10 reasons why homework should be optional

25 Reasons Homework Should Be Banned (Busywork Arguments)

As students across the globe plow through heaps of homework each night, one question lingers in the minds of educators, parents, and students alike: should homework be banned?

This question is not new, yet it continues to spark lively debate as research findings, anecdotal evidence, and personal experiences paint a complex picture of the pros and cons of homework.

On one hand, proponents of homework argue that it reinforces classroom learning, encourages a disciplined work ethic, and provides teachers with valuable insight into student comprehension. They see homework as an extension of classroom instruction that solidifies and enriches learning while fostering important skills like time management and self-discipline. It also offers an opportunity for parents to be involved in their children's education.

However, some people say there are a lot of downsides. They argue that excessive homework can lead to stress and burnout, reduce time for extracurricular activities and family interactions, exacerbate educational inequalities, and even negatively impact students' mental health.

This article presents 25 reasons why we might need to seriously consider this radical shift in our educational approach. But first, lets share some examples of what homework actually is.

Examples of Homework

These examples cover a wide range of subjects and complexity levels, reflecting the variety of homework assignments students might encounter throughout their educational journey.

• Spelling lists to memorize for a test
• Math worksheets for practicing basic arithmetic operations
• Reading assignments from children's books
• Simple science projects like growing a plant
• Basic geography assignments like labeling a map
• Art projects like drawing a family portrait
• Writing book reports or essays
• Advanced math problems
• Research projects on various topics
• Lab reports for science experiments
• Reading and responding to literature
• Preparing presentations on various topics
• Advanced math problems involving calculus or algebra
• Reading classic literature and writing analytical essays
• Research papers on historical events
• Lab reports for advanced science experiments
• Foreign language exercises
• Preparing for standardized tests
• College application essays
• Extensive research papers
• In-depth case studies
• Advanced problem-solving in subjects like physics, engineering, etc.
• Thesis or dissertation writing
• Extensive reading and literature reviews
• Internship or practicum experiences

Lack of proven benefits

Homework has long been a staple of traditional education, dating back centuries. However, the actual efficacy of homework in enhancing learning outcomes remains disputed. A number of studies indicate that there's no conclusive evidence supporting the notion that homework improves academic performance, especially in primary education . In fact, research suggests that for younger students, the correlation between homework and academic achievement is weak or even negative .

Too much homework can often lead to increased stress and decreased enthusiasm for learning. This issue becomes particularly pressing when considering the common 'more is better' approach to homework, where the quantity of work given to students often outweighs the quality and effectiveness of the tasks. For instance, spending countless hours memorizing facts for a history test may not necessarily translate to better understanding or long-term retention of the subject matter.

However, it's worth noting that homework isn't completely devoid of benefits. It can help foster self-discipline, time management skills, and the ability to work independently. But, these positive outcomes are usually more pronounced in older students and when homework assignments are thoughtfully designed and not excessive in volume.

When discussing the merits and drawbacks of homework, it's critical to consider the nature of the assignments. Routine, repetitive tasks often associated with 'drill-and-practice' homework, such as completing rows of arithmetic problems or copying definitions from a textbook, rarely lead to meaningful learning. On the other hand, assignments that encourage students to apply what they've learned in class, solve problems, or engage creatively with the material can be more beneficial.

Increased stress

Homework can often lead to a significant increase in stress levels among students. This is especially true when students are burdened with large volumes of homework, leaving them with little time to relax or pursue other activities. The feeling of constantly racing against the clock to meet deadlines can contribute to anxiety, frustration, and even burnout.

Contrary to popular belief, stress does not necessarily improve performance or productivity. In fact, high levels of stress can negatively impact memory, concentration, and overall cognitive function. This counteracts the very purpose of homework, which is intended to reinforce learning and improve academic outcomes.

However, one might argue that homework can teach students about time management, organization, and how to handle pressure. These are important life skills that could potentially prepare them for future responsibilities. But it's essential to strike a balance. The pressure to complete homework should not come at the cost of a student's mental wellbeing.

Limited family time

Homework often infringes upon the time students can spend with their families. After spending the entire day in school, children come home to yet more academic work, leaving little room for quality family interactions. This limited family time can hinder the development of important interpersonal skills and familial bonds.

Moreover, family time isn't just about fun and relaxation. It also plays a crucial role in the social and emotional development of children. Opportunities for unstructured play, family conversations, and shared activities can contribute to children's well-being and character building.

Nonetheless, advocates of homework might argue that it can be a platform for parental involvement in a child's education. While this may be true, the involvement should not transform into parental control or cause friction due to differing expectations and pressures.

Reduced physical activity

Homework can often lead to reduced physical activity by eating into the time students have for sports, recreation, and simply being outdoors. Physical activity is essential for children's health, well-being, and even their academic performance. Research suggests that physical activity can enhance cognitive abilities, improve concentration, and reduce symptoms of ADHD .

Homework, especially when it's boring and repetitive, can deter students from engaging in physical activities, leading to a sedentary lifestyle. This lack of balance between work and play can contribute to physical health problems such as obesity, poor posture, and related health concerns.

Homework proponents might point out that disciplined time management could allow students to balance both work and play. However, given the demanding nature of many homework assignments, achieving this balance is often easier said than done.

Negative impact on sleep

A significant concern about homework is its impact on students' sleep patterns. Numerous studies have linked excessive homework to sleep deprivation in students. Children often stay up late to complete assignments, reducing the amount of sleep they get. Lack of sleep can result in a host of issues, from poor academic performance and difficulty concentrating to physical health problems like weakened immunity.

Even the quality of sleep can be affected. The stress and anxiety from a heavy workload can lead to difficulty falling asleep or restless nights. And let's not forget that students often need to wake up early for school, compounding the negative effects of late-night homework sessions.

On the other hand, some argue that homework can teach children time management skills, suggesting that effective organization could help prevent late-night work. However, when schools assign excessive amounts of homework, even the best time management might not prevent encroachment on sleep time.

Homework can exacerbate existing educational inequalities. Not all students have access to a conducive learning environment at home, necessary resources, or support from educated family members. For these students, homework can become a source of stress and disadvantage rather than an opportunity to reinforce learning.

Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds might need to contribute to household chores or part-time work, limiting the time they have for homework. This can create a gap in academic performance and grades, reflecting not on the students' abilities but their circumstances.

While homework is meant to level the playing field by providing additional learning time outside school, it often does the opposite. It's worth noting that students from privileged backgrounds can often access additional help like tutoring, further widening the gap.

Reduced creativity and independent thinking

Homework, particularly when it involves rote learning or repetitive tasks, can stifle creativity and independent thinking. Students often focus on getting the "right" answers to please teachers rather than exploring different ideas and solutions. This can hinder their ability to think creatively and solve problems independently, skills that are increasingly in demand in the modern world.

Homework defenders might claim that it can also promote independent learning. True, when thoughtfully designed, homework can encourage this. But, voluminous or repetitive tasks tend to promote compliance over creativity.

Diminished interest in learning

Overburdening students with homework can diminish their interest in learning. After long hours in school followed by more academic tasks at home, learning can begin to feel like a chore. This can lead to a decline in intrinsic motivation and an unhealthy association of learning with stress and exhaustion.

In theory, homework can deepen interest in a subject, especially when it involves projects or research. Yet, an excess of homework, particularly routine tasks, might achieve the opposite, turning learning into a source of stress rather than enjoyment.

Inability to pursue personal interests

Homework can limit students' ability to pursue personal interests. Hobbies, personal projects, and leisure activities are crucial for personal development and well-being. With heavy homework loads, students may struggle to find time for these activities, missing out on opportunities to discover new interests and talents.

Supporters of homework might argue that it teaches students to manage their time effectively. However, even with good time management, an overload of homework can crowd out time for personal interests.

Excessive workload

The issue of excessive workload is a common complaint among students. Spending several hours on homework after a full school day can be mentally and physically draining. This workload can lead to burnout, decreased motivation, and negative attitudes toward school and learning.

While homework can help consolidate classroom learning, too much can be counterproductive. It's important to consider the overall workload of students, including school, extracurricular activities, and personal time, when assigning homework.

Limited time for reflection

Homework can limit the time students have for reflection. Reflection is a critical part of learning, allowing students to digest and integrate new information. With the constant flow of assignments, there's often little time left for this crucial process. Consequently, the learning becomes superficial, and the true understanding of subjects can be compromised.

Although homework is meant to reinforce what's taught in class, the lack of downtime for reflection might hinder deep learning. It's important to remember that learning is not just about doing, but also about thinking.

Increased pressure on young children

Young children are particularly vulnerable to the pressures of homework. At an age where play and exploration are vital for cognitive and emotional development, too much homework can create undue pressure and stress. This pressure can instigate a negative relationship with learning from an early age, potentially impacting their future attitude towards education.

Advocates of homework often argue that it prepares children for the rigors of their future academic journey. However, placing too much academic pressure on young children might overshadow the importance of learning through play and exploration.

Lack of alignment with real-world skills

Traditional homework often lacks alignment with real-world skills. Assignments typically focus on academic abilities at the expense of skills like creativity, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. These are crucial for success in the modern workplace and are often under-emphasized in homework tasks.

Homework can be an opportunity to develop these skills when properly structured. However, tasks often focus on memorization and repetition, rather than cultivating skills relevant to the real world.

Loss of motivation

Excessive homework can lead to a loss of motivation. The constant pressure to complete assignments and meet deadlines can diminish a student's intrinsic motivation to learn. This loss of motivation might not only affect their academic performance but also their love of learning, potentially having long-term effects on their educational journey.

Some believe homework instills discipline and responsibility. But, it's important to balance these benefits against the potential for homework to undermine motivation and engagement.

Disruption of work-life balance

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is as important for students as it is for adults. Overloading students with homework can disrupt this balance, leaving little time for relaxation, socializing, and extracurricular activities. All of these are vital for a student's overall development and well-being.

Homework supporters might argue that it prepares students for the workloads they'll face in college and beyond. But it's also crucial to ensure students have time to relax, recharge, and engage in non-academic activities for a well-rounded development.

Impact on mental health

There's a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of excessive homework on students' mental health. The stress and anxiety from heavy homework loads can contribute to issues like depression, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. Student well-being should be a top priority in education, and the impact of homework on mental health cannot be ignored.

While some might argue that homework helps students develop resilience and coping skills, it's important to ensure these potential benefits don't come at the expense of students' mental health.

Limited time for self-care

With excessive homework, students often find little time for essential self-care activities. These can include physical exercise, proper rest, healthy eating, mindfulness, or even simple leisure activities. These activities are critical for maintaining physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive function.

Some might argue that managing homework alongside self-care responsibilities teaches students valuable life skills. However, it's important that these skills don't come at the cost of students' health and well-being.

Decreased family involvement

Homework can inadvertently lead to decreased family involvement in a child's learning. Parents often feel unqualified or too busy to help with homework, leading to missed opportunities for family learning interactions. This can also create stress and conflict within the family, especially when parents have high expectations or are unable to assist.

Some believe homework can facilitate parental involvement in education. But, when it becomes a source of stress or conflict, it can discourage parents from engaging in their child's learning.

Reinforcement of inequalities

Homework can unintentionally reinforce inequalities. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds might lack access to resources like private tutors or a quiet study space, placing them at a disadvantage compared to their more privileged peers. Additionally, these students might have additional responsibilities at home, further limiting their time to complete homework.

While the purpose of homework is often to provide additional learning opportunities, it can inadvertently reinforce existing disparities. Therefore, it's essential to ensure that homework doesn't favor students who have more resources at home.

Reduced time for play and creativity

Homework can take away from time for play and creative activities. These activities are not only enjoyable but also crucial for the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children. Play allows children to explore, imagine, and create, fostering innovative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Some may argue that homework teaches discipline and responsibility. Yet, it's vital to remember that play also has significant learning benefits and should be a part of every child's daily routine.

Increased cheating and academic dishonesty

The pressure to complete homework can sometimes lead to increased cheating and academic dishonesty. When faced with a large volume of homework, students might resort to copying from friends or searching for answers online. This undermines the educational value of homework and fosters unhealthy academic practices.

While homework is intended to consolidate learning, the risk of promoting dishonest behaviors is a concern that needs to be addressed.

Strained teacher-student relationships

Excessive homework can strain teacher-student relationships. If students begin to associate teachers with stress or anxiety from homework, it can hinder the development of a positive learning relationship. Furthermore, if teachers are perceived as being unfair or insensitive with their homework demands, it can impact the overall classroom dynamic.

While homework can provide an opportunity for teachers to monitor student progress, it's important to ensure that it doesn't negatively affect the teacher-student relationship.

Negative impact on family dynamics

Homework can impact family dynamics. Parents might feel compelled to enforce homework completion, leading to potential conflict, stress, and tension within the family. These situations can disrupt the harmony in the household and strain relationships.

Homework is sometimes seen as a tool to engage parents in their child's education. However, it's crucial to ensure that this involvement doesn't turn into a source of conflict or pressure.

Cultural and individual differences

Homework might not take into account cultural and individual differences. Education is not a one-size-fits-all process, and what works for one student might not work for another. Some students might thrive on hands-on learning, while others prefer auditory or visual learning methods. By standardizing homework, we might ignore these individual learning styles and preferences.

Homework can also overlook cultural differences. For students from diverse cultural backgrounds, certain types of homework might seem irrelevant or difficult to relate to, leading to disengagement or confusion.

Encouragement of surface-level learning

Homework often encourages surface-level learning instead of deep understanding. When students are swamped with homework, they're likely to rush through assignments to get them done, rather than taking the time to understand the concepts. This can result in superficial learning where students memorize information to regurgitate it on assignments and tests, instead of truly understanding and internalizing the knowledge.

