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NOVICE DEBATE
RESOURCE PACKET
Resolved:
Homework should
be banned.
USING THIS PACKET This packet contains resources that students
can use to prepare for the Novice Debate
Division within the Houston Urban Debate
League (HUDL).
Inside the packet, you will find a Novice Format overview sheet that outlines the
times and order of speeches. There are also
a number of articles for both the Pro and
Con side of the following debate topic:
Resolved: Homework should be banned.
The articles found in the packet are only a
starting point. Students should conduct
additional research and think about the topic
and how it applies to their own experiences.
Novice Division Format
Constructive Speeches Pro 1st Speaker 4 minutes The 1st speaker from the pro team should present their pre-written case.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk with your partner.
Con 1st Speaker 4 minutes The 1st speaker from the con team should present their pre-written case.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk with your partner.
Pro 2nd Speaker 4 minutes The second speaker from the pro team needs to respond and attack their opponent’s case.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk with your partner.
Con 2nd Speaker 4 minutes The second speaker from the con team needs to respond and attack their opponent’s case. They should also respond to the opponent’s attacks if they have time.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk with your partner. Rebuttal Speeches: New evidence, but no new arguments may be presented. Pro 1st Speaker 3 minutes Find a way to explain issues in the light of all that has happened so far
without speaking too rapidly. This means that a limited number of issues can be addressed.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk you’re your partner.
Con 1st Speaker 3 minutes Find a way to explain issues in the light of all that has happened so far without speaking too rapidly. This means that a limited number of issues can be addressed.
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk you’re your partner.
Pro 2nd Speaker 3 minutes This frames, with clarity, why your team has won the debate. Before this speech, ask, “If I were judging this round, what would I be voting on?”
Prep Time 1 minute Prepare for the next speech and talk with your partner.
Con 2nd Speaker 3 minutes This frames, with clarity, why your team has won the debate. Before this speech, ask, “If I were judging this round, what would I be voting on?”
There will be no crossfire, POIs or CX, just straight arguments.
TOPIC OVERVIEW
10/4/2016 The Homework Debate Finding Common Ground Education Week
1/2
ducation Week' log > Finding Common Ground
The Homework Debate
Peter DeWitt on Feruar 25, 2012 10:38 AM.
Wh do teacher elieve that homework i o important? I it reall important at all? Do teacher elieve that whatever the teach i o
extraordinar that tudent mut continue to work on aignment at home a well a chool? Or, are adminitrator making top-down
deciion that homework mut e a part of a tudent' nightl practice? I homework eing ued to teach tudent time management
technique? Whatever the reaon, homework till continue to e a hot topic among educator and parent.
Like an good deate, the one over homework ha valid point on oth ide. When done correctl, homework can e an extenion of chool
where tudent continue to work on project from home that the egan in the claroom. ome aignment are o engaging to tudent that
the want to continue doing reearch when the go home. It can alo provide parent with important inight into what their children are doing
in the claroom.
Unfortunatel, if homework i an evening of workheet it can e a chore more than a learning experience. ome educator end home
homework ecaue it i what the have alwa done. It' important to keep in mind that the homework that i ent home provide parent a
window into their claroom. If teacher are ending home workheet or other homework that i more oring than engaging, the parent ma
think their child' claroom provide the ame experience during the da.
For tudent who truggle with chool, homework can e an extenion of the agon the feel on a dail ai. When a tudent truggle during
the da, that truggling doen't magicall diappear when the get home. ometime their parent truggle a well, and the cannot provide
aitance to their child. Homework can act a a reminder of what the do not know and it' eaier to not complete the homework than it i to
complete it. Aking tudent to do more of the ame will not make them etter at it.
The Homework Routine
When I egan teaching, m principal made claroom teacher give homework aed on the tudent' grade (kindergarten wa ten minute,
firt grade wa twent minute, etc.). I taught firt grade o we had to give aout twent minute of homework ever night. Twent minute
wa ea, after all it wa important for tudent to review what we did during the da. Unfortunatel, I found out week later that ome
tudent truggled for an hour each night with the homework that wa uppoed to e twent minute. Other tudent got through it on the
u and never had to complete it at home.
