is there value of homework speech

Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

A conversation with a Wheelock researcher, a BU student, and a fourth-grade teacher

“Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives,” says Wheelock’s Janine Bempechat. “It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.” Photo by iStock/Glenn Cook Photography

Do your homework.

If only it were that simple.

Educators have debated the merits of homework since the late 19th century. In recent years, amid concerns of some parents and teachers that children are being stressed out by too much homework, things have only gotten more fraught.

“Homework is complicated,” says developmental psychologist Janine Bempechat, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development clinical professor. The author of the essay “ The Case for (Quality) Homework—Why It Improves Learning and How Parents Can Help ” in the winter 2019 issue of Education Next , Bempechat has studied how the debate about homework is influencing teacher preparation, parent and student beliefs about learning, and school policies.

She worries especially about socioeconomically disadvantaged students from low-performing schools who, according to research by Bempechat and others, get little or no homework.

BU Today  sat down with Bempechat and Erin Bruce (Wheelock’17,’18), a new fourth-grade teacher at a suburban Boston school, and future teacher freshman Emma Ardizzone (Wheelock) to talk about what quality homework looks like, how it can help children learn, and how schools can equip teachers to design it, evaluate it, and facilitate parents’ role in it.

BU Today: Parents and educators who are against homework in elementary school say there is no research definitively linking it to academic performance for kids in the early grades. You’ve said that they’re missing the point.

Bempechat : I think teachers assign homework in elementary school as a way to help kids develop skills they’ll need when they’re older—to begin to instill a sense of responsibility and to learn planning and organizational skills. That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success. If we greatly reduce or eliminate homework in elementary school, we deprive kids and parents of opportunities to instill these important learning habits and skills.

We do know that beginning in late middle school, and continuing through high school, there is a strong and positive correlation between homework completion and academic success.

That’s what I think is the greatest value of homework—in cultivating beliefs about learning and skills associated with academic success.

You talk about the importance of quality homework. What is that?

Quality homework is engaging and relevant to kids’ lives. It gives them autonomy and engages them in the community and with their families. In some subjects, like math, worksheets can be very helpful. It has to do with the value of practicing over and over.

What are your concerns about homework and low-income children?

The argument that some people make—that homework “punishes the poor” because lower-income parents may not be as well-equipped as affluent parents to help their children with homework—is very troubling to me. There are no parents who don’t care about their children’s learning. Parents don’t actually have to help with homework completion in order for kids to do well. They can help in other ways—by helping children organize a study space, providing snacks, being there as a support, helping children work in groups with siblings or friends.

Isn’t the discussion about getting rid of homework happening mostly in affluent communities?

Yes, and the stories we hear of kids being stressed out from too much homework—four or five hours of homework a night—are real. That’s problematic for physical and mental health and overall well-being. But the research shows that higher-income students get a lot more homework than lower-income kids.

Teachers may not have as high expectations for lower-income children. Schools should bear responsibility for providing supports for kids to be able to get their homework done—after-school clubs, community support, peer group support. It does kids a disservice when our expectations are lower for them.

The conversation around homework is to some extent a social class and social justice issue. If we eliminate homework for all children because affluent children have too much, we’re really doing a disservice to low-income children. They need the challenge, and every student can rise to the challenge with enough supports in place.

What did you learn by studying how education schools are preparing future teachers to handle homework?

My colleague, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, at the University of California, Davis, School of Education, and I interviewed faculty members at education schools, as well as supervising teachers, to find out how students are being prepared. And it seemed that they weren’t. There didn’t seem to be any readings on the research, or conversations on what high-quality homework is and how to design it.

Erin, what kind of training did you get in handling homework?

Bruce : I had phenomenal professors at Wheelock, but homework just didn’t come up. I did lots of student teaching. I’ve been in classrooms where the teachers didn’t assign any homework, and I’ve been in rooms where they assigned hours of homework a night. But I never even considered homework as something that was my decision. I just thought it was something I’d pull out of a book and it’d be done.

I started giving homework on the first night of school this year. My first assignment was to go home and draw a picture of the room where you do your homework. I want to know if it’s at a table and if there are chairs around it and if mom’s cooking dinner while you’re doing homework.

The second night I asked them to talk to a grown-up about how are you going to be able to get your homework done during the week. The kids really enjoyed it. There’s a running joke that I’m teaching life skills.

Friday nights, I read all my kids’ responses to me on their homework from the week and it’s wonderful. They pour their hearts out. It’s like we’re having a conversation on my couch Friday night.

It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Bempechat : I can’t imagine that most new teachers would have the intuition Erin had in designing homework the way she did.

Ardizzone : Conversations with kids about homework, feeling you’re being listened to—that’s such a big part of wanting to do homework….I grew up in Westchester County. It was a pretty demanding school district. My junior year English teacher—I loved her—she would give us feedback, have meetings with all of us. She’d say, “If you have any questions, if you have anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me, here are my office hours.” It felt like she actually cared.

Bempechat : It matters to know that the teacher cares about you and that what you think matters to the teacher. Homework is a vehicle to connect home and school…for parents to know teachers are welcoming to them and their families.

Ardizzone : But can’t it lead to parents being overbearing and too involved in their children’s lives as students?

Bempechat : There’s good help and there’s bad help. The bad help is what you’re describing—when parents hover inappropriately, when they micromanage, when they see their children confused and struggling and tell them what to do.

Good help is when parents recognize there’s a struggle going on and instead ask informative questions: “Where do you think you went wrong?” They give hints, or pointers, rather than saying, “You missed this,” or “You didn’t read that.”

Bruce : I hope something comes of this. I hope BU or Wheelock can think of some way to make this a more pressing issue. As a first-year teacher, it was not something I even thought about on the first day of school—until a kid raised his hand and said, “Do we have homework?” It would have been wonderful if I’d had a plan from day one.

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Senior Contributing Editor

Sara Rimer A journalist for more than three decades, Sara Rimer worked at the Miami Herald , Washington Post and, for 26 years, the New York Times , where she was the New England bureau chief, and a national reporter covering education, aging, immigration, and other social justice issues. Her stories on the death penalty’s inequities were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and cited in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision outlawing the execution of people with intellectual disabilities. Her journalism honors include Columbia University’s Meyer Berger award for in-depth human interest reporting. She holds a BA degree in American Studies from the University of Michigan. Profile

She can be reached at [email protected] .

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There are 81 comments on Does Homework Really Help Students Learn?

Insightful! The values about homework in elementary schools are well aligned with my intuition as a parent.

when i finish my work i do my homework and i sometimes forget what to do because i did not get enough sleep

same omg it does not help me it is stressful and if I have it in more than one class I hate it.

Same I think my parent wants to help me but, she doesn’t care if I get bad grades so I just try my best and my grades are great.

I think that last question about Good help from parents is not know to all parents, we do as our parents did or how we best think it can be done, so maybe coaching parents or giving them resources on how to help with homework would be very beneficial for the parent on how to help and for the teacher to have consistency and improve homework results, and of course for the child. I do see how homework helps reaffirm the knowledge obtained in the classroom, I also have the ability to see progress and it is a time I share with my kids

The answer to the headline question is a no-brainer – a more pressing problem is why there is a difference in how students from different cultures succeed. Perfect example is the student population at BU – why is there a majority population of Asian students and only about 3% black students at BU? In fact at some universities there are law suits by Asians to stop discrimination and quotas against admitting Asian students because the real truth is that as a group they are demonstrating better qualifications for admittance, while at the same time there are quotas and reduced requirements for black students to boost their portion of the student population because as a group they do more poorly in meeting admissions standards – and it is not about the Benjamins. The real problem is that in our PC society no one has the gazuntas to explore this issue as it may reveal that all people are not created equal after all. Or is it just environmental cultural differences??????

I get you have a concern about the issue but that is not even what the point of this article is about. If you have an issue please take this to the site we have and only post your opinion about the actual topic

This is not at all what the article is talking about.

This literally has nothing to do with the article brought up. You should really take your opinions somewhere else before you speak about something that doesn’t make sense.

we have the same name

so they have the same name what of it?

lol you tell her

totally agree

What does that have to do with homework, that is not what the article talks about AT ALL.

Yes, I think homework plays an important role in the development of student life. Through homework, students have to face challenges on a daily basis and they try to solve them quickly.I am an intense online tutor at 24x7homeworkhelp and I give homework to my students at that level in which they handle it easily.

More than two-thirds of students said they used alcohol and drugs, primarily marijuana, to cope with stress.

You know what’s funny? I got this assignment to write an argument for homework about homework and this article was really helpful and understandable, and I also agree with this article’s point of view.

I also got the same task as you! I was looking for some good resources and I found this! I really found this article useful and easy to understand, just like you! ^^

i think that homework is the best thing that a child can have on the school because it help them with their thinking and memory.

I am a child myself and i think homework is a terrific pass time because i can’t play video games during the week. It also helps me set goals.

Homework is not harmful ,but it will if there is too much

I feel like, from a minors point of view that we shouldn’t get homework. Not only is the homework stressful, but it takes us away from relaxing and being social. For example, me and my friends was supposed to hang at the mall last week but we had to postpone it since we all had some sort of work to do. Our minds shouldn’t be focused on finishing an assignment that in realty, doesn’t matter. I completely understand that we should have homework. I have to write a paper on the unimportance of homework so thanks.

homework isn’t that bad

Are you a student? if not then i don’t really think you know how much and how severe todays homework really is

i am a student and i do not enjoy homework because i practice my sport 4 out of the five days we have school for 4 hours and that’s not even counting the commute time or the fact i still have to shower and eat dinner when i get home. its draining!

i totally agree with you. these people are such boomers

why just why

they do make a really good point, i think that there should be a limit though. hours and hours of homework can be really stressful, and the extra work isn’t making a difference to our learning, but i do believe homework should be optional and extra credit. that would make it for students to not have the leaning stress of a assignment and if you have a low grade you you can catch up.

