Homework: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

What our homework practices reveal about our beliefs and is it congruent with the research?

Vision 2020 Summer Conference

Oklahoma City, OklahomaJuly 9-11, 2013

Rick Herrig, Ed.S.Educational ConsultantHerrig Enterprises Inc.

Email: herriginc@gmail.com Follow on Twitter: Rick Herrig@RickHerrig

IF homework positively impacts student achievement then we need to...

Examine our attitudes about homework and the related research;

Examine our homework practices;Examine the latest homework and brain

research findings as they relates to learning; and

Purposefully design learning activities including homework.

IF homework doesn’t positively impact student achievement then we need to...

Let’s examine our attitudes and practices first...

What are our group norms?

All session participants are expected to participate:

4 Corner Statement 14 Corner Statement 2In the Real WorldIn my class3 Reading Assignments and Short Answer Questions

Total time allocated for activities: 20 minutes

So who’s saying what about research...

The most oft-cited education researchers are Professor Harris Cooper, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and Dr. Robert Marzano, of theMarzano Research Laboratory in Centennial, Colorado

Leading brain researchers and authors frequently cited include Dr. David A. Sousa, Florida, and Eric Jensen, California

Other notable contributors to the homework debate include: Dr. Cathy Vatterott, UM-St. Louis, Alfie Kohn, Massachusetts, Rick Wormeli, Virginia, and Dr. Jerry Valentine, UM-Columbia

“Homework research is especially problematic because we’re attempting to study the effect of something that happens out of our sight and out of our control.”

- Vatterott, Rethinking Homework, 2009, p.75

Tracing studies that date back to 1897 reviewers and researchers claimed conflicting results with regard to homework and its impact on student achievement.

1989 – Harris Cooper’s meta-analysis of the research

17 research reports, 48 comparisons between students who did and did not receive homework – 70% of those found homework was associated with higher achievement.

Additional reviews to determine the correlation of test scores and how much homework students revealed 43 of 50 correlations were positive but accounted for less than 4% of differences in students’ scores.

The two reviews combined involved approximately 180 studies

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Harris Cooper’s findings more closely examined...

Does being assigned homework improve achievement?

6 studies, 7 samples, about 500 students in 25 classrooms (‘87-’03) Grades 3-5, 9-12, 9 measurement comparisons – 7 unit tests All 7 unit test comparisons showed students who did homework did

better than those doing no homework Studies suggested that the average student doing homework had a

higher unit test score than 73% of students not doing homework.

2006 review of newer studies found a stronger association with achievement – measured achievement on tests designed to match the homework

The relationship between achievement and time spent on homework showed a correlation about the same as the 1989 review.

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“At best, most homework studies show only an association, not a causal relationship.”- Kohn, Abusing Research, Phi Delta Kappan, Sept., 2006

Is there a simple correlation between homework and achievement? 32 studies, 35 samples, 69 correlations (Cooper, 2006) Amount of time spent on homework and some measure of

achievement 27 samples the link was positive; in 8, negative Combined, the average correlation was +.24 Equates to a 5.7% difference, or spread, in achievement scores

Related finding: The average correlation between time spent on homework and class grades was statistically stronger than that involving standardized achievement test scores. But the absolute difference between the two average correlations was quite small and probably not practically important.

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“Today, homework is a pervasive teaching strategy accounting for 20% of the total time American students spend on academic tasks.”

Is homework associated with achievement more strongly for some subject areas than others?

Cooper (2006): The average correlation between time on homework and math achievement was statistically stronger than that involving reading (difference = .03 - .06; not practically important).

Trutwein (2002): 1976 MS students; the frequency of homework assigned positively impacts mathematics achievement but the amount of homework and the time it took to complete it had no effect.

Kitsantas, Cheema, Ware (2011) 5200 students, ages 15-16; increasing the amount of time spent on mathematics homework does not lead to higher mathematics achievement scores.

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- Homework, The Balanced View, Westchester Institute for Human Services Research, Vol. 6, June 2002

“According to a 2006 Associated Press America Online poll of 1,085 parents, elementary schools students are averaging 78 minutes per night while middle school students put in an average of 99 minutes.”

