why is homework graded

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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Does homework really work?

by: Leslie Crawford | Updated: December 12, 2023

Print article

You know the drill. It’s 10:15 p.m., and the cardboard-and-toothpick Golden Gate Bridge is collapsing. The pages of polynomials have been abandoned. The paper on the Battle of Waterloo seems to have frozen in time with Napoleon lingering eternally over his breakfast at Le Caillou. Then come the tears and tantrums — while we parents wonder, Does the gain merit all this pain? Is this just too much homework?

However the drama unfolds night after night, year after year, most parents hold on to the hope that homework (after soccer games, dinner, flute practice, and, oh yes, that childhood pastime of yore known as playing) advances their children academically.

But what does homework really do for kids? Is the forest’s worth of book reports and math and spelling sheets the average American student completes in their 12 years of primary schooling making a difference? Or is it just busywork?

Homework haterz

Whether or not homework helps, or even hurts, depends on who you ask. If you ask my 12-year-old son, Sam, he’ll say, “Homework doesn’t help anything. It makes kids stressed-out and tired and makes them hate school more.”

Nothing more than common kid bellyaching?

Maybe, but in the fractious field of homework studies, it’s worth noting that Sam’s sentiments nicely synopsize one side of the ivory tower debate. Books like The End of Homework , The Homework Myth , and The Case Against Homework the film Race to Nowhere , and the anguished parent essay “ My Daughter’s Homework is Killing Me ” make the case that homework, by taking away precious family time and putting kids under unneeded pressure, is an ineffective way to help children become better learners and thinkers.

One Canadian couple took their homework apostasy all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. After arguing that there was no evidence that it improved academic performance, they won a ruling that exempted their two children from all homework.

So what’s the real relationship between homework and academic achievement?

How much is too much?

To answer this question, researchers have been doing their homework on homework, conducting and examining hundreds of studies. Chris Drew Ph.D., founder and editor at The Helpful Professor recently compiled multiple statistics revealing the folly of today’s after-school busy work. Does any of the data he listed below ring true for you?

• 45 percent of parents think homework is too easy for their child, primarily because it is geared to the lowest standard under the Common Core State Standards .

• 74 percent of students say homework is a source of stress , defined as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems.

• Students in high-performing high schools spend an average of 3.1 hours a night on homework , even though 1 to 2 hours is the optimal duration, according to a peer-reviewed study .

Not included in the list above is the fact many kids have to abandon activities they love — like sports and clubs — because homework deprives them of the needed time to enjoy themselves with other pursuits.

Conversely, The Helpful Professor does list a few pros of homework, noting it teaches discipline and time management, and helps parents know what’s being taught in the class.

The oft-bandied rule on homework quantity — 10 minutes a night per grade (starting from between 10 to 20 minutes in first grade) — is listed on the National Education Association’s website and the National Parent Teacher Association’s website , but few schools follow this rule.

Do you think your child is doing excessive homework? Harris Cooper Ph.D., author of a meta-study on homework , recommends talking with the teacher. “Often there is a miscommunication about the goals of homework assignments,” he says. “What appears to be problematic for kids, why they are doing an assignment, can be cleared up with a conversation.” Also, Cooper suggests taking a careful look at how your child is doing the assignments. It may seem like they’re taking two hours, but maybe your child is wandering off frequently to get a snack or getting distracted.

Less is often more

If your child is dutifully doing their work but still burning the midnight oil, it’s worth intervening to make sure your child gets enough sleep. A 2012 study of 535 high school students found that proper sleep may be far more essential to brain and body development.

For elementary school-age children, Cooper’s research at Duke University shows there is no measurable academic advantage to homework. For middle-schoolers, Cooper found there is a direct correlation between homework and achievement if assignments last between one to two hours per night. After two hours, however, achievement doesn’t improve. For high schoolers, Cooper’s research suggests that two hours per night is optimal. If teens have more than two hours of homework a night, their academic success flatlines. But less is not better. The average high school student doing homework outperformed 69 percent of the students in a class with no homework.

Many schools are starting to act on this research. A Florida superintendent abolished homework in her 42,000 student district, replacing it with 20 minutes of nightly reading. She attributed her decision to “ solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students .”

More family time

A 2020 survey by Crayola Experience reports 82 percent of children complain they don’t have enough quality time with their parents. Homework deserves much of the blame. “Kids should have a chance to just be kids and do things they enjoy, particularly after spending six hours a day in school,” says Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth . “It’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.”

By far, the best replacement for homework — for both parents and children — is bonding, relaxing time together.

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What’s the value of homework and should it be graded?

These two questions have been debated many times, often with little resolution.  Many schools leave it up to individual faculty members, a grade-level team or department to determine its own policy.  I wonder why schools tend to relinquish the responsibility for setting a homework policy that is based on guidelines consistent with what research says about student learning.  As a former science teacher, department chair, director of studies, and principal, I think schools angst over setting policies that impact the day-to-day teaching practice of a classroom teacher.  Unlike some other professions, we give teachers a fair amount of autonomy, especially in independent schools.

I will not argue in this post that we should remove autonomy completely.  A great deal of creative teaching emerges when schools trust teachers and give them the autonomy to experiment with different methods.  However, I will argue that setting homework guidelines is an important responsibility that schools should not ignore because it assures that someone will use the research as a filter to guide how the school manages homework.  I believe a reasonable and fair set of homework policies can positively impact a student’s school experience.

Here are some ways in which a school with no policies in place impact students:

• one teacher at the same grade level or in the same course grades homework another teacher does not
• one teacher at the same grade level or in the same course reviews homework another teacher does not
• one teacher at the same grade level or in the same course uses homework as a formative process while another teacher does not
• one teacher at the same grade level or in the same course has students correct and redo homework as a learning exercise while another teacher does not

These are only four scenarios that could lead to a learning environment for students where the playing field is not level.  Students want to believe that regardless of which teachers’ classroom they are in their experience and chance for success will rest solely on their performance not on whether teachers have different policies for how to manage homework.

In her book, Rethinking Homework: Best Practices That Support Diverse Needs
 , Cathy Vatterot discusses the homework dilemma and lays out an argument for constructing a program that meets the diverse needs of students.  In her mind, the “best homework” has five attributes:

homework should have a specific academic purpose, such as practice, checking for understanding, or applying knowledge or skills. homework should be used to efficiently demonstrate student learning. homework should promote student owner ship of learning by offering choices and being personally relevant. homework should be designed to instill a sense of competence in the student so he or she can succeed. homework should be a worthy and pleasing experience and not merely a routine or drill to be completed

In addition to her five attributes, I would propose the following set of parameters that a good homework policy should have:

• homework should be given only if the teacher is prepared to give students feedback on their performance.
• homework should be formatively assessed which means that it should: (1) inform the teacher as to whether his or her teaching has been effective; and (2) inform the student if he or she has learned the material.
• homework should be a component of the student’s overall achievement (grade) because if it is meaningful and the student is engaged with it and if it is formatively assessed then it is a good indicator of student performance.
• homework should have two purposes; (1) assessing student understanding (Vatterot’s #1 above); and (2) preparing the student for future learning.  It should propel the student along the learning curve the teacher intends through the learning experience.

MET Life Foundation conducted one of the most exhaustive surveys,  The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: The Homework Experience , of its kind on homework practices and attitudes in the US.  It surveyed 1,200 K-12 public school teachers, 500 parents, and 2,000 students in 2007.  Here is a snapshot of what they uncovered in their survey.

Homework occupies an intersection between school, home and the community, and, as such, can serve as a channel of communication between the school and parent, as well as the parent and child. Over 80% of parents believe that their child’s teachers assign the right amount of – or even too little – homework 75% of students report that they have enough time to do their assignments. 90% of parents report that helping their child with homework provides an opportunity for them to talk and spend time together. The majority of parents do not see homework as getting in the way of family time or as a major source of stress and disagreement in their family. The 25% of students who report that they do not have enough time have higher rates of risk factors related to student achievement and other areas. Those who lack enough time for their homework are more likely to get low grades and are less likely to plan to go to college. Frequent failure to complete homework may be an early signal of student disengagement that can lead to school-related problems. The majority of parents, students, and teachers believe in the value of homework. They think homework is important and helps students learn more in school. Parents who do not believe homework is important appear to be more alienated and less connected to their child’s school. Overall, most parents (and teachers) report that the quality of homework assigned by their school is less than excellent. 33% of parents rate the quality of homework assignments as fair or poor, and 40% believe that a great deal or some homework is busywork and not related to what students are learning in school. 50% of parents have a rule for their child that homework should be completed in a quiet place. Yet 75% of students agree that it is important to have a quiet place to do homework, this is not necessarily a goal that they put into practice. Among secondary school students, 90% are usually doing other activities, or “multi-tasking”, while doing their homework, including 70% who listen to music and 51% who watch TV. 50% of teachers frequently use homework to help students practice skills, prepare for tests, develop good work habits, develop their critical thinking skills, and motivate them to learn. Teachers also use homework as part of assessment and, less frequently, because they did not have enough time during class to cover all of the material; these usages are more common among secondary school teachers than elementary school teachers. Highly experienced teachers (21+ years of experience) are more likely than new teachers (5 years or less experience) to believe that homework is important: that it helps students learn more in school or that it helps students reach their goals for after high school. New teachers are less likely than highly experienced teachers to provide students with feedback on homework or to review completed assignments during class discussions. New teachers feel less prepared to create engaging homework assignments.