Studies show that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicates that students who spent between 31 and 90 minutes each day on homework “scored about 40 points higher on the SAT-Mathematics subtest than their peers, who reported spending no time on homework each day, on average.” On both standardized tests and grades, students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework. A majority of studies on homework’s impact – 64% in one meta-study and 72% in another – showed that take home assignments were effective at improving academic achievement. Research by the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) concluded that increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for high school boys. In fact, boys who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school.

So how are your measuring student achievement? That’s the real question. The argument that doing homework is simply a tool for teaching responsibility isn’t enough for me. We can teach responsibility in a number of ways. Also the poor argument that parents don’t need to help with homework, and that students can do it on their own, is wishful thinking at best. It completely ignores neurodiverse students. Students in poverty aren’t magically going to find a space to do homework, a friend’s or siblings to help them do it, and snacks to eat. I feel like the author of this piece has never set foot in a classroom of students.

THIS. This article is pathetic coming from a university. So intellectually dishonest, refusing to address the havoc of capitalism and poverty plays on academic success in life. How can they in one sentence use poor kids in an argument and never once address that poor children have access to damn near 0 of the resources affluent kids have? Draw me a picture and let’s talk about feelings lmao what a joke is that gonna put food in their belly so they can have the calories to burn in order to use their brain to study? What about quiet their 7 other siblings that they share a single bedroom with for hours? Is it gonna force the single mom to magically be at home and at work at the same time to cook food while you study and be there to throw an encouraging word?

Also the “parents don’t need to be a parent and be able to guide their kid at all academically they just need to exist in the next room” is wild. Its one thing if a parent straight up is not equipped but to say kids can just figured it out is…. wow coming from an educator What’s next the teacher doesn’t need to teach cause the kid can just follow the packet and figure it out?

Well then get a tutor right? Oh wait you are poor only affluent kids can afford a tutor for their hours of homework a day were they on average have none of the worries a poor child does. Does this address that poor children are more likely to also suffer abuse and mental illness? Like mentioned what about kids that can’t learn or comprehend the forced standardized way? Just let em fail? These children regularly are not in “special education”(some of those are a joke in their own and full of neglect and abuse) programs cause most aren’t even acknowledged as having disabilities or disorders.

But yes all and all those pesky poor kids just aren’t being worked hard enough lol pretty sure poor children’s existence just in childhood is more work, stress, and responsibility alone than an affluent child’s entire life cycle. Love they never once talked about the quality of education in the classroom being so bad between the poor and affluent it can qualify as segregation, just basically blamed poor people for being lazy, good job capitalism for failing us once again!

why the hell?

you should feel bad for saying this, this article can be helpful for people who has to write a essay about it

This is more of a political rant than it is about homework

I know a teacher who has told his students their homework is to find something they are interested in, pursue it and then come share what they learn. The student responses are quite compelling. One girl taught herself German so she could talk to her grandfather. One boy did a research project on Nelson Mandela because the teacher had mentioned him in class. Another boy, a both on the autism spectrum, fixed his family’s computer. The list goes on. This is fourth grade. I think students are highly motivated to learn, when we step aside and encourage them.

The whole point of homework is to give the students a chance to use the material that they have been presented with in class. If they never have the opportunity to use that information, and discover that it is actually useful, it will be in one ear and out the other. As a science teacher, it is critical that the students are challenged to use the material they have been presented with, which gives them the opportunity to actually think about it rather than regurgitate “facts”. Well designed homework forces the student to think conceptually, as opposed to regurgitation, which is never a pretty sight

Wonderful discussion. and yes, homework helps in learning and building skills in students.

not true it just causes kids to stress

Homework can be both beneficial and unuseful, if you will. There are students who are gifted in all subjects in school and ones with disabilities. Why should the students who are gifted get the lucky break, whereas the people who have disabilities suffer? The people who were born with this “gift” go through school with ease whereas people with disabilities struggle with the work given to them. I speak from experience because I am one of those students: the ones with disabilities. Homework doesn’t benefit “us”, it only tears us down and put us in an abyss of confusion and stress and hopelessness because we can’t learn as fast as others. Or we can’t handle the amount of work given whereas the gifted students go through it with ease. It just brings us down and makes us feel lost; because no mater what, it feels like we are destined to fail. It feels like we weren’t “cut out” for success.

homework does help

here is the thing though, if a child is shoved in the face with a whole ton of homework that isn’t really even considered homework it is assignments, it’s not helpful. the teacher should make homework more of a fun learning experience rather than something that is dreaded

This article was wonderful, I am going to ask my teachers about extra, or at all giving homework.

I agree. Especially when you have homework before an exam. Which is distasteful as you’ll need that time to study. It doesn’t make any sense, nor does us doing homework really matters as It’s just facts thrown at us.

Homework is too severe and is just too much for students, schools need to decrease the amount of homework. When teachers assign homework they forget that the students have other classes that give them the same amount of homework each day. Students need to work on social skills and life skills.

I disagree.

Beyond achievement, proponents of homework argue that it can have many other beneficial effects. They claim it can help students develop good study habits so they are ready to grow as their cognitive capacities mature. It can help students recognize that learning can occur at home as well as at school. Homework can foster independent learning and responsible character traits. And it can give parents an opportunity to see what’s going on at school and let them express positive attitudes toward achievement.

Homework is helpful because homework helps us by teaching us how to learn a specific topic.

As a student myself, I can say that I have almost never gotten the full 9 hours of recommended sleep time, because of homework. (Now I’m writing an essay on it in the middle of the night D=)

I am a 10 year old kid doing a report about “Is homework good or bad” for homework before i was going to do homework is bad but the sources from this site changed my mind!

Homeowkr is god for stusenrs

I agree with hunter because homework can be so stressful especially with this whole covid thing no one has time for homework and every one just wants to get back to there normal lives it is especially stressful when you go on a 2 week vaca 3 weeks into the new school year and and then less then a week after you come back from the vaca you are out for over a month because of covid and you have no way to get the assignment done and turned in

As great as homework is said to be in the is article, I feel like the viewpoint of the students was left out. Every where I go on the internet researching about this topic it almost always has interviews from teachers, professors, and the like. However isn’t that a little biased? Of course teachers are going to be for homework, they’re not the ones that have to stay up past midnight completing the homework from not just one class, but all of them. I just feel like this site is one-sided and you should include what the students of today think of spending four hours every night completing 6-8 classes worth of work.

Are we talking about homework or practice? Those are two very different things and can result in different outcomes.

Homework is a graded assignment. I do not know of research showing the benefits of graded assignments going home.

Practice; however, can be extremely beneficial, especially if there is some sort of feedback (not a grade but feedback). That feedback can come from the teacher, another student or even an automated grading program.

As a former band director, I assigned daily practice. I never once thought it would be appropriate for me to require the students to turn in a recording of their practice for me to grade. Instead, I had in-class assignments/assessments that were graded and directly related to the practice assigned.

I would really like to read articles on “homework” that truly distinguish between the two.

oof i feel bad good luck!

thank you guys for the artical because I have to finish an assingment. yes i did cite it but just thanks

thx for the article guys.

Homework is good

I think homework is helpful AND harmful. Sometimes u can’t get sleep bc of homework but it helps u practice for school too so idk.

I agree with this Article. And does anyone know when this was published. I would like to know.

It was published FEb 19, 2019.

Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college.

i think homework can help kids but at the same time not help kids

This article is so out of touch with majority of homes it would be laughable if it wasn’t so incredibly sad.

There is no value to homework all it does is add stress to already stressed homes. Parents or adults magically having the time or energy to shepherd kids through homework is dome sort of 1950’s fantasy.

What lala land do these teachers live in?

Homework gives noting to the kid

Homework is Bad

homework is bad.

why do kids even have homework?

Comments are closed.

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Is Homework Valuable or Not? Try Looking at Quality Instead

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Is there an end in sight to the “homework wars?”

Homework is one those never-ending debates in K-12 circles that re-emerges every few years, bringing with it a new collection of headlines. Usually they bemoan how much homework students have, or highlight districts and even states that have sought to cap or eliminate homework .

Now, a new analysis from the Center for American Progress suggests a more fruitful way of thinking about this problem. Maybe, it suggests, what we should be doing is looking at what students are routinely being asked to do in take-home assignments, how well that homework supports their learning goals (or doesn’t), and make changes from there.

The analysis of nearly 200 pieces of homework concludes that much of what students are asked to do aligns to the Common Core State Standards—a testament to how pervasive the standards are in the U.S. education system, even though many states have tweaked, renamed, or replaced them. However, most of the homework embodied basic, procedural components of the standards, rather than the more difficult skills—such as analyzing or extending their knowledge to new problems.

“We were surprised by the degree of alignment. And we were also surprised by the degree that the homework was rote, and how much some of this stuff felt like Sudoku,” said Ulrich Boser, a senior fellow at CAP. “It made the homework debate make a lot more sense about why parents are frustrated.”

It is also similar to the findings of groups like the Education Trust, which have found that classwork tends to be aligned to state standards, but not all that rigorous.

Collecting Homework Samples

The CAP analysis appears to be one of the first studies to look at homework rigor using a national survey lens. Many studies of homework are based on one school or one district’s assignments, which obviously limits their applicability. Attempts to synthesize all this research have led to some hard-to-parse conclusions. One of the most cited studies concludes there’s some connection for grades 6-12 between homework and test scores, but less so for elementary students, and less of an impact on actual grades.

