1. HOMEWORKDOES IT INCREASE STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT?
By: Carmen Serrano
Social Studies, JFK
Teacher

2. • FOR YEARS AMERICANS HAVE BEEN
CONCERNED ABOUT FALLING BEHIND
IN EDUCATION AND THEY MAY HAVE
BEEN CORRECT IN DOING SO.

3. • IN A RECENT REPORT BY
THE ANNIE E. CASEY
FOUNDATION, ONE OUT
OF THREE STUDENTS
SCORED "BELOW BASIC"
ON THE 2009 NATIONAL
ASSESSMENT OF
EDUCATION PROGRESS
(NAEP) READING TEST.
EVEN MORE ALARMING
IS THE FACT THAT MORE
THAN 67 PERCENT OF
ALL US FOURTH
GRADERS SCORED
"BELOW PROFICIENT,"

4. • AMERICAN STUDENTS RANKED 25TH IN
MATH, 17TH IN SCIENCE AND 14TH IN
READING.
• THE UNITED STATES PLACES 17TH IN THE
DEVELOPED WORLD FOR
EDUCATION, ACCORDING TO A GLOBAL REPORT BY
EDUCATION FIRM PEARSON (2007).

5. WHY HOMEWORK HAS BECOME
SO CONTROVERSIAL?
• SOVIET UNION LAUNCHED SPUTNIK CAUSED THE UNITED
STATES TO FOCUS ON EDUCATION, ESPECIALLY IN THE
AREAS OF SCIENCE AND MATH (NELSON 2007).
• A NATION AT RISK WAS PUBLISHED, AND IT CRITICIZED
UNITED STATES EDUCATION, CALLING IT MEDIOCRE (U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, 1983).
• NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LEGISLATION WAS IMPLEMENTED
TO SECURE ALL CHILDREN’S EDUCATION (PL 107-110,
2001).

6. • HOMEWORK HAS BECOME A COMMON AND
WELL-KNOWN STUDENT DAILY ROUTINE
(COOPER, ROBINSON, & PATALL, 2006).

7. • DOES HOMEWORK REALLY HELP STUDENTS
INCREASE THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE?
• DO STUDIES SHOW A LINK BETWEEN HOMEWORK
AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT?
• THERE IS VERY LITTLE CORRELATION BETWEEN
HOMEWORK AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
(COOPER, 2006).
• KOHN (2006) ARGUES THAT NONE OF THE
RESEARCH SHOWS A CONNECTION BETWEEN
HOMEWORK AND INDEPENDENT THINKING.
(KOHN, 2006).

8. • SO WHY DO TEACHERS CONTINUE TO
GIVE HOMEWORK?

9. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
• COLLECTING HOMEWORK BECAME FRUSTRATING!!!!
• IS HOMEWORK A MAJOR COMPONENT OF STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT?
• AM I FAILING TO PROMOTE HIGH ACADEMIC STANDARDS BY
NOT GIVING HOMEWORK?
• WILL ASSIGNING HOMEWORK HELP THEM UNDERSTAND THE
CONCEPT BETTER?
• IS MY IMPLEMENTATION OF HOMEWORK CORRECT? AM I
ASSIGNING THE RIGHT WORK?
• DOES HOMEWORK HELP INCREASE THEIR CRITICAL
THINKING SKILL?

10. • THE PURPOSE OF THIS ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT IS
TO IMPROVE MY EDUCATIONAL PRACTICES AND
DETERMINE IF USING HOMEWORK BENEFITS STUDENT
LEARNING.
• TO DETERMINE IF ASSESSMENT RESULTS ARE
SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT AMONG STUDENTS WHO
WERE GIVEN HOMEWORK AND STUDENTS WHO WERE
NOT GIVEN HOMEWORK.
• THE POTENTIAL OF LEADING TO PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES ON HOMEWORK
IMPLEMENTATION.

11. RESEARCH QUESTION
• 1. WHAT ARE THE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS CONCERNING
HOMEWORK?
• 2. HOW DOES HOMEWORK IMPACT STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT?