There are many implications from the MET Life survey.  I only refer to a small window of what was learned through the data analysis.  The outcomes are clear that teachers, parents, and students value homework.  That students’ attitudes towards homework and success at completing homework impact their overall success in school.  Finally, that many teachers, parents, and students believe that most homework is busy work that is not an interesting and engaging part of the learning experience.

We have our work cut out for us in schools to get a handle on the homework issue.  The only way we will succeed in this adventure is if the SCHOOL is willing to take on the conversation with its faculty and create a set of homework policies that ensure homework is an effective and meaningful part of a student’s learning experience, one that counts towards their overall achievement.

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4 responses to “What’s the value of homework and should it be graded?”

When you last headed a division or entire school, what was your homework policy? Was math the same as English? Was 6th grade the same as 10th grade? Were other assessment policies similarly aligned among classes, or just HW? I am curious because I have so many questions about HW.

When I was the Division Director at North Shore Country Day School, it was very hard in the high school to get faculty to think seriously about a homework policy. The most I could get them to move on was a test calendar policy that put some balance and restrictions on when teachers or departments could give tests. We had a test calendar that teachers had to use. No more than two tests, papers, or major assignments could be due on any one day. If a teacher was not well organized, they really struggled finding the space to give their major assessments. It put the responsibility on teachers to plan. Homework was harder to get a handle on. Departments did different things although we were able to get most departments to monitor the way homework was graded among their teachers. Remember it was a smaller school.

The most responsive school that I worked at was Marlborough School. As Director of Studies at a 7-12 grade school and the person in charge of the Educational Council, which had authority for setting academic policies, we were able to create school-wide policies in areas such as test make-up, late work, extra-credit, and homework. As a high-end girls school in LA, the faculty, school, and community were quite sensitive to academic stress. Marlborough is a high-achieving school with a great number of type-A folks. Lots of pressure and lots of homework. When I arrived and became the Director of Studies (like Dean of Faculty at WMS), I was able to guide the department chairs to think seriously about policies that helped manage the academic environment and made it reasonable. The only thing on homework that we were unable to really accomplish is the part about relevant and meaningful. That issue was a nut that was hard to crack. Teachers were still wedded to their–20 math problems at the end of the chapter, 30 pages of reading a night, some worksheets in MS earth science, etc.

I think this issue is a tough one as you mention. Hard to get a handle on and move faculty in a positive direction. What would it feel like if faculty had “irrelevant and meaningless” homework in 5-6 subjects on most nights. Of course some of the homework students receive is very meaningful and very necessary. I get concerned that a good deal of it has the effect of turning them off vs. turning them on to school. And when I hear and read that some teachers don’t even give good constructive feedback on the homework they assign or count it in the grade, that makes my skin boil. And these are good teachers, at least I think they are. That concerns me for students.

It might be interesting to do a quick and easy anonymous Survey Monkey piece to canvas the JHS faculty and see what shakes out on these questions. Data helps. However, the MET Life survey is amazingly complete.

Have you read ASCD on HW: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/Five-Hallmarks-of-Good-Homework.aspx

Yes! I have seen that piece.

Don Doran shared this from NY Times today. Take a look if you have not seen it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/opinion/sunday/quality-homework-a-smart-idea.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2

Thanks for sharing with me.

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Why homework matters

Homework is the perennial bogeyman of K–12 education. Any given year, you’ll find people arguing that students, especially those in elementary school, should have far less homework—or none at all . I have the opposite opinion. The longer I run schools—and it has now been more than sixteen years—the more convinced I am that homework is not only necessary, but a linchpin to effective K–12 education.

It is important to remember that kids only spend a fraction of their time in school. The learning that does or does not take place in the many hours outside of school has a monumental effect on children’s academic success and is a root cause of educational inequity.

The pandemic gave us a stark demonstration of this reality. Achievement gaps widened between affluent and low-income children not only because low-income students received less in-person or high-quality online instruction during the years of disrupted school, but also because children of college-educated and affluent parents were already less dependent on schools for learning. Affluent children are far more likely to have the privilege of tutors or other types of supplementary instruction, as well as a family culture of reading, and opportunities to travel, visit museums, and more. Homework is a powerful tool to help narrow these inequities, giving children from all backgrounds the opportunity to keep learning when they are not in school.

At Success Academy, the charter school network I founded and lead, we seek to develop students as lifelong learners who have the confidence and curiosity to pursue and build knowledge in all facets of their lives. Homework cultivates these mindsets and habits. Indeed, when teachers don’t assign homework, it reflects an unconscious conviction that kids can’t learn without adults. Kids internalize this message and come to believe they need their teacher to gain knowledge. In reality, they are more than capable of learning all sorts of things on their own. Discovering this fact can be both incredibly exciting and deeply empowering for them.

We also know that none of these benefits accrue when homework is mere busywork. Low-quality homework is likely what drives the mixed research evidence on the impact of homework on student achievement. It also sends the message to kids that doing it is simply an exercise in compliance and not worth their time. Homework must be challenging and purposeful for kids to recognize its value.

For this reason, at Success, we take great care with the design of our homework assignments, ensuring they are engaging and relevant to what takes place in class the next day. When done well, homework can be a form of the “flipped classroom”—a model developed by ed tech innovators to make large college lecture classes more engaging. In flipped classrooms, students learn everything they can on their own at home (in the original conception, via recorded lectures); class time builds on what they learned to address confusion and elevate their thinking to a more sophisticated level. It’s an approach that both respects kids’ capacity to learn independently, and assumes that out-of-class learning will drive the content and pace of the in-person lesson. 

Students always need a “why” for the things we ask them to do, and designing homework this way is motivating for them because it gives them that clear why. Class is engaging and interesting when they are prepared; when they aren’t, they won’t have the satisfaction of participating.

At this point, some teachers may be saying, “I can’t get my kids to hand in a worksheet, let alone rely on them to learn on their own.” And of course, effective use of homework in class relies on creating a strong system of accountability for getting kids to do it. This can be hard for teachers. It’s uncomfortable to lean into students’ lives outside of school, and many educators feel they don’t have that right. But getting over that discomfort is best for kids.

Educators should embrace setting an exacting norm for completing homework. This should include a schoolwide grading policy—at Success schools, missing and incomplete homework assignments receive a zero; students can get partial credit for work handed in late; and middle and high schoolers can revise their homework for a better grade—as well as consistently and explicitly noticing when kids are or are not prepared and offering praise and consequences. Enlisting parents’ help in this area is also highly effective. I guarantee they will be grateful to be kept informed of how well their children are meeting their responsibilities!

Ultimately, minimizing homework or getting rid of it entirely denies children autonomy and prevents them from discovering what they are capable of. As we work to repair the academic damage from the last two-plus years, I encourage educators to focus not on the quantity of homework, but instead on its quality—and on using it effectively in class. By doing so, they will accelerate kids’ engagement with school, and propel them as assured, autonomous learners and thinkers who can thrive in college and beyond.

Eva Moskowitz is the CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools .

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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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Center for Teaching

Grading student work.

Print Version

What Purposes Do Grades Serve?

Developing grading criteria, making grading more efficient, providing meaningful feedback to students.

• Maintaining Grading Consistency in Multi-Sectioned Courses

Minimizing Student Complaints about Grading

Barbara Walvoord and Virginia Anderson identify the multiple roles that grades serve:

• as an  evaluation of student work;
• as a  means of communicating to students, parents, graduate schools, professional schools, and future employers about a student’s  performance in college and potential for further success;
• as a  source of motivation to students for continued learning and improvement;
• as a  means of organizing a lesson, a unit, or a semester in that grades mark transitions in a course and bring closure to it.

Additionally, grading provides students with feedback on their own learning , clarifying for them what they understand, what they don’t understand, and where they can improve. Grading also provides feedback to instructors on their students’ learning , information that can inform future teaching decisions.

Why is grading often a challenge? Because grades are used as evaluations of student work, it’s important that grades accurately reflect the quality of student work and that student work is graded fairly. Grading with accuracy and fairness can take a lot of time, which is often in short supply for college instructors. Students who aren’t satisfied with their grades can sometimes protest their grades in ways that cause headaches for instructors. Also, some instructors find that their students’ focus or even their own focus on assigning numbers to student work gets in the way of promoting actual learning.

Given all that grades do and represent, it’s no surprise that they are a source of anxiety for students and that grading is often a stressful process for instructors.

Incorporating the strategies below will not eliminate the stress of grading for instructors, but it will decrease that stress and make the process of grading seem less arbitrary — to instructors and students alike.

Source: Walvoord, B. & V. Anderson (1998).  Effective Grading: A Tool for Learning and Assessment . San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

• Consider the different kinds of work you’ll ask students to do for your course.  This work might include: quizzes, examinations, lab reports, essays, class participation, and oral presentations.
• For the work that’s most significant to you and/or will carry the most weight, identify what’s most important to you.  Is it clarity? Creativity? Rigor? Thoroughness? Precision? Demonstration of knowledge? Critical inquiry?
• Transform the characteristics you’ve identified into grading criteria for the work most significant to you, distinguishing excellent work (A-level) from very good (B-level), fair to good (C-level), poor (D-level), and unacceptable work.

Developing criteria may seem like a lot of work, but having clear criteria can

• save time in the grading process
• make that process more consistent and fair
• communicate your expectations to students
• help you to decide what and how to teach
• help students understand how their work is graded

Sample criteria are available via the following link.