Another problem is that students’ experiences with homework seem to vary so dramatically: A Brookings Institution report based on survey data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress concluded that, while on average students aren’t overburdened by homework, a subset of students do appear to get hours upon hours.

The CAP analysis, instead, was based on getting a sample of parents from across the country to send in examples of their children’s homework. The researchers used MTurk, a crowdsourcing service offered by Amazon.com to recruit parents. Of the 372 parents who responded, the researchers got a pile of 187 useable assignments. Next, John Smithson, an emeritus researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had teams grade them on a taxonomy looking at both the content and the “cognitive demand,” or difficulty, of the work. The index fell on a 1 to 10 scale, with a score 4 to 6 range considered as “good” alignment.

The results? On average, math assignments fell within this range, while the ELA ones were slightly weaker, in the 3 to 5 range.

But the real eye-opening graphic is this one, which shows that by far the assignments were mostly low-level.

This makes some logical sense when you think about it. Just as with teaching and testing, it is much easier to write homework assignments prioritizing basic arithmetic drills and fill-in-the-blank vocabulary words than ones that get students to “prove” or “generalize” some tenet. (I suspect prepackaged curricula, too, probably lean more toward rote stuff than cognitively demanding exercises.)

Here’s another explanation: Many teachers believe homework should be for practicing known content, not learning something new. This is partially to help close the “homework gap” that surfaces because some students can access parent help or help via technology, while other students can’t. It’s possible that teachers are purposefully giving lower-level work to their students to take home for this reason.

To be sure, Boser said, it’s not that all lower-level work is intrinsically bad: Memorization does have a place in learning. But assignments like color-in-the-blank and word searches are probably just a waste of students’ time. “Homework assignments,” the study says, “should be thought-provoking.”

Study Limitations

The study does come with some significant limitations, so you must use caution in discussing its results. The surveyed population differs from the population at large, overrepresenting mothers over fathers and parents of K-5 students, and underrepresenting black parents. Also, the majority of the assignments the parents sent in came from the elementary grades.

The report makes suggestions on how districts can strategically improve the quality of their homework, rather than deciding to chuck it out altogether.

One is to is to audit homework assignments to make sure they’re actually useful at building some of the more difficult skills. Another is to extend the “curriculum revolution” of the last decade, which has focused more attention on the quality and alignment of textbooks and materials, to homework. A third is to use appropriate technology so students can access out-of-school supports for challenging homework.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Curriculum Matters blog.

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Is Homework Good for Kids? Here’s What the Research Says

A s kids return to school, debate is heating up once again over how they should spend their time after they leave the classroom for the day.

The no-homework policy of a second-grade teacher in Texas went viral last week , earning praise from parents across the country who lament the heavy workload often assigned to young students. Brandy Young told parents she would not formally assign any homework this year, asking students instead to eat dinner with their families, play outside and go to bed early.

But the question of how much work children should be doing outside of school remains controversial, and plenty of parents take issue with no-homework policies, worried their kids are losing a potential academic advantage. Here’s what you need to know:

For decades, the homework standard has been a “10-minute rule,” which recommends a daily maximum of 10 minutes of homework per grade level. Second graders, for example, should do about 20 minutes of homework each night. High school seniors should complete about two hours of homework each night. The National PTA and the National Education Association both support that guideline.

But some schools have begun to give their youngest students a break. A Massachusetts elementary school has announced a no-homework pilot program for the coming school year, lengthening the school day by two hours to provide more in-class instruction. “We really want kids to go home at 4 o’clock, tired. We want their brain to be tired,” Kelly Elementary School Principal Jackie Glasheen said in an interview with a local TV station . “We want them to enjoy their families. We want them to go to soccer practice or football practice, and we want them to go to bed. And that’s it.”

A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time. The change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders.

New solutions and approaches to homework differ by community, and these local debates are complicated by the fact that even education experts disagree about what’s best for kids.

The research

The most comprehensive research on homework to date comes from a 2006 meta-analysis by Duke University psychology professor Harris Cooper, who found evidence of a positive correlation between homework and student achievement, meaning students who did homework performed better in school. The correlation was stronger for older students—in seventh through 12th grade—than for those in younger grades, for whom there was a weak relationship between homework and performance.

Cooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement—test scores, for example. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. On the other hand, some studies he examined showed that homework can cause physical and emotional fatigue, fuel negative attitudes about learning and limit leisure time for children. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.

Despite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students. Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework.

Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.

Cathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, supports the “10-minute rule” as a maximum, but she thinks there is not sufficient proof that homework is helpful for students in elementary school.

“Correlation is not causation,” she said. “Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?”

Vatterott, the author of Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs , thinks there should be more emphasis on improving the quality of homework tasks, and she supports efforts to eliminate homework for younger kids.

“I have no concerns about students not starting homework until fourth grade or fifth grade,” she said, noting that while the debate over homework will undoubtedly continue, she has noticed a trend toward limiting, if not eliminating, homework in elementary school.

The issue has been debated for decades. A TIME cover in 1999 read: “Too much homework! How it’s hurting our kids, and what parents should do about it.” The accompanying story noted that the launch of Sputnik in 1957 led to a push for better math and science education in the U.S. The ensuing pressure to be competitive on a global scale, plus the increasingly demanding college admissions process, fueled the practice of assigning homework.

“The complaints are cyclical, and we’re in the part of the cycle now where the concern is for too much,” Cooper said. “You can go back to the 1970s, when you’ll find there were concerns that there was too little, when we were concerned about our global competitiveness.”

Cooper acknowledged that some students really are bringing home too much homework, and their parents are right to be concerned.

“A good way to think about homework is the way you think about medications or dietary supplements,” he said. “If you take too little, they’ll have no effect. If you take too much, they can kill you. If you take the right amount, you’ll get better.”

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What’s the point of homework?

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Homework hasn’t changed much in the past few decades. Most children are still sent home with about an hour’s worth of homework each day, mostly practising what they were taught in class.

If we look internationally, homework is assigned in every country that participated in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012.

Across the participating countries, 15-year-old students reported spending almost five hours per week doing homework in 2012. Australian students spent six hours per week on average on homework. Students in Singapore spent seven hours on homework, and in Shanghai, China they did homework for about 14 hours per week on average.

Read more: Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading

Shanghai and Singapore routinely score higher than Australia in the PISA maths, science and reading tests. But homework could just be one of the factors leading to higher results. In Finland, which also scores higher than Australia, students spent less than three hours on homework per week.

So, what’s the purpose of homework and what does the evidence say about whether it fulfils its purpose?

Why do teachers set homework?

Each school in Australia has its own homework policy developed in consultation with teachers and parents or caregivers, under the guiding principles of state or regional education departments.

For instance, according to the New South Wales homework policy “… tasks should be assigned by teachers with a specific, explicit learning purpose”.

Homework in NSW should also be “purposeful and designed to meet specific learning goals”, and “built on knowledge, skills and understanding developed in class”. But there is limited, if any, guidance on how often homework should be set.

Research based on teacher interviews shows they set homework for a range of reasons. These include to:

establish and improve communication between parents and children about learning

help children be more responsible, confident and disciplined

practise or review material from class

determine children’s understanding of the lesson and/or skills

introduce new material to be presented in class

provide students with opportunities to apply and integrate skills to new situations or interest areas

get students to use their own skills to create work.

So, does homework achieve what teachers intend it to?

Do we know if it ‘works’?

Studies on homework are frequently quite general, and don’t consider specific types of homework tasks. So it isn’t easy to measure how effective homework could be, or to compare studies.

But there are several things we can say.

First, it’s better if every student gets the kind of homework task that benefits them personally, such as one that helps them answer questions they had, or understand a problem they couldn’t quite grasp in class. This promotes students’ confidence and control of their own learning.

Read more: Learning from home is testing students' online search skills. Here are 3 ways to improve them

Giving students repetitive tasks may not have much value . For instance, calculating the answer to 120 similar algorithms, such as adding two different numbers 120 times may make the student think maths is irrelevant and boring. In this case, children are not being encouraged to find solutions but simply applying a formula they learnt in school.

In primary schools, homework that aims to improve children’s confidence and learning discipline can be beneficial. For example, children can be asked to practise giving a presentation on a topic of their interest. This could help build their competence in speaking in front of a class.

Homework can also highlight equity issues. It can be particularly burdensome for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who may not have a space, the resources or as much time due to family and work commitments. Their parents may also not feel capable of supporting them or have their own work commitments.

According to the PISA studies mentioned earlier, socioeconomically disadvantaged 15 year olds spend nearly three hours less on homework each week than their advantaged peers.

Read more: 'I was astonished at how quickly they made gains': online tutoring helps struggling students catch up

What kind of homework is best?

Homework can be engaging and contribute to learning if it is more than just a sheet of maths or list of spelling words not linked to class learning. From summarising various studies’ findings, “good” homework should be:

personalised to each child rather than the same for all students in the class. This is more likely to make a difference to a child’s learning and performance

achievable, so the child can complete it independently, building skills in managing their time and behaviour

aligned to the learning in the classroom.

If you aren’t happy with the homework your child is given then approach the school. If your child is having difficulty with doing the homework, the teacher needs to know. It shouldn’t be burdensome for you or your children.

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Should Kids Get Homework?

Homework gives elementary students a way to practice concepts, but too much can be harmful, experts say.

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Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful.

How much homework students should get has long been a source of debate among parents and educators. In recent years, some districts have even implemented no-homework policies, as students juggle sports, music and other activities after school.