While homework is meant to reinforce classroom learning, the quality of learning is more important than the quantity. It's important to design homework in a way that encourages deep, meaningful learning instead of mere rote memorization.

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Pros and Cons of making homework optional

Pro Catherine Gagulashvili  calendar manager Not doing anything is so much easier than doing something. By nature, students would rather avoid doing strenuous amounts of homework, simply because it’s less taxing. When given the option to not do homework on a daily basis, the average student may leap at the opportunity to slack off. They would do that without taking into account the fact that being assigned optional homework is one of the most academically potent opportunities a high school student can be offered. Homework should be made optional because it teaches students to be held accountable for their actions. The daily, mandatory assignment of homework is something that should be enforced and practiced throughout elementary and middle school, but should slowly be phased out once a student graduates to high school. Once a student enters high school, he or she should be prepared to let go of the culture that comforted and guided them through elementary and middle school; it’s time to grow up. Simply put, making homework optional further prepares students on the path of expectations in college and in life. Optional homework should be viewed as an opportunity to pace oneself and to practice what needs to be practiced. If a student excels in a subject without needing extra practice, why force him or her to do that extra homework for the sake of simply going through the motions? If a student has clearly mastered an academic skill or an ability, it is pointless and counterproductive to force him or her to overpractice. By making homework a mandatory assignment, teachers force their students to waste their time on something that might be redundant. Assigning optional homework allows the student to better his or her time management skills. Considering that the average high school student receives 3.5 hours of homework per day , the opportunity to receive optional homework allows students to properly prioritize their work and maximize their time. It allows for flexibility in a student’s life. For students who balance six to seven academic classes and have a sport, having optional homework allows them to spread out their assignments over a longer period of time. If taken advantage of properly , optional homework forces the student to budget his or her time, allocating the right amount of study time for each assignment. In addition, it allows the student to work at his or her own pace. The assignment of optional homework has been used on Beverly’s campus. Geometry and IAT teacher Dustin Mathias assigns optional homework, or as he calls them, “suggested problems” in his classroom. He has found that suggested problems give students more options, teach them how to be responsible and force them to “be honest with themselves and what they need to do.” By no means is one to assume that every student will do his or her homework if it isn’t mandatory. The goal is to have students realize that they have to do the work even if no one is watching. College professors don’t check to see if each student did the reading: they give a final.  High school has a more hands-on approach to learning, but as students transition to being upperclassmen, they need to realize that they are required to dedicate a certain amount of time and energy to a class, regardless if it’s in the form of doing their homework, studying, taking notes or paying attention in class. The average student may view optional homework as an opportunity to slack off, completely disregarding the fact that by doing so, they are setting themselves up for failure. After graduating high school, the student will likely fail to realize that tasks need to be completed not because they need someone else’s approval, but because otherwise failure will await them at every turn. Not doing any homework and failing a test is the equivalent of not doing work at the job and getting fired. No one should have to consistently tell one to do his or her job; one should know one’s responsibility to accomplish goals independently in a satisfactory and timely manner. While both mandatory and optional homework assignments have their pros and cons, some find that mandatory homework does more harm than good. C hild education, parenting and human behavior expert Alfie Kohn finds that “There [is] simply no compelling data to justify the practice of making kids work what amounts to a second shift when they get home from a full day of school.” While Kohn takes it to the extreme opinion by stating “no homework should be the norm,” he brings up the valid point that the assignment of  mandatory homework forces a student to spend his or her entire day focused on academics. Some students will not thrive in an atmosphere that forces them to be held accountable for their actions. But hopefully, if they are forced to deal with the real world consequences for long enough, they will come to realize what their voluntary obligations are. If every class continues to assign homework that is checked on a daily basis, students will not be prepared for college and for life. Assigning optional homework is the stepping-stone through which students learn to be held accountable for their decisions, work and actions. Con Sam Bernstein staff writer Homework needs to be mandatory. It is a fact that students do better after completing homework at home. It’s a fact that students do better when homework is mandatory. There is no reason at all to make homework optional. Not giving credit to those that complete homework nightly is also unfair. With admission into college getting more and more competitive, students need every point they can get. Completing assignments and not getting points for them is absurd and only hurts students chances of getting into the college. Homework points can be the difference between a B and an A for some students, and it hurts students  It’s simply wasting students’ time that they could be spending completing assignments that count for points in other classes. If a kid is willing to put in the work to get an A, teachers should reward them. “The school needs to think about everybody, and if homework was not mandatory, some students who are doing below average would do worse if they had an option to do even less,” sophomore Colin Newberry said. This is school. In real life you’ll lose credibility for not completing tasks. School should be a model of what real life is and what real life will be, as it is a developmental place. Teens need to know responsibility, and having a responsibility to complete homework teaches young minds how to have jobs in the future. Homework is the most basic form of this responsibility. Homework is graded for a reason. Students work hard to complete daily assignments and deserve credit for doing so. Not getting credit for homework is like waiting a table and not getting a tip. If a student is willing to put work into your class, they deserve credit. It’s also a way to give credit for efforts in a class. Students that don’t happen to be good test takers should have another way to make up points lost. “I wouldn’t do the homework without an incentive such as a grade,” freshman Eva Levin said. Other students could attest to that. “If there’s no mandatory studying or homework to be done, then most won’t care about it because is doesn’t affect their grade whether or not they do it,” freshman Nathan Naghi said. Cutting corners is human nature. “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it,” Bill Gates said.  If optional homework has to be cut for students to spend an extra hour on other studying, they’ll do it. By not doing homework, there’s no way to assess how your knowledge of the subject is growing. Sitting in a class for 53 minutes cannot possibly give you enough understanding of a subject to take anything away from it. Homework fundamentally exists to remind students what they learned in class by providing practice problems similar to those on future assessments. By not helping students out in this regard, teachers are setting students up for failure. By encouraging students with points, both students and teachers can spend less time on review and on more time exploring new concepts. “Homework is designed specifically to complement the lessons taught by teachers during class. Sometimes the lessons lack in class, forcing students to essentially teach themselves at home, further reiterating the cruciality of homework,” junior Ethan Manaster said. Not every student has the diligence to sit at a desk and study at their own will. Students do, however, have the diligence to complete homework for points. And by encouraging students through rewards, they’ll learn from the homework they’re forced to do. By teaching students the rewards of being dedicated at getting better  with challenges in life, they’re better prepared to go off into the job force and make a true impact. Students could absolutely be hard working and do their own studying at their own pace. Nobody is getting anywhere by blindly distrusting students. But by giving students guidance in their studying, you’re doing them a solid. Teachers have been to college and are professionally trained to work with young minds. They know what to assign you and how to assign it. They know what’s on their tests and they know how much practice needs to happen outside of class to reach your highest potential on those said tests. Teachers aren’t just there to provide Kahoot codes and to yell at you for sliding into Sarahahs in class. Their purpose is to guide you. By not enabling teachers to guide students, you’re taking away from the purpose of a teacher’s’ job; to teach. By restricting the work teachers can get their students to do, you’re diminishing from the amount of content teachers can teach in a semester. Teachers can go faster when nearly everyone in the class is completing homework. By making homework optional, teachers can not reach their maximum potential with classes. Students, teachers and everyone in between cannot function at their highest potential without assigning mandatory homework.

• beverly hills high school
• Catherine Gagulashvili
• mandatory homework
• optional homework
• sam bernstein

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Emma • Feb 26, 2023 at 12:02 pm

Five days a week for almost nine months, students spend almost their entire day at school learning concepts and doing tedious work. Even after school, they go home and do even more work. According to College Homework Help, in the year 1905, homework was invented as a punishment for kids. Yet for some reason, it is now assigned almost every night. Homework can be boring, unnecessary, and sometimes just busy work for most students. Therefore, optional homework should be implemented in order to provide the extra practice for those who want it, without penalizing those who do not.

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Homework Should Be Optional

SEQUOIA CLARK , reporter | November 5, 2018

Five days a week for almost nine months, students spend almost their entire day at school learning concepts and doing tedious work. Even after school, they go home and do even more work. According to College Homework Help, in the year 1905, homework was invented as a punishment for kids. Yet for some reason, it is now assigned almost every night. Homework can be boring, unnecessary, and sometimes just busy work for most students. Therefore, optional homework should be implemented in order to provide the extra practice for those who want it, without penalizing those who do not. Beside the fact that almost all kids despise it, there is not enough time in the day for students to be expected to complete homework. It is expected of students to complete hours of homework every night, do an extracurricular, maintain a healthy social life, and get at least eight hours of sleep every night. Since this is essentially unattainable for students, they must sacrifice one thing for another. When faced with choosing between spending their time either doing homework or hanging out with friends, students always end up unhappy. If they chose to do homework, students begin to resent all schoolwork simply because they miss out on being with their friends, although if they chose to have fun with their friends, their grade will most likely suffer. Even if students manage to do both of these things, they usually have to stay up late to make sure everything gets done, which according to Craig Canapari M.D. can cause sleep deprivation. Due to this, it is no wonder that according to psychologist Robert Leahy, there has been a steady nationwide increase in the amount of stress caused by schoolwork among high school students. Even if homework was not so time consuming, there is little evidence that regular homework helps students academically, especially if it is just causing students to be stressed and resent schoolwork. In addition, in college there is no weight in daily homework anyway. While homework should be optional, it should not be abolished completely. Even though it has its downsides, some students do need additional practice outside of school. Giving students optional homework, lets them decide what they need. Some students might need a lot of help in a certain class, while others might need none at all. This can also teach students how to manage themselves, and figure out how to know if they need more or less practice for each subject. Several teachers at CHS, have already made homework optional.This is because they already have realized that it is not actually helping students. In addition, abolishing forced homework is favorable for teachers as well. The main benefit for teachers who implement optional homework is grading. Teachers spend hours upon hours grading homework and giving feedback. With optional homework, the need for this is eradicated and teachers can simply post an answer key online. This enables students who still do the homework to find out if they have done it correctly. Over the years, homework has become a regular part of students’ lives, yet no one ever enjoys any part of it. Getting rid of mandatory homework will improve the lives of teachers and students alike. Students will have more time for other things and become less stressed while teachers will not have to go through mountains of papers. Homework is not essential to learning and students should no longer be forced to work on it every night.

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Sequoia Clark is a senior at CHS, and the head Editor-In-Chief for the Wolfpacket. She enjoys writing unnecessarily long articles about Taylor Swift, and...

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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]

Is Homework Beneficial?

Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [ 10 ] Read More

Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More

Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More

Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More

Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More

Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).

2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).

3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.

2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.

3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More School Debate Topics

Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.

Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.

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Student Opinion

Should We Get Rid of Homework?

Some educators are pushing to get rid of homework. Would that be a good thing?

By Jeremy Engle and Michael Gonchar

Do you like doing homework? Do you think it has benefited you educationally?

Has homework ever helped you practice a difficult skill — in math, for example — until you mastered it? Has it helped you learn new concepts in history or science? Has it helped to teach you life skills, such as independence and responsibility? Or, have you had a more negative experience with homework? Does it stress you out, numb your brain from busywork or actually make you fall behind in your classes?

Should we get rid of homework?

In “ The Movement to End Homework Is Wrong, ” published in July, the Times Opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang argues that homework may be imperfect, but it still serves an important purpose in school. The essay begins:

Do students really need to do their homework? As a parent and a former teacher, I have been pondering this question for quite a long time. The teacher side of me can acknowledge that there were assignments I gave out to my students that probably had little to no academic value. But I also imagine that some of my students never would have done their basic reading if they hadn’t been trained to complete expected assignments, which would have made the task of teaching an English class nearly impossible. As a parent, I would rather my daughter not get stuck doing the sort of pointless homework I would occasionally assign, but I also think there’s a lot of value in saying, “Hey, a lot of work you’re going to end up doing in your life is pointless, so why not just get used to it?” I certainly am not the only person wondering about the value of homework. Recently, the sociologist Jessica McCrory Calarco and the mathematics education scholars Ilana Horn and Grace Chen published a paper, “ You Need to Be More Responsible: The Myth of Meritocracy and Teachers’ Accounts of Homework Inequalities .” They argued that while there’s some evidence that homework might help students learn, it also exacerbates inequalities and reinforces what they call the “meritocratic” narrative that says kids who do well in school do so because of “individual competence, effort and responsibility.” The authors believe this meritocratic narrative is a myth and that homework — math homework in particular — further entrenches the myth in the minds of teachers and their students. Calarco, Horn and Chen write, “Research has highlighted inequalities in students’ homework production and linked those inequalities to differences in students’ home lives and in the support students’ families can provide.”

Mr. Kang argues:

But there’s a defense of homework that doesn’t really have much to do with class mobility, equality or any sense of reinforcing the notion of meritocracy. It’s one that became quite clear to me when I was a teacher: Kids need to learn how to practice things. Homework, in many cases, is the only ritualized thing they have to do every day. Even if we could perfectly equalize opportunity in school and empower all students not to be encumbered by the weight of their socioeconomic status or ethnicity, I’m not sure what good it would do if the kids didn’t know how to do something relentlessly, over and over again, until they perfected it. Most teachers know that type of progress is very difficult to achieve inside the classroom, regardless of a student’s background, which is why, I imagine, Calarco, Horn and Chen found that most teachers weren’t thinking in a structural inequalities frame. Holistic ideas of education, in which learning is emphasized and students can explore concepts and ideas, are largely for the types of kids who don’t need to worry about class mobility. A defense of rote practice through homework might seem revanchist at this moment, but if we truly believe that schools should teach children lessons that fall outside the meritocracy, I can’t think of one that matters more than the simple satisfaction of mastering something that you were once bad at. That takes homework and the acknowledgment that sometimes a student can get a question wrong and, with proper instruction, eventually get it right.

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Why homework should be banned?

Banning homework could significantly reduce stress and pressure on students while promoting a more equitable and effective educational system. Homework exacerbates educational inequalities, lacks consistent effectiveness, encourages academic dishonesty, and hinders the promotion of lifelong learning.