• Analytic Rubrics from the CFT’s September 2010 Virtual Brownbag
• Create assignments that have clear goals and criteria for assessment.  The better students understand what you’re asking them to do the more likely they’ll do it!
• letter grades with pluses and minuses (for papers, essays, essay exams, etc.)
• 100-point numerical scale (for exams, certain types of projects, etc.)
• check +, check, check- (for quizzes, homework, response papers, quick reports or presentations, etc.)
• pass-fail or credit-no-credit (for preparatory work)
• Limit your comments or notations to those your students can use for further learning or improvement.
• Spend more time on guiding students in the process of doing work than on grading it.
• For each significant assignment, establish a grading schedule and stick to it.

Light Grading – Bear in mind that not every piece of student work may need your full attention. Sometimes it’s sufficient to grade student work on a simplified scale (minus / check / check-plus or even zero points / one point) to motivate them to engage in the work you want them to do. In particular, if you have students do some small assignment before class, you might not need to give them much feedback on that assignment if you’re going to discuss it in class.

Multiple-Choice Questions – These are easy to grade but can be challenging to write. Look for common student misconceptions and misunderstandings you can use to construct answer choices for your multiple-choice questions, perhaps by looking for patterns in student responses to past open-ended questions. And while multiple-choice questions are great for assessing recall of factual information, they can also work well to assess conceptual understanding and applications.

Test Corrections – Giving students points back for test corrections motivates them to learn from their mistakes, which can be critical in a course in which the material on one test is important for understanding material later in the term. Moreover, test corrections can actually save time grading, since grading the test the first time requires less feedback to students and grading the corrections often goes quickly because the student responses are mostly correct.

Spreadsheets – Many instructors use spreadsheets (e.g. Excel) to keep track of student grades. A spreadsheet program can automate most or all of the calculations you might need to perform to compute student grades. A grading spreadsheet can also reveal informative patterns in student grades. To learn a few tips and tricks for using Excel as a gradebook take a look at this sample Excel gradebook .

• Use your comments to teach rather than to justify your grade, focusing on what you’d most like students to address in future work.
• Link your comments and feedback to the goals for an assignment.
• Comment primarily on patterns — representative strengths and weaknesses.
• Avoid over-commenting or “picking apart” students’ work.
• In your final comments, ask questions that will guide further inquiry by students rather than provide answers for them.

Maintaining Grading Consistency in Multi-sectioned Courses (for course heads)

• Communicate your grading policies, standards, and criteria to teaching assistants, graders, and students in your course.
• Discuss your expectations about all facets of grading (criteria, timeliness, consistency, grade disputes, etc) with your teaching assistants and graders.
• Encourage teaching assistants and graders to share grading concerns and questions with you.
• have teaching assistants grade assignments for students not in their section or lab to curb favoritism (N.B. this strategy puts the emphasis on the evaluative, rather than the teaching, function of grading);
• have each section of an exam graded by only one teaching assistant or grader to ensure consistency across the board;
• have teaching assistants and graders grade student work at the same time in the same place so they can compare their grades on certain sections and arrive at consensus.
• Include your grading policies, procedures, and standards in your syllabus.
• Avoid modifying your policies, including those on late work, once you’ve communicated them to students.
• Distribute your grading criteria to students at the beginning of the term and remind them of the relevant criteria when assigning and returning work.
• Keep in-class discussion of grades to a minimum, focusing rather on course learning goals.

For a comprehensive look at grading, see the chapter “Grading Practices” from Barbara Gross Davis’s  Tools for Teaching.

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Homework – Top 3 Pros and Cons

Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates

From dioramas to book reports, from algebraic word problems to research projects, whether students should be given homework, as well as the type and amount of homework, has been debated for over a century. [ 1 ]

While we are unsure who invented homework, we do know that the word “homework” dates back to ancient Rome. Pliny the Younger asked his followers to practice their speeches at home. Memorization exercises as homework continued through the Middle Ages and Enlightenment by monks and other scholars. [ 45 ]

In the 19th century, German students of the Volksschulen or “People’s Schools” were given assignments to complete outside of the school day. This concept of homework quickly spread across Europe and was brought to the United States by Horace Mann , who encountered the idea in Prussia. [ 45 ]

In the early 1900s, progressive education theorists, championed by the magazine Ladies’ Home Journal , decried homework’s negative impact on children’s physical and mental health, leading California to ban homework for students under 15 from 1901 until 1917. In the 1930s, homework was portrayed as child labor, which was newly illegal, but the prevailing argument was that kids needed time to do household chores. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 45 ] [ 46 ]

Public opinion swayed again in favor of homework in the 1950s due to concerns about keeping up with the Soviet Union’s technological advances during the Cold War . And, in 1986, the US government included homework as an educational quality boosting tool. [ 3 ] [ 45 ]

A 2014 study found kindergarteners to fifth graders averaged 2.9 hours of homework per week, sixth to eighth graders 3.2 hours per teacher, and ninth to twelfth graders 3.5 hours per teacher. A 2014-2019 study found that teens spent about an hour a day on homework. [ 4 ] [ 44 ]

Beginning in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic complicated the very idea of homework as students were schooling remotely and many were doing all school work from home. Washington Post journalist Valerie Strauss asked, “Does homework work when kids are learning all day at home?” While students were mostly back in school buildings in fall 2021, the question remains of how effective homework is as an educational tool. [ 47 ]

Is Homework Beneficial?

Pro 1 Homework improves student achievement. Studies have shown that homework improved student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood to attend college. Research published in the High School Journal indicated 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.” [ 6 ] Students in classes that were assigned homework outperformed 69% of students who didn’t have homework on both standardized tests and grades. 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. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] 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. [ 10 ] Read More

Pro 2 Homework helps to reinforce classroom learning, while developing good study habits and life skills. Students typically retain only 50% of the information teachers provide in class, and they need to apply that information in order to truly learn it. Abby Freireich and Brian Platzer, co-founders of Teachers Who Tutor NYC, explained, “at-home assignments help students learn the material taught in class. Students require independent practice to internalize new concepts… [And] these assignments can provide valuable data for teachers about how well students understand the curriculum.” [ 11 ] [ 49 ] Elementary school students who were taught “strategies to organize and complete homework,” such as prioritizing homework activities, collecting study materials, note-taking, and following directions, showed increased grades and more positive comments on report cards. [ 17 ] Research by the City University of New York noted that “students who engage in self-regulatory processes while completing homework,” such as goal-setting, time management, and remaining focused, “are generally more motivated and are higher achievers than those who do not use these processes.” [ 18 ] Homework also helps students develop key skills that they’ll use throughout their lives: accountability, autonomy, discipline, time management, self-direction, critical thinking, and independent problem-solving. Freireich and Platzer noted that “homework helps students acquire the skills needed to plan, organize, and complete their work.” [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 49 ] Read More

Pro 3 Homework allows parents to be involved with children’s learning. Thanks to take-home assignments, parents are able to track what their children are learning at school as well as their academic strengths and weaknesses. [ 12 ] Data from a nationwide sample of elementary school students show that parental involvement in homework can improve class performance, especially among economically disadvantaged African-American and Hispanic students. [ 20 ] Research from Johns Hopkins University found that an interactive homework process known as TIPS (Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork) improves student achievement: “Students in the TIPS group earned significantly higher report card grades after 18 weeks (1 TIPS assignment per week) than did non-TIPS students.” [ 21 ] Homework can also help clue parents in to the existence of any learning disabilities their children may have, allowing them to get help and adjust learning strategies as needed. Duke University Professor Harris Cooper noted, “Two parents once told me they refused to believe their child had a learning disability until homework revealed it to them.” [ 12 ] Read More

Con 1 Too much homework can be harmful. A poll of California high school students found that 59% thought they had too much homework. 82% of respondents said that they were “often or always stressed by schoolwork.” High-achieving high school students said too much homework leads to sleep deprivation and other health problems such as headaches, exhaustion, weight loss, and stomach problems. [ 24 ] [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Alfie Kohn, an education and parenting expert, said, “Kids should have a chance to just be kids… it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow.” [ 27 ] Emmy Kang, a mental health counselor, explained, “More than half of students say that homework is their primary source of stress, and we know what stress can do on our bodies.” [ 48 ] Excessive homework can also lead to cheating: 90% of middle school students and 67% of high school students admit to copying someone else’s homework, and 43% of college students engaged in “unauthorized collaboration” on out-of-class assignments. Even parents take shortcuts on homework: 43% of those surveyed admitted to having completed a child’s assignment for them. [ 30 ] [ 31 ] [ 32 ] Read More

Con 2 Homework exacerbates the digital divide or homework gap. Kiara Taylor, financial expert, defined the digital divide as “the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology and those that don’t. Though the term now encompasses the technical and financial ability to utilize available technology—along with access (or a lack of access) to the Internet—the gap it refers to is constantly shifting with the development of technology.” For students, this is often called the homework gap. [ 50 ] [ 51 ] 30% (about 15 to 16 million) public school students either did not have an adequate internet connection or an appropriate device, or both, for distance learning. Completing homework for these students is more complicated (having to find a safe place with an internet connection, or borrowing a laptop, for example) or impossible. [ 51 ] A Hispanic Heritage Foundation study found that 96.5% of students across the country needed to use the internet for homework, and nearly half reported they were sometimes unable to complete their homework due to lack of access to the internet or a computer, which often resulted in lower grades. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] One study concluded that homework increases social inequality because it “potentially serves as a mechanism to further advantage those students who already experience some privilege in the school system while further disadvantaging those who may already be in a marginalized position.” [ 39 ] Read More

Con 3 Homework does not help younger students, and may not help high school students. We’ve known for a while that homework does not help elementary students. A 2006 study found that “homework had no association with achievement gains” when measured by standardized tests results or grades. [ 7 ] Fourth grade students who did no homework got roughly the same score on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) math exam as those who did 30 minutes of homework a night. Students who did 45 minutes or more of homework a night actually did worse. [ 41 ] Temple University professor Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek said that homework is not the most effective tool for young learners to apply new information: “They’re learning way more important skills when they’re not doing their homework.” [ 42 ] In fact, homework may not be helpful at the high school level either. Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth, stated, “I interviewed high school teachers who completely stopped giving homework and there was no downside, it was all upside.” He explains, “just because the same kids who get more homework do a little better on tests, doesn’t mean the homework made that happen.” [ 52 ] Read More

Discussion Questions

1. Is homework beneficial? Consider the study data, your personal experience, and other types of information. Explain your answer(s).