Parents of elementary school students, in particular, have argued that after-school hours should be spent with family or playing outside rather than completing assignments. And there is little research to show that homework improves academic achievement for elementary students.

But some experts say there's value in homework, even for younger students. When done well, it can help students practice core concepts and develop study habits and time management skills. The key to effective homework, they say, is keeping assignments related to classroom learning, and tailoring the amount by age: Many experts suggest no homework for kindergartners, and little to none in first and second grade.

Value of Homework

Homework provides a chance to solidify what is being taught in the classroom that day, week or unit. Practice matters, says Janine Bempechat, clinical professor at Boston University 's Wheelock College of Education & Human Development.

"There really is no other domain of human ability where anybody would say you don't need to practice," she adds. "We have children practicing piano and we have children going to sports practice several days a week after school. You name the domain of ability and practice is in there."

Homework is also the place where schools and families most frequently intersect.

"The children are bringing things from the school into the home," says Paula S. Fass, professor emerita of history at the University of California—Berkeley and the author of "The End of American Childhood." "Before the pandemic, (homework) was the only real sense that parents had to what was going on in schools."

Harris Cooper, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University and author of "The Battle Over Homework," examined more than 60 research studies on homework between 1987 and 2003 and found that — when designed properly — homework can lead to greater student success. Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary.

"Every child should be doing homework, but the amount and type that they're doing should be appropriate for their developmental level," he says. "For teachers, it's a balancing act. Doing away with homework completely is not in the best interest of children and families. But overburdening families with homework is also not in the child's or a family's best interest."

Negative Homework Assignments

Not all homework for elementary students involves completing a worksheet. Assignments can be fun, says Cooper, like having students visit educational locations, keep statistics on their favorite sports teams, read for pleasure or even help their parents grocery shop. The point is to show students that activities done outside of school can relate to subjects learned in the classroom.

But assignments that are just busy work, that force students to learn new concepts at home, or that are overly time-consuming can be counterproductive, experts say.

Homework that's just busy work.

Effective homework reinforces math, reading, writing or spelling skills, but in a way that's meaningful, experts say. Assignments that look more like busy work – projects or worksheets that don't require teacher feedback and aren't related to topics learned in the classroom – can be frustrating for students and create burdens for families.

"The mental health piece has definitely played a role here over the last couple of years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the last thing we want to do is frustrate students with busy work or homework that makes no sense," says Dave Steckler, principal of Red Trail Elementary School in Mandan, North Dakota.

Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet.

With the pressure to cover all topics on standardized tests and limited time during the school day, some teachers assign homework that has not yet been taught in the classroom.

Not only does this create stress, but it also causes equity challenges. Some parents speak languages other than English or work several jobs, and they aren't able to help teach their children new concepts.

" It just becomes agony for both parents and the kids to get through this worksheet, and the goal becomes getting to the bottom of (the) worksheet with answers filled in without any understanding of what any of it matters for," says professor Susan R. Goldman, co-director of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at the University of Illinois—Chicago .

Homework that's overly time-consuming.

The standard homework guideline recommended by the National Parent Teacher Association and the National Education Association is the "10-minute rule" – 10 minutes of nightly homework per grade level. A fourth grader, for instance, would receive a total of 40 minutes of homework per night.

But this does not always happen, especially since not every student learns the same. A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Family Therapy found that primary school children actually received three times the recommended amount of homework — and that family stress increased along with the homework load.

Young children can only remain attentive for short periods, so large amounts of homework, especially lengthy projects, can negatively affect students' views on school. Some individual long-term projects – like having to build a replica city, for example – typically become an assignment for parents rather than students, Fass says.

"It's one thing to assign a project like that in which several kids are working on it together," she adds. "In (that) case, the kids do normally work on it. It's another to send it home to the families, where it becomes a burden and doesn't really accomplish very much."

Private vs. Public Schools

Do private schools assign more homework than public schools? There's little research on the issue, but experts say private school parents may be more accepting of homework, seeing it as a sign of academic rigor.

Of course, not all private schools are the same – some focus on college preparation and traditional academics, while others stress alternative approaches to education.

"I think in the academically oriented private schools, there's more support for homework from parents," says Gerald K. LeTendre, chair of educational administration at Pennsylvania State University—University Park . "I don't know if there's any research to show there's more homework, but it's less of a contentious issue."

How to Address Homework Overload

First, assess if the workload takes as long as it appears. Sometimes children may start working on a homework assignment, wander away and come back later, Cooper says.

"Parents don't see it, but they know that their child has started doing their homework four hours ago and still not done it," he adds. "They don't see that there are those four hours where their child was doing lots of other things. So the homework assignment itself actually is not four hours long. It's the way the child is approaching it."

But if homework is becoming stressful or workload is excessive, experts suggest parents first approach the teacher, followed by a school administrator.

"Many times, we can solve a lot of issues by having conversations," Steckler says, including by "sitting down, talking about the amount of homework, and what's appropriate and not appropriate."

Study Tips for High School Students

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Speech on Importance Of Homework

Homework, often viewed as a chore, holds surprising benefits for your learning journey. Think of it as a bridge, linking classroom learning to home study.

In the right amount, homework can boost your understanding and retention. It’s not just busywork, but an essential tool for academic success!

1-minute Speech on Importance Of Homework

Hello everyone, today I’m here to talk about a topic that’s familiar to us all – homework. It might not be everyone’s favorite task, but its significance can’t be overlooked.

Firstly, let’s talk about skills. Homework helps us develop important life skills. Through homework, we learn how to plan our time, set priorities, and meet deadlines. It helps us become more disciplined and organized.

Secondly, homework is a great tool for practice. We all know the saying, “practice makes perfect”. Homework gives us the chance to practice what we’ve learned in class. By doing our homework, we’re able to understand and remember the lessons better.

Thirdly, homework helps to build responsibility. When we have homework, it’s our duty to complete it. This teaches us to take responsibility for our own learning.

Lastly, homework serves as a connection between school and home. When our parents or guardians see us doing homework, they get involved in our learning. This helps them understand what we’re learning at school, and they can support us better.

In conclusion, homework might seem like a chore, but it actually helps us in many ways. It builds skills, encourages practice, teaches responsibility, and connects school with home. So, next time you sit down to do your homework, remember its importance and give it your best shot. Thank you.

2-minute Speech on Importance Of Homework

Ladies and gentlemen, kids of all ages, let’s talk about a topic we’ve all had a brush with – homework. Some of us see it as a chore, some as a burden. But today, I am here to help you understand the real importance of homework.

Firstly, homework is like a bridge that connects school and home. It is true that we learn a lot from our teachers, but homework allows us to apply the lessons in a home setting. This way, we learn to solve problems independently. It’s like learning to ride a bike. The more you practise, the better you get. Homework is the practice that helps us master the lesson.

Secondly, homework teaches us responsibility and discipline. When we have a task to complete, we learn to manage our time, to meet deadlines, and to get things done. It’s like preparing for a race. You need to train every day, stick to a routine, and finally, you’re ready to win the race. Homework helps us prepare for the bigger races in life.

Next, homework also helps you to revise what you have studied in school. It’s like watching a movie again. You notice new things and understand the story better. When you revise your lessons through homework, the concepts become clearer, and the learning sticks.

Another important point is that homework allows your parents and teachers to track your progress. It’s like a health check-up. It helps to point out where you’re strong and where you need help. Every completed homework is a progress report that guides your learning journey.

Lastly, homework enhances critical thinking and creativity. It’s like solving a puzzle. You have to think, explore different ways, and sometimes think out-of-the-box to solve it. Homework offers similar challenges, pushing us to think beyond the textbook and come up with unique solutions.

In conclusion, homework isn’t just a task given by your teachers. It is a tool that helps you learn better, become responsible, and prepares you for the future. So the next time you sit down with your homework, remember, it’s not a burden. It’s a stepping stone to success. Thank you for your attention.

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The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: December 7, 2023

Published: January 23, 2020

Homework is a word that most students dread hearing. After hours upon hours of sitting in class , the last thing we want is more schoolwork over our precious weekends. While it’s known to be a staple of traditional schooling, homework has also become a rather divise topic. Some feel as though homework is a necessary part of school, while others believe that the time could be better invested. Should students have homework? Have a closer look into the arguments on both sides to decide for yourself.

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Why should students have homework, 1. homework encourages practice.

Many people believe that one of the positive effects of homework is that it encourages the discipline of practice. While it may be time consuming and boring compared to other activities, repetition is needed to get better at skills. Homework helps make concepts more clear, and gives students more opportunities when starting their career .

2. Homework Gets Parents Involved

Homework can be something that gets parents involved in their children’s lives if the environment is a healthy one. A parent helping their child with homework makes them take part in their academic success, and allows for the parent to keep up with what the child is doing in school. It can also be a chance to connect together.

3. Homework Teaches Time Management

Homework is much more than just completing the assigned tasks. Homework can develop time management skills , forcing students to plan their time and make sure that all of their homework assignments are done on time. By learning to manage their time, students also practice their problem-solving skills and independent thinking. One of the positive effects of homework is that it forces decision making and compromises to be made.

4. Homework Opens A Bridge Of Communication

Homework creates a connection between the student, the teacher, the school, and the parents. It allows everyone to get to know each other better, and parents can see where their children are struggling. In the same sense, parents can also see where their children are excelling. Homework in turn can allow for a better, more targeted educational plan for the student.

5. Homework Allows For More Learning Time

Homework allows for more time to complete the learning process. School hours are not always enough time for students to really understand core concepts, and homework can counter the effects of time shortages, benefiting students in the long run, even if they can’t see it in the moment.