There are many reasons why homework should be banned. Students claim they don’t have enough time for it. Nevertheless, professors give more and more assignments for self-education. As a result, the stress of deadlines adds up, diminishing students’ motivation to learn. 

Many people argue that the modern curriculum leaves too much for self-study. Students don’t get enough explanation on the topic and end up with surface-level knowledge across many fields rather than an in-depth understanding of one.

Banning or at least reducing the amount of homework could be the answer to these concerns. Yet, many educational institutions are reluctant to change their curricula or don’t see the need for it.

8 Reasons why homework should be banned

When looking for arguments to support our stance, we stopped at eight. They are as follows: 

Increased stress

• Less time for family
• Lack of equality among students

Poor sleep schedules

• No time for after-school development

Questionable academic benefit

• Worsened student-teacher relationships
• Risk of burnout

All these are real implications that homework has on students. In the later sections, we will expand on each in more detail.

When it comes to the reasons why should homework be banned, stress is the first one that comes to mind. With each year, academic demands only grow. It gets harder and harder to get into educational institutions, hence, it is also hard to stay. Students are expected to perform at an extraordinary level only to secure their spot. 

At the same time, they hardly ever get any financial support, so some have to combine studying with work. With such a schedule, it’s very hard to find time for homework. Learners are forced to do it at night, in between classes or at work, running the risk of making their manager or professor mad. This is why students are under insurmountable pressure from their school, family, and themselves. 

No time for family

The continuing debate on homework should be banned leads us to the next point. Students who are always busy with homework, hardly have time for themselves, not to mention their family. Reduced family visits or even conversation can lead to the feelings of loneliness and isolation.  

Banning homework, or at least reducing its amount, could help students reconnect with their loved ones. For many students, especially freshers, loneliness is one of the biggest concerns. Many people struggle with making friends or even striking up a casual conversation with a stranger. Even a small encounter can make one feel less lonely, yet how do you find time for it if you’re always in your room doing homework?

Lack of equality

While the demands on students are approximately the same, some peoples’ resources are more limited than others’. Students from wealthier backgrounds have access to more modern technology, and, as a result, may even have more time on their hands.

At the same time, students with less resources are stuck with outdated library computers that take 20 minutes only to turn on. This inequality can lead to unfair judgment, resentment and even more inequality among students.

At the same time, in class, everyone has the same resources - the same amount of time, pen and paper. Doing assignments in class could ensure that everyone gets the same treatments based on their knowledge.

As we’ve already mentioned, some students have to work after school. And even if they don’t work, they may have multiple assignments due on the same day. Everybody needs some time to themselves, student or not. Relaxing is also vital for comprehension and memory. If you don’t sleep well, all that cramming just goes to waste, because it doesn’t make the trip from short-term memory to long-term storage. 

Luckily, there is a solution. Using a do my homework service can provide students with more time for themselves or other important assignments. Getting help with homework will not only ensure that you are well-rested before class, it can also help you see a different perspective on a topic you may be struggling with. Because when a paper is completed by a professional writer, it can be an amazing learning resource. 

No time for extracurriculars

Extracurricular classes, clubs and societies play a vital role in students’ holistic development. Participating in debates, math, or drama clubs can help you learn in practice, develop leadership skills, and gain real experience that can later help you excel in your profession. 

Cutting all those things out for the sake of homework will leave you with theoretical knowledge only. Which is why homework should be banned. 

College should give you a well-rounded education and prepare you for the real world. If you don’t engage in after-school development, don’t socialize with other students and don’t develop leadership skills, you’re going to have to learn those skills from scratch in the workplace. That makes you a less eligible candidate compared to those with practical skills.

With all the drawbacks presented above, it’s hard to argue for homework. When a student is stressed, lonely, isolated, and hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in months, writing another essay won’t do them much good.

Some research suggests that there is little to no correlation between homework and academic success, especially for younger students. That should push educators to reassess the current teaching methods and come up with better strategies for education. 

When it comes to academic success, educators should focus on what can be achieved in class rather than at home. After classes, students should have time to rest, socialize and recharge.

But who invented homework and why ? Read our article to find out all about homework and its inventor!

Poor relationships between students and teachers

When teachers ask a lot from students, it can lead to resentment. Without properly explaining the task or the benefit behind it, teachers load students with an assignment every week. But when a student doesn’t understand why it’s important, they may end up doing the task haphazardly. 

On the other hand, when a student who performs well in class comes back with an assignment done carelessly, the teacher may apply even more pressure on that student.

So, why should homework be abolished? Because it leads to a lot of miscommunication between teachers and students. Teachers tend to put a lot of expectations on students without considering that they have many other commitments and classes.

Academic burnout

Burnout has become increasingly more common among students. It can be characterized by the following symptoms: 

• Chronic fatigue
• Irritability
• Distraction
• Loss of motivation
• Reduced performance.

It is usually caused by high expectations placed on a student by themselves, their teachers or parents. High workload can also lead a student to burn out. Perfectionism, lack of support and poor time management are among other contributors to burning out.

The easiest way to deal with burnout would, of course, be to ban homework. But, when it’s not possible, you could also try the following: 

• Self-care . Take a day off or implement small habits into every day that would remind you that you are your own priority. It can be a nice meal, sports, or meditation.
• Setting goals . Determining your priorities and writing them down can be an efficient tool for those who lack motivation.
• Seeking support . Counseling services, therapy, or just talking to a friend can make a world of difference for people struggling with burnout.

Taking a break . Sometimes, it’s hard to think straight when you’re so close to the fire. Taking a vacation, a gap year or a week off can really help you evaluate your priorities and see what’s causing you stress.

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Why homework should not be required?

Homework should not be required because it can cause significant stress for children. Research indicates that extra assignments, especially for younger students, can lead to unhealthy levels of stress. When students are bombarded with numerous lessons both at school and at home, they may experience stress and anxiety if they cannot complete the assignments on time.

Many studies have confirmed that homework negatively affects students’ performance, mood, motivation and even health. Those who have access to quality homework help can consider themselves lucky. But the rest may feel isolated, struggling on their own. 

What educators must understand is that homework is already a full-time job. Those teachers do not come back from work and do more work, but students do, all the while paying insane amounts of money for that education. This inevitably poses the question of whether higher education is even worth it anymore.

It can lead to burnout, cause severe mental and physical health problems while draining your family of its life’s savings. 

Banning homework for students with different learning styles

It’s no secret that people have different learning styles. However, homework is not adapted to that difference, which is another r eason why homework should be banned. The four commonly defined styles are:

• Read/Write,
• Kinaesthetic.

That means that for someone who derives most benefit from Kinaesthetic-styled learning, reading a book may not be efficient. In the same way, a visual learner will hardly benefit from writing an essay. 

Yet, when it comes to homework, a teacher can’t give everyone a different task. They will normally assign the same project to everyone. That means that only ¼ of the group will benefit from that task.

Socialization should be prioritized

So, why homework should be banned? Because it takes away the time that could otherwise be spent socializing. Students that don’t have a social life do worse with their studies. When you don’t have anyone to talk to, you can feel isolated, lonely, and even depressed. 

On the contrary, when you have a few friends or simply are in contact with your classmates, you have someone who can share your struggles with you. College can be a great time to bond, even if over a tyrant teacher. 

Extracurriculars, study groups, and clubs can give you valuable experience that you can apply in class or even in the workplace. 

Having a few extra minutes to call your family can help you reduce anxiety, feelings of separation and loneliness.

Stress doesn’t have to be an integral part of the college experience

Students are under a lot of pressure. Many of them report wanting to quit because the demands are so high. People who are the first generation from their family to attend college report even higher levels of pressure due to the feeling of responsibility before their family. 

Yet, at the same time, the resources to help these students are quite scarce. Counselors’ offices are always booked weeks in advance, and therapy is not affordable to an average student with zero income.

Depression is very common among college students, while those are supposed to be the happiest years of one’s life. Could homework be the reason for that? We say yes. So, why homework should be abolished is not even a question anymore.

Final thoughts

Even though in this article, we argue against homework, we also have a few arguments on why is homework important : 

It can help students dive deeper into the concepts explained in class. Lectures are limited in time, but a student may need longer to grasp a concept. While studying at home, they may use different resources and gain a deeper understanding of the topic in their own time.

Homework is also vital for teachers to be able to assess students’ understanding. There’s, unfortunately, no better way for teachers to know if you’ve understood a topic other than homework.

Overall, even though it has many drawbacks, homework doesn’t yet have an alternative. And while causing stress, it also has benefits, like deeper understanding and ease of assessment.

Did you like our Homework Post?

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Frequently Asked Questions 

Why should we ban homework.

Homework doesn’t make much sense in the modern world. Most students have to work to support themselves or their families. This leaves them with little to no time for self-education. While it used to be customary for young people to live with their parents throughout college, it’s no longer the case. 

Most students have to fend for themselves - pay rent, buy groceries, and pay bills, starting at about 18 years old. Doing all that while also writing endless essays and projects for school is hardly impossible. Yet, people who combine all those things often end up stressed, burnt out and unmotivated. This may lead to frustration with the educational system and even dropping out. 

On top of the stress of test scores, more homework can slow down school learning for elementary students and make them lose their motivation for further studying and academic performance. So, how can they find the motivation to go through it?

Where to find motivation for doing homework?

How to motivate yourself to do homework is a big and loaded question, but we’ll try to give you an easy answer. First of all, you should try to remember what you’re here for. Did you enter college to become a highly qualified professional? Do you want to make your parents proud? Are you internally curious and want to know everything about everything? Think of other reasons that made you go to college in the first place.

Planning out your assignments will also help. Break bigger tasks into smaller ones, plan breaks in between and come up with a course of action. This way, these assignments will seem more approachable.

You can view this from the perspective of educators who are preparing students and encouraging students for more difficult academic responsibilities later on. On the other side, it's perfectly normal for your motivation to waver when met with too much homework. Too much homework, long school hours, and a lot of time spent on even more homework can explain why banning homework can be an option.

How do I find time for leisure when homework exists?

So, why should homework be banned? Because students don’t have any time for their personal lives and end up stuck doing homework for hours on end.

If you feel it influences your mental health, it’s detrimental to take a break and find some time for yourself. It may be difficult when homework has no end. 

Luckily, services like Studyfy can offer a helping hand in the time of need. Outsourcing your homework to a professional writer will not only give you a few hours to spare, but also a perfect paper sample you can use to educate yourself. 

Alternatively, you can: 

• Ask your professor for an extension
• Combine efforts with your friends to finish the task faster
• Get smaller tasks out of the way, your schedule will clear up, and you might find time for a walk in the park.

How to improve my performance in class?

All the way from elementary school to middle school and beyond, academic achievement and academic performance have been tied to test scores and assigning homework. You may have struggled with answering can homework improve academic achievement, especially with such repetitive homework tasks. The best thing you can do for your future education is to complete assignments on time, increase your academic performance, and use the education system for essential life skills.

It’s no secret that being active and communicating with the professor can get you some cookie points. If they notice you are trying hard, and you make a good impression, they may let some of your homework mistakes slide. This is why it’s important to address other aspects of your school performance since banning homework is not an option.

To get better in your teacher’s eyes is not that hard, really. You just have to be active. Try to sit closer to them, and maybe even further away from your friends so that you don;t get distracted. Take notes, write everything down and ask questions.

Are You Down With or Done With Homework?

• Posted January 17, 2012
• By Lory Hough

The debate over how much schoolwork students should be doing at home has flared again, with one side saying it's too much, the other side saying in our competitive world, it's just not enough.

It was a move that doesn't happen very often in American public schools: The principal got rid of homework.

This past September, Stephanie Brant, principal of Gaithersburg Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Md., decided that instead of teachers sending kids home with math worksheets and spelling flash cards, students would instead go home and read. Every day for 30 minutes, more if they had time or the inclination, with parents or on their own.

"I knew this would be a big shift for my community," she says. But she also strongly believed it was a necessary one. Twenty-first-century learners, especially those in elementary school, need to think critically and understand their own learning — not spend night after night doing rote homework drills.

Brant's move may not be common, but she isn't alone in her questioning. The value of doing schoolwork at home has gone in and out of fashion in the United States among educators, policymakers, the media, and, more recently, parents. As far back as the late 1800s, with the rise of the Progressive Era, doctors such as Joseph Mayer Rice began pushing for a limit on what he called "mechanical homework," saying it caused childhood nervous conditions and eyestrain. Around that time, the then-influential Ladies Home Journal began publishing a series of anti-homework articles, stating that five hours of brain work a day was "the most we should ask of our children," and that homework was an intrusion on family life. In response, states like California passed laws abolishing homework for students under a certain age.

But, as is often the case with education, the tide eventually turned. After the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, a space race emerged, and, writes Brian Gill in the journal Theory Into Practice, "The homework problem was reconceived as part of a national crisis; the U.S. was losing the Cold War because Russian children were smarter." Many earlier laws limiting homework were abolished, and the longterm trend toward less homework came to an end.

The debate re-emerged a decade later when parents of the late '60s and '70s argued that children should be free to play and explore — similar anti-homework wellness arguments echoed nearly a century earlier. By the early-1980s, however, the pendulum swung again with the publication of A Nation at Risk , which blamed poor education for a "rising tide of mediocrity." Students needed to work harder, the report said, and one way to do this was more homework.

For the most part, this pro-homework sentiment is still going strong today, in part because of mandatory testing and continued economic concerns about the nation's competitiveness. Many believe that today's students are falling behind their peers in places like Korea and Finland and are paying more attention to Angry Birds than to ancient Babylonia.

But there are also a growing number of Stephanie Brants out there, educators and parents who believe that students are stressed and missing out on valuable family time. Students, they say, particularly younger students who have seen a rise in the amount of take-home work and already put in a six- to nine-hour "work" day, need less, not more homework.