2. If homework were banned, what other educational strategies would help students learn classroom material? Explain your answer(s).

3. How has homework been helpful to you personally? How has homework been unhelpful to you personally? Make carefully considered lists for both sides.

Take Action

1. Examine an argument in favor of quality homework assignments from Janine Bempechat.

2. Explore Oxford Learning’s infographic on the effects of homework on students.

3. Consider Joseph Lathan’s argument that homework promotes inequality .

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the “other side of the issue” now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives .

More School Debate Topics

Should K-12 Students Dissect Animals in Science Classrooms? – Proponents say dissecting real animals is a better learning experience. Opponents say the practice is bad for the environment.

Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? – Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

Should Corporal Punishment Be Used in K-12 Schools? – Proponents say corporal punishment is an appropriate discipline. Opponents say it inflicts long-lasting physical and mental harm on students.

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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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Letters to the Editor: Are students served by homework and the old ways of grading? Probably not

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To the editor: The article focusing on Alhambra High School English teacher Joshua Moreno provided a much-needed look at how students are graded and what grades mean.

As Moreno asserts, counting homework completion as a significant component for course grades disproportionately affects disadvantaged students and raises the question, “What counts in English class?” — the title of my 1994 study of more than 400 California high school English teachers.

Fortunately, increasing numbers of teachers are asking themselves, “What do my course grades represent, compliance or learning?”

Critics will argue that counting homework teaches responsibility and motivates students. A large body of research over the past 40 years argues otherwise. Reducing homework and giving students the opportunity for “redos” encourages continuous learning and makes course grades a meaningful measure of achievement.

Keni Brayton Cox, Anaheim

The writer was a professor of educational leadership at Cal State Fullerton.

To the editor: Educators abandoning an evaluation process because it yields too many failing grades is tantamount to labs dumping a screening system because it yields too many Stage 4 cancer results.

Nonetheless, as an English teacher I am for a new focus on equitable grading that puts emphasis on giving grades rather than feeding students’ obsession with collecting points, and that adjusts grade averages upward when there is improvement.

No system is perfect. Equitable grading makes one unrealistic assumption: Given enough time, every student has the ability to improve. Often the emotional maturity and intellectual curiosity to learn come years later in a student’s life, if it ever comes at all.

Gary Hoffman, Huntington Beach

To the editor: Adopting equity grading is just a different path down the same confusing road in education.

When I started teaching, letter grades had been replaced with a number value, but parents and students quickly figured out that a “4” in a subject was an A, and a “1” was a D.

The next improvement was narrative evaluating, in which teachers had to write a paragraph for each student. This was confusing because parents would read the evaluation and still ask, “But how is my child doing?”

Equity grading is intended to help low-performing students, but what about kids who are grubbing for a 4.0 grade point average or better? This reform will eventually pass, and low-performing students still will not have been served.

Dennis Price, Pine Grove, Calif.

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Does homework still have value? A Johns Hopkins education expert weighs in

Joyce epstein, co-director of the center on school, family, and community partnerships, discusses why homework is essential, how to maximize its benefit to learners, and what the 'no-homework' approach gets wrong.

By Vicky Hallett

The necessity of homework has been a subject of debate since at least as far back as the 1890s, according to Joyce L. Epstein , co-director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships at Johns Hopkins University. "It's always been the case that parents, kids—and sometimes teachers, too—wonder if this is just busy work," Epstein says.

But after decades of researching how to improve schools, the professor in the Johns Hopkins School of Education remains certain that homework is essential—as long as the teachers have done their homework, too. The National Network of Partnership Schools , which she founded in 1995 to advise schools and districts on ways to improve comprehensive programs of family engagement, has developed hundreds of improved homework ideas through its Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program. For an English class, a student might interview a parent on popular hairstyles from their youth and write about the differences between then and now. Or for science class, a family could identify forms of matter over the dinner table, labeling foods as liquids or solids. These innovative and interactive assignments not only reinforce concepts from the classroom but also foster creativity, spark discussions, and boost student motivation.

"We're not trying to eliminate homework procedures, but expand and enrich them," says Epstein, who is packing this research into a forthcoming book on the purposes and designs of homework. In the meantime, the Hub couldn't wait to ask her some questions:

What kind of homework training do teachers typically get?

Future teachers and administrators really have little formal training on how to design homework before they assign it. This means that most just repeat what their teachers did, or they follow textbook suggestions at the end of units. For example, future teachers are well prepared to teach reading and literacy skills at each grade level, and they continue to learn to improve their teaching of reading in ongoing in-service education. By contrast, most receive little or no training on the purposes and designs of homework in reading or other subjects. It is really important for future teachers to receive systematic training to understand that they have the power, opportunity, and obligation to design homework with a purpose.

Why do students need more interactive homework?

If homework assignments are always the same—10 math problems, six sentences with spelling words—homework can get boring and some kids just stop doing their assignments, especially in the middle and high school years. When we've asked teachers what's the best homework you've ever had or designed, invariably we hear examples of talking with a parent or grandparent or peer to share ideas. To be clear, parents should never be asked to "teach" seventh grade science or any other subject. Rather, teachers set up the homework assignments so that the student is in charge. It's always the student's homework. But a good activity can engage parents in a fun, collaborative way. Our data show that with "good" assignments, more kids finish their work, more kids interact with a family partner, and more parents say, "I learned what's happening in the curriculum." It all works around what the youngsters are learning.

Is family engagement really that important?

At Hopkins, I am part of the Center for Social Organization of Schools , a research center that studies how to improve many aspects of education to help all students do their best in school. One thing my colleagues and I realized was that we needed to look deeply into family and community engagement. There were so few references to this topic when we started that we had to build the field of study. When children go to school, their families "attend" with them whether a teacher can "see" the parents or not. So, family engagement is ever-present in the life of a school.

My daughter's elementary school doesn't assign homework until third grade. What's your take on "no homework" policies?

There are some parents, writers, and commentators who have argued against homework, especially for very young children. They suggest that children should have time to play after school. This, of course is true, but many kindergarten kids are excited to have homework like their older siblings. If they give homework, most teachers of young children make assignments very short—often following an informal rule of 10 minutes per grade level. "No homework" does not guarantee that all students will spend their free time in productive and imaginative play.

Some researchers and critics have consistently misinterpreted research findings. They have argued that homework should be assigned only at the high school level where data point to a strong connection of doing assignments with higher student achievement . However, as we discussed, some students stop doing homework. This leads, statistically, to results showing that doing homework or spending more minutes on homework is linked to higher student achievement. If slow or struggling students are not doing their assignments, they contribute to—or cause—this "result."

Teachers need to design homework that even struggling students want to do because it is interesting. Just about all students at any age level react positively to good assignments and will tell you so.

Did COVID change how schools and parents view homework?

Within 24 hours of the day school doors closed in March 2020, just about every school and district in the country figured out that teachers had to talk to and work with students' parents. This was not the same as homeschooling—teachers were still working hard to provide daily lessons. But if a child was learning at home in the living room, parents were more aware of what they were doing in school. One of the silver linings of COVID was that teachers reported that they gained a better understanding of their students' families. We collected wonderfully creative examples of activities from members of the National Network of Partnership Schools. I'm thinking of one art activity where every child talked with a parent about something that made their family unique. Then they drew their finding on a snowflake and returned it to share in class. In math, students talked with a parent about something the family liked so much that they could represent it 100 times. Conversations about schoolwork at home was the point.

How did you create so many homework activities via the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork program?

We had several projects with educators to help them design interactive assignments, not just "do the next three examples on page 38." Teachers worked in teams to create TIPS activities, and then we turned their work into a standard TIPS format in math, reading/language arts, and science for grades K-8. Any teacher can use or adapt our prototypes to match their curricula.

Overall, we know that if future teachers and practicing educators were prepared to design homework assignments to meet specific purposes—including but not limited to interactive activities—more students would benefit from the important experience of doing their homework. And more parents would, indeed, be partners in education.

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Study: Homework Doesn’t Mean Better Grades, But Maybe Better Standardized Test Scores

Robert H. Tai, associate professor of science education at UVA's Curry School of Education

The time students spend on math and science homework doesn’t necessarily mean better grades, but it could lead to better performance on standardized tests, a new study finds.