Parent didn't want to tell me that their child wa truggling with homework ecaue that could potentiall mean that there wa omething
wrong with their child. A much a I aked parent to write a note on top of the paper if their children ecame frutrated, the did not follow
that direction.
We alo had to give homework packet for vacation. When the tudent left for holida, winter or pring reak, the left with a packet of
workheet and a journal. After a few ear of thi practice a parent, who alo happened to e a teaching aitant, told me he would not
allow her child to complete the aignment ecaue that wa their pecial time with one another. he aured me that the did other tpe of
educational work together, and the chool need not end anthing home.
Other parent were not a honet ut the were ver avv. The tudent went all vacation without doing anthing and then two da efore
the went ack to chool the at down to complete the packet. I would hang a lot of it up on the wall ecaue I wanted it to eem relevant,
ut even I felt it wa merel u work to do during the week.
On the other end of the pectrum, there are time when parent get mad at educator for not giving their children enough homework. Thoe
parent elieve homework prepare their children for the future. The alo ak for extra workheet if their child i high achieving. That can
potentiall add to a child' dilike of chool.
In the nd
Homework uccum to outide influence. Teacher and tudent ma control their claroom environment ut the do not control the home
environment of their tudent. What ma e ea to complete during the da ma e a chore for the tudent at home. Teacher and
adminitrator need to undertand that the point of giving homework i not a routine, ut relevant practice for what their tudent are doing in
the claroom.
10/4/2016 The Homework Debate Finding Common Ground Education Week
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/02/the_homework_debate.html 2/2
Homework, if given at all, need to e engaging for a tudent. If the tudent i the onl one completing it at home, then it hould certainl e
tudent-centered ecaue that will increae the likelihood that it will get done at all. The point, however, i to not give tudent omething to
do at night a u work, ecaue the can find their own engaging activitie which can e more important to their development than
homework.
Thing to Rememer:
The ame homework aignment can take a hort or long period to complete depending on the ailit of the tudent
Not all home environment are conducive for completing homework
tudent who truggle in chool will continue to truggle on homework. The magic of a higher reading ailit or math ailit doen't
happen when the walk in their houe
Jut ecaue the teacher or parent had homework when the were ounger doen't mean the tudent have to have homework a well.
If educator want tudent to change with the time, their aignment have to change with the time a well.
Tet prep hould never e given for homework. It' oring and end the meage that all the chool think aout i achieving high
mark on a tet.
ometime parent want to help their children with homework ut ma not know the "right" wa or newet wa of doing it, which could
e counterproductive to getting it done correctl.
Follow Peter on Twitter.
Categorie: Claroom nvironment Homework Parental Involvement chool Communit
PRO
ARTICLES
10/4/2016 The Homework Myth | District Administration Magazine
https://www.districtadministration.com/article/homeworkmyth 1/5
ign Up / ign In
Home > Feature > The Homework Mth
FATUR
The Homework Mth
enior editor Gar tager talk with Alfie Kohn aout hi new ook, TheHomework Mth: Wh Our Kid
Gar tager — Ditrict Adminitration, Dec 2006
12/1/2006
Wh write a ook aout homework?
I'm alwa facinated-and more than a little ditured-when our practice are completel out of tep with
what the data a. Homework, I dicovered, i a tunningl clear example of that, ecaue more and more of
it i eing piled on ounger and ounger children, even a reearch continue to find aolutel no enefit to
making kid do more academic aignment at home after pending ix or even hour in chool. I wrote the
ook, firt, to make it more difficult for anone to claim with a traight face that "tudie how homework i
effective" or "homework teache kid good tud kill"; and econd, to tr to figure out wh homework
would continue to e aigned and accepted in the aence of evidence that it doe much good.
How doe thi ook relate to our previou work?
Well, the ame aic quetion run through a lot of what I write: "If we a we want thi (for kid), then how come we're doing that?"
I pent a ingle page on homework in an earlier ook [The chool Our Children Deerve] and decided recentl that the topic
warranted a ook of it own.
Advertiement
What advice would ou give a chool leader regarding homework?