Who is right? Are students not working hard enough or is homework not working for them? Here's where the story gets a little tricky: It depends on whom you ask and what research you're looking at. As Cathy Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework , points out, "Homework has generated enough research so that a study can be found to support almost any position, as long as conflicting studies are ignored." Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth and a strong believer in eliminating all homework, writes that, "The fact that there isn't anything close to unanimity among experts belies the widespread assumption that homework helps." At best, he says, homework shows only an association, not a causal relationship, with academic achievement. In other words, it's hard to tease out how homework is really affecting test scores and grades. Did one teacher give better homework than another? Was one teacher more effective in the classroom? Do certain students test better or just try harder?

"It is difficult to separate where the effect of classroom teaching ends," Vatterott writes, "and the effect of homework begins."

Putting research aside, however, much of the current debate over homework is focused less on how homework affects academic achievement and more on time. Parents in particular have been saying that the amount of time children spend in school, especially with afterschool programs, combined with the amount of homework given — as early as kindergarten — is leaving students with little time to run around, eat dinner with their families, or even get enough sleep.

Certainly, for some parents, homework is a way to stay connected to their children's learning. But for others, homework creates a tug-of-war between parents and children, says Liz Goodenough, M.A.T.'71, creator of a documentary called Where Do the Children Play?

"Ideally homework should be about taking something home, spending a few curious and interesting moments in which children might engage with parents, and then getting that project back to school — an organizational triumph," she says. "A nag-free activity could engage family time: Ask a parent about his or her own childhood. Interview siblings."

Instead, as the authors of The Case Against Homework write, "Homework overload is turning many of us into the types of parents we never wanted to be: nags, bribers, and taskmasters."

Leslie Butchko saw it happen a few years ago when her son started sixth grade in the Santa Monica-Malibu (Calif.) United School District. She remembers him getting two to four hours of homework a night, plus weekend and vacation projects. He was overwhelmed and struggled to finish assignments, especially on nights when he also had an extracurricular activity.

"Ultimately, we felt compelled to have Bobby quit karate — he's a black belt — to allow more time for homework," she says. And then, with all of their attention focused on Bobby's homework, she and her husband started sending their youngest to his room so that Bobby could focus. "One day, my younger son gave us 15-minute coupons as a present for us to use to send him to play in the back room. … It was then that we realized there had to be something wrong with the amount of homework we were facing."

Butchko joined forces with another mother who was having similar struggles and ultimately helped get the homework policy in her district changed, limiting homework on weekends and holidays, setting time guidelines for daily homework, and broadening the definition of homework to include projects and studying for tests. As she told the school board at one meeting when the policy was first being discussed, "In closing, I just want to say that I had more free time at Harvard Law School than my son has in middle school, and that is not in the best interests of our children."

One barrier that Butchko had to overcome initially was convincing many teachers and parents that more homework doesn't necessarily equal rigor.

"Most of the parents that were against the homework policy felt that students need a large quantity of homework to prepare them for the rigorous AP classes in high school and to get them into Harvard," she says.

Stephanie Conklin, Ed.M.'06, sees this at Another Course to College, the Boston pilot school where she teaches math. "When a student is not completing [his or her] homework, parents usually are frustrated by this and agree with me that homework is an important part of their child's learning," she says.

As Timothy Jarman, Ed.M.'10, a ninth-grade English teacher at Eugene Ashley High School in Wilmington, N.C., says, "Parents think it is strange when their children are not assigned a substantial amount of homework."

That's because, writes Vatterott, in her chapter, "The Cult(ure) of Homework," the concept of homework "has become so engrained in U.S. culture that the word homework is part of the common vernacular."

These days, nightly homework is a given in American schools, writes Kohn.

"Homework isn't limited to those occasions when it seems appropriate and important. Most teachers and administrators aren't saying, 'It may be useful to do this particular project at home,'" he writes. "Rather, the point of departure seems to be, 'We've decided ahead of time that children will have to do something every night (or several times a week). … This commitment to the idea of homework in the abstract is accepted by the overwhelming majority of schools — public and private, elementary and secondary."

Brant had to confront this when she cut homework at Gaithersburg Elementary.

"A lot of my parents have this idea that homework is part of life. This is what I had to do when I was young," she says, and so, too, will our kids. "So I had to shift their thinking." She did this slowly, first by asking her teachers last year to really think about what they were sending home. And this year, in addition to forming a parent advisory group around the issue, she also holds events to answer questions.

Still, not everyone is convinced that homework as a given is a bad thing. "Any pursuit of excellence, be it in sports, the arts, or academics, requires hard work. That our culture finds it okay for kids to spend hours a day in a sport but not equal time on academics is part of the problem," wrote one pro-homework parent on the blog for the documentary Race to Nowhere , which looks at the stress American students are under. "Homework has always been an issue for parents and children. It is now and it was 20 years ago. I think when people decide to have children that it is their responsibility to educate them," wrote another.

And part of educating them, some believe, is helping them develop skills they will eventually need in adulthood. "Homework can help students develop study skills that will be of value even after they leave school," reads a publication on the U.S. Department of Education website called Homework Tips for Parents. "It can teach them that learning takes place anywhere, not just in the classroom. … It can foster positive character traits such as independence and responsibility. Homework can teach children how to manage time."

Annie Brown, Ed.M.'01, feels this is particularly critical at less affluent schools like the ones she has worked at in Boston, Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles as a literacy coach.

"It feels important that my students do homework because they will ultimately be competing for college placement and jobs with students who have done homework and have developed a work ethic," she says. "Also it will get them ready for independently taking responsibility for their learning, which will need to happen for them to go to college."

The problem with this thinking, writes Vatterott, is that homework becomes a way to practice being a worker.

"Which begs the question," she writes. "Is our job as educators to produce learners or workers?"

Slate magazine editor Emily Bazelon, in a piece about homework, says this makes no sense for younger kids.

"Why should we think that practicing homework in first grade will make you better at doing it in middle school?" she writes. "Doesn't the opposite seem equally plausible: that it's counterproductive to ask children to sit down and work at night before they're developmentally ready because you'll just make them tired and cross?"

Kohn writes in the American School Board Journal that this "premature exposure" to practices like homework (and sit-and-listen lessons and tests) "are clearly a bad match for younger children and of questionable value at any age." He calls it BGUTI: Better Get Used to It. "The logic here is that we have to prepare you for the bad things that are going to be done to you later … by doing them to you now."

According to a recent University of Michigan study, daily homework for six- to eight-year-olds increased on average from about 8 minutes in 1981 to 22 minutes in 2003. A review of research by Duke University Professor Harris Cooper found that for elementary school students, "the average correlation between time spent on homework and achievement … hovered around zero."

So should homework be eliminated? Of course not, say many Ed School graduates who are teaching. Not only would students not have time for essays and long projects, but also teachers would not be able to get all students to grade level or to cover critical material, says Brett Pangburn, Ed.M.'06, a sixth-grade English teacher at Excel Academy Charter School in Boston. Still, he says, homework has to be relevant.

"Kids need to practice the skills being taught in class, especially where, like the kids I teach at Excel, they are behind and need to catch up," he says. "Our results at Excel have demonstrated that kids can catch up and view themselves as in control of their academic futures, but this requires hard work, and homework is a part of it."

Ed School Professor Howard Gardner basically agrees.

"America and Americans lurch between too little homework in many of our schools to an excess of homework in our most competitive environments — Li'l Abner vs. Tiger Mother," he says. "Neither approach makes sense. Homework should build on what happens in class, consolidating skills and helping students to answer new questions."

So how can schools come to a happy medium, a way that allows teachers to cover everything they need while not overwhelming students? Conklin says she often gives online math assignments that act as labs and students have two or three days to complete them, including some in-class time. Students at Pangburn's school have a 50-minute silent period during regular school hours where homework can be started, and where teachers pull individual or small groups of students aside for tutoring, often on that night's homework. Afterschool homework clubs can help.

Some schools and districts have adapted time limits rather than nix homework completely, with the 10-minute per grade rule being the standard — 10 minutes a night for first-graders, 30 minutes for third-graders, and so on. (This remedy, however, is often met with mixed results since not all students work at the same pace.) Other schools offer an extended day that allows teachers to cover more material in school, in turn requiring fewer take-home assignments. And for others, like Stephanie Brant's elementary school in Maryland, more reading with a few targeted project assignments has been the answer.

"The routine of reading is so much more important than the routine of homework," she says. "Let's have kids reflect. You can still have the routine and you can still have your workspace, but now it's for reading. I often say to parents, if we can put a man on the moon, we can put a man or woman on Mars and that person is now a second-grader. We don't know what skills that person will need. At the end of the day, we have to feel confident that we're giving them something they can use on Mars."

Read a January 2014 update.

Homework Policy Still Going Strong

Ed. Magazine

The magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Why I Think All Schools Should Abolish Homework

H ow long is your child’s workweek? Thirty hours? Forty? Would it surprise you to learn that some elementary school kids have workweeks comparable to adults’ schedules? For most children, mandatory homework assignments push their workweek far beyond the school day and deep into what any other laborers would consider overtime. Even without sports or music or other school-sponsored extracurriculars, the daily homework slog keeps many students on the clock as long as lawyers, teachers, medical residents, truck drivers and other overworked adults. Is it any wonder that,deprived of the labor protections that we provide adults, our kids are suffering an epidemic of disengagement, anxiety and depression ?

With my youngest child just months away from finishing high school, I’m remembering all the needless misery and missed opportunities all three of my kids suffered because of their endless assignments. When my daughters were in middle school, I would urge them into bed before midnight and then find them clandestinely studying under the covers with a flashlight. We cut back on their activities but still found ourselves stuck in a system on overdrive, returning home from hectic days at 6 p.m. only to face hours more of homework. Now, even as a senior with a moderate course load, my son, Zak, has spent many weekends studying, finding little time for the exercise and fresh air essential to his well-being. Week after week, and without any extracurriculars, Zak logs a lot more than the 40 hours adults traditionally work each week — and with no recognition from his “bosses” that it’s too much. I can’t count the number of shared evenings, weekend outings and dinners that our family has missed and will never get back.

How much after-school time should our schools really own?

In the midst of the madness last fall, Zak said to me, “I feel like I’m working towards my death. The constant demands on my time since 5th grade are just going to continue through graduation, into college, and then into my job. It’s like I’m on an endless treadmill with no time for living.”

My spirit crumbled along with his.

Like Zak, many people are now questioning the point of putting so much demand on children and teens that they become thinly stretched and overworked. Studies have long shown that there is no academic benefit to high school homework that consumes more than a modest number of hours each week. In a study of high schoolers conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), researchers concluded that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on performance.”

In elementary school, where we often assign overtime even to the youngest children, studies have shown there’s no academic benefit to any amount of homework at all.

Our unquestioned acceptance of homework also flies in the face of all we know about human health, brain function and learning. Brain scientists know that rest and exercise are essential to good health and real learning . Even top adult professionals in specialized fields take care to limit their work to concentrated periods of focus. A landmark study of how humans develop expertise found that elite musicians, scientists and athletes do their most productive work only about four hours per day .

Yet we continue to overwork our children, depriving them of the chance to cultivate health and learn deeply, burdening them with an imbalance of sedentary, academic tasks. American high school students , in fact, do more homework each week than their peers in the average country in the OECD, a 2014 report found.

It’s time for an uprising.

Already, small rebellions are starting. High schools in Ridgewood, N.J. , and Fairfax County, Va., among others, have banned homework over school breaks. The entire second grade at Taylor Elementary School in Arlington, Va., abolished homework this academic year. Burton Valley Elementary School in Lafayette, Calif., has eliminated homework in grades K through 4. Henry West Laboratory School , a public K-8 school in Coral Gables, Fla., eliminated mandatory, graded homework for optional assignments. One Lexington, Mass., elementary school is piloting a homework-free year, replacing it with reading for pleasure.

More from TIME

Across the Atlantic, students in Spain launched a national strike against excessive assignments in November. And a second-grade teacher in Texas, made headlines this fall when she quit sending home extra work , instead urging families to “spend your evenings doing things that are proven to correlate with student success. Eat dinner as a family, read together, play outside and get your child to bed early.”

It is time that we call loudly for a clear and simple change: a workweek limit for children, counting time on the clock before and after the final bell. Why should schools extend their authority far beyond the boundaries of campus, dictating activities in our homes in the hours that belong to families? An all-out ban on after-school assignments would be optimal. Short of that, we can at least sensibly agree on a cap limiting kids to a 40-hour workweek — and fewer hours for younger children.

Resistance even to this reasonable limit will be rife. Mike Miller, an English teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Va., found this out firsthand when he spearheaded a homework committee to rethink the usual approach. He had read the education research and found a forgotten policy on the county books limiting homework to two hours a night, total, including all classes. “I thought it would be a slam dunk” to put the two-hour cap firmly in place, Miller said.

But immediately, people started balking. “There was a lot of fear in the community,” Miller said. “It’s like jumping off a high dive with your kids’ future. If we reduce homework to two hours or less, is my kid really going to be okay?” In the end, the committee only agreed to a homework ban over school breaks.

Miller’s response is a great model for us all. He decided to limit assignments in his own class to 20 minutes a night (the most allowed for a student with six classes to hit the two-hour max). His students didn’t suddenly fail. Their test scores remained stable. And they started using their more breathable schedule to do more creative, thoughtful work.

That’s the way we will get to a sane work schedule for kids: by simultaneously pursuing changes big and small. Even as we collaboratively press for policy changes at the district or individual school level, all teachers can act now, as individuals, to ease the strain on overworked kids.

As parents and students, we can also organize to make homework the exception rather than the rule. We can insist that every family, teacher and student be allowed to opt out of assignments without penalty to make room for important activities, and we can seek changes that shift practice exercises and assignments into the actual school day.

