November 18, 2016
Is Homework Really Necessary?
Within the U.S., there seems to be a perennial debate about the value of homework. On the one side, proponents of homework tout its ability to develop good study habits and increase both understanding and retention of the subject matter. On the other side, opponents say that today’s youth are inundated with homework at an early age to a point where it now blunts their social development and ability to participate in extracurricular activities.
Yet, the homework debate is not as simple as “to give homework or not to give homework.” The answer is to redefine homework and its goals. By understanding the value of homework, it’s possible to outline a suitable amount for students at just about every grade level. If homework is just seen as a way to keep students busy and promote certain habits, it may not be as necessary as some think. But if homework is viewed as central to the way students learn, then more homework – not less – may be the answer.
What’s needed is some general rule to reconcile these two equal, but opposite, views of homework. For example, Duke University professor Harris Cooper has come up with a simple way to think about homework that has become known as the “10-minute rule.” According to this guideline, students should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. Thus, a student in first grade would receive approximately 10 minutes of homework per night, while a student in the final year of high school (12th grade) would receive 120 minutes, or 2 hours, of homework a night.
This standard has been approved by both the National Educational Association and the National Parent Teacher Association – and for good reason. It enables parents to see immediately if their children are receiving too much homework (which might lead to boredom or burnout), or too little homework (which might lead to poor study habits or lack of subject matter expertise). The 10-minute rule is easy to monitor and measure.
While this is a remarkably flexible guideline that covers a wide range of ages, it does not take into account the increased pressure placed on students within certain school districts to “get into the right college.” In some studies, it has been shown that students in higher socioeconomic level school districts may spend considerably more than two hours a night on homework in order to ensure that they have high enough grades to get into the higher educational institution of their choice. Students from lower socioeconomic level school districts may lack the resources -such as a computer a home – to devote to so much homework. Moreover, these same students may need to work part-time to support their family, and simply cannot commit to homework.
That’s why there has been a sea change in how people think about homework that has been brought about by technology. The notion of the “flipped classroom,” for example, suggests that homework should be something that takes place during school hours, rather than something done at night. But again, this presupposes that all students have access to online resources, 7 days a week.
The case for homework has not yet been decided. We’ve progressed past the point of simple binary decision of whether to require it or not. But what’s needed is further work on defining the role of homework within the modern U.S. educational system to determine the optimal amount for each student.