Take erioul all the lovel rhetoric we repeat aout the need to do what' et for kid. e willing to quetion the conventional
widom, challenge traditional practice, and take ome flack for doing o. e guided what the reearch a, not preure from
Menu
10/4/2016 The Homework Myth | District Administration Magazine
https://www.districtadministration.com/article/homeworkmyth 2/5
people who know le aout learning than ou do. Ak ourelf whether what familie do in the evening hould e decided
familie or chool. Ak ourelf whether there' an reaon to elieve that kid who rarel get homework-who don't have to work
what i, in effect, a econd hift after chool i over-will e at an diadvantage
in term of their intellectual development. And aove all, help teacher and parent to remain focued on the overriding quetion: How
doe homework affect kid' interet in learning, their deire to read and think? If the effect in't poitive, we hould have dout aout
aigning it. If the effect i actuall negative, then the oligation to quetion the wa thing have alwa een done i even more
urgent.
What ort of homework might ou endore?
I hould e clear from The Homework Mth that I don't a there hould never e an homework. Rather, I ugget that we change
the default. There hould e no homework except on thoe occaion when teacher have good reaon to elieve that a given
aignment i likel to enefit mot tudent. To me, that eem like jut common ene and not a particularl radical idea. What'
izarre, I think, i the tatu quo, in which we a, "We're going to make ou kid do chool aignment at home jut aout ever
night. Later on, we'll figure out what to make ou do." That aume that homework in and of itelf, irrepective of the content, i
eneficial. There' not a hred of evidence to upport that poition.
o what homework might meet a tandard of proale enefit?
The kind that kid, in converation with one another and the teacher, decide i important enough to infringe on famil time. The kind
that logicall ha to e done at home, uch a interviewing parent aout famil hitor. The kind that conit of reading ook of
their own chooing, without a requirement to ummarize, analze, or write report aout what the've read, thu turning reading into
a chore.
What ha een the reaction to the ook?
It' een varied, a ou would expect. Lot of people love it ecaue it confirm their own upicion aout homework. Lot of people
hate it ecaue the jut know kid have to do workheet and the don't care what the reearch a. Ironicall, neither thee lover
nor the hater have to read the ook to know what the think aout it. The reaction I treaure are from people who were undecided
aout homework and find themelve convinced after the read it.
What' the illiet criticim leveled toward The Homework Mth?
I'm not ure aout "ill," ut the mot depreing repone ha een "If kid didn't get homework the'd jut it around plaing
video game."
And to thi ou repond ...?
Well, at leat with thi argument our card are on the tale. We're aing homework ma do nothing to help kid ecome etter
learner or etter people; it' literall uwork, which we give ecaue we don't trut children to decide what to do with their time-
or educator don't trut familie to make uch deciion.
Firt, I found chool that give little or no homework and dicovered that kid often pontaneoul extend on what happened in
chool, taking the initiative to continue learning on their own in a wa that the don't have time to do when their ackpack are
ulging with packet of workheet. econd, we're intereted in raiing well-rounded people, o kid' artitic, ocial and phical
development matter, too. Finall, even if ome kid jut chill out and do what the enjo after a da in chool, I think that' fine. After
all, we adult need time to relax after work, don't we?
Doe it grow tireome ucking educational trend and eing dimied a a contrarian?
Not a tireome a it would e to give people advice on how to get kid to do whatever the're told, or to figure out how to make
teacher conform to moronic mandate. I don't mind utantive challenge to m poition; in fact, I rather appreciate them. What
dicourage me are people whoe intant dimial, and ue of lael rather than argument, ugget that the're reall clamping
their hand over their ear and elling, "La-la-la-la-la! I can't liten to thi!" ut mae the econd or third time, the'll e more
open to hearing, reflecting and rethinking.
Gar . tager, [email protected], i enior editor of Ditrict Adminitration and editor of The Pule: ducation' Place for Deate
(www.ditrictadminitration.com/pule).
10/4/2016 Schools try nohomework policies amid complaints about overload TODAY.com
2/10
Fed up with the tension over homework, some schools are opting out altogether.
No-homework policies are popping up all over, including schools in the U.S., where the shift to the Common Core curriculum is prompting educators to rethink how students spend their time.