We’ll know our work is done only when Zak and every other child can clock out, eat dinner, sleep well and stay healthy — the very things needed to engage and learn deeply. That’s the basic standard the law applies to working adults. Let’s do the same for our kids.

Vicki Abeles is the author of the bestseller Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation, and director and producer of the documentaries “ Race to Nowhere ” and “ Beyond Measure. ”

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Why (Most) Homework Should Be Banned

The 30-minute rule is there to justify giving a lot of homework

Anthony Malcolm ‘23 , Staff Writer December 8, 2022

There are plenty of reasons why (most) homework should be banned. I’ll start out with some general facts and look at homework in general, then go into some detail about our school.

Stanford conducted a study surveying over 4,300 students in 10 high performing high schools in California. More than 70% of the students said they were “often or always stressed over schoolwork,” with 56% claiming that homework was the main stressor. But here’s the kicker: Less than 1% said homework was not a stressor. 

The researchers then asked the students if they had exhibited symptoms of stress like headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems. More than 80% of the students reported at least one stress related symptom recently and 44% claimed they experienced 3 or more symptoms. The study also found that students who spend a lot of time working on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, and a lack of balance in their lives. The study claimed that any more than 2 hours of homework per night was counterproductive, and that the students who spent too much time on homework were more likely to not participate in activities and hobbies, and stop seeing friends and family. 

A smaller NYU study claimed that students at elite high schools are susceptible to chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, and alcohol and drug abuse. About half of the students said they received at least 3 hours of homework a night on top of being pressured to take college level classes and participate in extracurricular activities (sound familiar?). The study claims that many of the students felt they were being worked as hard as adults, and they said that their workload seemed inappropriate for their development level. The study reported that the students felt that they had little time for relaxing and hobbies. More than two thirds of students said they used alcohol or drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with the stress.

Back to the Stanford study for a second; many of the students claimed that the homework was “pointless” or “mindless.” The study argues that homework should have a purpose and benefit, which should be to cultivate learning. One of the main reasons is that school feels like a full-time job at this point. We, as in BC High students, are in school from 8:25 till 2:40; most of us have some sort of extracurricular activity on top of that, and most of us have significant commutes, which means we are getting home much later. On top of a rigorous day at school, an afterschool activity, and a commute, we have to deal with a varying amount of homework every night. Sometimes it is 2 hours, sometimes 3, sometimes even 4. I will give you an example of a day in my life last year to provide a specific example, because we are not a one size fits all community. 

I live in Middleboro and Bridgewater, so I ride the train to school which takes 50 minutes to an hour. A spring day last year would start by waking up at 5:30 and then leaving my house to get to the train at 6:30-6:35, getting on the train at 6:50, getting off the train at 7:50, and arriving at the school before classes started at 8:20. I would go through the school day and stay after for track practice. After track, I would most likely get on the train at 5:00 and get home at 6:15. I would eat dinner, shower, and then start my homework around 7:30-8, and usually I would finish somewhere between 10:30ish to 11:30ish. Can you see how that can be misconstrued as a full-time job?

Some of you might be thinking (especially any teacher reading this), why didn’t you use the 30-minute rule? Well, because most (and I mean MOST) of the time the 30-minute rule is an ineffective rule that justifies giving students a lot of homework. If you use the 30-minute rule and don’t finish a homework assignment, it still has to be completed sometime, and you’ll be behind in class. It is only effective when a teacher plans for the 30-minute rule and tells you to stop at 30 minutes to get an idea of how long an assignment takes their students. The 30-minute rule is there to justify giving a lot of homework because if you say in class that the homework took a long time, you will probably be told about the 30-minute rule. But if you used the 30-minute rule, you would have an unfinished homework assignment which means, depending on the class, you would be lost and behind, and you would still have to do it at some point. If you should have to justify giving a lot of homework, then it is probably too much. 

Parker, Clifton B. “Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework.” Stanford University , 10 Mar. 2014, http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/march/too-much-homework-031014.html . 

Communications, NYU Web. NYU Study Examines Top High School Students’ Stress and Coping Mechanisms . http://www.nyu.edu/content/nyu/en/about/news-publications/news/2015/august/nyu

-study-examines-top-high-school-students-stress-and-coping-mechanisms . 

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No More Homework: 12 Reasons We Should Get Rid of It Completely

Last Updated: May 4, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Finn Kobler . Finn Kobler graduated from USC in 2022 with a BFA in Writing for Screen/Television. He is a two-time California State Champion and record holder in Original Prose/Poetry, a 2018 finalist for the Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate, and he's written micro-budget films that have been screened in over 150 theaters nationwide. Growing up, Finn spent every summer helping his family's nonprofit arts program, Showdown Stage Company, empower people through accessible media. He hopes to continue that mission with his writing at wikiHow. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 141,741 times. Learn more...

The amount of homework students are given has increased dramatically in the 21st century, which has sparked countless debates over homework’s overall value. While some have been adamant that homework is an essential part of a good education, it’s been proven that too much homework negatively affects students’ mood, classroom performance, and overall well-being. In addition, a heavy homework load can stress families and teachers. Here are 12 reasons why homework should be banned (or at least heavily reduced).

School is already a full-time job.

• For years, teachers have followed the “10-minute rule” giving students roughly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. However, recent studies have shown students are completing 3+ hours of homework a night well before their senior years even begin. [2] X Trustworthy Source American Psychological Association Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists Go to source

Homework negatively affects students’ health.

Homework interferes with student’s opportunities to socialize.

Homework hinders students’ chances to learn new things.

Homework lowers students’ enthusiasm for school.

Homework can lower academic performance.

Homework cuts into family time.

Homework is stressful for teachers.

Homework is often irrelevant and punitive.

• There are even studies that have shown homework in primary school has no correlation with classroom performance whatsoever. [9] X Research source

Homework encourages cheating.

Homework is inequitable.

Other countries have banned homework with great results.

• There are even some U.S. schools that have adopted this approach with success. [13] X Research source

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• ↑ https://www.edutopia.org/no-proven-benefits
• ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/03/homework
• ↑ https://healthier.stanfordchildrens.org/en/health-hazards-homework/
• ↑ https://teensneedsleep.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/galloway-nonacademic-effects-of-homework-in-privileged-high-performing-high-schools.pdf
• ↑ https://time.com/4466390/homework-debate-research/
• ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220485.2022.2075506?role=tab&scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=vece20
• ↑ https://kappanonline.org/teacher-stress-balancing-demands-resources-mccarthy/
• ↑ https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-homework-pros-cons-20180807-story.html
• ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6294446/
• ↑ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/06/homework-inequality-parents-schedules-grades/485174/
• ↑ https://www.bbc.com/news/education-37716005
• ↑ https://www.wsj.com/articles/no-homework-its-the-new-thing-in-u-s-schools-11544610600

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The Campanile

Homework should be optional.

W e’ve all been there — 2 a.m. Snapchats from fellow APUSH scholars, frantic AP Chemistry lab questions and Facebook messenger rants about the latest Physics lab grade at midnight. But what is the reason behind this widespread lack of sleep?

While AP and honors classes, by nature, were never meant to be sleep-killers or anxiety magnets. Yet, we still see many occurrences of juniors and seniors stressing out over seemingly insurmountable homework loads. And right there lies the problem: homework.

On an average night, a junior or senior taking two APs — the recommended quantity provided by Paly — expects to have around three to four hours of homework, not including studying for quizzes and tests. Often, this homework is due within one or two nights after being assigned. However, a closer look at these classes in a college setting reveals a much different agenda.

Homework in college is nothing like homework in high school. A typical college homework assignment is a problem set, or pset, that is assigned but not due until a week later. Similarly, readings, essays and projects are rarely due before a one-week deadline, which gives students enough time to space out assignments and work on them at a reasonable pace. Additionally, classes meet only once or twice a week, rather than the three times a week we meet in high school. The combination of six or seven classes meeting three times a week with homework often due the next block period creates a dangerous situation for students.

In a 2014 research article published by the Washington Post examining 10 high-achieving California high schools, researchers found that too much homework might actually be harming students, as it results in “excess stress, physical problems and little or no time for leisure.” The researchers added that current homework loads were found to be around 3.1 hours, while the optimal workload is around two hours.

The statistics from student surveys speak for themselves. Of the 4,317 students surveyed in the same 2014 study, more than 99 percent listed homework as a stressor, and more than half indicated it as their primary stressor. Moreover, a majority of students expressed concerns over health problems, such as sleep deprivation, stress and anxiety, as a direct consequence of high homework loads. But possibly the biggest toll homework takes on students is in their lives outside of academics. In the same study, many students stated that they had trouble balancing extracurriculars, time with friends and family and the occasional break for themselves.

If this survey were to be done at Paly, the responses would surely match the results of the study above. One of the aspects of homework not observed in the studies above is the fact that homework often detracts from studying for quizzes or tests. While homework is designed to prepare us for assessments, it often turns into dreaded “busy work.” Students must complete tedious homework before they can actually get to studying material for tests.

There are two possible solutions — a moderate one and a radical one. The moderate solution entails spacing out homework assignments so that there is more time in between the assigned date and the due date. It also involves teachers selecting only the most useful problems to assign for homework. But this solution is not enough because, essentially, the homework levels stay the same, there is just more time to do it.

Another solution is one that allows a student to skip any minor assignment, such as worksheets, notes or textbook problems, as long as their grade in that class does not suffer. While major assignments like labs, essays and projects are non-negotiable and have to be turned in, what students call “busywork” right now will become a thing of the past. Since Paly students are already highly motivated, if homework serves as a hindrance to deeper learning of the material, it can be taken out of the equation so real studying can begin.

By eliminating at least a few assignments from a student’s packed day, we can work toward bringing homework time closer to the recommended two-hour mark, while allowing students to study in the way that works best for them. The principle of studying in college is doing what works for the individual, and removing homework from the to-do list does exactly that, while preparing students for post-Paly education.

In this solution, students who find homework helpful or want homework grades to be taken into account in their overall grade are still welcome to continue turning in assignments for points, but they are not required to do this if homework is not the study tool they personally need. Teachers who are concerned about student performance can always make assignments mandatory if a student’s grade drops below a certain level.

In a case study of an AP Biology class described in a Healthline article, a teacher cut down her assigned homework by first a third, and then by a half. Student test scores did not drop during this time, which can be explained in a couple of ways. Either the students were using the new-found time to learn in ways that worked for them or having the extra time to relax was helping them as well.

Research has shown that an excess amount of homework can take a toll on a high school student’s physical, emotional and mental wellbeing. And while college students are working just as hard, if not harder, because they are working on something specific to their interests. They are learning in ways that are tailored toward the individual, rather than toward everyone. It’s time Paly reforms their homework policies.

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john • Mar 26, 2021 at 5:41 am

no homework

YEET • Jan 21, 2020 at 10:45 am

NO HOMEWORK

dylan • Mar 4, 2019 at 4:24 pm

no • Jan 12, 2018 at 6:46 am

OMG OMG OMG :0 so true

School Life Balance , Tips for Online Students

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: June 19, 2024

Published: January 23, 2020

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

Photo by  energepic.com  from  Pexels

Why should students have homework.

Homework has been a long-standing part of the education system. It helps reinforce what students learn in the classroom, encourages good study habits, and promotes a deeper understanding of subjects. Studies have shown that homework can improve students’ grades and skills. Here are some reasons why homework is important:

1. Homework Encourages Practice

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

While homework has its benefits, there are also many arguments against it. Some believe that homework can cause increased stress, limit time for extracurricular activities, and reduce family time. Studies and expert opinions highlight the drawbacks of too much homework, showing how it can negatively affect students’ well-being and academic experience. Here are some reasons why homework might be bad:

1. Homework Encourages A Sedentary Lifestyle

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad.

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

FAQ Section

What are the benefits of assigning homework to students.

Homework reinforces what students learn in the classroom, helps develop good study habits, and promotes a deeper understanding of subjects. It also encourages practice, improves time management skills, and encourages parents to participate in their children’s education.

How much homework is too much for students?

Generally, it is recommended that students receive no more than 10 minutes of homework per grade level per day. For example, a first grader should have no more than 10 minutes of homework, while a fifth grader should have no more than 50 minutes.

What are the potential drawbacks of excessive homework assignments?

Excessive homework can lead to increased stress, a sedentary lifestyle, lack of free time for extracurricular activities, and diminished family time. It can also create a negative attitude towards school and learning.

How does homework impact students’ stress levels and well-being?

Too much homework can significantly increase stress levels and negatively affect students’ well-being. It can lead to anxiety, burnout, and reduced time for physical activity and relaxation.

Does homework promote independent thinking and problem-solving skills?

Yes, homework can promote independent thinking and problem-solving skills by encouraging students to tackle assignments on their own, manage their time effectively, and find solutions to problems without immediate assistance from teachers.

Are there any long-term effects of excessive homework on students?

Excessive homework over long periods can lead to chronic stress, burnout, and a negative attitude towards education. It can also hinder the development of social skills and reduce opportunities for self-discovery and creative pursuits.

How can technology enhance or supplement traditional homework practices?

Technology can provide interactive and engaging ways to complete homework, such as educational apps, online resources, and virtual collaboration tools. It can also offer personalized learning experiences and immediate feedback.

Are there any innovative approaches to homework that schools are adopting?

Some schools are adopting innovative approaches like flipped classrooms, where students watch lectures at home and do hands-on classroom activities. Project-based learning and personalized assignments tailored to individual student needs are also becoming more popular.

How do educators balance the workload with diverse student needs?

Educators can balance the workload by differentiating assignments, considering the individual needs and abilities of students, and providing flexible deadlines. Communication with students and parents helps to ensure that homework is manageable and effective for everyone.

