Homework....can be an issue that teachers have to deal with especially at the middle school and high school level. How much to assign? What to assign? How to monitor homework? How to make homework meaningful? What if the kids don't do the homework? Is homework included in the student's grade? What if a student never turns in their homework, but does well on all their assessments?
It is time to take a look at homework again. There are many research studies on homework and the effectiveness on student achievement. Homework should not be just answering the questions at the end of the chapter.
Here are some key ideas for you to think about:
"There is no evidence that any amount of homework improves the academic performance of elementary students. There is only a moderate correlation between homework and achievement in middle school. Even in high school too much homework may diminish its effectiveness and becomes counterproductive." (Cooper, Harris, Jorgianne Civey and Erice A. Patall, "Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research 1987-2003." Review of Educational Research, 76, 2006, 1-62).
Students need feedback on their homework and they need it in a timely manner. Doing homework and then putting it in a bin in the classroom and receiving the homework back with a check mark on it serves NO purpose for student learning. That type of homework is simply making students comply rather than using homework as a learning or assessment tool. Design the homework so that you can provide meaningful feedback to the student, acknowledge student understanding and point out any issues that need reteaching.
Teachers need to develop homework that focuses on smaller pieces of learning so that students can practice the skills at a deeper level. How about homework developed around the instructional target that you are focusing on in the essential outcome of your unit? Having students practice more on focused concepts will increase learning. "Mastery requires focused practice over days or weeks. After only four practice session students reach a halfway point to mastery. It takes more than 24 more practice sessions before students reach 80% mastery."(Anderson, 1995; Newel & Rosenbloom, 1981).
How do you develop homework so that students will DO the homework? Homework should not be too easy or too hard, it needs to be at the appropriate level that ensures learning with some challenge. How can you design the homework so that it is relevant and meaningful and that the students see the benefit of the practice?
Look at your grading practices. How much does homework count in the quarter or semester grade? Think about the impact of one low homework grade on a student's total grade? Is the "grade" about doing the homework, or about the student's mastery of learning?
Happy Homework!!
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