“Homework really is a black hole,” said Etta Kralovec, an associate professor of teacher education at the University of Arizona South and co-author of “The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning.”
“I think teachers are going to be increasingly interested in having total control over student learning during the class day and not relying on homework as any kind of activity that’s going to support student learning.”
College de Saint-Ambroise, an elementary school in Quebec, is the latest school to ban homework,
announcing this week that it would try the new policy for a year. The decision came after officials found
that it was “becoming more and more difficult” for children to devote time to all the assignments they
were bringing home, Marie-Ève Desrosiers, a spokeswoman with the Jonquière School Board, told the
CBC.
Kralovec called the ban on homework a movement, though she estimated just a small handful of schools
in the U.S. have such policies.
The end of homework? Why some schools are banning homework
Gaithersburg Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland, is one of them, eliminating the traditional
concept of homework in 2012. The policy is still in place and working fine, Principal Stephanie Brant told
TODAY Parents. The school simply asks that students read 30 minutes each night.
“We felt like with the shift to the Common Core curriculum, and our knowledge of how our students need
to think differently… we wanted their time to be spent in meaningful ways,” Brant said.
“We’re constantly asking parents for feedback… and everyone’s really happy with it so far. But it’s really a
culture shift.”
10/4/2016 Schools try nohomework policies amid complaints about overload TODAY.com
http://www.today.com/parents/schoolstrynohomeworkpoliciesamidcomplaintsaboutoverload1D80128324 3/10
It was a decision that was best for her community, Brant said, adding that she often gets phone calls from
other principals inquiring how it’s working out.
The VanDamme Academy, a private K-8 school in Aliso Viejo, California, has a similar policy, calling
homework “largely pointless.”
The Buffalo Academy of Scholars, a private school in Buffalo, New York, touts that it has called “a truce in
the homework battle” and promises that families can “enjoy stress-free, homework-free evenings and
more quality time together at home.”
Some schools have taken yet another approach. At Ridgewood High School in Norridge, Illinois, teachers
do assign homework but it doesn’t count towards a student’s final grade.
Many schools in the U.S. have toyed with the idea of opting out of homework, but end up changing
nothing because it is such a contentious issue among parents, Kralovec noted.
“There’s a huge philosophical divide between parents who want their kids to be very scheduled, very
driven, and very ambitiously focused at school -- those parents want their kids to do homework,” she
said.
“And then there are the parents who want a more child-centered life with their kids, who want their kids
to be able to explore different aspects of themselves, who think their kids should have free time.”
So what’s the right amount of time to spend on homework?
National PTA spokeswoman Heidi May pointed to the organization’s “10 minute rule,” which recommends
kids spend about 10 minutes on homework per night for every year they’re in school. That would mean
10 minutes for a first-grader and an hour for a child in the sixth grade.
But many parents say their kids must spend much longer on their assignments. Last year, a New York dad
tried to do his eight-grader’s homework for a week and it took him at least three hours on most nights.
More than 80 percent of respondents in a TODAY.com poll complained kids have too much homework.
For homework critics like Kralovec, who said research shows homework has little value at the elementary
and middle school level, the issue is simple.
“Kids are at school 7 or 8 hours a day, that’s a full working day and why should they have to take work
home?” she asked.
Follow A. Pawlowski on Google+ and Twitter.
10/4/2016 A teacher in Texas banned homework so kids could learn from life instead — Quartz
http://qz.com/764076/thisteacherbannedhomeworksokidscouldlearnfromlifeinstead/ 2/8
The debate over whether homework helps kids learn or robs them of a proper childhoodis as heated as ever, as shown by the outpouring of attention for one teacher’s decisionto ban take-home assignments.
Brandy Young, a second-grade teacher in Texas, passed out a note to parents on “Meetthe Teacher Night” last week announcing that she would not assign homework for theupcoming school year. Young said that she had done her homework on homework, anddecided it wasn’t helping.
Samantha Gallagher, whose daughter is in the class, took a photo of a note announcingthe new homework policy, which urged parents instead to use the time to “eat dinner asa family, read together, play outside, and get your child to bed early.” Her Facebook postabout it has been shared more than 67,000 times.