At UoPeople, our blog writers are thinkers, researchers, and experts dedicated to curating articles relevant to our mission: making higher education accessible to everyone.

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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [1]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word "homework" dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [45]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or "People’s Schools" were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [45]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [1] [1] [2] [45] [46]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [3] [45]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [4] [44]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, "Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?" While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [47]

Pro Arguments

Pro 1: homework improves student achievement..

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

Research published in the High School Journal indicated that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework "scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average." [6]

Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take-home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. [7] [8]

Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. [10]

Pro 2: Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills.

Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, "at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum." [11] [49]

Elementary school students who were taught "strategies to organize and complete homework," such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [17]

Research by the City University of New York noted that "students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework," such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, "are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes." [18]

Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that "homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work." [12] [13] [14] [15] [49]

Pro 3: Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning.

Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [12]

Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [20]

Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: "Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students." [21]

Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, "Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them." [12]

Con Arguments

Con 1: too much homework can be harmful..

A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were "often or always stressed by schoolwork." High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [24] [28] [29]

Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, "Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow." [27]

Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, "More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies." [48]

Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in "unauthorized collaboration" on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [30] [31] [32]

Con 2: Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap.

Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as "the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology." For students, this is often called the homework gap. [50] [51]

30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [51]

A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [37] [38]

One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it "potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position." [39]

Con 3: Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students.

We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that "homework had no association with achievement gains" when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [7]

Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [41]

Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: "They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework." [42]

In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, "I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside." He explains, "just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen." [52]

Discussion Questions

• Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).
• If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).
• How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

• Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.
• Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.
• Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality
• Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the "other side of the issue" now helps you better argue your position.
• Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .
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• Edward Bok, "A National Crime at the Feet of American Parents," The Ladies Home Journal , Jan. 1900
• Tim Walker, "The Great Homework Debate: What’s Getting Lost in the Hype," neatoday.org, Sep. 23, 2015
• University of Phoenix College of Education, "Homework Anxiety: Survey Reveals How Much Homework K-12 Students Are Assigned and Why Teachers Deem It Beneficial," phoenix.edu, Feb. 24, 2014
• Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), "PISA in Focus No. 46: Does Homework Perpetuate Inequities in Education?," oecd.org, Dec. 2014
• Adam V. Maltese, Robert H. Tai, and Xitao Fan, "When is Homework Worth the Time?: Evaluating the Association between Homework and Achievement in High School Science and Math," The High School Journal , 2012
• Harris Cooper, Jorgianne Civey Robinson, and Erika A. Patall, "Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Researcher, 1987-2003," Review of Educational Research , 2006
• Gökhan Bas, Cihad Sentürk, and Fatih Mehmet Cigerci, "Homework and Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analytic Review of Research," Issues in Educational Research , 2017
• Huiyong Fan, Jianzhong Xu, Zhihui Cai, Jinbo He, and Xitao Fan, "Homework and Students’ Achievement in Math and Science: A 30-Year Meta-Analysis, 1986-2015," Educational Research Review , 2017
• Charlene Marie Kalenkoski and Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, "Does High School Homework Increase Academic Achievement?," iza.og, Apr. 2014
• Ron Kurtus, "Purpose of Homework," school-for-champions.com, July 8, 2012
• Harris Cooper, "Yes, Teachers Should Give Homework – The Benefits Are Many," newsobserver.com, Sep. 2, 2016
• Tammi A. Minke, "Types of Homework and Their Effect on Student Achievement," repository.stcloudstate.edu, 2017
• LakkshyaEducation.com, "How Does Homework Help Students: Suggestions From Experts," LakkshyaEducation.com (accessed Aug. 29, 2018)
• University of Montreal, "Do Kids Benefit from Homework?," teaching.monster.com (accessed Aug. 30, 2018)
• Glenda Faye Pryor-Johnson, "Why Homework Is Actually Good for Kids," memphisparent.com, Feb. 1, 2012
• Joan M. Shepard, "Developing Responsibility for Completing and Handing in Daily Homework Assignments for Students in Grades Three, Four, and Five," eric.ed.gov, 1999
• Darshanand Ramdass and Barry J. Zimmerman, "Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework," Journal of Advanced Academics , 2011
• US Department of Education, "Let’s Do Homework!," ed.gov (accessed Aug. 29, 2018)
• Loretta Waldman, "Sociologist Upends Notions about Parental Help with Homework," phys.org, Apr. 12, 2014
• Frances L. Van Voorhis, "Reflecting on the Homework Ritual: Assignments and Designs," Theory Into Practice , June 2010
• Roel J. F. J. Aries and Sofie J. Cabus, "Parental Homework Involvement Improves Test Scores? A Review of the Literature," Review of Education , June 2015
• Jamie Ballard, "40% of People Say Elementary School Students Have Too Much Homework," yougov.com, July 31, 2018
• Stanford University, "Stanford Survey of Adolescent School Experiences Report: Mira Costa High School, Winter 2017," stanford.edu, 2017
• Cathy Vatterott, "Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs," ascd.org, 2009
• End the Race, "Homework: You Can Make a Difference," racetonowhere.com (accessed Aug. 24, 2018)
• Elissa Strauss, "Opinion: Your Kid Is Right, Homework Is Pointless. Here’s What You Should Do Instead.," cnn.com, Jan. 28, 2020
• Jeanne Fratello, "Survey: Homework Is Biggest Source of Stress for Mira Costa Students," digmb.com, Dec. 15, 2017
• Clifton B. Parker, "Stanford Research Shows Pitfalls of Homework," stanford.edu, Mar. 10, 2014
• AdCouncil, "Cheating Is a Personal Foul: Academic Cheating Background," glass-castle.com (accessed Aug. 16, 2018)
• Jeffrey R. Young, "High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame," chronicle.com, Mar. 28, 2010
• Robin McClure, "Do You Do Your Child’s Homework?," verywellfamily.com, Mar. 14, 2018
• Robert M. Pressman, David B. Sugarman, Melissa L. Nemon, Jennifer, Desjarlais, Judith A. Owens, and Allison Schettini-Evans, "Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents’ Self Confidence, Educational Level, and Cultural Background," The American Journal of Family Therapy , 2015
• Heather Koball and Yang Jiang, "Basic Facts about Low-Income Children," nccp.org, Jan. 2018
• Meagan McGovern, "Homework Is for Rich Kids," huffingtonpost.com, Sep. 2, 2016
• H. Richard Milner IV, "Not All Students Have Access to Homework Help," nytimes.com, Nov. 13, 2014
• Claire McLaughlin, "The Homework Gap: The ‘Cruelest Part of the Digital Divide’," neatoday.org, Apr. 20, 2016
• oug Levin, "This Evening’s Homework Requires the Use of the Internet," edtechstrategies.com, May 1, 2015
• Amy Lutz and Lakshmi Jayaram, "Getting the Homework Done: Social Class and Parents’ Relationship to Homework," International Journal of Education and Social Science , June 2015
• Sandra L. Hofferth and John F. Sandberg, "How American Children Spend Their Time," psc.isr.umich.edu, Apr. 17, 2000
• Alfie Kohn, "Does Homework Improve Learning?," alfiekohn.org, 2006
• Patrick A. Coleman, "Elementary School Homework Probably Isn’t Good for Kids," fatherly.com, Feb. 8, 2018
• Valerie Strauss, "Why This Superintendent Is Banning Homework – and Asking Kids to Read Instead," washingtonpost.com, July 17, 2017
• Pew Research Center, "The Way U.S. Teens Spend Their Time Is Changing, but Differences between Boys and Girls Persist," pewresearch.org, Feb. 20, 2019
• ThroughEducation, "The History of Homework: Why Was It Invented and Who Was behind It?," througheducation.com , Feb. 14, 2020
• History, "Why Homework Was Banned," history.com (accessed Feb. 24, 2022)
• Valerie Strauss, "Does Homework Work When Kids Are Learning All Day at Home?," washingtonpost.com , Sep. 2, 2020
• Sara M Moniuszko, "Is It Time to Get Rid of Homework? Mental Health Experts Weigh In," usatoday.com , Aug. 17, 2021
• Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, "The Worsening Homework Problem," theatlantic.com , Apr. 13, 2021
• Kiara Taylor, "Digital Divide," investopedia.com , Feb. 12, 2022
• Marguerite Reardon, "The Digital Divide Has Left Millions of School Kids Behind," cnet.com , May 5, 2021
• Rachel Paula Abrahamson, "Why More and More Teachers Are Joining the Anti-Homework Movement," today.com , Sep. 10, 2021

Making Homework Optional

By RACHEL HIRSCHHEIMER

Third Place, Feature-Local — Long Island Press  High School Journalism Awards 2016

Recently there has been increased discussion about homework in the Jericho School District after Jericho Middle School Principal Dr. Donald Gately offered the idea of optional homework to the Middle School faculty. The term “optional homework” refers to a practice by which teachers assign homework and students are given the option to complete it or not after considering the usefulness of the homework assignment to their learning.

Fifth grade teacher Scott Bedley inspired Dr. Gately to try to suggest an “optional homework” policy throughout Jericho Middle School. Bedley and Gately have conversed about the benefits of optional homework. Bedley discovered that optional homework has dramatically increased the level of student engagement in his classroom. His policy is what it sounds like. Students in Bedley’s classroom have the choice to either complete or not complete homework. The assignments he distributes enhance the amount of material learned at home because students can explore the topic freely without being nervous that they’re going to lose points for getting something wrong. Bedley’s optional homework allows students to choose how they would like to learn information. Therefore, according to Bedley, students in his California classroom know more material coming into class than they would have without the homework being optional. Stanford researcher Denise Pope found that too much homework has a detrimental effect on students. Pope said, “The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being.” Pope discovered that many homework assignments are typically counterproductive and excessive. Too much homework leads to “greater stress, reduction in health and less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits.” The Stanford researcher saw that in high-performing schools like Jericho, students with excessive amounts of homework to complete end up spending most of their time alone which hinders a student’s social development.

Dr. Gately hopes to address such findings in part by making homework optional. “I want to make the assignments more meaningful. I especially want us to stop keeping score.” For instance, if a math teacher assigned a student 20 word problems for homework and the child only completed 17 problems, the student shouldn’t get penalized.  Gately doesn’t see the correlation between deducting points from homework and learning. He stated, “What does that have to do with learning? It has nothing to do with learning.”

Gately has spoken with some middle school students about such a policy.  Seventh grader Matthew R. said, “If the assignments were key to a test, I would do my homework.” Jericho Middle School student Jonathan C. agrees with R.  He stated, “If the homework was going to help me for a test, then I would do my homework.”

Jericho High School students have similar views. Freshman Deborah M. feels homework isn’t a beneficial practice for learning. “I feel as though I have better things to do, and believe that test prep is a more effective way of learning,” she said.  Deborah claimed that instead of doing repetitive homework, she would much rather take practice regents to prepare for final examinations. Sophomore Adrianna M. thinks optional homework would be an excellent policy for Jericho. She said, “I think homework should be optional because I don’t think students have enough time in their day to do it all.”

Gately isn’t looking to eliminate homework completely.  He feels that he has found a compromise between “a lot of homework and no homework.”  He believes teachers should be assigning homework that has meaning and value, minus the point system.

Jericho High School Assistant Principal Dr. Dagoberto Artiles is excited about Dr. Gately’s ideas regarding optional homework.

In fact, he feels that since Jericho is such a prestigious district, this is an excellent place to try a new policy. He said, “This is the perfect place where the school can become a laboratory.  We can reinvent education, reinvent the way people learn, and then send it out and share it with others.”

Jericho High School Principal Joan Rosenberg believes that homework is meant for the student to review what has occurred in class. She said, “I don’t know that saying homework is optional overall will change the system that dramatically.” Rosenberg believes that depending on the student, optional homework could relieve some stress.  However, making homework optional could be too extreme when trying to reduce the amount of homework. Rosenberg stated, “If it’s quality homework and not necessarily quantity homework, then there are ways of lessening the load.”

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Barbara Bauer doesn’t think a district-wide policy of optional homework is realistic.  “I think individual teachers giving options for certain activities or certain performance tasks is a possible way to go.”

The District’s homework policy currently states, “The Board of Education acknowledges the educational value of homework as an adjunct to and extension of the instructional program of the schools. For the purposes of this policy, ‘homework’ shall refer to those assignments to be prepared by the student outside of the school or independently while in attendance at school.” On occasion, the Board will review polices that need to be revised, but Mrs.  Bauer doesn’t feel a need to change the homework policy in Jericho.  Bauer stated, “As you can see it’s pretty general, and I really don’t see a need to change the policy as it stands now.”

If optional homework was implemented throughout the school district, some high school teachers would question its effectiveness. High school math teacher, Suzanne Jacobsen is against an optional homework policy. “I am not in favor of it. Part of your learning process is to do homework. You’re not going to meet with much success if you don’t practice.”

Science teacher Timothy Strout believes that homework acts as a reinforcement and can be used as feedback for students. “Homework is important to see what you have done wrong,” he said.  When asked if he would be open to making his homework optional if he had the choice, he immediately replied, “No, I wouldn’t do that. If I’m going to assign it and I’m going to have you spend the time doing it, making it optional makes it seem unimportant. If nobody is grading it, then what’s the point of doing it?”

The JerEcho invites our readers to weigh in on this issue.  Share your views on optional homework by commenting in the box below.

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Homework is already optional. Every student can opt not to complete it. He or she can determine that a social event, or gaming, or napping, or surfing the net, or reading a Stanford education researcher is more valuable or less stressful than completing an assignment that his or her teacher has deemed necessary for a better understanding of the material taught in class. There are always options. We have the option to consider the proposal an innovative aid to education or another absurd suggestion supported by one researcher who values more time for “friends, family, and extracurricular pursuits” over study or work that might still be conducted with friends and family.

A very interesting and informative article!

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Should Homework be Optional?

With stacking statistics proving damaging effects of stress on teens, it’s shocking that teens are still given up to five or more hours of homework a night, while statistically, academic pressure is a leading cause of stress in teens.  The majority of parents and teachers believe that homework is a student’s opportunity to reinforce or practice new material. But how much homework is enough, and just how effective is homework?

Stress isn't always destructive. It can provide energy to handle emergencies, make changes, meet challenges and excel. But even though some amount of stress is useful, indeed even helpful, the long-term consequences of constant stress are damaging to mental and physical health. If stress is constant and unrelieved, the body has little time to relax and recover. The stress button keeps getting pushed, continually releasing stress hormones when not needed, putting the body into overdrive. As a result, stress disorders can arise such as: high blood pressure, headaches, reduced eyesight, stomachaches and other digestive problems, facial, neck and back pain. High levels of the major stress hormone, cortisol, depress the immune system. A number of studies found that high levels of cortisol are implicated in AIDS, MS, diabetes, cancer, coronary artery disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease (Lewis, p.4).

While stress and cortisol take a toll on the body, they take an equally high toll on the brain. Joyce Walker, University of Minnesota, undertook a study and survey to determine the effect of stress and tension in adolescents and how said stress can cause destructive behavior.  The research focused on several situations that teens face and describe how they deal with it. The observations concluded that out of 4,300 students, 54 percent of them suffered from mild to severe depression compared to those who were not depressed, and could handle problems effectively.

Stress can make one forgetful and emotional, create anxiety and depression, and put one at risk of many mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Becky Beacom, health education manager for PAMF, surveyed 124 adolescents to explore what they find most stressful. 55 percent said homework and school over family and social life. And according to a survey released by the American Psychological Association (APA), during the school year, teens say their stress level is higher than levels reported by adults. It is proven that academic pressure acts as a chronic stressor, for students of every age and level - from elementary school through college and beyond. When enrolled in school, there is pressure to do well - and school becomes a daily focal point of life no matter what else one is involved in or how old one is. GreatSchools.org mentions standardized tests, increased homework loads and participation in advanced classes as school-related stressors. And a 2013 Stockholm University survey revealed that one-third of Swedish high school students experience serious stress related to pressure to perform in school, with eight percent reporting stress levels high enough to be considered burnout.

With all of this evidence which proves a correlation between school and stress, and the effect of stress on teens, why are teen’s work loads still stacking? The typical course load for high school students involves four major courses and two electives. For each class, up to an hour of homework or studying can be assigned each night, and more for advanced courses. And while a portion of students will participate in afterschool clubs or sports, others will have other responsibilities to take care of, like family obligations or work. So therefor, many students will have limited time to complete assignments and meet deadlines and suffer from the pressure and stress that comes along. Is it worth it?

As mentioned earlier, homework is given to students to strengthen skills and reinforce new material. Though as one parent states, “If the kids haven’t learned the concepts by the time they leave the classroom… the homework is pointless” (Broos, CNN), the effectiveness of homework becomes questionable. Another parent from California states, “Homework should never replace a teaching opportunity in the classroom” (Yakich, CNN), and how class time is used becomes questionable too.

A solution would be for teachers to make better use of class time by giving students the opportunity to complete assignments in class, this way students have more resources available to them and help from teachers. This way student’s schedules aren’t restricted by the amount of homework they have. And although homework can be helpful in augmenting new skills, more than an hour of homework a night is unnecessary and excess. If homework were to be optional,  the students who have the opportunity to complete assignments would be benefitted by the practice. And for those who do not have the chance to complete homework assignments, they will not be at a disadvantage. And those who have the time, but simply choose not to participate, will certainly not benefit from the lack of reinforcement.

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The Many Problems with Mandatory Homework

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29233640@N07/8274970069

Jacob Holmes , Writer October 16, 2021

A 2013 survey conducted by the University of Phoenix revealed that the average high school teacher assigns 3.5 hours of homework per week. Assuming most students take 5 classes, this would mean that the average high school student is assigned a whopping 17.5 hours of homework per week. Furthermore, students’ free time can also be taken up by sports and clubs, and young people have been forced to get jobs due to the steadily increasing college tuition, which has been doubling every nine years. With all of this in mind, parents and students alike have once again been asking the age-old question: is homework really necessary?  While homework certainly aids students in learning comprehension , not every student requires this aid, and for many, the extreme amount of required work causes too much stress . Homework should be made optional because it causes stress, because more efficient alternatives are available, and because it unfairly impacts financially-disadvantaged students.

A study conducted by Harris Cooper, Jorgianne Civey Robinson and Erika A. Patall revealed that homework does, in fact, improve academic achievement, and the effect increases with grade level. However, it is also true that the stress brought on by homework could have the opposite effect. For example, according  to a 2017 survey , 82 percent of students said they were “often or always” stressed by schoolwork, and 76 percent said schoolwork often or always kept them from getting enough sleep. Lack of sleep can result in serious mental and physical harm , and that should be reason enough to reduce the time constraints through optional homework.

As if that isn’t bad enough, according to the 2010 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment , more than 25 percent of students say that stress lowered their grades or ability to finish a course.  In other words, there is a direct correlation between the amount of homework and students’ grades, and it may actually end up having a negative effect. While it is true that homework can increase students’ academic performance, it is also true that an excessive amount can lower said performance due to the stress it causes. As such, it should be left up to the student to decide just how much is too much.

Some may claim that homework should be mandatory due to the fact that it reinforces self-direction, time management and developing good study habits .

While this may be true, it is also the case that many of these skills can be developed through other means. First, good study habits are already encouraged through schools’ test systems where students often perform better if they study. As such, simply emphasizing this factor should be enough to convince most students to study. The students who refuse despite this probably would not have completed their homework anyways.  Secondly, I can tell you first hand that my one year of employment at Domino’s has improved my self-direction and time management more than my 13 years of schooling ever has, and it is much less time consuming.

Essentially, the benefits derived from homework can be attained more efficiently elsewhere and without the extreme amount of stress which homework causes. For those who lack the ability to get a job or develop proper study habits on their own, homework is still a viable option. It is just more efficient to handle it on a case-by-case basis.

Additionally, a recent study conducted by the American Psychological Association stated:  “Kids from wealthier homes are more likely to have resources such as computers, internet connections, dedicated areas to do schoolwork and parents who tend to be more educated and more available to help them with tricky assignments. Kids from disadvantaged homes are more likely to work at after school jobs, or to be home without supervision in the evenings while their parents work multiple jobs.”  In other words, the mandatory aspect of homework and the universality with which it is handed out means financially-disadvantaged students are negatively impacted. They are receiving the same amount of work with the same time restrictions, but do not have access to the same resources, making the entire process more difficult for them.

A man who is particularly concerned about this inequality is Dr. Joseph Lathan, an Academic Director and Master of Education at the University of San Diego.  “Adding homework into the mix is one more thing to deal with — and if the student is struggling, the task of completing homework can be too much to consider at the end of an already long school day,” Lathain said .  Although it helps some students, the universal way in which it is handed out not only ignores, but exacerbates the plights of poor students. As such, the bare minimum that should be done is the shifting of homework from mandatory to optional, giving those in need more time to work on their most difficult subjects.

Multiple studies have shown the benefits that homework can provide, and many more have shown the detrimental effects it can have on mental health and the marginalized. The easiest and most efficient way to remedy these problems is by making homework optional. This would reduce the impacts of stress and low resources, and prop up the true advantages of homework.

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Colin • Jan 18, 2024 at 9:46 am

This is a good article

What happened when a school made homework optional?

Homework is often the bane of teachers, pupils and parents’ lives, eating into personal time and causing friction between all involved.

Yet for time immemorial, it has been set, with the expectation that it is delivered on time and without excuse.

But at Dar Al Marefa School in Dubai, something quite different is happening. Homework is optional.

Well, that’s perhaps a slight exaggeration - reading and maths are still compulsory.

But, for all other subjects, there is no specific requirement for teachers to set homework or pupils to complete it.

A radical idea

Ian Thurston, head of secondary at Dar Al Marefa School, is the man behind this seemingly radical idea, and he explains how it came about in the latest Tes International podcast.

“It started in term one because we identified there was a big problem in that everyone was complaining about homework - parents said there was too much, children were stressed, teachers found the homework timetable didn’t always work for them.”

“So, we looked at it and said ‘why are we doing this traditional model?’ - just because it has been done this way is not a good enough answer. I always look at things and say ‘why do we do this?’ and the answer ‘we always have done it this way’ has never been good enough.”

To fully understand the extent of these issues, the school surveyed staff to ensure it had a clearer idea of what most parents felt about homework.

“The results were clear: more than 70 per cent of parents felt the homework we were setting was having a negative impact on their child’s wellbeing, and 50 to 60 per cent of parents felt homework we were setting was not adding any academic value, which meant we had to look at what are we doing with homework.”  

Reading the research

From here the idea was formed: make all but reading and maths homework optional. To call this a bold move is, perhaps, an understatement.

“It wasn’t simple; it was seen as being a bit out of leftfield and the immediate reaction from teachers, the board and parents, was ‘why?’

“But I go back to ‘why do we want to do something, what do we want to achieve?’

Of course, the decision to do this wasn’t made overnight, with the school spending a lot of time looking at research around homework to truly understand how it helps - and hinders - students, and families, so it knew what the implication would be of the change.

“Every school improvement I want to see happen in my school has to be research-backed - so we looked into a lot around homework, which varied and was very interesting in itself,” Thurston explains.

“Most research will say, yes, homework adds value; at schools that give homework, students do better. But when you dive into it, there are a lot of underlining inconsistencies. It depends on the age of the student - homework works well for older students but less so for younger students. And there is increasing evidence homework adds to stress for not only students but families as well.”

What to keep

From here, the next move was to understand what homework - now termed “home learning” in the school - should remain compulsory and what should become optional.

The decision was that reading and maths would remain.

“The idea was to make reading compulsory every evening, as we are a bilingual school and study in English and in Arabic, we want students to be reading three nights a week in Arabic and three nights a week in English.”

Maths was also chosen because of the positive knock-on impacts the skill has in other areas from business studies to art.

Of course, the question this poses is: how did other teachers feel about this?

“The initial reaction is ‘you don’t value my subject if mine is not compulsory’, but by involving staff...we got a working party together and everyone was involved in the research and everyone found out for themselves that reading does impact on all subjects, [as does] maths,” Thurston explains.

“[And] yes, earlier on there were fears that with optional homework no-one will submit it - but that didn’t happen,” he says, noting that submission rates have remained the same even during lockdown.

A flexible future

Furthermore, the aim is that with removing the need to set homework as a scheduled task, it offers more flexibility to teachers to set more interesting, beneficial and less-pressured homework.

“The research says that homework for homework’s sake does not add much value, but projects, where suitably timed, do add value and students get much more involved in it, [so] we have taken the shackles off teachers.”

Secondly, the change also means parents now have the option to decide what is right for their child with regards to how much work they are doing and when - something Thurston does on a personal level, too.

“Those parents who complained there was too much [homework] can now decide what homework is relevant for their children and some weeks it might be suitable, some weeks it might not.

“I know that I myself have written a note saying ‘they haven’t done their homework as they were too tired’ and that’s a judgement call that I make as a parent that my child is better served getting a good night’s sleep and going into school being more productive during those schools hours than staying up [doing homework].”

More family time

Thurston adds that, particularly in the Middle East, family time is an especially important part of children’s lives and so, for many parents, being able to allow their children to take part in family activities knowing homework can be left for that evening makes everyone happier.

“Some parents have said that is exactly what I want for my kids, I want them to go to school and learn academic subjects but when they finish that school day, I want them to have a life as a child and learn lots of other things and not have to worry about homework.”

The plan now is to continue with this push when school returns to the classroom in September and monitor the submission rates and uptake of homework.

“We will be reviewing very regularly and making sure we are getting things right. With anything new you do, you will never get it 100 per cent right and there will always be things you can improve on...I like to look at data and see what it is showing us,” says Thurston.

“When we test the reading age of students, are they improving faster now, are rates of homework submission rising or falling, in terms of student wellbeing are they reporting they feel happier now then they did last year...all these metrics we can use to analyse whether it’s having a positive impact or not.”

To find out more about the project and how it was implemented - and plans for the future - watch the full interview below on YouTube or listen to the audio podcast on the player below or on your podcast platform of choice.

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Feature Article

Should Homework be Optional?

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Domenico Tambe , Writer March 17, 2023

Should homework be optional?

Generally, do teachers see homework as a tool, or do they see it as a reason to pass the time students have at home? Understanding that homework helps keep one’s brain refreshed on the fundamentals that an average student practices. Is it necessary, seeing as they already spent most of their day at school learning?

Not only do these students spend the majority of their day at school, but some of them also have commitments such as games, meets, or practices for sports. They could be spending their whole day including sports and school until around 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM when they come home. But why should the teachers care? To them, that is three extra hours to do homework.

Understanding that students spend hours at school, they need to get as much sleep as possible. Considering the time spent in after school activities. They are not able to get as much sleep as they should. According to an article by Health Promotion, most college students are only getting 6-7 hours of sleep a night. A sophomore, Alison Daly, says, “I spent around 6 hours at school just to go home and spend around 2-3 hours doing homework when I could spend that time with my family.” School time adds up together with doing homework and other extracurricular activities. School may be a necessity, but mental health should be taken into account with their sleep and how much they should be getting.

