What's the Right Amount of Homework?

By Judy Molland

A Look at the Research

In the face of conflicting opinions about the value of homework, parents may find it helpful to learn what the most recent research has to say about the connection between homework and effective education.

Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Missouri, has reviewed more than 100 studies on the effectiveness of homework. In general, he has found that the benefits of doing homework seem to depend on the student’s grade level.

In high school, students who regularly do homework outperform those who do not, as measured by standardized tests and grades. In middle school, homework is half as effective, and in elementary school it has no apparent measurable effect on achievement.

“However, we support assigning homework to younger elementary-school children due to its potential long-term developmental impact,” Cooper says. “It helps elementary students develop proper study skills which, in turn, influence grades.”

How Much?

Experts from both camps agree that it’s important for teachers to ensure that homework assignments are an appropriate length for the developmental level of their students. The National Education Association along with the national PTA suggests adding 10 minutes of homework per night incrementally with each grade level, as a general rule of thumb. Thus, a first-grader gets a total of 10 minutes, a second-grader 20 minutes, a third-grader 30 minutes, and so on, not to exceed two hours per night total in high school. For high school Spanish teacher Michael Bolyog, homework is designed to reinforce what happens in the classroom, but should never be used to supplant class work. He sees the teacher’s role as similar to that of a sports coach: The player can go out and practice on his own for hour after hour, but the best learning occurs when the coach is right there with him, to immediately correct any flaws. Therefore, more than 30 minutes of homework per class may be an exercise in futility because the student can feel overwhelmed by the quantity of work, get distracted or bored, and end up giving it a halfhearted effort just to get it done.