“When Is Homework Worth The Time?” was recently published by lead investigator Adam Maltese, assistant professor of science education at Indiana University, and co-authors Robert H. Tai, associate professor of science education at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education , and Xitao Fan, dean of education at the University of Macau. Maltese is a Curry alumnus, and Fan is a former Curry faculty member.

The authors examined survey and transcript data of more than 18,000 10th-grade students to uncover explanations for academic performance. The data focused on individual classes, examining student outcomes through the transcripts from two nationwide samples collected in 1990 and 2002 by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Contrary to much published research, a regression analysis of time spent on homework and the final class grade found no substantive difference in grades between students who complete homework and those who do not. But the analysis found a positive association between student performance on standardized tests and the time they spent on homework.

“Our results hint that maybe homework is not being used as well as it could be,” Maltese said.

Tai said that homework assignments cannot replace good teaching.

“I believe that this finding is the end result of a chain of unfortunate educational decisions, beginning with the content coverage requirements that push too much information into too little time to learn it in the classroom,” Tai said. “The overflow typically results in more homework assignments. However, students spending more time on something that is not easy to understand or needs to be explained by a teacher does not help these students learn and, in fact, may confuse them.

“The results from this study imply that homework should be purposeful,” he added, “and that the purpose must be understood by both the teacher and the students.”

The authors suggest that factors such as class participation and attendance may mitigate the association of homework to stronger grade performance. They also indicate the types of homework assignments typically given may work better toward standardized test preparation than for retaining knowledge of class material.

Maltese said the genesis for the study was a concern about whether a traditional and ubiquitous educational practice, such as homework, is associated with students achieving at a higher level in math and science. Many media reports about education compare U.S. students unfavorably to high-achieving math and science students from across the world. The 2007 documentary film “Two Million Minutes” compared two Indiana students to students in India and China, taking particular note of how much more time the Indian and Chinese students spent on studying or completing homework.

“We’re not trying to say that all homework is bad,” Maltese said. “It’s expected that students are going to do homework. This is more of an argument that it should be quality over quantity. So in math, rather than doing the same types of problems over and over again, maybe it should involve having students analyze new types of problems or data. In science, maybe the students should write concept summaries instead of just reading a chapter and answering the questions at the end.”

This issue is particularly relevant given that the time spent on homework reported by most students translates into the equivalent of 100 to 180 50-minute class periods of extra learning time each year.

The authors conclude that given current policy initiatives to improve science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, education, more evaluation is needed about how to use homework time more effectively. They suggest more research be done on the form and function of homework assignments.

“In today’s current educational environment, with all the activities taking up children’s time both in school and out of school, the purpose of each homework assignment must be clear and targeted,” Tai said. “With homework, more is not better.”

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November 20, 2012

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Why homework doesn't seem to boost learning--and how it could.

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Some schools are eliminating homework, citing research showing it doesn’t do much to boost achievement. But maybe teachers just need to assign a different kind of homework.

In 2016, a second-grade teacher in Texas delighted her students—and at least some of their parents—by announcing she would no longer assign homework. “Research has been unable to prove that homework improves student performance,” she explained.

The following year, the superintendent of a Florida school district serving 42,000 students eliminated homework for all elementary students and replaced it with twenty minutes of nightly reading, saying she was basing her decision on “solid research about what works best in improving academic achievement in students.”

Many other elementary schools seem to have quietly adopted similar policies. Critics have objected that even if homework doesn’t increase grades or test scores, it has other benefits, like fostering good study habits and providing parents with a window into what kids are doing in school.

Those arguments have merit, but why doesn’t homework boost academic achievement? The research cited by educators just doesn’t seem to make sense. If a child wants to learn to play the violin, it’s obvious she needs to practice at home between lessons (at least, it’s obvious to an adult). And psychologists have identified a range of strategies that help students learn, many of which seem ideally suited for homework assignments.

For example, there’s something called “ retrieval practice ,” which means trying to recall information you’ve already learned. The optimal time to engage in retrieval practice is not immediately after you’ve acquired information but after you’ve forgotten it a bit—like, perhaps, after school. A homework assignment could require students to answer questions about what was covered in class that day without consulting their notes. Research has found that retrieval practice and similar learning strategies are far more powerful than simply rereading or reviewing material.

One possible explanation for the general lack of a boost from homework is that few teachers know about this research. And most have gotten little training in how and why to assign homework. These are things that schools of education and teacher-prep programs typically don’t teach . So it’s quite possible that much of the homework teachers assign just isn’t particularly effective for many students.

Even if teachers do manage to assign effective homework, it may not show up on the measures of achievement used by researchers—for example, standardized reading test scores. Those tests are designed to measure general reading comprehension skills, not to assess how much students have learned in specific classes. Good homework assignments might have helped a student learn a lot about, say, Ancient Egypt. But if the reading passages on a test cover topics like life in the Arctic or the habits of the dormouse, that student’s test score may well not reflect what she’s learned.

The research relied on by those who oppose homework has actually found it has a modest positive effect at the middle and high school levels—just not in elementary school. But for the most part, the studies haven’t looked at whether it matters what kind of homework is assigned or whether there are different effects for different demographic student groups. Focusing on those distinctions could be illuminating.

A study that looked specifically at math homework , for example, found it boosted achievement more in elementary school than in middle school—just the opposite of the findings on homework in general. And while one study found that parental help with homework generally doesn’t boost students’ achievement—and can even have a negative effect— another concluded that economically disadvantaged students whose parents help with homework improve their performance significantly.

That seems to run counter to another frequent objection to homework, which is that it privileges kids who are already advantaged. Well-educated parents are better able to provide help, the argument goes, and it’s easier for affluent parents to provide a quiet space for kids to work in—along with a computer and internet access . While those things may be true, not assigning homework—or assigning ineffective homework—can end up privileging advantaged students even more.

Students from less educated families are most in need of the boost that effective homework can provide, because they’re less likely to acquire academic knowledge and vocabulary at home. And homework can provide a way for lower-income parents—who often don’t have time to volunteer in class or participate in parents’ organizations—to forge connections to their children’s schools. Rather than giving up on homework because of social inequities, schools could help parents support homework in ways that don’t depend on their own knowledge—for example, by recruiting others to help, as some low-income demographic groups have been able to do . Schools could also provide quiet study areas at the end of the day, and teachers could assign homework that doesn’t rely on technology.

Another argument against homework is that it causes students to feel overburdened and stressed.  While that may be true at schools serving affluent populations, students at low-performing ones often don’t get much homework at all—even in high school. One study found that lower-income ninth-graders “consistently described receiving minimal homework—perhaps one or two worksheets or textbook pages, the occasional project, and 30 minutes of reading per night.” And if they didn’t complete assignments, there were few consequences. I discovered this myself when trying to tutor students in writing at a high-poverty high school. After I expressed surprise that none of the kids I was working with had completed a brief writing assignment, a teacher told me, “Oh yeah—I should have told you. Our students don’t really do homework.”

If and when disadvantaged students get to college, their relative lack of study skills and good homework habits can present a serious handicap. After noticing that black and Hispanic students were failing her course in disproportionate numbers, a professor at the University of North Carolina decided to make some changes , including giving homework assignments that required students to quiz themselves without consulting their notes. Performance improved across the board, but especially for students of color and the disadvantaged. The gap between black and white students was cut in half, and the gaps between Hispanic and white students—along with that between first-generation college students and others—closed completely.

There’s no reason this kind of support should wait until students get to college. To be most effective—both in terms of instilling good study habits and building students’ knowledge—homework assignments that boost learning should start in elementary school.

Some argue that young children just need time to chill after a long day at school. But the “ten-minute rule”—recommended by homework researchers—would have first graders doing ten minutes of homework, second graders twenty minutes, and so on. That leaves plenty of time for chilling, and even brief assignments could have a significant impact if they were well-designed.

But a fundamental problem with homework at the elementary level has to do with the curriculum, which—partly because of standardized testing— has narrowed to reading and math. Social studies and science have been marginalized or eliminated, especially in schools where test scores are low. Students spend hours every week practicing supposed reading comprehension skills like “making inferences” or identifying “author’s purpose”—the kinds of skills that the tests try to measure—with little or no attention paid to content.

But as research has established, the most important component in reading comprehension is knowledge of the topic you’re reading about. Classroom time—or homework time—spent on illusory comprehension “skills” would be far better spent building knowledge of the very subjects schools have eliminated. Even if teachers try to take advantage of retrieval practice—say, by asking students to recall what they’ve learned that day about “making comparisons” or “sequence of events”—it won’t have much impact.

If we want to harness the potential power of homework—particularly for disadvantaged students—we’ll need to educate teachers about what kind of assignments actually work. But first, we’ll need to start teaching kids something substantive about the world, beginning as early as possible.

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Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope , a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education .

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

Students in these schools average about 3.1 hours of homework each night.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

Their study found that too much homework is associated with:

* Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

* Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

* Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Media Contacts

Denise Pope, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 725-7412, [email protected] Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, [email protected]

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The Pros and Cons of Homework

Updated: July 16, 2024

Published: January 23, 2020

Remember those nights when you’d find yourself staring at a mountain of homework, eyes drooping, wondering if you’d ever see the light at the end of the tunnel? The debate over homework’s role in education is as old as time. Is it a crucial tool for reinforcing learning or just an unnecessary burden?