Is grade level associated with the homework achievement link? 33 samples, 10 elementary, 23 secondary; r = correlation 2001: Elem (K-5) r = +.02, JH (6-9) r = +.o7, HS (10-12) r = +.25 2006: Lower (1-6) r = about zero, Upper (7-12) r = about +.25

Stem and leaf distribution shows Lower = 5 positive and 5 negative Stem and leaf distribution shows Upper = 20 positive and 3 negative

Is there an optimum amount of homework? 9 studies, 13 samples, conclusions restricted to grades 7-12 JH – positive effects begin with <1 hr/wk lessening after 5-10

hrs/week HS – positive effects begin after 1 hr/wk w/strongest r = 7-12

hrs/week

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- Bennett and Kalish,The Case Against Homework, 2006, p 12

“The pendulum swings are so frequent in schools that many educators have adopted a ‘Sit tight, this too will pass’ attitude.”

Moving from achievement to learning, from homework research to brain research....

Early practitioners (pioneers?) of brain theory weren’t to far off

John Dewey – My Pedagogical Creed, 1897; The Child and the Curriculum, 1902; and Experience and Education, 1938

Madeline Hunter – knowledge of human growth and development necessary component of effective teaching, 1960’s through the 1980’s

Howard Gardner and Erik Erikson – MI and brain research, 1980’s

1990-1999 ushered in the “Decade of the Brain” Circadian rhythms, MRI images, neuroscience movement in research Jensen, Kagan, Shallice, Wolfson, Carskadon and others

Where has it led?

- Pat Wolfe, Brain research and Education: Fad or Foundation? Mind Matters, Inc.

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Dr. Harry Chugani, Wayne State University, argues that “we’re not paying attention to the biological principals of education,” and that the new discoveries about the brain require a

fundamental change in the nation’s education curricula.

Findings and educational implications....

Students’ emotional states influence their level of academic achievement. (Caine, 1997)

Associations from the past can provoke a negative state – known as temporary demotivation.

The window for developing emotional control, for example, seems to be from two to 30 months.

MRI research identifies possible locations where cognitive functions take place relative to learning. (Winters, 2001)

The part of the brain that processes movement is the same part of the brain that processes learning

Students need a break in concentration at least every 20 minutes.(Erlauer, 2003, p. 76)

- David Sousa, How the Brain Learns, 2001, p. 4

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“Educators therefore must explore how best to respond to the cognitive science revolution. It won’t go away if we just ignore it.”

The biological rhythms responsible for overall intellectual performance start later in the day for an adolescent than for an adult.

Practice, over time, increases retention (Hunter 1982, Sousa, 2001)

The brain understands best when facts and skills are embedded in natural spatial memory.

If students have not found meaning by the end of a learning episode, there is little likelihood that much will be remembered.

Task centered talking is critical to the memory process. The cognitive research reaffirms strongly that we learn best when

we are actively involved in interesting and challenging situations and when we talk about the learning.

The window for acquiring a second language with the same fluency as the child’s native tongue closes around the age of 10 or 11.

The rest is up to us...

- Robert Sylwester, The Brain Revolution, The School Administrator, January, 1998

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Notes:

1. Kohn, Alphie (2006) The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing, Paperback, p. 27, Cambridge MA: Da Capo Press 250pp.

2. Cooper, Harris (2007) The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents, Paperback, 3rd edition, pp.18-19, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press 136pp.

3. Kohn, 2006, op. Cit. p. 274. Cooper, 2007, op.cit. pp. 26-275. Cooper, 2007, op.cit. p. 286. Cooper, 2007, op.cit. p. 297. Kitsantas, A., Cheema, J., Ware, H. (2011). The Role of Homework Support Resources, Time Spent on

Homework, and Self-efficacy Beliefs in Mathematics Achievement. Journal of Advanced Academics 22(2), pp. 312-341.

8. Kitsantas, et al., 2011, op. cit. p.332,3349. Vatterott, Cathy (2009) Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs,

Paperback, p. 69, Alexandria, VA: ASCD 180pp.10. Cooper, 2007, op.cit. p. 2911. Cooper, 2007, op.cit. p. 3412. “John Dewey," Wikipedia, online reference, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey last modified 3

July 2013, 1:3613. Sousa, D. A. “The Ramifications of Brain Research,” The School Administrator, (1998 January)

http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=1515214. 2Sousa, D. A. (2001) "How the Brain Learns," 2nd edition, p. 100, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

305pp. 15. Sousa, 2001, op. cit. pp. 101-10316. Sousa, 1998, op. cit.