This teacher banned homeworkso kids could learn from lifeinstead
10/4/2016 A teacher in Texas banned homework so kids could learn from life instead — Quartz
http://qz.com/764076/thisteacherbannedhomeworksokidscouldlearnfromlifeinstead/ 3/8
Many people feel that increased academic standards and high-stakes testing are taking atoll on kid’s mental health. “Children today are less free than they have ever been,” PeterGray, a psychologist and professor at Boston College, told Quartz. Too much time inschool and other structured activities means kids aren’t learning critical life-copingskills.
Young told CBS that her decision was based on the fact that kids are more than the sumof their grades:
[Students] work hard all day. When they go home they have other things they need tolearn there. I’m trying to develop their whole person; it’s not bene cial to go homeand do pencil and paper work.
The homework wars have been raging for years. Al e Kohn, perhaps the most prominenthomework critic, wrote The Homework Myth in 2006 arguing that the negative effects ofhomework are well-known and the positive effects imagined. The work does notreinforce learning nor improve academic results, while reducing precious time withfamily and friends. He writes:
For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether children
For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether childrendo homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. Atthe high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when moresophisticated statistical measures are applied.
Not everyone agrees, as Quartz has covered before:
John Hattie, director of the Melbourne Educational Research Institute, synthesizedmore than 800 meta-studies covering more than 80 million students to gure out whatspeci c factors are linked to better learning outcomes. Tom Sherrington, a teacherwho is a rm advocate of homework, analyzed Hattie’s research and concluded thatthere is little bene t to homework for kids in primary school, but “excellent” resultsfor students in secondary school, or from age 11.
10/4/2016 A teacher in Texas banned homework so kids could learn from life instead — Quartz
http://qz.com/764076/thisteacherbannedhomeworksokidscouldlearnfromlifeinstead/ 4/8
It’s not clear if Young was reading Kohn, Hattie, or just responding to the fact that heryoung students didn’t seem to bene t from the added work. But comments onGallagher’s feed were clear in their support.
“I like this teacher. She has her head on right,” said one.
“Hopefully this will change some things,” added another, “but we do an hour ofhomework each night plus studying for tests and reading.”
Many others just said “yes!” and “wow” and “jealous!”
In an email to Quartz, Gallagher says the reaction has been encouraging: “I am amazedat the amount of attention the post is getting but not by the amount of support Mrs
Young’s policy has received. It’s incredible.”
candidates
CON
ARTICLES
10/4/2016 Two hours' homework a night linked to better school results | Education | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/mar/29/homeworklinkedbetterschoolresults 1/3
Two hours' homework a night linked to betterschool resultsAny time spent on homework shows benefits, according to study published by Department for Education
Jeevan Vasagar, education editor
Thursday 29 March 2012 01.30 EDT
Spending more than two hours a night doing homework is linked to achieving better results inEnglish, maths and science, according to a major study which has tracked the progress of 3,000children over the past 15 years.
Spending any time doing homework showed benefits, but the effects were greater for studentswho put in two to three hours a night, according to the study published by the Department forEducation.
The finding on homework runs counter to previous research which shows a "relatively modest"link between homework and achievement at secondary school.
The academics involved in the latest research say their study emphasises what students actuallydo, rather than how much work the school has set.
Pam Sammons, a professor of education at Oxford University, said that time spent on homeworkreflected the influence of the school – whether pupils were expected to do homework – as well aschildren's enjoyment of their subjects.
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10/4/2016 Two hours' homework a night linked to better school results | Education | The Guardian
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More news
TopicsTeaching Schools
Sammons said: "That's one of the reasons Indian and Chinese children do better. They tend to putmore time in. It's to do with your effort as well as your ability.
"What we're not saying is that everyone should do large amounts, but if we could shift some ofthose who spend no time or half an hour into [doing] one to two hours – one of the reasonsprivate schools' results are better is that there's more expectation of homework."
The study controlled for social class, and whether pupils had a quiet place in which to do theirhomework, but still found a benefit, Sammons said.
The research was conducted by academics from the Institute of Education, Oxford and BirkbeckCollege, part of the university of London. It has tracked around 3,000 children from pre-school tothe age of 14.