For college students, this question takes on new dimensions. Juggling homework with the endless amount of classes, part-time jobs, and social lives can feel like walking on thin ice. The pressure to maintain grades, meet deadlines, and still find time for friends and relaxation can be overwhelming. So, is homework a friend or foe?

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The homework dilemma.

A large amount of college students report feeling overwhelmed by their academic workload, leading to high levels of stress and anxiety. According to Research.com , 45% of college students in the U.S. experience “more than average” stress, with 36.5% citing stress as a major impediment to their academic performance. This stress often stems directly from the homework load, leading to symptoms like headaches, exhaustion, and difficulty sleeping. The intense pressure to manage homework alongside other responsibilities makes us question the true impact of homework on students’ overall well-being.

And then there’s the digital twist. A whopping 89% of students confessed to using AI tools like ChatGPT for their assignments. While these tools can be a godsend for quick answers and assistance, they can also undermine the personal effort and critical thinking necessary to truly understand the material.

On the brighter side, homework can be a powerful ally. According to Inside Higher Ed , structured assignments can actually help reduce stress by providing a clear learning roadmap and keeping students engaged with the material. But where’s the balance between helpful and harmful? 

With these perspectives in mind, let’s dive into the pros and cons of homework for college students. By understanding both sides, we can find a middle ground that maximizes learning while keeping stress at bay.

The Pros of Homework

When thoughtfully assigned, homework can be a valuable tool in a student’s educational journey . Let’s explore how homework can be a beneficial companion to your studies:

Enhances Critical Thinking

Homework isn’t just busywork; it’s an opportunity to stretch your mental muscles. Those late-night problem sets and essays can actually encourage deeper understanding and application of concepts. Think of homework as a mental gym; each assignment is a new exercise, pushing you to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information in ways that strengthen your critical thinking skills .

Time Management Skills

Do you ever juggle multiple deadlines and wonder how to keep it all together? Regular homework assignments can be a crash course in time management . They teach you to prioritize tasks, manage your schedule, and balance academic responsibilities with personal commitments. The ability to juggle various tasks is a skill that will serve you well beyond your college years.

Reinforcement of Learning

There’s a reason why practice makes perfect. Homework reinforces what you’ve learned in class, helping to cement concepts and theories in your mind. Understanding a concept during a lecture is one thing, but applying it through homework can deepen your comprehension and retention. 

Preparation for Exams

Think of homework as a sound check and warm-up for exams. Regular assignments keep you engaged with the material, making it easier to review and prepare when exam time rolls around. By consistently working through problems and writing essays, you build a solid foundation that can make the difference between cramming and confident exam performance.

Encourages Independent Learning

Homework promotes a sense of responsibility and independence. It pushes you to tackle assignments on your own, encouraging problem-solving and self-discipline. This independence prepares you for the academic challenges ahead and the autonomy required in your professional and personal life.

The Cons of Homework

Despite its potential benefits, homework can also have significant downsides. Let’s examine the challenges and drawbacks of homework:

Impact on Mental Health

Homework can be a double-edged sword when it comes to mental health . While it’s meant to reinforce learning, the sheer volume of assignments can lead to stress and anxiety. The constant pressure to meet deadlines and the fear of falling behind can create a relentless cycle of stress. Many students become overwhelmed, leading to burnout and negatively impacting their overall well-being. 

Limited Time for Other Activities

College isn’t just about hitting the books. It’s also a time for personal growth, exploring new interests, and building social connections. Excessive homework can eat into the time you might otherwise spend on extracurricular activities, hobbies, or simply hanging out with friends. This lack of balance can lead to a less fulfilling college experience. Shouldn’t education be about more than just academics?

Quality Over Quantity

When it comes to homework, more isn’t always better. Piling on assignments can lead to diminished returns on learning. Instead of diving deep into a subject and gaining a thorough understanding, students might rush through tasks just to get them done. This focus on quantity over quality can undermine the educational value of homework. 

Inequity in Education

Homework can sometimes exacerbate educational inequalities. Not all students can access the same resources and support systems at home. While some might have a quiet space and access to the internet, others might struggle with distractions and lack of resources. This disparity can put certain students at a disadvantage, making homework more of a burden than a learning tool. 

Dependence on AI Tools

With the advent of AI tools like ChatGPT , homework has taken on a new dimension. While these tools can provide quick answers and assistance, they also pose the risk of students becoming overly reliant on technology. This dependence can take away from the actual learning process, as students might bypass the critical thinking and effort needed to truly understand the material. Is convenience worth the potential loss in learning?

Finding the Balance

Finding the right balance with homework means tackling assignments that challenge and support you. Instead of drowning in a sea of tasks, focus on quality over quantity. Choose projects that spark your critical thinking and connect to real-world situations. Flexibility is key here. Recognize that your circumstances are unique, and adjusting your approach can help reduce stress and create a more inclusive learning environment. Constructive feedback makes homework more than just a chore; it turns it into a tool for growth and improvement.

It’s also about living a well-rounded college life. Don’t let homework overshadow other important parts of your life, like extracurricular activities or personal downtime. Emphasize independent learning and use technology wisely to prepare for future challenges. By balancing thoughtful assignments with your personal needs, homework can shift from being a burden to becoming a helpful companion on your educational journey, enriching your academic and personal growth.

Homework has its pros and cons, especially for college students. It can enhance critical thinking, time management, and learning, but it also brings stress, impacts mental health, and can become overwhelming. Finding the right balance is key. 

Focus on quality assignments, maintain flexibility, and make sure your homework complements rather than dominates your life. With a thoughtful approach, homework can support your educational journey, fostering both academic success and personal growth.

How can I manage my time effectively to balance homework and other activities?

Create a schedule that allocates specific times for homework, classes, and personal activities. Use planners or digital calendars to keep track of deadlines and prioritize tasks. Don’t forget to include breaks to avoid burnout.

How can I reduce the stress associated with homework?

To manage stress, practice mindfulness techniques like meditation or deep breathing exercises. Break assignments into smaller, manageable tasks and tackle them one at a time. If needed, seek support from classmates, tutors, or mental health professionals.

Is using AI tools for homework cheating?

While AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful for quick assistance, relying on them too much can hinder your learning process. Use them as a supplement rather than a replacement for your own effort and critical thinking.

How can teachers make homework more equitable?

Teachers can offer flexible deadlines, provide resources for students who lack them, and design assignments that account for different learning styles and home environments. Open communication between students and teachers can also help address individual challenges.

What are some strategies to make homework more meaningful?

Focus on quality over quantity by designing assignments that encourage deep thinking and application of knowledge. Integrate real-world problems to make homework more relevant and engaging. Provide constructive feedback to help students learn and grow from their assignments.

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What’s the Right Amount of Homework?

Decades of research show that homework has some benefits, especially for students in middle and high school—but there are risks to assigning too much.

Many teachers and parents believe that homework helps students build study skills and review concepts learned in class. Others see homework as disruptive and unnecessary, leading to burnout and turning kids off to school. Decades of research show that the issue is more nuanced and complex than most people think: Homework is beneficial, but only to a degree. Students in high school gain the most, while younger kids benefit much less.

The National PTA and the National Education Association support the “ 10-minute homework guideline ”—a nightly 10 minutes of homework per grade level. But many teachers and parents are quick to point out that what matters is the quality of the homework assigned and how well it meets students’ needs, not the amount of time spent on it.

The guideline doesn’t account for students who may need to spend more—or less—time on assignments. In class, teachers can make adjustments to support struggling students, but at home, an assignment that takes one student 30 minutes to complete may take another twice as much time—often for reasons beyond their control. And homework can widen the achievement gap, putting students from low-income households and students with learning disabilities at a disadvantage.

However, the 10-minute guideline is useful in setting a limit: When kids spend too much time on homework, there are real consequences to consider.

Small Benefits for Elementary Students

As young children begin school, the focus should be on cultivating a love of learning, and assigning too much homework can undermine that goal. And young students often don’t have the study skills to benefit fully from homework, so it may be a poor use of time (Cooper, 1989 ; Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). A more effective activity may be nightly reading, especially if parents are involved. The benefits of reading are clear: If students aren’t proficient readers by the end of third grade, they’re less likely to succeed academically and graduate from high school (Fiester, 2013 ).

For second-grade teacher Jacqueline Fiorentino, the minor benefits of homework did not outweigh the potential drawback of turning young children against school at an early age, so she experimented with dropping mandatory homework. “Something surprising happened: They started doing more work at home,” Fiorentino writes . “This inspiring group of 8-year-olds used their newfound free time to explore subjects and topics of interest to them.” She encouraged her students to read at home and offered optional homework to extend classroom lessons and help them review material.

Moderate Benefits for Middle School Students

As students mature and develop the study skills necessary to delve deeply into a topic—and to retain what they learn—they also benefit more from homework. Nightly assignments can help prepare them for scholarly work, and research shows that homework can have moderate benefits for middle school students (Cooper et al., 2006 ). Recent research also shows that online math homework, which can be designed to adapt to students’ levels of understanding, can significantly boost test scores (Roschelle et al., 2016 ).

There are risks to assigning too much, however: A 2015 study found that when middle school students were assigned more than 90 to 100 minutes of daily homework, their math and science test scores began to decline (Fernández-Alonso, Suárez-Álvarez, & Muñiz, 2015 ). Crossing that upper limit can drain student motivation and focus. The researchers recommend that “homework should present a certain level of challenge or difficulty, without being so challenging that it discourages effort.” Teachers should avoid low-effort, repetitive assignments, and assign homework “with the aim of instilling work habits and promoting autonomous, self-directed learning.”