12. SIGNIFICANCE
• THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS STUDY IS TO GAIN INSIGHT AS
TO WHETHER HOMEWORK ACTUALLY HELPS INCREASE
STUDENT LEARNING.
• HOMEWORK CONTRIBUTES TO THE CORPORATE STYLE
AND COMPETITIVE CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES
(KRALOVEC AND BUELL, 2000)

13. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF
HOMEWORK?
• BUTLER (1987) STATES THAT HOMEWORK SHOULD BE
ACTIVITIES THAT REINFORCE LEARNING, PROVIDE PRACTICE,
AND ALLOW STUDENTS TO APPLY NEW LEARNED SKILLS.
• COOPER (2007) DEFINES HOMEWORK AS "TASKS ASSIGNED
TO STUDENTS BY SCHOOL TEACHERS THAT ARE INTENDED
TO BE CARRIED OUT DURING NON-SCHOOL HOURS” (P. 4).
• HOMEWORK SHOULD BE FUN, AND RELATED TO LIFE SKILLS
(KOHN, 2006)
• HOMEWORK HELPS STUDENTS DEVELOP SELF-DISCIPLINE,
RESPONSIBILITY, AND GOOD HABITS AND ATTITUDES (PAULU,
1995).

14. PERCEPTION OF HOMEWORK
• MORE THAN 80% OF TEACHERS
AND 77% OF STUDENTS AFFIRMED
THAT HOMEWORK IS VERY
IMPORTANT TO THEM;
APPROXIMATELY 90% OF
TEACHERS AND PARENTS AND 69%
OF STUDENTS BELIEVED THAT
HOMEWORK HELPED STUDENTS
LEARN MORE IN SCHOOL (MARKOW,
KIM, AND LIEBMAN 2007)
• ONLY 10% OF PARENTS BELIEVED
THAT THEIR CHILDREN HAD TOO
MUCH, WHILE 25% BELIEVED THEY
HAD TOO LITTLE, AND 64% OF
PARENTS BELIEVED THEIR
CHILDREN HAD ABOUT THE RIGHT
AMOUNT OF HOMEWORK (GILL &

15. LITERATURE REVIEW
ADVANTAGE OF HOMEWORK
• HOMEWORK INCREASES LEARNING
AND, THEREFORE, SHOULD BE
CONTINUED AND MODIFIED FOR
IMPROVEMENT WHEN NECESSARY
(MARZANO & PICKERING, 2007).
•
• HOMEWORK ENHANCES CLASSROOM
INSTRUCTION, CONNECTS FUTURE
LESSONS, BOOSTS FAMILY
RELATIONSHIPS, AND ADDS TO THE
STUDENT’S INTEREST IN LEARNING
(ALLEMAN, 2010).

16. ADVANTAGE OF HOMEWORK
• STUDENTS REMEMBER ONLY 50% OF THE INFORMATION. THUS,
HOMEWORK WILL REINFORCE OR HELP STUDENTS APPLY THAT
INFORMATION (KURUTS, 2006).
• THERE IS A POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AMOUNT OF
HOMEWORK GIVEN AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT. (BEMPECHAT,
2004)
• SINCE 1962, OUT OF 20 STUDIES DONE, 14 ARE PRO-HOMEWORK ;
OUT OF 50 STUDIES, 43 SHOWED STUDENTS WHO DID THEIR
HOMEWORK IMPROVED IN THEIR ACHIEVEMENT (COOPER, 2000).
• ALSO NOTED THAT STUDENTS WHO DO HOMEWORK WILL
OUTPERFORM STUDENTS WHO DO NOT DO HOMEWORK BY 69%
ON A STANDARDIZED TEST. COOPER (2000)
• ALSO SHOWS THAT THE POSITIVE CORRELATION IS MUCH
STRONGER FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS THAN ELEMENTARY
STUDENTS (COOPER, 2006)

17. • HOMEWORK COMPLETION SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCES
STUDENT’S SELF-REGULATORY BEHAVIOR AND
MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS, AND THAT HOMEWORK
IMPROVES STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND INSTILLS
RESPONSIBILITY TOWARDS THEIR ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT (BEMBENUTTY, 2009)
• HOMEWORK FOSTERS SELF-REGULATION SKILLS, IT
ALLOWS STUDENTS TO PRACTICE BEHAVIOR SUCH AS
PLANNING, ORGANIZATION, OVERCOMING OBSTACLES,
PERSISTENCE AND STAYING ON TASK (XU, M., BENSON,
S.N.K., MUDREY-CAMINO, R., & STEINER, R. P., 2010)

