Over the weekend, NBC nightly news had a segment titled The Homework Debate. How much is too much? Is it actually beneficial? It gave a very brief overview of two studies examining homework. One an Australian study, from the University of Sydney, found that the link between homework and achievement offered "very little benefit" to students in elementary and junior high. However, they did find that it did improve achievement at the 11th and 12th grade levels.
The other study, a British study found that homework was a benefit for all students. It found that students who spent 2-3 hours with homework, performed better in English, Math, and Science. I found it surprising that it was 2-3 hours in order to perform better. They went on to mention the 10 minute per grade level rule and no more than an hour at the 6th grade level. I have been telling my grade level students and parents that 20 minutes would be a fair amount of time to spend on homework. For older students it depended on the class and coursework they were enrolled in.
Educators seem to view homework as a way to practice lessons learned in class as well as to develop life long skills, those of time management and responsibility. Even though it was a brief clip, I thought it definitely hit a discussion that we were having in our learning community.
The Homework Debate
The other study, a British study found that homework was a benefit for all students. It found that students who spent 2-3 hours with homework, performed better in English, Math, and Science. I found it surprising that it was 2-3 hours in order to perform better. They went on to mention the 10 minute per grade level rule and no more than an hour at the 6th grade level. I have been telling my grade level students and parents that 20 minutes would be a fair amount of time to spend on homework. For older students it depended on the class and coursework they were enrolled in.
Educators seem to view homework as a way to practice lessons learned in class as well as to develop life long skills, those of time management and responsibility. Even though it was a brief clip, I thought it definitely hit a discussion that we were having in our learning community.
The Homework Debate
Rethinking Homework
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