It is harder to separate teaching and doing work at school than at home. In an article by Harvard Magazine, it is “Difficult to separate where the effect of classroom teaching ends,” Vatterott writes, “and the effect of homework begins.” A senior, Luke Denahey, said, “I feel like some people who take a few AP classes and take extracurricular activities might have a harder time finding time to do homework at the end of their day.” It is a highly agreeable opinion among students that homework should be optional and those who want homework should find time on their own to do it. Students should be getting more than 8 hours of sleep, not 5 to 7 hours of sleep added on with the factor of doing homework, which is one of the causes of not getting enough sleep. Sleep is a big factor in a person’s well-being, closely correlated with their mental state. “People with insomnia, for example, may have a tenfold higher risk of developing depression than people who get a good night’s sleep” (Hopkins). Lack of sleep clearly affects people in multitudes of ways and should be considered more when assigning a certain amount of homework.

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Going to school is optional: Schools need to engage students to increase their lifetime opportunities

Subscribe to the center for economic security and opportunity newsletter, jing liu and jing liu assistant professor of education policy - university of maryland-college park @drjingliu susanna loeb susanna loeb professor and faculty director - scale initiative, stanford university's graduate school of education, founder and executive director - national student support accelerator.

October 27, 2016

• 10 min read

While just about all students miss school some days during their elementary and secondary years for occasional sickness and family needs, some students miss school far more often. One conservative estimate is that 10 percent of students miss at least 10 percent of school days each year. [i] On top of being counted as absent for the full day, many students skip classes even when they are officially in school. In fact, students are as likely to miss a class because they simply choose to skip than they are to miss because they are out for the day. [ii] As shown in Figure 1, students’ unexcused class absence rate, on days they attend at some point, doubles once they enter high school (at least in this urban school district). Moreover, unexcused class absences on days when students are in school explains almost all of the increase in total absences in high school.

Figure 1: Mean absence rates by grade

Note: Years 2007-08 to 2012-13. Rates average across all student-year-semester-class observations in a given grade. Unexcused or excused classes on part-day absence is defined as percentage of unexcused or excused absences from a class on those days when students are part-day absent. Unexcused or excused classes on full-day absence is defined as percentage of unexcused or excused absences from a class on those days when students are full-day absent. Source: Whitney, Camille R. & Liu, Jing (2016). “What we’re missing: A descriptive analysis of part-day absence in secondary school,” Working Paper. 

Missing school and skipping class is consequential. Using variation in attendance caused by inclement weather, one study estimated that each additional absence reduced math achievement by 0.05 standard deviations, suggesting that attendance can account for up to one-fourth of the achievement gap by income. [iii] A similar study using data on students in Philadelphia found that living farther from school increased absences and resulted in lower grade point averages and test scores. [iv]

So why do students, especially high school students miss so many classes? Clearly multiple factors are in play. Students can face challenges simply getting to school as they may rely on public transportation, have family responsibilities in the morning, or simply have difficulty waking up. Missing first period is more common than missing other classes (about 5 percent, compared to about 3 percent for 3 rd period, which is the lowest—see Figure 2), though missing the last period is almost as likely. [v] They may have friends who are not in school or the potential for jobs and the monetary benefits they bring.

Figure 2: Class absence rate by period (for one urban district)

Note: Includes only students in schools that have 6-8 total periods per day. Rates represent the percentage of class meetings on which student was marked absent that period, on days that student was marked tardy or present in at least one other class (i.e., part-days). Source: Whitney, Camille R. & Liu, Jing (2016). “What we’re missing: A descriptive analysis of part-day absence in secondary school,” Working Paper. 

School, in general, and specific classes, in particular, also can be unpleasant experiences for students. More than one in four (28 percent) U.S. students between the ages of 12 and 18 say they have been bullied at school. [vi] This bullying ranges from being made fun of to being threatened with harm to actual physical contact and it happens in classrooms as well as in hallways and bathrooms and locker rooms. [vii] It also has long-run negative consequences for students. [viii] Even without direct bullying, some classes can be painful experiences, with the work either far too easy or far too difficult or the instruction too tedious for engagement.

The great returns to education—and there are many, from earnings to health to civic engagement—are unlikely to compensate for poor day-to-day experiences for students. For quite a while we have known that teenagers discount the future far more than do older adults, or even young adults. [ix] That is, many teenagers are not willing to sacrifice their enjoyment of life today for future benefits. Part of schools providing high quality educational opportunities, is providing engaging classrooms that are enjoyable so that teens don’t have to make a tradeoff for future gains.

Schools can do this. Recent research shows that both schools and individual teachers can affect attendance. As one example, a number of anti-bullying programs have reduced student victimization in schools, [x] improving experiences for students. More generally, two recent working papers show that high school teachers vary considerably in how much they engage students and that these differences are seen both in the year the student is in the teachers’ class and for future years as well. [xi]

Kirabo Jackson’s research (2016) shows that 9 th grade teachers vary in how much they help their students improve behaviors as measured by a combination of grades, on-time grade progression, suspensions and full-day absences. In our own work, we distinguish teachers’ effects specifically on students’ daily, unexcused absences in the teachers’ classes. The benefits of measuring teachers’ effects on class absences instead of on a combination of full-day absences and other measures such as grade progression are both that class absences can be linked to a particular teacher where as full-day absences are likely affected by multiple teachers, and because the additional measures, such on-time grade progression, are affected by both academic achievement and engagement. By assessing teachers’ effects on class skipping, we more directly target student engagement. We also find meaningful variation across teachers.

Some teachers are far abler to engage students in class than others are. Moreover, these are consistent abilities for teachers. If a teacher is effective at engaging students in one year, he or she is likely to be good at engaging students in the next year and in the following years as well. In fact, teacher effectiveness at engagement (as measured by student class attendance) is at least as consistent across classes over time as teacher effectiveness at improving students’ math or English language arts skills. [xii]

Teachers that improve students’ test performance most are not necessarily the same teachers as those who improve students’ attendance. Effectiveness at test score improvement is positively correlated with effectiveness at attendance improvement. That is, on average, teachers who are better at one are slightly more likely to be better at the other, but the relationship is not strong. Many teachers who are good at improving achievement are not good at improving attendance and many teachers who are good at improving attendance are not good at improving achievement. Reaching students at risk of chronic absenteeism likely takes skills that not all teachers have or require behaviors that not all teachers have been willing to undertake. We don’t currently know what those skills or behaviors are.

These teacher effects on attendance have long-lasting, important consequences for students. Both our study and Jackson’s find that having more engaging teachers increases not only attendance in the year in which the student has the teacher but also improves students’ chances of completing high school (See Figure 3). Both studies find that engaging teachers are approximately as influential on high school completion as teachers who are highly effective at improving students’ test performance. We find that English teachers, in particular, greatly affect students’ educational attainment, both through their effects on student test performance and their effects on student engagement.

Figure 3: High school dropout rate as a function of  average teacher value-added to attendances in grades 7-9

Note: Data come from all 7th to 9th graders during school years 2002-03 through 2012-13 in the district we examine. We pool together all math and ELA classrooms. To construct this binned scatter graph, we first residualize dropping out rate using baseline student, class, and school level characteristics, which include lagged math and English scores, absence rates, suspension, and demographic composition; tests students took in both previous and current year interacted with grade; year fixed effects; and subject fixed effects. We also control for teachers’ value-added to achievement so that we are holding teachers’ capability of increasing test scores constant. Finally, we add back the unconditional mean of the y variable to facilitate interpretation. Source: Liu, Jing & Loeb, Susanna (2016). “Engaging Teachers: Measuring the Impact of Teachers on Student Attendance in Secondary School,” Working paper. 

Should we care about keeping students in school and in class? Yes. Even holding constant test performance, students with a high school degree are far better positioned for economic success than those without. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median weekly earnings of high school degree holders (with no more advanced education) is $678 compared to $493 for those without, while the relevant unemployment rates are 5.4 percent compared to 8.0 percent. [xiii] Moreover, recent research provides evidence that the returns to degrees has gone up relative to returns to skills. [xiv] In fact, this research finds that holding test scores constant, the benefits of having a high school degree doubled from the 1980s to the 2000s.

Keeping students in school and in classes matter…and we have policy levers to do so. Preliminary evidence shows, for example, that low-cost interventions informing parents if their children are missing school can reduce chronic absenteeism. [xv] More broadly, if some teachers can engage students in their classrooms, then others can as well. The same types of policies and practices that have supported the development of measures of teaching practice that improve math or English language arts skills, could be used to develop similar measures focused more directly on student engagement. The same types of policies that have led to improvements in teaching math and English—such as regular feedback and a common language for good instruction [xvi] —could lead to improvement in engagement. Moreover, by including attendance as an indicator under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states could motivate these improvements. We should learn how to engage students and that knowledge should be used to help teachers improve and to select teachers who are most effective in this domain for the positions in which they are most needed.

The authors did not receive financial support from any firm or person for this article or from any firm or person with a financial or political interest in this article. They are currently not an officer, director, or board member of any organization with an interest in this article.

[i] Balfanz, R., & Byrnes, V. (2012). Chronic Absenteeism: Summarizing What We Know From Nationally Available Data. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools. [ii] Whitney, Camille R. & Liu, Jing (2016). “What we’re missing: A descriptive analysis of part-day absence in secondary school,” Working Paper; Cortes, K. E., Bricker, J., & Rohlfs, C. (2012). The Role of Specific Subjects in Education Production Functions: Evidence from Morning Classes in Chicago Public High Schools. The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 12(1). Retrieved from http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/bejeap.2012.12.issue-1/1935-1682.2749/1935-1682.2749.xml . [iii] Goodman, Joshua (2014). “Flaking Out: Student Absences and Snow Days as Disruptions of Instructional Time” NBER Working Paper 20221. [iv] Gottfried, M. A. (2010). Evaluating the Relationship Between Student Attendance and Achievement in Urban Elementary and Middle Schools: An Instrumental Variables Approach. American Educational Research Journal 47(2): 434–465. [v] Whitney, Camille R. & Liu, Jing (2016). [vi] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 2011. [vii] Ibid. [viii] Eriksen, Tine Louise Mundbjerg, Nielsen, Helena Skyt & Simonsen, Marianne (2014). “Bullying in Elementary School.” Journal Human Resources 49(4): 839-871. [ix] Green, Leonard, Myerson, Joel, & Ostaszeski, Pawel (1999). “Discounting of delayed rewards across the life span: age differences in individual discounting functions,” Behavioral Processes 46(1): 89–96. [x] Ttofi, Maria M. & Farrington, David P. (2011). “Effectiveness of school-based programs to reduce bullying: a systematic and meta-analytic review.” Journal of Experimental Criminology 7(27). [xi] Jackson, Kirabo (2016). “What Do Test Scores Miss? The Importance of Teacher Effects on Non-Test Score Outcomes.” NBER Working Paper 22226; Liu, Jing, & Loeb, Susanna (2016). “Engaging Teachers: Measuring the Impact of Teachers on Student Attendance in Secondary School,” Working paper. [xii] Liu, Jing & Loeb, Susanna (2016). [xiii] http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm . Data from the Current Population Survey updated March, 2016. [xiv] Castex, Gonzalo & Dechter, Evgenia Kogan (2014). “The Changing Roles of Education and Ability in Wage Determination.” Journal of Labor Economics 32(4): 685-710. [xv] See draft paper: Rogers, Todd & Feller, Avi (Draft). Intervening through Influential Third Parties: Reducing Student Absences at Scale through Parents. [xvi] See Taylor, Eric S. and John H. Tyler. 2012. “The Effect of Evaluation on Teacher Performance.” American Economic Review 102(7): 3628-3651; Papay, John, Eric S. Taylor, John H. Tyler, and Mary Laski. “Learning Job Skills from Colleagues at Work: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Teacher Performance Data.” July 2015.

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All Homework in High School Should be Optional

Karli Applestein , Opinion Editor October 26, 2021

School has no shortage of setbacks. Boring classes, long lectures, irresponsible classmates, and so on. But homework is one aspect of school that is not just a nuisance but can actually be a pillar for stress. 

A typical day for a student is around 6-7 hours, and high school students are mounted with work practically from the moment they walk in the building. Class after class, work after work. The older you get, the more work you have and the harder it is to balance school work and other aspects of life. According to latimes.com , the average amount of homework each day for high school students is 3.5 hours per night, up to 17 hours a week. Driving to New York with a lot of traffic is around the same time it would take for one night of homework, and a flight from Las Vegas to California would take the same amount of time that it takes kids in high school to complete weekly homework assignments. 

This daily and weekly homework hurdle is a lot for us teens to handle. Personally, I find it incredibly hard to make priorities when I have my homework and my life outside of school. Both are important, and I end up getting very overwhelmed trying to balance them on the scale. 

Sometimes, I think that teachers who distribute homework don’t realize the weight it puts on us. College readiness is significantly prominent in our lives, and we are all looking for extra-curricular activities to add to our resumes, as well as fill our passions. With the heavy workload, it is difficult to honor our commitments to these activities.

Homework also takes a huge toll on our mental health. Growing up and having more responsibilities, there are many expectations from you when you are a teenager, and the hefty amount of homework is one of them. It can cause anxiety, panic, and even depression to many students. Usatoday.com states that homework can cause sleep loss, as well as mental and physical exhaustion.

Elementary school students don’t have nearly the same issues. Not having to worry about admissions boards watching their every move, most kids their age don´t worry about their future or what it entails. Given the fact that children in elementary school haven’t got much on their plates, they should be the ones given mandatory homework for at least 30 minutes a day.

It is also crucial that children have homework given to them because their memory is much slower than matured minds. On www.parentingscience.com , professionals remark that kids need repetition in order for things to stick into their brains. But with teenage minds, they go on to say that this is not necessarily required to maintain a strong understanding of the topic, proving that homework should not be assigned to high schoolers. 

Material outside the classroom can be helpful to some students, and the practice may be beneficial. But I don’t believe that everyone should be forced to learn and retain information that way. I think that homework should be an option for high school students who want the extra practice on whatever subject they struggle with, but it should not be required, as it only adds more stress and fear to many of our lives. 

Karli Applestein is a staff writer for The Cardinal's Nest.

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