6. Homework Reduces Screen Time

Many students in North America spend far too many hours watching TV. If they weren’t in school, these numbers would likely increase even more. Although homework is usually undesired, it encourages better study habits and discourages spending time in front of the TV. Homework can be seen as another extracurricular activity, and many families already invest a lot of time and money in different clubs and lessons to fill up their children’s extra time. Just like extracurricular activities, homework can be fit into one’s schedule.

The Other Side: Why Homework Is Bad

1. homework encourages a sedentary lifestyle.

Should students have homework? Well, that depends on where you stand. There are arguments both for the advantages and the disadvantages of homework.

While classroom time is important, playground time is just as important. If children are given too much homework, they won’t have enough playtime, which can impact their social development and learning. Studies have found that those who get more play get better grades in school , as it can help them pay closer attention in the classroom.

Children are already sitting long hours in the classroom, and homework assignments only add to these hours. Sedentary lifestyles can be dangerous and can cause health problems such as obesity. Homework takes away from time that could be spent investing in physical activity.

2. Homework Isn’t Healthy In Every Home

While many people that think homes are a beneficial environment for children to learn, not all homes provide a healthy environment, and there may be very little investment from parents. Some parents do not provide any kind of support or homework help, and even if they would like to, due to personal barriers, they sometimes cannot. Homework can create friction between children and their parents, which is one of the reasons why homework is bad .

3. Homework Adds To An Already Full-Time Job

School is already a full-time job for students, as they generally spend over 6 hours each day in class. Students also often have extracurricular activities such as sports, music, or art that are just as important as their traditional courses. Adding on extra hours to all of these demands is a lot for children to manage, and prevents students from having extra time to themselves for a variety of creative endeavors. Homework prevents self discovery and having the time to learn new skills outside of the school system. This is one of the main disadvantages of homework.

4. Homework Has Not Been Proven To Provide Results

Endless surveys have found that homework creates a negative attitude towards school, and homework has not been found to be linked to a higher level of academic success.

The positive effects of homework have not been backed up enough. While homework may help some students improve in specific subjects, if they have outside help there is no real proof that homework makes for improvements.

It can be a challenge to really enforce the completion of homework, and students can still get decent grades without doing their homework. Extra school time does not necessarily mean better grades — quality must always come before quantity.

Accurate practice when it comes to homework simply isn’t reliable. Homework could even cause opposite effects if misunderstood, especially since the reliance is placed on the student and their parents — one of the major reasons as to why homework is bad. Many students would rather cheat in class to avoid doing their homework at home, and children often just copy off of each other or from what they read on the internet.

5. Homework Assignments Are Overdone

The general agreement is that students should not be given more than 10 minutes a day per grade level. What this means is that a first grader should be given a maximum of 10 minutes of homework, while a second grader receives 20 minutes, etc. Many students are given a lot more homework than the recommended amount, however.

On average, college students spend as much as 3 hours per night on homework . By giving too much homework, it can increase stress levels and lead to burn out. This in turn provides an opposite effect when it comes to academic success.

The pros and cons of homework are both valid, and it seems as though the question of ‘‘should students have homework?’ is not a simple, straightforward one. Parents and teachers often are found to be clashing heads, while the student is left in the middle without much say.

It’s important to understand all the advantages and disadvantages of homework, taking both perspectives into conversation to find a common ground. At the end of the day, everyone’s goal is the success of the student.

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Homework: is it worth the hassle?

Parents and educators question the value of setting assignments for students. But what does the neuroscience say?

Like all teachers, I’ve spent many hours correcting homework. Yet there’s a debate over whether we should be setting it at all.

I teach both primary and secondary, and regularly find myself drawn into the argument on the reasoning behind it – parents, and sometimes colleagues, question its validity. Parent-teacher interviews can become consumed by how much trouble students have completing assignments. All of which has led me to question the neuroscience behind setting homework. Is it worth it?

Increasingly, there’s a divide between those who support the need for homework and those who suggest the time would be better spent with family and developing relationships. The anxiety related to homework is frequently reviewed.

A survey of high-performing high schools by the Stanford Graduate School of Education, for example, found that 56% of students considered homework a primary source of stress. These same students reported that the demands of homework caused sleep deprivation and other health problems, as well as less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits.

Working memory?

When students learn in the classroom, they are using their short-term or working memory. This information is continually updated during the class. On leaving the classroom, the information in the working memory is replaced by the topic in the next class.

Adults experience a similar reaction when they walk into a new room and forget why they are there. The new set of sensory information – lighting, odours, temperature – enters their working memory and any pre-existing information is displaced. It’s only when the person returns to the same environment that they remember the key information.

But education is about more than memorising facts. Students need to access the information in ways that are relevant to their world, and to transfer knowledge to new situations.

Many of us will have struggled to remember someone’s name when we meet them in an unexpected environment (a workmate at the gym, maybe), and we are more likely to remember them again once we’ve seen them multiple times in different places. Similarly, students must practise their skills in different environments.

Revising the key skills learned in the classroom during homework increases the likelihood of a student remembering and being able to use those skills in a variety of situations in the future, contributing to their overall education.

The link between homework and educational achievement is supported by research: a meta-analysis of studies between 1987 and 2003 found that: “With only rare exceptions, the relationship between the amount of homework students do and their achievement outcomes was found to be positive and statistically significant.”

The right type of work

The homework debate is often split along the lines of primary school compared with secondary school. Education researcher Professor John Hattie, who has ranked various influences on student learning and achievement, found that homework in primary schools has a negligible effect (most homework set has little to no impact on a student’s overall learning). However, it makes a bigger difference in secondary schools.

His explanation is that students in secondary schools are often given tasks that reinforce key skills learned in the classroom that day, whereas primary students may be asked to complete separate assignments. “The worst thing you can do with homework is give kids projects; the best thing you can do is reinforce something you’ve already learned,” he told the BBC in 2014.

So homework can be effective when it’s the right type of homework. In my own practice, the primary students I teach will often be asked to find real-life examples of the concept taught instead of traditional homework tasks, while homework for secondary students consolidates the key concepts covered in the classroom. For secondary in particular, I find a general set of rules useful:

• Set work that’s relevant. This includes elaborating on information addressed in the class or opportunities for students to explore the key concept in areas of their own interest.
• Make sure students can complete the homework. Pitch it to a student’s age and skills – anxiety will only limit their cognitive abilities in that topic. A high chance of success will increase the reward stimulation in the brain.
• Get parents involved, without the homework being a point of conflict with students. Make it a sharing of information, rather than a battle.
• Check the homework with the students afterwards. This offers a chance to review the key concepts and allow the working memory to become part of the long-term memory.

While there is no data on the effectiveness of homework in different subjects, these general rules could be applied equally to languages, mathematics or humanities. And by setting the right type of homework, you’ll help to reinforce key concepts in a new environment, allowing the information you teach to be used in a variety of contexts in the future.

Helen Silvester is a writer for npj Science of Learning Community

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Speech about Homework [Short1,2,3,5 Minutes]

• Speech about Homework

Homework is a part of learning and it is a significant way in which students can learn. It is important for students to understand that they should always do their homework so that they can learn and grow as individuals.

Homework helps to build skills in various areas such as reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and more. It also helps with the understanding of concepts and better learning outcomes.

“Homework before playing” is a common phrase that we hear from our parents. It is often used to prevent children from having too much fun and staying focused on their work.

However, nowadays, children are not expected to do homework before playing. Instead, they are encouraged to play and learn at the same time. This approach is more efficient because children learn better when they are having fun.

There are many pros and cons of this approach. On one hand, it prevents children from being bored or distracted while playing by taking up their time with homework. On the other hand, it can cause kids to feel like they have been left behind in schoolwork or feel like they do not need to do homework anymore because they have already learned what was taught in school before playing.

Quotes for Speech about Homework

• “Homework is a chance for you to learn and for us to learn about you.” – Mike Rogers
• “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.” – Steve Jobs
• “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Peter Drucker
• “Homework is a tool for practice, reinforcing what students have already learned in class.” – Harris Cooper
• “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
• “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar
• “Homework is a chance for you to take responsibility for your own learning.” – Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld
• “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

Homework is an important activity for students to do. It helps them to get a better understanding of the material they are studying and also helps them improve their skills.

Homework helps students understand the material they are studying and also improves their skills.

Homework is important for students to learn and improve their skills. It helps them get better grades, develop initiative, and build up a strong foundation of knowledge.

Homework is also important for parents because it helps them know what their children are learning in school. It also helps them monitor the progress of their children and make sure that they are on the right track.

It is important for every child to learn how to do homework before playing. This is because it helps them gain skills and knowledge that are necessary for their education.

Many parents find it hard to manage their children’s homework and other activities. With the help of AI, they can easily create a schedule with reminders. They can also set up the tasks for the day in advance so that the children don’t have to worry about anything.

Minutes Speech about Homework

Homework is an important part of the school curriculum. It helps students to practice skills that they are learning in class, and also gives them more time to do their own work.

Homework can be a challenge for students. It can be difficult to find time to complete it when there are so many other assignments and activities that need to be done as well. But it is always better for students to have completed homework ahead of time than not at all, because it allows them the opportunity to study and prepare for upcoming tests or quizzes.

In this speech, we will explore the importance of homework for students and how parents can help their children with homework if they are struggling with it at home.

If you want to enjoy your game, it is important that you give it proper preparation. If you are not prepared for the game, then it will be difficult for you to focus on what’s happening in the game.

When I was younger, I used to play games without doing any homework. However, this led to me not being able to focus on the game and I would often get frustrated. Nowadays, I make sure that I do my homework before playing.

Homework before playing is a good habit that can help improve your performance in games as well as other tasks where you need concentration.