It also finds that students who reported that they enjoyed school got better results. "This is incontrast to findings during primary school where 'enjoyment of school' was not related toacademic attainment," researchers said.
Schools could ensure children had a better experience by improving the "behavioural climate",making schoolwork interesting and making children feel supported by teachers, Sammons said.
The research shows that working-class parents can help their children succeed "against the odds"by having high aspirations for them.
Children who did well from disadvantaged backgrounds were backed by parents who valuedlearning and encouraged extra-curricular activities. "Parents' own resilience in the face ofhardship provided a role model for their children's efforts," the research says.
The study underlines the importance of a good primary school. Children who attended an"academically effective" primary school did better at maths and science in later life. The study didnot find a link with performance in English.
Ministers have scrapped guidelines setting out how much homework children should be set amidcriticism that it can interfere with family life.
Under the last government, guidance was issued to all schools recommending they have a policyon homework.
The guidelines suggested children aged five to seven should be set an hour a week, rising to halfan hour a night for seven- to 11-year-olds. Secondary schools were encouraged to set up to twoand a half hours a night for children aged 14-16.
Scrapping the guidelines frees headteachers to set their own homework policy, the governmentsays.
10/4/2016 Why Homework is Good for Kids | Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dianeravitch/whyhomeworkisgoodfor_b_44037.html 1/4
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Why Homework is Good for Kids 03/22/2007 03:45 pm ET | Updated Nov 17, 2011
Diane Ravitch Research Professor of Education, New York University; Author, ‘Reign ofError’
Lately there has been an outpouring of books and articles against homework. Critics callhomework a form of child abuse and say that it prevents children from engaging in wholesomeactivities. Government surveys say that most students spend an hour a day or less onhomework. Yet the campaign against homework never seems to abate.
Just this week came a new report from the National School Board Association’s Center for PublicEducation saying that there is no conclusive evidence that homework “increases studentachievement across the board.”
Narrowly parsed, this is undoubtedly a true finding. For example, the study concluded thatstudents who don’t do their homework will not see any increase in their achievement in school.Also, students in the early grades who have not yet learned how to read are less likely to benefitfrom homework than students in high school. And students in lowincome homes are less likelyto benefit from homework than those in higherincome homes because they are less likely tocomplete it and less likely to have an adult in the home to help them.
The study found that AsianAmerican students were more likely to benefit from doing homeworkthan students from other ethnic groups. This is not because of some ethnic gene, but becauseAsianAmerican students are more likely to complete the homework that is assigned to them.
While the latest study may fuel the fires of the antihomework crowd, bear in mind that its bottomline is that homework doesn’t help students who don’t do it, but very likely does help studentswho actually complete their assignments. Duh.
But there is something else to be said in favor of homework.
When do students have time to read a book other than when it is assigned as homework? Thereis no time in school to read a book. A recent news article about the case against homework cited
Like 64
Why Homework is Good for Kids
10/4/2016 Why Homework is Good for Kids | Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dianeravitch/whyhomeworkisgoodfor_b_44037.html 2/4
a high school teacher who said that she would tell her students to read no more than 15 minutesa day in their assigned novel (Jane Eyre). How stupid is that? How can anyone, young or old, getengaged in a novel if he or she spends no more than 15 minutes a day reading? At that pace, itseems like this class will be reading the same novel all year, if they manage to finish it at all.
When else do students have time to write an essay or write a research report? In school,students may be able to write a few paragraphs, but it takes time to write an essay that is longerthan a page. If it is not done after school, it won’t be done at all.
So consider where the antihomework crusade will take us: to a time when students read nobooks, write no essays, and complete no research projects other than whatever can be fit intothe school day.
Because I am a historian, I can’t help but mention that this battle against homework first flared upin 1900, led by the Ladies Home Journal. The Journal described homework as “A National Crimeat the Feet of American Parents” and claimed that children were “permanently crippled” by thepressure of schooling and homework. It urged that children under the age of 15 should not be inschool more than four hours per day and should not be assigned any home study whatever.
So the campaign against homework goes on. Its success will guarantee a steady decline in thevery activities that matter most in education: Independent reading; thoughtful writing; researchprojects.