In other words, it’s the quality of homework that matters, not the quantity. Brian Sztabnik, a veteran middle and high school English teacher, suggests that teachers take a step back and ask themselves these five questions :

• How long will it take to complete?
• Have all learners been considered?
• Will an assignment encourage future success?
• Will an assignment place material in a context the classroom cannot?
• Does an assignment offer support when a teacher is not there?

More Benefits for High School Students, but Risks as Well

By the time they reach high school, students should be well on their way to becoming independent learners, so homework does provide a boost to learning at this age, as long as it isn’t overwhelming (Cooper et al., 2006 ; Marzano & Pickering, 2007 ). When students spend too much time on homework—more than two hours each night—it takes up valuable time to rest and spend time with family and friends. A 2013 study found that high school students can experience serious mental and physical health problems, from higher stress levels to sleep deprivation, when assigned too much homework (Galloway, Conner, & Pope, 2013 ).

Homework in high school should always relate to the lesson and be doable without any assistance, and feedback should be clear and explicit.

Teachers should also keep in mind that not all students have equal opportunities to finish their homework at home, so incomplete homework may not be a true reflection of their learning—it may be more a result of issues they face outside of school. They may be hindered by issues such as lack of a quiet space at home, resources such as a computer or broadband connectivity, or parental support (OECD, 2014 ). In such cases, giving low homework scores may be unfair.

Since the quantities of time discussed here are totals, teachers in middle and high school should be aware of how much homework other teachers are assigning. It may seem reasonable to assign 30 minutes of daily homework, but across six subjects, that’s three hours—far above a reasonable amount even for a high school senior. Psychologist Maurice Elias sees this as a common mistake: Individual teachers create homework policies that in aggregate can overwhelm students. He suggests that teachers work together to develop a school-wide homework policy and make it a key topic of back-to-school night and the first parent-teacher conferences of the school year.

Parents Play a Key Role

Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their child’s learning (Walker et al., 2004 ). It can provide insights into a child’s strengths and interests, and can also encourage conversations about a child’s life at school. If a parent has positive attitudes toward homework, their children are more likely to share those same values, promoting academic success.

But it’s also possible for parents to be overbearing, putting too much emphasis on test scores or grades, which can be disruptive for children (Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2015 ). Parents should avoid being overly intrusive or controlling—students report feeling less motivated to learn when they don’t have enough space and autonomy to do their homework (Orkin, May, & Wolf, 2017 ; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008 ; Silinskas & Kikas, 2017 ). So while homework can encourage parents to be more involved with their kids, it’s important to not make it a source of conflict.

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Why is Homework Important?

Why is homework important? Homework can be a divisive topic. In this article, we will discuss why it’s important and how it helps with your child’s development.

There is a strong connection between regularly completing homework and higher accomplishments in subjects such as English, Maths and Science. The Department of Education in the United Kingdom advises that spending time doing homework brings several benefits, more so for the students who put in two to three hours a night. Understanding the value of homework can help increase motivation and productivity. In this article, we’ll help you understand why homework is important and discuss all its benefits for both children and parents.

Benefits of Homework

Homework is important because it develops core skills in young children that will serve them throughout school and working life. Improved grades, discipline, time management, using resources and improving communication are all vital life skills that will open the door to unique opportunities and help children find success in their careers. Doing regular homework should be considered as an investment in your child’s future.

Through encouraging regular homework and supporting your child with their assignments, you can expect to see the following advantages:

1. Discipline of Practice

Repeating a task multiple times can feel arduous, but it’s necessary to help increase your child’s skill and understanding of a subject. Regular homework will make certain concepts easier to understand and put them in an advantageous position should they seek a vocational career.

2. Time Management Skills

Homework goes beyond just the task itself; it helps children take control of their workload and increase their time management skills. Homework is set with a deadline and taking ownership of this deadline helps them think independently and develop problem-solving skills. This is a prime example of why homework is important because time management is a vital life skill that helps children throughout higher education and their careers.

3. Communication Network

Homework acts as a bridge and can help teachers and parents learn more about how students like to learn, providing a deeper understanding of how to approach their learning and development. Many parents also want their child to receive homework so they can understand what they’re learning at school.

4. Comfortable Work Environment

Some children struggle to learn outside of their comfort zone, and while classrooms are designed to be warm and welcoming, there is often no place like home. Homework is an opportunity to learn and retain information in an environment where they feel most comfortable, which can help accelerate their development.

5. Using Learning Materials

Throughout a child’s education, understanding how to use resources such as libraries and the internet is important. Homework teaches children to actively search for information using these resources to complete tasks, and this is a skill that will be fundamental throughout their lives.

6. Revision Discipline

Regular homework helps children discover a pattern that will help them when they’re required to study for important tests and exams. Children who are familiar with a routine of completing homework will find it easy to adapt to a schedule of doing regular revision at home. Skills such as accessing learning materials, time management, and discipline will help improve how children revise, and ultimately, improve their grades.

7. Additional Time to Learn

Children learn at different paces, and the time spent in the classroom might not be enough for some students to fully grasp the key concepts of a subject. Having additional time for learning at home can help children gain a deeper understanding than they would if they were solely reliant on their time in school. Homework is important because it gives parents and children the freedom and the time to focus on subjects that they may be struggling with. This extra time can make a big difference when it comes to exams and grades.

Helping Your Child With Homework

We’ve discussed why it is important to do regular homework, but children may still find it difficult to stay motivated. Parents can play an important role in supporting their child with homework, so here are some of the ways you can help.

1. Homework-friendly Area

Having a dedicated space for children to do homework will help them stay focused. Make sure it is well-lit and stocked with everything they’ll need for their assignments.

2. Routine Study Time

A regular routine helps children get used to working at home. Some children work best in the morning, while others may prefer the afternoon. Work out a routine where your child is their most productive.

3. Make Sure They’re Learning

Homework is important, but only if children use this time to learn. If you do the work for them, they’re not going to see any of the benefits we listed above. It’s important you’re there to support and help them understand the work, so they can do it themselves.

4. Praise Work and Effort

Recognising the hard work that they’re putting in and praising them for it is a great way to get children to respond positively to homework. Pin their impressive test grades up in their homeworking space or around the house for extra motivation.

5. Make a Plan

Children can get overwhelmed if they have a lot of work to do. On homework-heavy nights, help them make a plan and break down the work into sections. This will help make the work more manageable. If your child responds well to this, you could do this each time they sit down to do work at home.

Understanding why homework is important and oftentimes necessary helps improve both motivation and productivity in young children. It also makes parents aware of the role they can play in supporting them. At Nord Anglia Education, we focus on bringing children, parents, and teachers together in a common effort to improve student learning through homework. You can learn more about our schools and the curriculum we teach by exploring our schools .

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What Grades Do Colleges Look At?

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Gelyna Price

Head of programs and lead admissions expert, table of contents, grades in core subjects, how colleges evaluate grades, what do colleges care about besides grades, when do colleges start looking at your grades, additional resources:.

Stay up-to-date on the latest research and college admissions trends with our blog team.

Navigating the college admissions process can feel like trying to decode a secret formula, especially when it comes to understanding which grades matter the most. So, what grades do colleges actually look at? It’s a mix of everything you’ve worked hard for, but not all grades are created equal. 

From your core subjects to how your performance evolves over high school, each grade plays a role in painting the full picture of who you are as a student. Let’s dive into how your academic record can make or break your college applications and what else colleges are looking for beyond just those numbers.

Video: What Do Colleges Look at First on Your Application?

Video: College Admissions 101: What Do Colleges Look For? | The Princeton Review

When it comes to college applications, your grades aren't just numbers on a transcript—they tell a story about your academic journey, your ambitions, and how you challenge yourself. Here’s a closer look at what colleges are looking for in your grades:

Core Class Performance

Colleges place significant emphasis on your performance in core subjects like English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language. These subjects form the backbone of your academic profile and provide colleges with a baseline understanding of your abilities. Here’s why they matter:

• English: Demonstrates your communication skills and critical thinking abilities.
• Math: Reflects your problem-solving skills and analytical thinking.
• Science: Showcases your empirical reasoning and understanding of scientific concepts.
• Social Studies: Indicates your grasp of historical contexts and societal dynamics.
• Foreign Language: Highlights your linguistic skills and cultural awareness.

Strong grades in these areas are essential for showing colleges you have a solid academic foundation.

Course Rigor and Academic Challenges

Colleges are not just interested in the grades you earn but also in the rigor of the courses you choose. They want to see that you’re pushing yourself to take on challenging courses that stretch your abilities:

• Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) Courses: Taking these rigorous classes demonstrates your willingness to challenge yourself academically.
• Honors Courses: Enrolling in honors courses shows that you’re not afraid to tackle more complex material.
• Dual Enrollment: Participating in college-level courses while in high school highlights your readiness for higher education.

Opting for a challenging course load can make a positive impression on college admissions officers, even if it means not achieving perfect grades in every class.

GPA: The Bigger Picture

Your GPA is a significant metric for colleges, but it’s not just about having a high number. Colleges look at your GPA as part of a bigger picture:

• Consistency: A steady GPA indicates reliability and dedication over the years.
• Improvement: Showing improvement over time can be just as valuable as maintaining high grades, demonstrating resilience and growth.
• Balance: A strong GPA across various subjects reflects a well-rounded student with diverse interests and skills.