Homework is a tool that has been used for centuries. It is designed to help students learn the material they have been taught in class.

Homework helps students learn and retain information better than if they had not done it. It also helps them develop their study skills, which are important for success later on in life.

Homework can also be used as a learning strategy for students who struggle to focus or pay attention in class. Students who struggle with homework will often find that it helps them focus on the task at hand, which can prevent them from becoming distracted by their surroundings and falling behind in class.

Homework is a very important part of a student’s life. It helps them to improve their skills and performance in school. It also helps them to learn how to manage their time better.

The importance of homework for students can be seen from the fact that it is one of the most important ways for students to get ahead in school.

The most important thing that parents should teach their children is how to manage their time. This is a skill that can be practiced in many different ways, but it is especially important for children who are going to play a lot of games and sports.

Homework before playing can help children learn how to manage their time and keep them from being overworked and burnt out. It also helps them develop better habits for when they are older and have more responsibilities at school or work.

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The Value of Homework

Are teachers assigning too much homework.

Posted September 5, 2016 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

• Studies show that the benefits of homework peak at about one hour to 90 minutes, and then after that, test scores begin to decline.
• Research has found that high school teachers (grades 9-12) report assigning an average of 3.5 hours’ worth of homework a week.
• While homework is necessary, there needs to be balance as well as communication between teachers about the amount of homework being assigned.

The value of homework has been the subject of debate over the years. In regards to research, the jury is still out as to whether homework positively impacts a student's academic achievement.

In the past, I have written a couple of posts on homework and whether or not it is being used or abused by educators. I am always amazed at what some of my young readers share about sleepless nights, not participating in extracurricular events, and high levels of stress —all of which are attributed to large and daunting amounts of homework .

There have been studies that show that doing homework in moderation improves test performance. So we can’t rule out the value of homework if it’s conducive to learning. However, studies have also shown that the benefits of homework peak at about one hour to 90 minutes, and then after that, test scores begin to decline.

Now, while looking at data, it’s important to review the standard, endorsed by the National Education Association and the National Parent-Teacher Association , known as the "10-minute rule" — 10 minutes of homework per grade level per night. That would mean there would only be 10 minutes of homework in the first grade, and end with 120 minutes for senior year of high school (double what research shows beneficial). This leads to an important question: On average, how much homework do teachers assign?

Typical homework amounts

A Harris Poll from the University of Phoenix surveyed teachers about the hours of homework required of students and why they assign it. Pollsters received responses from approximately 1,000 teachers in public, private, and parochial schools across the United States.

High school teachers (grades 9-12) reported assigning an average of 3.5 hours’ worth of homework a week. Middle school teachers (grades 6-8) reported assigning almost the same amount as high school teachers, 3.2 hours of homework a week. Lastly, K-5 teachers said they assigned an average of 2.9 hours of homework each week. This data shows a spike in homework beginning in middle school.

Why homework is assigned

When teachers were asked why they assign homework, they gave the top three reasons:

• to see how well students understand lessons
• to help students develop essential problem-solving skills
• to show parents what's being learned in school

Approximately, 30 percent of teachers reported they assigned homework to cover more content areas. What’s interesting about this poll was the longer an educator had been in the field the less homework they assigned. Take a look at the breakdown below:

• 3.6 hours (teachers with less than 10 years in the classroom)
• 3.1 hours (teachers with 10 to 19 years in the classroom)
• 2.8 hours (teachers with more than 20 years in the classroom)

The need for balance

While many agree that homework does have a time and place, there needs to be a balance between life and school. There also needs to be communication with other teachers in the school about assignments. Oftentimes, educators get so involved in their subject area, they communicate departmentally, not school-wide. As a result, it’s not uncommon for teens to have a project and a couple of tests all on the same day. This dump of work can lead to an overwhelming amount of stress.

Questions for educators

Educators, how can you maximize the benefit of homework? Use the questions below to guide you in whether or not to assign work outside of the classroom. Ask yourself:

• Do I need to assign homework or can this be done in class?
• Does this assignment contribute and supplement the lesson reviewed in class?
• Do students have all of the information they need to do this assignment? In others words, are they prepared to do the homework?
• What are you wanting your students to achieve from this assignment? Do you have a specific objective and intended outcome in mind?
• How much time will the assignment take to complete? Have you given your students a sufficient amount of time?
• Have you taken into account other coursework that your students have due?
• How can you incorporate student choice and feedback into your classroom?
• How can you monitor whether or not you are overloading your students?

What kids think of homework

Educators: As a conclusion, I have provided a few of the many comments, that I have received below. I think it’s important to look at the age/grade level and messages these teens have shared. Take time to read their words and reflect on ways you can incorporate their perspective into course objectives and content. I believe the solution to the homework dilemma can be found in assigning work in moderation and finding a balance between school, home, and life.

“I am a 7th grader in a small school in Michigan. I think one of the main problems about what teachers think about homework is that they do not think about what other classes are assigned for homework. Throughout the day, I get at least two full pages of homework to complete by the next day. During the school year, I am hesitant to sign up for sports because I am staying up after a game or practice to finish my homework.”

“I'm 17 and I'm in my last year of high school. I can honestly tell you that from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. (sometimes 1 or 2 a.m.) I am doing homework. I've been trying to balance my homework with my work schedule, work around my house, and my social life with no success. So if someone were to ask me if I think kids have too much homework, I would say yes they do. My comment is based solely on my personal experience in high school.”

“I am 13 and I have a problem: homework. I can’t get my homework done at home because it is all on my school MacBook. I don’t own my own personal computer, only an Amazon Fire tablet. What’s the problem with my tablet? There are no middle or high school apps for it. You are might be wondering, “Why not bring the MacBook home?” Well, I am not allowed to, so what is the punishment ? Four late assignments, and 1 late argument essay. And 90% of the homework I get is on my MacBook. This is a mega stresser!"

Raychelle Cassada Lohman n , M.S., LPC, is the author of The Anger Workbook for Teens .

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Does Homework have any Value?

Some people say homework has many benefits whilst others believe it actually has detrimental effects on academic performance. We look at the pros and the cons in detail so you can make up your own mind

If you'd like a PDF version of this page, simply click The Value of Homework PDF

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Homework has long been a subject of debate - does it aid learning or hinder it? Education Quizzes delves into the pros and cons of homework, presenting a comprehensive guide to help you understand its impact.

To explore the broader realm of education and its significance for children, visit our Education Importance page.

Why is Homework Assigned?

Almost every school assigns homework to its students. The question arises: What benefits does homework offer? The primary reasons include reinforcing classroom learning and fostering independent learning skills, as we will elaborate on shortly.

Consider homework as a crucial aspect of education; neglecting it can adversely affect a child's academic performance. It serves as a test, and incomplete work may lead to lower grades.

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Advantages of Homework

Advocates of homework highlight its numerous educational benefits. Let's delve into a detailed examination of why homework is advantageous for a child's education:

Consolidation of Classroom Learning

Repetition is a potent method of learning. Homework helps children revisit and absorb information taught in class, ensuring a better understanding and providing an opportunity to practice newly acquired skills. Here at Education Quizzes we believe that quizzes are a great way for children to consolidate their learning at all stages of education but they are most valuable for 11 Plus Test Preparation and for GCSE Revision when time is of the essence.

Additional Learning Time

Considering the limited time spent in school, homework provides crucial extra time for in-depth exploration of topics. This is especially vital for coursework and projects, allowing students to delve deeper into subjects at their own pace.

Parental Involvement

Homework serves as a window for parents to understand the topics covered in their child's lessons. It enhances the parent's confidence in the quality of their child's education and provides insight into their academic progress.

Quality Family Time

Contrary to the belief that homework hinders family time, it can bring families closer. It creates opportunities for parents to assist their children, fostering collaborative learning and strengthening family bonds.

Development of Self-discipline

Homework instils a sense of responsibility in children, requiring them to manage their time effectively. This cultivates valuable life skills, such as organization and dedication, essential for success in adulthood.

Comfortable Learning Environment

While classrooms serve as traditional learning spaces, some students thrive in the comfort of their homes. Homework caters to various learning styles, allowing students to create an optimal environment that suits their preferences.

There are many benefits to homework, including self-discipline, family time and extra knowledge.

Disadvantages of Homework

Despite its advantages, there is a faction advocating for the elimination of homework, citing various reasons. Let's delve into the major arguments against homework:

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Excessive Stress on Children

Some argue that homework adds unnecessary stress to children already burdened with schoolwork. However, it is essential to ensure that the assigned work is suitable for the child's capability, and concerns should be discussed with teachers.

Fatigue in Children

Recognizing the need for rest and sleep in a child's development, opponents argue that homework impedes relaxation. Adequate time exists between school days for both rest and homework completion, preventing interference with sleep.

Impact on Family Time

Homework potentially curtails precious family time, especially during evenings and weekends. It is crucial to strike a balance to ensure that children have adequate time for homework and family activities.

Inequality in Homework Opportunities

Children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds may face challenges due to limited access to study resources. While this is a valid concern, it underscores broader societal issues affecting educational equality.

Risk of Cheating

Homework done outside the school environment provides opportunities for cheating. However, blaming homework for cheating is akin to blaming shops for shoplifting - the responsibility lies with individuals.

Parent-Child Conflict

Assigning homework can strain parent-child relationships as parents become enforcers of schoolwork. However, parents have the choice not to compel their children, allowing natural consequences at school to motivate completion.

Impact on Social Lives

While social development is integral, a sensible amount of homework should not significantly impede socializing. If concerns arise, discussing the workload with teachers is crucial for finding an optimal balance.