Follow Diane Ravitch on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DianeRavitch
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10/4/2016 How Homework Benefits Students: The Homework Debate, Part Two
http://education.cuportland.edu/blog/news/thehomeworkdebatebenefitsofhomework/ 1/4
The Homework Debate: How HomeworkBenefits StudentsPosted November 21, 2013 by Monica Fuglei in Featured Stories (http://education.cu-portland.edu/category/blog/news/)Updated January 6, 2016
Last week’s piece, The Case Against Homework (/blog/news/the-homework-debate-the-case-against-homework/), articulated several points of view against homework as standard practice for teachers.However, a variety of lessons, content-related and beyond, can be taught or reinforced throughhomework and are worth exploring.
Four ways homework aidsstudents’ academicachievementHomework provides an opportunity for parents tointeract with and understand the content theirstudents are learning so they can provide anothermeans of academic support for students. MemphisParent writer Glenda Faye Pryor-Johnson says that,“When your child does homework, you dohomework,” and notes that this is an opportunity forparents to model good behavior for their children.
Pryor-Johnson also identi䎪es four qualities children develop when they complete homework that canhelp them become high-achieving students:
1. Responsibility
2. Time management
3. Perseverance
4. Self-esteem
While these cannot be measured on standardized tests, perseverance has garnered a lot of attentionas an essential skill for successful students. Regular accomplishments like 䎪nishing homework buildself-esteem, which aids students’ mental and physical health. Responsibility and time management arehighly desirable qualities that bene䎪t students long after they graduate.
NYU and Duke professors refute the idea that homework
10/4/2016 How Homework Benefits Students: The Homework Debate, Part Two
http://education.cuportland.edu/blog/news/thehomeworkdebatebenefitsofhomework/ 2/4
NYU and Duke professors refute the idea that homeworkis unrelated to student successIn response to the National School Board Association’s Center for Public Education’s 䎪ndings thathomework was not conclusively related to student success, historian and NYU professor Diane Ravitchcontends that the study’s true discovery was that students who did not complete homework or wholacked the resources to do so su䎼綠ered poor outcomes.
Ravitch believes the study’s data only supports the idea that those who complete homework bene䎪tfrom homework. She also cites additional bene䎪ts of homework: when else would students be allowedto engage thoughtfully with a text or write a complete essay? Constraints on class time require thatsuch activities are given as outside assignments.
5 studies support a significant relationship between homework completionand academic successDuke University professor Harris Cooper supports Ravitch’s assessment, saying that, “Across 䎪vestudies, the average student who did homework had a higher unit test score than the students notdoing homework.” Dr. Cooper and his colleagues analyzed dozens of studies on whether homework isbene䎪cial in a 2006 publication, “Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis ofResearch, 1987–2003.”
This analysis found 12 less-authoritative studies that link achievement to time spent on homework,but control for many other factors that could in䎮煠uence the outcome. Finally, the research teamidenti䎪ed 35 studies that found a positive correlation between homework and achievement, but onlyafter elementary school. Dr. Cooper concluded that younger students might be less capable of bene䎪ting from homework due to undeveloped study habits or other factors.
Recommended amount of homework varies by grade level“Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement?” also identi䎪es the amount homework that servesas a learning tool for students. While practice improves test scores at all grade levels, “Homework forjunior high students appears to reach the point of diminishing returns after about 90 minutes a night.For high school students, the positive line continues to climb until between 90 minutes and 2.5 hoursof homework a night, after which returns diminish.”
Dr. Cooper’s conclusion — homework is important, but discretion can and should be used whenassigning it — addresses the valid concerns of homework critics. While the act of completinghomework has bene䎪ts in terms of developing good habits in students, homework must prove usefulfor students so that they buy in to the process and complete their assignments. If students (or theirparents) feel homework is a useless component of their learning, they will skip it — and miss out onthe major bene䎪ts, content and otherwise, that homework has to o䎼綠er.
Continue reading — Ending the Homework Debate: Expert Advice on What Works(/blog/news/ending-the-homework-debate-expert-advice-on-what-works/)
Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current adjunct facultymember of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition and creativewriting.
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