18. • DUKE UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS HAVE REVIEWED MORE
THAN 60 RESEARCH STUDIES ON HOMEWORK BETWEEN
1987 AND 2003 AND CONCLUDED THAT HOMEWORK DOES
HAVE A POSITIVE EFFECT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.
• DURHAM, N.C. 2013, DUKE UNIVERSITY

19. LITERATURE REVIEW
DISADVANTAGE OF HOMEWORK
• RECENTLY, HOMEWORK HAS BECOME “A
SOURCE OF COMPLAINT AND FRICTION
BETWEEN HOME AND SCHOOL MORE
OFTEN THAN OTHER TEACHING
ACTIVITIES” (COOPER, 2001 P. IX).
• TEACHERS LACK THE SKILLS TO DESIGN
HOMEWORK THAT ACTUALLY BENEFITS
THE STUDENT’S LEARNING (COOPER,
2007).
• REVIEW OF 60 STUDIES NOTED THAT
TOO MUCH HOMEWORK MAY REDUCE
THE EFFECT OF HOMEWORK OR MAY
EVEN BECOME A HINDRANCE TO
STUDENT LEARNING (COOPER, 2007)

20. LITERATURE REVIEW
DISADVANTAGE OF HOMEWORK
• IF THERE IS A CORRELATION BETWEEN
HOMEWORK AND ACHIEVEMENT, IT IS NOT
SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY THAT
CONCLUSION AND THAT SEVERAL FACTORS
SURROUNDING HOMEWORK AND
ACHIEVEMENT NEED TO BE CONSIDERED
(KOHN, 2006)
• HOMEWORK SEEMS TO BE TAKING OVER SOME
OF THE TIME MEANT TO BE FOR
SOCIALIZATION. (KOHN, 2006).
• FOUND CONTRADICTING RESEARCH
STUDIES—THAT SHOWED HOMEWORK DOES
BENEFIT LEARNING WHILE OTHER
RESEARCHERS ARGUED THAT IT DOES NOT

21. DISADVANTAGE OF HOMEWORK
• 4 OUT OF 10 PARENTS POLLED BELIEVED THAT
MOST OF THE HOMEWORK GIVEN WAS MERELY
BUSYWORK (PAUL, 2011)
• TOO MUCH HOMEWORK CAN BE HARMFUL TO A
CHILD’S HEALTH AND FAMILY TIME (BENNET &
KALISH 2006, P. 53).
• CAUTIONED TEACHERS NOT TO GIVE TOO MUCH
HOMEWORK BECAUSE THIS MAY DIMINISH ITS’
EFFECTIVENESS OR EVEN BECOME
COUNTERPRODUCTIVE (COOPER, ROBINSON, AND
PATALL, (2006)
• HOMEWORK SHOULD NOT BE GIVEN TOO OFTEN,
BUT WHEN IT IS GIVEN, THEN IT SHOULD BE
REALISTIC IN LENGTH AND THE DIFFICULTY
SHOULD BE BASED ON STUDENTS’ SKILL LEVEL.(
GOOD AND BROPHY ,2003)

22. • CLAIM THAT HOMEWORK CAN BE HARMFUL TO STUDENT’S
WELL-BEING WHEN TEACHERS ARE NOT TRAINED IN HOW
TO ASSIGN HOMEWORK. THE AUTHORS RECOMMEND
REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF HOMEWORK GIVEN,
DESIGNING MORE VALUABLE ASSIGNMENTS, AND
AVOIDING GIVING HOMEWORK DURING HOLIDAYS OR
BREAKS (BENNET AND KALISH, 2006)

23. • HOMEWORK IS “FORCED LABOR.” TEACHERS SHOULD BE
ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING INSIDE THE CLASSROOM
(SCHNURMACHER, 2012).
• PRINCIPAL BANNED HOMEWORK IN HIS SCHOOL AND
NOTED THAT EXCELLENT TEACHING DOES NOT REQUIRED
HOURS OF HOMEWORK (NELSON, 2007).