Recommended Homework Time

The volume of homework can become problematic if excessive. Government guidelines, though rescinded in 2012, offered suggested homework times based on age:

• Years 1 and 2: 60 minutes per week
• Years 3 and 4: 90 minutes per week
• Years 5 and 6: 30 minutes a day
• Years 7 and 8: 45 to 90 minutes a day
• Year 9: 60 to 120 minutes a day
• Years 10 and 11: 90 to 150 minutes a day

Ultimately, while homework may not be eagerly anticipated, its benefits outweigh the drawbacks. Contrary to concerns about family time and social lives, when appropriately managed, homework has a minimal impact, leaving ample time for friends and family.

As long as children are set a reasonable amount of homework, the impact should be very minor and leave plenty of time for friends and family.

If you have questions about education or parenting, explore our Knowledge Bank for articles filled with facts, tips, and advice. The answers you seek may be readily available, providing valuable insights at your fingertips!

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The importance of homework – an Open Speech

Homework is a major part of every student’s life. However, many dislike homework, as it keeps them from doing what they want at home. Often, students will make excuses to avoid doing any homework. However, homework actually plays a very important role in education for a number of reasons.

Firstly, homework gives students practice in what they have learned in class. Without this additional practice, students will usually forget what they have learned. The extra work will also enable students to find out if they have understood what was taught during the lesson. When the teacher marks the homework, the teacher will also be able to check if a student needs help with a certain topic or concept. If a student has difficulty with a subject, it will be detected from his homework and the student can receive help before it is too late.

Another benefit of homework is that it keeps students occupied in productive activities. Without homework, students will have a lot of time on their hands after school. They would most likely spend their time on things which they enjoy but are not beneficial, such as playing computer games and watching television. Homework ensures that students do some studying, which will help them do better in examinations. Otherwise, their time would be wasted on unproductive and even unhealthy pastimes.

Besides, homework is important because it promotes self-discipline. Homework is usually done at home where there is no supervision by teachers. Unless students have strict parents who monitor what they do, it is up to the students to decide when to do the work or even whether to complete the task or not. With this, students would slowly become more used to the idea of doing independent work without someone breathing down their necks. This value will serve them well in the future, especially during work, where the ability to do independent work is a prized skill.

To conclude, homework plays a very important role in education, even though students like to complain about it. It provides students with valuable practice in what they have learned, it provides students with a productive way to spend some of their time and it builds self-discipline. It is clear then that students should not be lazy and should do their homework diligently.

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What is the importance of homework?

Homework is a burden for many children, but it serves as a significant educational objective. It is beneficial for parents to inspire a healthy attitude to homework in their children from an early age. Research has shown that the involvement of parents in the learning of a child plays a major role in the child’s academic achievement.

What are the different types of homework?

Going to school throughout the day is sufficient for children. Coming home and do more work becomes boring and cumbersome for them. As much as students dislike homework, it makes it an integral part of their learning and education. Though parents might find it hard to make their kids sit down for the homework, this habit will beneficial in the future.

Homework is seen as a major extension of classroom-based learning. It assists in cementing ideas that kids learn at school. Homework helps things to sink in further and expand the knowledge of children. Homework can take a variety of forms, that consists of:

• Solving questions of a scientific or mathematical nature.
• Answering a set of questions.
• Writing creative short stories and prose.
• Maintaining a periodic record of weekend or holiday experiences.
• Writing an essay .
• To prepare for evaluation such as a spelling test, that requires learning specific word spellings.
• Looking up for things on the web or in an encyclopedia to enhance research skills.
• Find out things about their families or themselves.

Significance of homework

The amount and the complexity of homework that requires to be accomplished increases considerably with the progress of children in the school. Though the level of homework assigned to primary aged children can differ, but there is surety that they will get some daily homework. A child who is used to doing homework from the beginning will have fewer issues in doing it through his school years than other children.

Some schools endorse children to use homework diaries, to make a note of the homework that they will be doing. Teachers won’t able to able to assess whether the child has understood the subject without any allocation of homework.

Let us see in what ways does homework positively impacts the learning of a child.

• Homework strengthens concepts, information, and skills that a student learns in class.
• Homework makes a student ready for upcoming class topics.
• Homework teaches how a student can work independently and build self-discipline.
• Homework activities aids in forming a connection between school learning and the real world.
• Homework enhances the memory and thinking abilities of a child
• It assists child in building positive study habits and skills that will serve them well throughout life
• Homework inspires a student to make productive use of his time
• It teaches a child to work in an independent manner
• Homework teaches the child to take entire responsibility for his work
• Homework enables parents to make active participation in the child’s education and also assess their progress.
• It enables a child to practice and review all that has been taught in class
• Homework prepares your child for the next day’s session
• Homework boosts students to take initiative and accountability for finishing a task.
• Homework helps a student to learn to make the best use of resources, such as reference materials, computer websites and libraries to locate information
• It boosts your child to explore subjects completely than the limited classroom time
• Homework enables your child to expand their learning by application of learned skills to new circumstances
• It helps a child to integrate learning by application of several different skills to a specific task, such as science projects or book reports
• Homework assists parents to get an insight into what their children are learning in school.

What role can parents play in this regard?

Parent need to encourage a supporting attitude to homework. In place of finding it a chore, they can help their children to make it an enjoyable task. Homework does not have to be arduous and long. A parent should actively get involved in assisting their children to locate answers, or perform research via problem-solving activities.

They can even offer a little incentive to their child for completion of the homework. This can be in the form of permitting them to play for some time or watch their favorite television serial etc.

Also read: Importance of school

Homework is a vital time to form connections and reflect on family, self, friends, and the world beyond. What a teacher presents to its students determines the level they will reach to attain success in their academics. Daily homework assignments should have variations in it. It should be meaningful, not a routine practice work. However, it is important to note that the quality of homework is important than its quantity. It should be full of exploration and fun for students.

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Fact-Checking Trump’s Defenses in His Court Cases

The former president has trotted out a host of false and misleading claims to defend his conduct, attack judges and prosecutors and portray himself as a victim of political persecution.

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By Linda Qiu

Reporting from Washington

• April 17, 2024

As former President Donald J. Trump battles a series of criminal and civil actions while he runs to reclaim the White House, he has put his legal woes at center stage, making them a rallying cry for his re-election.

It is a tactic that is likely to be on full display this week as his trial in Manhattan over his role in a hush money payment in the 2016 race gets underway. Just as he has done with his other legal troubles, Mr. Trump has dismissed the charges in that case as part of an “election interference” scheme orchestrated by President Biden.

He has described the cases against him with colorful hyperbole, defended his conduct with faulty comparisons and lobbed false attacks and baseless accusations at opponents and adjudicators alike.

Asked for evidence of Mr. Trump’s claims, the campaign did not directly address the matter but continued to insist, with no evidence, that Mr. Trump was the target of a “witch hunt” led by the Democratic Party.

Here’s a fact-check of some of his most repeated claims.

How Mr. Trump has sought to undercut the cases against him:

Baseless accusations of a biden-orchestrated conspiracy, hyperbolic claims of persecution, faulty and irrelevant comparisons, inaccurate attacks on judges.

What Mr. Trump Said

“Biden said it. He said — you know what their whole plan is? It was just released the other day. It didn’t — it was leaked by one of the many people that probably thought it was wrong. Their whole plan is to go after Trump in every way possible, especially criminally and legally.” — at a rally in Georgia in March

This lacks evidence. Of the four criminal cases against Mr. Trump, two were brought by state or local prosecutors, meaning that the Justice Department itself has no control over them. His two other criminal cases are overseen by a special counsel, whom Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

It is unclear what leak Mr. Trump was referring to, and The New York Times was unable to find an instance of such a plan to target Mr. Trump “criminally and legally.” False posts circulating on social media have used deceptively edited clips to suggest that Mr. Biden or his aides have admitted to weaponizing the legal system.

Still, there is no evidence that Mr. Biden is personally directing the cases against his political opponent. Mr. Biden has publicly emphasized the independence of the Justice Department. Moreover, The Times and other news outlets have reported that Mr. Biden’s campaign strategy is to say nothing about Mr. Trump’s legal woes .

“Jack Smith just admitted what the American People already know, namely, that his case is being directed and supervised by the Biden Administration. So, although he denies it, Garland is carrying out the orders from his boss to prosecute me, and to interfere in the 2024 Election.” — in a Truth Social post in March

This is misleading. Mr. Trump was referring to — and wildly distorting — a court filing from prosecutors in the classified documents case.

The document was responding to a motion by Mr. Trump’s lawyer to dismiss the case, claiming that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland had no authority to appoint Jack Smith, the special counsel in the case. Prosecutors argued that the Supreme Court had affirmed such an authority 50 years ago in the Watergate case, and that many special counsels had been appointed since then, including by the Justice Department under Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump was apparently referring to a description in the filing of the special counsel’s role, although he used it out of context: “The special counsel was retained from outside of the department to ‘ensure a full and thorough investigation’ of certain sensitive matters. While he remains subject to attorney general direction and supervision, he also retains ‘a substantial degree of independent decision making.’”

“Look, the Manhattan D.A. has a man named Colangelo in there. He was Merrick Garland’s top person. They put him into the Manhattan D.A.’s office. Fani Willis and her lover spent a lot of time in Washington talking about my case. They came out during the hearings talking about my case. The A.G. of New York, Letitia James, deals with Washington all the time.” — in an interview with Fox News in March

This is exaggerated. Asked for proof of his claim that Mr. Biden was personally directing the local cases against him, Mr. Trump pointed to purported ties between prosecutors and “Washington,” but provided no evidence that Mr. Biden had been involved in any of the hiring decisions, conversations or meetings that Mr. Trump cited.

