Homework matters

No matter which book or study you read, the main arguments against home-based assignments seem to revolve around the following ideas: It encroaches on important family time at home. Parents and researchers alike have noted that homework cuts down on the already limited time that parents have to spend with their children.

On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. 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.

In America’s past, many women stayed home to tend to the kids. But times have certainly changed, with many non-traditional one-parent households, and many nuclear families now consisting of two-parent earners both with jobs outside the home. Many homework assignments are checked for completion and not accuracy.

As part of the diet of homework, it is lovely to include tasks that explore family history or include parents in some way. Teachers do share the responsibility for promoting their school in the ‘parental choice’ market place and, like it or not, a reputation for being soft or inconsistent on homework can be the kiss of death.