24. • REPORTED THAT ONE QUARTER OF STUDENTS FINISH
HOMEWORK ONLY SOMETIMES, RARELY, OR NEVER
(MARKOW ET AL. (2007)

25. • CONDUCTED A STUDY ON ALTERNATIVE HIGH SCHOOLS
AND WERE AMAZED TO DISCOVER THAT HOMEWORK WAS
ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS THAT CAUSED
STUDENTS TO DROP OUT OF SCHOOL. (KRALOVEC AND
BUELL’S, 2000)
• SUGGEST THAT POLICYMAKERS SHOULD LOOK INTO THE
QUALITY OF HOMEWORK BEING ASSIGNED IN ORDER TO
MAKE HOMEWORK PRACTICES EFFECTIVE (BAKER AND LE
TENDRE, 2005)

26. • COOPER ET. AL., (2006) NOTE THAT SINCE HOMEWORK
HAS BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES, A
NEED FOR CONTINUED RESEARCH IS NECESSARY.

27. METHODOLOGY• RESEARCH SETTING
• THIS STUDY WILL TAKE PLACE AT A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL IN SCHOOL
YEAR 2013-2014.
• THE SCHOOL USES A BLOCK SCHEDULE FORMAT WITH ALTERNATING
PERIODS EACH DAY. STUDENTS TAKE THREE 100-MINUTES CLASSES PER
DAY.
• THE PARTICIPANTS OF THIS STUDY WILL BE STUDENTS IN MY U. S.
HISTORY CLASS (N=130).
• THE CLASSES CHOSEN FOR THE STUDY WILL BE CALLED CLASS A AND
CLASS B. CLASS A WILL BE PERIOD 1 AND 3, WHILE CLASS B WILL BE
PERIOD 2, 4, AND 6. CLASS A WILL BE NOT BE GIVEN HOMEWORK AND
CLASS B WILL BE GIVEN HOMEWORK.
• CONSENT FORMS WILL BE DISTRIBUTED FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS
TO SIGN. THE STUDENTS WHO RETURN THE CONSENT FORMED WITH
SIGNATURES WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY.

28. • INTERVENTION
• DAY’S LESSONS USING LECTURES AND POWER POINT
PRESENTATIONS
• GROUP B WILL RECEIVE HOMEWORK
• ALL GROUPS WILL RECEIVE QUIZZES

29. • DATA COLLECTION
• I WILL USE MY GRADE BOOK AS ONE FORM OF COLLECTING
MY DATA.
• I WILL SURVEY STUDENTS AT THE END OF THE PROJECT

30. THANK YOU!

32. • COOPER POINTED OUT THAT THERE ARE LIMITATIONS TO
CURRENT RESEARCH ON HOMEWORK. FOR INSTANCE,
LITTLE RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE TO ASSESS WHETHER
A STUDENT'S RACE, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS OR ABILITY
LEVEL AFFECTS THE IMPORTANCE OF HOMEWORK IN HIS
OR HER ACHIEVEMENT.

33. • HOMEWORK 'BRIDGES THE GAP BETWEEN LEARNING AT
SCHOOL AND LEARNING AT HOME' AND SHOULD THEREFORE
BE CONSISTENT WITH AND CONNECTED TO THE LEARNING
EXPERIENCES BEING PROVIDED IN THE CLASSROOM. AS
WELL AS EMPHASIZING CURRICULUM RELEVANCE, SCHOOL
HOMEWORK POLICIES SHOULD ENSURE THAT HOMEWORK
• IS APPROPRIATE FOR EACH STUDENT'S AGE AND ABILITY
• TAKES INTO ACCOUNT STUDENTS' OTHER COMMITMENTS,
SUCH AS SPORT, PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT AND HOME
RESPONSIBILITIES
• TAKES INTO ACCOUNT TECHNOLOGY SUCH AS EMAIL AND
THE INTERNET SO THAT STUDENTS WITHOUT ACCESS ARE
NOT DISADVANTAGED.