SPEAKOUT:
Does K-5 homework mean higher test scores?
(From American Teacher, April 1999)

Yes
Carol Huntsinger:
It builds skills--without undue stress

Our four-year longitudinal study of 80 families (40 Chinese-American, 40 European-American) indicates clearly that homework given in the preschool and primary grades reaps long-term benefits.

Children whose parents had given them homework in the early years and who had taught them in more formal ways performed significantly better in mathematics and English vocabulary in third and fourth grades than those children who were not given homework and whose parents relied on informal methods to teach them.

Contrary to the view that homework causes undue stress on young children, we might expect well-chosen homework to reduce stress and facilitate learning. For example, when children commit the addition, subtraction and multiplication facts to memory early, calculation becomes automatic. When faced with higher-level problems, children who have the math facts "down cold" expend less mental effort on calculation and devote more mental effort to solving the problem.

Our study showed that children who did considerable homework were more academically competent than, and as psychologically well adjusted as, children who did little or no homework in the early grades. It appears that children benefit from more practice on basic skills outside school.

Another interesting outcome of our study was a fuller understanding of Chinese-American parents' perspective on homework. They tend not to create a dichotomy between work and play. They believe that memorization and practice are essential to learning. They believe that teaching their children is an important part of the parental role. Many of the Chinese-American parents in our study believe that schools in the United States do not give enough homework to children in the primary grades. They are puzzled when American parents complain about homework to school officials at parent meetings. Rather than speak out, they quietly construct homework.

Coming from a culture that emphasizes the importance of hard work in achievement, Chinese-American parents believe that the homework habit needs to be established early. They give their children homework beginning in preschool. Chinese-American families view homework time as "family time." Often the whole family sits around the dining table and does homework together. The youngest children in the family often request homework from their parents so they can participate with their older siblings. Many parents assign their children regular summer homework. That homework not only builds their children's foundation skills and competencies but also builds the discipline, concentration and self-motivation required for academic endeavors.

Carol S. Huntsinger, is a professor of education and psychology at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Ill.

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No
Harris Cooper:
More homework doesn't mean higher scores

All students should do homework. The amount and type of homework they do should depend on their developmental level and the quality of their support at home. When it comes to elementary school students, however, homework has little to do with immediate achievement gains on tests.

Research involving thousands of students shows little correlation between homework and test scores in elementary school. The relationship grows positive and strong in secondary school. Why might this be so? First, young children who are struggling in school probably take longer to finish assignments. Second, young children have limited ability to keep their attention focused. The distractions at home entice them away from the books spread out on the kitchen table. Third, young children haven't yet learned good study skills. They don't know how to apportion their time between easy and hard tasks or how to engage in effective self-testing.

The National PTA and the NEA have a parent guide called "Helping your Student Get the Most Out of Homework." It states, "Most educators agree that for children in grades K-2, homework is most effective when it does not exceed 10-20 minutes each day; older children, in grades 3-6, can handle 30-60 minutes a day...." The Department of Education also has a guide, distributed by the AFT and other education organizations, that includes similar recommendations. These recommendations are consistent with the conclusions reached by my combined analyses of dozens of studies. If educators and parents expect homework far out of line with these recommendations to result in big gains in test scores, they are likely to be disappointed.

Homework can have many beneficial effects on young children. It can help them develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help children recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. Homework can give parents an opportunity to see what's going on in school and express positive attitudes toward achievement.

But homework can also have negative effects. It can lead to boredom with schoolwork, since all activities remain interesting only for so long. Homework can deny children access to leisure activities that also teach important life skills. Parents can get too involved in homework. They can confuse children by using different instructional techniques from the teacher.

The question for educators and parents is not which list of effects, the positive or negative, is correct. Any of these effects can happen. To avoid the negative effects, homework policies should give individual schools and teachers some flexibility to take into account the unique needs and circumstances of their students. Teachers should avoid the extremes.