Homework helpful or not

Homework helpful or not

Sep 13,  · In support of the view of homework as helpful, many educators stress that specifically aligning homework to the learning task is part of the strategy for building understanding. The website Focus on Effectiveness cites several studies showing that in elementary school, homework helps build learning and study habits (Cooper, ; Cooper, Lindsay, Nye, & Greathouse, ; Gorges & Elliot, Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins Jan 03,  · Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn’t do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign Feb 19,  · Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific blogger.comted Reading Time: 9 mins

The Pros and Cons: Should Students Have Homework?

But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework. Inhomework helpful or not, a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students—and at least some of their parents—by announcing she would no longer assign homework. Many other elementary schools seem to have quietly adopted similar policies.

And psychologists have identified a homework helpful or not of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes.

Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material. One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework, homework helpful or not. Even if teachers do manage to homework helpful or not effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers—for example, standardized reading test scores.

Those tests are designed to measure general reading comprehension skills, not to assess how much students have learned in specific classes.

Good homework assignments might have helped a student learn a lot about, say, Ancient Egypt. The research relied on by those who oppose homework has actually found it has a modest positive effect at the middle and high school levels—just not in elementary school.

Homework helpful or not on those distinctions could be illuminating. A study that looked specifically at math homeworkfor example, found it boosted achievement more in elementary school than in middle school—just the opposite of the findings on homework in general, homework helpful or not.

That seems to run counter to another frequent objection to homework, which is that it privileges kids who are already advantaged. While those things may be true, not assigning homework—or assigning ineffective homework—can end up privileging advantaged students even more.

Another argument against homework is that it causes students to feel overburdened and stressed. I discovered this myself when trying to tutor students in writing at a high-poverty high school. If and when disadvantaged students get to college, their relative lack of study skills and good homework habits can present a serious handicap. After noticing that black and Hispanic students were failing her course in disproportionate numbers, a professor at the University of North Carolina decided to make some changesincluding giving homework assignments that required students to quiz themselves without consulting their notes.

Performance improved across the board, but especially for students of color and the disadvantaged. The gap between black and white students was cut in half, and the gaps between Hispanic and white students—along with that between first-generation college students and others—closed completely.

Some argue that young children just need time to chill after a long day at school. That leaves plenty of time for chilling, and even brief assignments could have a significant impact if they were well-designed. But a fundamental problem with homework at the elementary level has to do with the curriculum, which—partly because of standardized testing— has narrowed to reading and math.

Social studies and science have been marginalized or eliminated, especially in schools where test scores are low. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Nov 24,pm EST, homework helpful or not. Nov 24,am EST. Nov 23,pm EST. Edit Story. Jan 3,pm EST.

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Is Homework Necessary?

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Does Homework Really Help Students Learn? | Bostonia | Boston University

Sep 13,  · In support of the view of homework as helpful, many educators stress that specifically aligning homework to the learning task is part of the strategy for building understanding. The website Focus on Effectiveness cites several studies showing that in elementary school, homework helps build learning and study habits (Cooper, ; Cooper, Lindsay, Nye, & Greathouse, ; Gorges & Elliot, Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins Feb 19,  · Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific blogger.comted Reading Time: 9 mins Jan 03,  · Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn’t do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign