a certain amount of homework, then it is no longer beneficial for the child’s education. An excessive amount of homework can essentially become harmful to the child’s education. As a result, teachers are struggling with finding the right amount of homework to assign to students. The National Education Association as well as the National Parent-Teacher Association endorse the “10-minute rule” for teachers to follow when assigning homework to students. If a child is assigned an excessive amount of homework, then the child might experience more harm than good when attempting to complete the assigned homework.

Before everyone rushes off to condemn homework altogether, they should realize the many benefits provided when students take work home. Many times, repetition has been proven as “the law of learning.” When students do work outside of school, it helps reinforce what they learn inside school. According to Wendy J. Ponte, a freelance writer with three school-aged children, there are “no studies to back up the claim” that repetition improves academic performance. While some repetition might be helpful, Ponte points out that “When kids come home with 100 multiplication problems to solve, it becomes simple drudgery.” Can a love of learning be fostered in children who are overcome with hordes of homework?

Homework has been around for many years, and parents have had many questions and concerns about the impact it has on their children. Kate McReynolds states in her article Homework that, “In 1957, the Soviet launch of Sputnik challenged the intellectual and military might of the United States. The New York Times ran a series of articles describing the Soviet educational system as superior to the United States’ system. Congress passed the National Defense Education Act and America’s youngsters were charged with restoring the nation’s competitive edge” (2). This means that schools are under the pressure to make sure their students excel and work extremely hard. So by doing so, they assign homework, which will progress to other issues for the students.

David Mills’s article published in Healthline, “Is Too Much Homework Bad for Kids’ Health?” is a piece focused upon the extensive amount of time consumed by homework by students of all ages as well as the subsequent health effects that typically result from the issue. With the assistance of multiple studies, Mills argues that current students are highly exceeding the national standard of allotted time for homework and instead recommends several alternatives to the problem, such as primarily focusing upon the assignments that they deem as of appropriate and beneficial quality. Although he specifically asserts that refusing to do the work altogether is one of the best methods to easily relieve the increasing pressure felt by students in vigorous schooling systems, it actually has the opposite effect: by delaying the work until later, students fall into an endless cycle of being

In The Battle 0ver Homework, Harris Cooper defines homework as, “tasks assigned to students by school teachers that are intended to be carried out during non-school hours” (27) Common homework assignments might include reading, writing, problems to solve, a school project, or other skills to be practiced. The purpose of homework is to assist in reinforcing what was taught in class. Sometimes the purpose is to gather extra information beyond what was taught that day. There are many teachers who don’t understand the meaning of homework and just give it as something to keep students busy. Homework should be given to students on a regular basis but only in reasonable amounts.

The 10-minute rule, endorsed by many different education associations, is a guideline for how much homework students should be given every night. Kelly Wallace, in her 2015 article “Kids Have Three Times too Much Homework, Study Finds; What's the Cost?” published in CNN, explains that the 10-minute rule says students in first grade should have 10 minutes of homework, and students in twelfth grade should have no more than two hours of homework. Homework for students before first grade is not recommended. This guideline is supported by the NEA and the National PTA. Wallace is saying that this guideline is supported by two major education associations, which gives the guideline credibility, and authority. Similarly, Christine Hauser writes the National PTA and the National Education Association endorses a 10-minute guideline: Time spent on after-school work should not exceed 10 minutes a grade level a night. “That is, a first grader should have no more than 10 minutes of homework, a sixth grader no more than 60 minutes and a 12th grader no more than two hours,” the National PTA says. The National Education Association said those recommendations followed general guidelines from the research of Harris M. Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. What this means is that students should get this much homework to maximize their learning in the most efficient way. I agree that homework should be limited by this guideline, a point that needs emphasizing since so many people still believe that homework should take a long time, and that if you studying for long stressful hours leads to success. Likewise, Pawlowski writes that the National PTA promotes their '10-minute rule'. They advise students to spend 10 minutes times the grade that they are in. 10 minutes for a first grader, 60 minutes for a sixth grader, and two hours for a twelfth grade student is what this

The Department of Education claims that 1-3 hours of homework daily can improve grades in both math, science, and English. Pam Sammons, a professor at Oxford University, says that increasing the amount of homework in public schools would drastically improve students’ grades (Vasagar). According to multiple studies, however, the average middle or high schooler spends around 3.5 hours on homework daily - almost an hour more than the recommended amount (Bidwell). As math, science, and English only make up a portion of the average school’s core subjects, many classes would fail to benefit from this sudden and drastic increase of homework.

The first reason teachers should give students less homework is that it takes away their childhood. When a student goes to school for seven hours a day, and then goes home to three hours of homework, they do not get to be a kid. It is suggested that student adopt an eight-eight-eight schedule. This schedule being eight

There are many ways to help a child succeed in school but I have read recently that parental involvement in children’s homework can help students improve academically in school.

Students should only spend enough time on homework so that the subject is reinforced and not just a waste of time. The national PTA suggest that from K-3 grades there should be no more than 20 minutes a day, for 4-6 grades there should be 20-40 minutes of homework, and from 7-12 grades time varies do to types of subjects and number of subjects taken(KidSource). Anymore than these recommended amount of times is seen excessive by the national PTA. Surprisingly U.S. students are working as hard as Asians: 24% of eighth graders do more then two hour of homework compared to Japans 28% and Germanys 17%(Brimelow108). Are we working to hard, researchers don't think so, U.S. student grades are improving. As of 1996 one in every sixth grader does more than an hour of

Homework is the first involvement step these parents can take. Parents must first support learning at home. Involving themselves in their child’s homework gives parents the chance to understand the curriculum their child is being taught (Heffer). Home based involvement was found to have a significant and positive relationship with achievement (Hickman). Parents monitoring their child’s homework, or help editing reports, appear to have a direct impact on student’s attitudes, behavior, and learning. Homework is presented as a school requirement for successful child learning. Parents could create school-like structures to support homework success. Examples of this would be to establish schedules for time use (EBSCO-hw). Parents should try to find a way to fit homework into the flow of family life. Focus on homework effort, completion and accuracy is also very important. Parents could take specific approaches in reinforcing desired behavior such as praise, reference to family standards, and extrinsic rewards (EBSCO-hw). Parental involvement in homework appears to influence student outcomes because

When deciding to write this essay, thoughts of my childhood emerged with good and bad emotions on homework. I decided to pursue this topic because of my personal experiences with homework from myself and with my daughter. Recently when having a conference with my daughter’s teacher, she mentioned that homework would no longer be a part of the school’s curriculum. I for one felt relieved at this notion due to my job and school work demand, but then wondered how I would know how my child was doing with her school work. During the parent teacher conference I was notified this change came about with the majority of the student body not doing well on their homework assignments and parents complaining about how homework alone was bring down their child’s grade. While hearing what the teacher was saying, I came to question of how can teachers help parents help students?