{"id":275,"date":"2014-01-15T16:18:33","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T21:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/?p=275"},"modified":"2015-11-10T08:22:22","modified_gmt":"2015-11-10T14:22:22","slug":"elementary-school-students-do-not-require-homework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.mlc-wels.edu\/wels-educator\/2014\/01\/15\/elementary-school-students-do-not-require-homework\/","title":{"rendered":"Elementary School Students Do Not Require Homework"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Rebecca Berger<\/em><\/p>\n

Homework assigned by teachers is an imposition on family time that has not been proven to benefit elementary school (kindergarten through grade 5) students. Educators in the United States have been researching homework for over 80 years without arriving at definitive conclusions about its purpose or efficacy.<\/p>\n

Homework is a term applied to many activities that take place outside of school. Personal and family educational activities like music lessons and church functions are not termed homework, while activities intended to supplement schoolwork, such as tutoring programs, may be referred to as homework. Harrison Cooper, a preeminent homework scholar, defines homework as \u201ctasks assigned to students by schoolteachers that are meant to be carried out during non-school hours\u201d (Homework, p. 7, as cited by Cooper & Valentine, 2001). This definition is used widely by researchers (Cooper & Valentine, 2001; Trautwein & K\u00f6ller, 2003; Lacina-Gifford & Gifford, 2004; Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001). For purposes of examining the efficacy of homework, I used Cooper’s definition.<\/p>\n

Most teachers and parents believe that homework increases student achievement, and there is research evidence to support this belief (Cooper & Valentine, 2001), but a positive correlation between time spent on homework and increases in individual student achievement has not been confirmed (Trautwein & K\u00f6ller, 2003). A disaggregation of data on homework time and achievement by grade levels revealed a near zero correlation for students in grades 3-5, and a weak (r = .07) correlation for grades 5-9 (Cooper & Valentine, 2001). Further research is needed to investigate factors other than time spent on homework that would cause it to effect change in achievement (Warton, 2001).<\/p>\n

Homework serves as a bridge between home and school, between teachers and parents (Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001). The schoolwork children do at home may show parents that learning is happening at school (Lacina-Gifford & Gifford, 2004) and provide an opportunity for parent-child interaction (Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001). Some parents may enjoy supervising their children\u2019s successful completion of homework, but others feel frustrated that teachers or their children expect them to re-teach material that should have been learned during the school day. Parent-teacher communication as well as parent-child interaction should be accomplished by means other than homework. Putting children in the position of fulfilling the needs of adults puts them at risk of developing negative attitudes about homework and schooling in general (Hoover-Dempsey, Battiato, Walker, Reed, DeJong, & Jones, 2001).<\/p>\n

A deciding factor against the use of homework in elementary school is its effect on student motivation. Proponents of homework as a means of teaching personal responsibility should be aware of the cost involved in the practice. In their study of third graders doing homework, Corno and Xu (2004) propose that homework is the \u201cjob of childhood\u201d (p. 227) and present homework responsibilities as analogous to adult jobs. The weakness of their case is that children are not miniature adults, and, as the authors admit, \u201cRepeated negative experiences can . . . prematurely burn them out\u201d (Corno & Xu, 2004, p. 232). Children who are developing autonomy as students need instruction and supervision that are supportive and not intrusive or coercive. Ginsberg and Bronstein found that as parental involvement in regulating their children\u2019s homework increased, students\u2019 dependence on external motivators increased, and their academic progress decreased (1993, pp.1468-1469). Students who do work to please parents or teachers, or, even worse, to avoid punishment, rather than to satisfy an intrinsic desire to learn, are not developing self-regulation or autonomy. They are more likely developing skills for underachievement (Ginsberg & Bronstein, 1993; Katz, Kaplan, & Gueta, 2010; Bembenutty, 2011).<\/p>\n

There are high stakes involved when choosing to use homework as a tool in developing personal responsibility. Teachers ought to promote autonomy by providing supervised independent study in school and allow parents to teach their children to be responsible through experiences that are the purview of the family.<\/p>\n

Homework is securely entrenched in American schooling practices, and its potential to bolster student achievement rarely is questioned by parents, teachers, or students. Like many practices in education, its popularity waxes and wanes with the prevailing political and economic climate (Kralovec & Buell, 2000). It is unlikely that American schools and parents will abandon homework, but at the elementary school level, teachers ought to give thoughtful, in-depth attention to this issue. Homework is neither necessary nor helpful in the schooling of kindergarten to grade 5 students.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Berger, MS Ed, is the director of Wisconsin Center for Gifted Learners in Milwaukee WI. \u00a0She received both her BS and MS from Martin Luther College and has served as a teacher in WELS schools.<\/em><\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

Bembenutty, H. (2011). Meaningful and maladaptive homework practices: The role of \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 self-efficacy and self-regulation. Journal of Advanced Academics, 22(3), 448-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 473.<\/p>\n

Cooper, H., & Valentine, J. C. (2001). Using research to answer practical questions \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 about \u00a0 homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 143-153.<\/p>\n

Corno, L., & Xu, J. (2004). Homework as the job of childhood. Theory Into Practice, 43 \u00a0 (3), 227-233.<\/p>\n

Epstein, J. L., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers\u2019 roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 181-193.<\/p>\n

Ginsburg, G. S., & Bronstein, P. (1993). Family factors related to children\u2019s \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 intrinsic\/extrinsic motivational orientation and academic performance. Child \u00a0 Development, 64(5), 1461-1474. doi: 10.1111\/1467-8624.ep9402220355<\/p>\n

Hoover-Dempsey, K. V.,\u00a0 Battiato, A. C.,\u00a0 Walker, J. M. T., Reed, R. P.; DeJong, J. M., \u00a0\u00a0 & Jones, K. P. (2001). Parental involvement in homework. Educational \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Psychologist, 36(3), 195-209.<\/p>\n

Katz, I., Kaplan, A., & Gueta, G. (2010). Students\u2019 needs, teachers\u2019 support, and motivation for doing homework: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Experimental \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Education, 78(2), 246-267. doi:10.1080\/00220970903292868<\/p>\n

Kralovac, E., & Buell, J. (2000). The end of homework: How homework disrupts families, overburdens children, and limits learning. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.<\/p>\n

Lacina-Gifford, L. J., & Gifford, R. B. (2004). Putting an end to the battle over \u00a0\u00a0 homework. Education, 125(2), 279-281.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 8<\/p>\n

Trautwein, U., & K\u00f6ller, O. (2003). The relationship between homework and \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 achievement: Still much of a mystery. Educational Psychology Review, 15(2), \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 115-144.<\/p>\n

Warton, P. M. (2001). The forgotten voices in homework: Views of students. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 155-165.<\/p>\n

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