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, hired Matthew Colangelo as a senior counsel in December 2022 . Mr. Colangelo previously worked at the New York attorney general’s office and at the Justice Department as acting associate attorney general — the third highest-ranking, not “top,” official — before that position was filled permanently. There is no proof that the appointment of Mr. Colangelo was directed by Mr. Biden or the Justice Department. The two men previously worked together at the New York attorney general’s office under Ms. James’s predecessor, and Mr. Colangelo’s appointment came as Mr. Bragg ramped up his investigation into Mr. Trump’s role in hush money payments made in the 2016 election.

The Times earlier reported that Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., and her office had been consulting with the bipartisan House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack as part of her election interference case. An outside lawyer hired by Ms. Willis — Nathan J. Wade, her former romantic partner who resigned from the case in March — to lead the prosecution met twice with the White House Counsel’s Office in 2022. It is not clear what the purpose of those meetings was, but a former White House counsel told The Times that the office can become involved when prosecutors seek the testimony of former officials.

Mr. Trump often points out that Letitia James, the New York attorney general who brought a civil fraud case accusing him of inflating the value of his properties, has visited the White House three times. According to visitor logs , her first visit was in April 2022 at the South Lawn, where a crowd had gathered to celebrate the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court. She again visited in July 2023 to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and other state attorneys general about efforts to stop fentanyl trafficking . And she visited in August 2023 to attend an event Ms. Harris hosted recognizing Black women serving in public office. The White House has said Mr. Biden did not speak to individual guests at the first event and did not attend the latter two.

“Why didn’t they bring these Fake Biden inspired cases against me 3 years ago? Because Crooked Joe Biden wanted them to be brought right in the middle of my 2024 Presidential Election Campaign, strictly Third World Country ‘stuff!’” — in a post on Truth Social in March

False. Of the multiple cases Mr. Trump has been embroiled in, at least three began before Mr. Biden took office while another three center on Mr. Trump’s post-election and post-presidency conduct. There is no evidence that Mr. Biden has sought to drag out the cases. Investigations and prosecutions generally take time , and Mr. Trump himself has repeatedly sought to delay proceedings.

The inquiry over hush money payments began while Mr. Trump was still in office in 2018. Ms. James began her investigation into the Trump Organization over its financial dealings in March 2019. The writer E. Jean Carroll filed her first lawsuit against Mr. Trump in November 2019, accusing him of defamation.

Ms. Willis opened her investigation into Mr. Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the election in Georgia in February 2021. A top Justice Department official said in January 2022 that it had opened an investigation into a plan by Mr. Trump and his allies to reverse the results of the 2020 election; the investigation was widened in March 2022 . Mr. Smith was appointed the special prosecutor in the documents case in November 2022.

“It is a form of Navalny. It is a form of communism or fascism.” — in a town hall on Fox News in February

False. Asked about the ruling in his civil fraud case, Mr. Trump compared himself to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who had died days earlier in prison . The two cases are not at all similar.

Mr. Navalny had been behind bars since early 2021, sometimes in solitary confinement, and serving multiple prison sentences. He had also been poisoned in 2020, and survived earlier physical attacks. At the time of his death, he was being held in a penal colony north of the Arctic Circle. In contrast, Mr. Trump was ordered to pay a fine, which was reduced and which he has appealed.

“A bond of the size set by the Democrat Club-controlled Judge, in Corrupt, Racist Letitia James’ unlawful Witch Hunt, is unConstitutional, un-American, unprecedented, and practically impossible for ANY Company, including one as successful as mine. The Bonding Companies have never heard of such a bond, of this size, before, nor do they have the ability to post such a bond, even if they wanted to. The statute used to attack me has never been used for such a purpose before.” — in posts on Truth Social in March

False. A New York State Supreme Court judge ruled in February that Mr. Trump must pay $355 million, in addition to interest — or about $454 million — in his civil fraud case. Mr. Trump initially had trouble securing a bond and argued, wrongly, that both the bond amount and Ms. James’s use of the New York state law were unprecedented.

As PolitiFact has reported, some companies have posted bonds as large as $1 billion. The state statute Mr. Trump cited was enacted in 1956, and has been used by New York attorneys general in lawsuits and actions against the oil giant Exxon Mobil, the tobacco company Juul, and two other entities belonging to Mr. Trump: his family charity, the Trump Foundation, and his for-profit Trump University.

“I got indicted more than Al Capone.” — in a rally in Ohio in March

False. Mr. Trump has been indicted four times. Mr. Capone, the famous gangster, was indicted at least six times, according to A. Brad Schwartz, a historian who has written a biography of him .

“Well, nobody else has been over the years, because, you know, Hillary took a lot and Bill took a lot. Bill took them out in his socks, they call it the socks case, which he won with a very tough judge, which he won. Bush took them. Everybody. Reagan took them out. Everybody took them out. It only became a big subject when I took things out.” — in the Fox News town hall

False. The examples Mr. Trump cites as comparable to the federal criminal case in which he is accused of mishandling classified documents, obstructing justice and making false statements to officials in fact have little in common with it.

Prosecutors say Mr. Trump took hundreds of classified documents from the White House at the end of his term, ignored a subpoena to return them to the National Archives and Records Administration, stored them in locations accessible to resort employees and shared military secrets with visitors to his properties.

Hillary Clinton set up a private email server during her time as secretary of state. While it did store emails that contained classified information, several official inquiries have concluded that Mrs. Clinton did not systematically or deliberately mishandle classified material.

Former President Bill Clinton’s case is even less relevant. A conservative legal group sued the National Archives for access to audiotapes of interviews between Mr. Clinton and the author and historian Taylor Branch . Mr. Branch has said that Mr. Clinton stored the recordings in his sock drawer. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2012 , reasoning that the National Archives did not have the tapes in its possession and had no obligation or authority to seize them.

And there is no evidence that any presidents before Mr. Trump took classified documents with them upon leaving office, despite Mr. Trump’s repeated insistence that there was a precedent. The National Archives has said that it “assumed physical and legal custody of the presidential records from the administrations of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, when those presidents left office.”

“Reports that indicate or imply that those presidential records were in the possession of the former presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading,” the agency has said.

“The special counsel’s report tries to let Biden off by claiming that he is too mentally incompetent to convict at a trial.” — in a rally in South Carolina in February

This is misleading. Mr. Trump was referring to the report released by Robert K. Hur , the special counsel who investigated Mr. Biden’s handling of classified material. Mr. Hur described Mr. Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” who had “diminished faculties and faulty memory.” He did not declare Mr. Biden mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Mr. Hur wrote that while he believed Mr. Biden knew he was not allowed to keep classified notebooks, there was not sufficient evidence “to prove his willfulness beyond a reasonable doubt.” He added that Mr. Biden’s “diminished faculties in advancing age and his sympathetic demeanor” would make it difficult to persuade a jury to convict him.

“Judge Juan Merchan is totally compromised, and should be removed from this TRUMP Non-Case immediately. His Daughter, Loren, is a Rabid Trump Hater, who has admitted to having conversations with her father about me, and yet he gagged me.” — in a Truth Social post in March

This is exaggerated. Loren Merchan, the daughter of the judge presiding over the hush money case, served as the president of a digital campaign strategy agency that has done work for many prominent Democrats, including Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign.

The “conversations” Mr. Trump mentioned refer to an anecdote from a podcast interview Ms. Merchan did in 2019 about campaign strategy. In the episode, Ms. Merchan recounted that her father had said in recent conversations: “I hate that politicians use Twitter. It’s so unprofessional.” She said she had argued that there are improper uses of social media, like posts by Mr. Trump sharing “anything that he thinks,” but that social media allows candidates to bypass traditional media.

Experts in judicial ethics have said Ms. Merchan’s work is not sufficient grounds for recusal. When Mr. Trump’s legal team sought his recusal based on his daughter, Justice Merchan sought counsel from the New York State Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which said it did not see any conflict of interest .

“This judge, he levels a fine for $355 million on a loan that’s a fraction of that size because he’s a corrupt Democrat clubhouse judge. He wouldn’t allow a jury. There was no jury.” — at a rally in Georgia in March

False. Mr. Trump’s civil fraud trial did not go to a jury, but not because Justice Arthur F. Engoron, the judge presiding over the case, refused one. There was no jury because it was brought by Ms. James under a New York state law that provides the attorney general with broad authority to investigate corporate fraud and requires adjudication at what is known as a bench trial, which is conducted by a judge alone.

Justice Engoron addressed the unusual setting at the beginning of the trial in October : “You have probably noticed or already read that this case has no jury. Neither side asked for one and, in any event, the remedies sought are all equitable in nature, mandating that the trial be a bench trial, one that a judge alone decides. I promise to do my best, despite my lame attempts at humor.”

“Engoron’s fraudulent valuation of Mar-a-Lago for $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, is another piece of the Election Interference HOAX.” — in a post on Truth Social in March

This is misleading. Justice Engoron did not himself value Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s Florida club and residence, at $18 million.

“From 2011-2021, the Palm Beach County assessor appraised the market value of Mar-a-Lago at between $18 million and $27.6 million,” Justice Engoron wrote in his September ruling against Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump, for his part, valued the property at $426 million to $612 million, an overvaluation that Justice Engoron said was at least 2,300 percent of the assessor’s appraisal.

(Mar-a-Lago has a current market value of $37 million, according to the Palm Beach County appraiser. )

Linda Qiu is a reporter who specializes in fact-checking statements made by politicians and public figures. She has been reporting and fact-checking public figures for nearly a decade. More about Linda Qiu