Colleges consider both weighted and unweighted GPAs, so they understand how your school measures academic performance.

Class Rank: Contextual Performance

Some colleges also consider your class rank, which compares your academic performance to that of your peers:

• Top Rank: Being at the top of your class can indicate outstanding academic achievement and dedication.
• Middle Rank: Even if you’re not at the top, showing improvement or taking on challenges can be impressive.
• Bottom Rank: Don’t be discouraged by a lower rank—emphasize your strengths and unique experiences in other parts of your application.

Class rank helps colleges understand your performance relative to others in your academic environment, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

When it comes to college admissions, your performance in core subjects plays a pivotal role. These subjects—English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and Foreign Language—form the foundation of your academic journey and are closely scrutinized by colleges. Here’s a closer look at why these grades matter so much:

English is more than just literature and essays; it’s about communication skills that are crucial for college success. Colleges pay close attention to your grades in English because they reflect your ability to think critically and articulate your ideas effectively.

Math courses, from Algebra to Calculus, demonstrate your problem-solving skills and analytical thinking. Strong performance in math can show colleges that you have the quantitative skills needed for a range of college-level courses.

Social Studies

Your grades in Social Studies reveal your understanding of historical contexts, political systems, and social dynamics. They indicate your ability to analyze and interpret complex information, which is valuable in many fields of study.

Science grades are crucial as they showcase your grasp of scientific concepts and your ability to conduct experiments and analyze data. Colleges look for students who excel in science because it reflects your curiosity and ability to tackle empirical challenges.

Foreign Language

Proficiency in a foreign language not only demonstrates your ability to understand and communicate in another language but also your cultural awareness and adaptability. Many colleges value this as it highlights your readiness for global engagement.

Overall, strong grades in these core subjects are seen as a reliable indicator of your academic capabilities and preparedness for college-level coursework. They provide colleges with a snapshot of your foundational knowledge and skills, helping them assess your fit for their programs.

Understanding how colleges evaluate your high school grades is crucial to optimizing your academic strategy. Here's a breakdown of what you can expect at each stage of your high school journey and how colleges view your performance:

Freshman Year: A Gentle Introduction

Video: Freshman Orientation: A Year of Gentle Transition

In your freshman year, everything's new—more responsibility, more homework, and a brand-new school environment. Colleges generally understand this transition and offer some leniency regarding your grades. While they do look at your freshman year grades, a few slip-ups here won't ruin your college chances. Think of this year as your warm-up lap in the marathon of high school.

Sophomore Year: Stepping It Up

By sophomore year, you're no longer a newbie. Colleges expect to see more consistency and growth as you settle into the rhythm of high school. This is often the year when you start taking on advanced coursework, like AP or honors classes, so it's essential to demonstrate your ability to handle more challenging material. Your sophomore grades serve as a critical indicator of your academic trajectory.

Junior Year: The Big Leagues

Junior year is the main event in the college admissions process. This year is pivotal because it's the last full year of grades colleges see when you apply. Junior year grades reflect your academic maturity and readiness for college, and they offer a snapshot of your intellectual growth and potential. Think of them as your academic highlight reel, showing colleges where you're headed and what you can achieve.

Senior Year: The Finishing Touch

While junior year grades are crucial, senior year grades still matter, especially in the first semester. Colleges use these grades to assess your preparedness for higher education. And don't think that once you've been accepted, you're in the clear—colleges do look at your final transcripts. A significant drop in performance during your second semester can lead to rescinded offers, so stay the course and finish strong.

Understanding GPA: Weighted vs. Unweighted

When colleges evaluate your grades, they also consider how your GPA is calculated. Some schools use weighted GPAs , which factor in the difficulty of courses like AP, Honors, or IB classes and are calculated on a 5.0 scale. Unweighted GPAs don’t account for course difficulty and are based on a 4.0 scale. Colleges consider both types to ensure fair comparisons among applicants.

Making the Most of Your High School Years

Grades are an integral part of your college application, but they are just one piece of the puzzle. By understanding how colleges evaluate each stage of your high school career, you can strategically plan your coursework and academic goals. Focus on consistency, challenge yourself with advanced courses, and maintain a steady trajectory throughout your high school years to create a compelling academic profile for college admissions.

While grades are undoubtedly an important component of your college application, they are only one part of the story. Colleges are eager to learn about who you are as a whole person, not just your academic achievements. Here's what they care about beyond your transcript:

Extracurricular Activities: Showcasing Your Passions

Colleges love to see students who are active participants in their communities and who pursue interests outside of the classroom. These activities highlight your passions and help to paint a fuller picture of who you are:

• Sports: Participation in sports demonstrates teamwork, discipline, and leadership skills. It shows that you can commit to a team and balance academics with other responsibilities.
• Arts: Whether it’s music, theater, or visual arts, engaging in the arts indicates creativity and the ability to think outside the box.
• Volunteering: Community service projects illustrate your empathy, compassion, and dedication to making a difference in the lives of others.
• Clubs and Organizations: Involvement in school clubs or organizations showcases your interests and leadership potential. It reflects your ability to work collaboratively with others.

Your extracurricular activities provide colleges with insights into your character and how you spend your time outside of academics.

Teacher Recommendations: A Peek into Your Character

Letters of recommendation from teachers are invaluable because they offer a third-party perspective on who you are as a student and person:

• Classroom Behavior: Teachers can comment on your participation, work ethic, and how you engage with peers and instructors.
• Growth and Development: Recommendations often highlight your growth over time and your ability to overcome challenges.
• Character Traits: Teachers can speak to your integrity, leadership, and interpersonal skills, providing colleges with a more complete understanding of your character.

These letters help admissions officers get to know you beyond the grades, revealing aspects of your personality and potential that aren’t visible on a transcript.

Personal Essays: Telling Your Story

Your personal statement or application essays are your chance to speak directly to admissions officers and tell them who you are:

• Personal Insights: Essays allow you to share your unique story, experiences, and motivations that have shaped you.
• Values and Beliefs: Your writing can reveal your core values, what you care about, and how you see the world.
• Goals and Ambitions: Discussing your future aspirations shows colleges how you plan to use your education and make a difference.

A well-crafted essay can significantly impact your application by providing a voice to your application and showing how you align with the college’s values and community.

Standardized Test Scores: Still a Factor

While many colleges are moving away from requiring standardized test scores, such as the SAT or ACT, they still play a role for some schools:

• Readiness for College: Test scores can indicate your readiness for college-level work and your ability to perform under pressure.
• Comparison Across Applicants: Scores provide a standardized way to compare applicants from different educational backgrounds.

Research the requirements of each college you’re interested in to determine whether standardized test scores are necessary for your application.

Demonstrated Interest: Your Commitment to the School

Colleges appreciate applicants who show genuine interest in attending their institution. Demonstrated interest can influence admission decisions:

• Campus Visits: Visiting a campus shows that you’re serious about attending and willing to invest time in exploring the college.
• College Fairs: Engaging with college representatives at fairs or events highlights your enthusiasm for the school.
• Interviews and Inquiries: Reaching out to admissions officers, alumni, or current students can demonstrate your interest and eagerness to learn more.

Colleges want students who are excited about attending and who align with their community and values.

Students should prepare their grades for college

When it comes to college admissions, early preparation is vital. While some may think the junior year is the time to start thinking about college applications, the truth is that students should start preparing much earlier on. 

In fact, students hoping to attend top 100 universities should be aiming for academic success beginning in the first year and onward. Outside of academics, this preparation for younger students means maintaining a higher GPA, joining extracurriculars, and pursuing leadership opportunities.

Admissions advisors often look at a student’s growth throughout their high school career, so consistent effort in their college grades can make a big difference. Of course, junior year is also essential for college admissions as it’s when students take standardized tests and begin visiting schools. That’s why starting early with college preparations helps set students up for success in the long run.

Grades considered by colleges

Colleges look at various factors when determining whether to admit a student. In addition to grades, colleges look at standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, essays, and letters of recommendation.

The weight that each of these factors holds varies from college to college. For some institutions, grades are the most crucial factor, while others may be less important.

Some colleges only consider your grades from your junior and senior years, while others look at your entire high school academic record.

Here’s how to prepare your grades for college

If you’re behind in your classes, it’s important to start figuring out a game plan to get back on track. It is crucial to consider the following factors to improve grades in high school:

• Taking classes that match your abilities and interests can help you focus on your studies and maintain a high level of interest.
• Finding a study routine that works for you is essential; creating a schedule and sticking to it will help keep you on track.
• Ask for help when needed; there is no shame in admitting that you need assistance and seeking guidance from teachers or other students.
• Make time for extracurricular activities and socializing; these activities can help relieve stress and allow you to take a break from your studies.
• Get plenty of rest and eat well; these things are vital for maintaining focus and energy levels.

If you are struggling in a particular class, there are a few things you can do to try to improve your grades:

• Talk to your teacher: They may be able to offer guidance on how to improve your performance in the class. Educators appreciate when students are proactive.
• Complete all your assignments: It is vital to keep up with the work even if you struggle with the material.
• Study more effectively: many different techniques can help you learn and retain information more effectively.
• Get help from a tutor : if you are having trouble understanding the material, meeting with a tutor can be extremely helpful. It’s worth the extra time to solidify your learnings.

Consider these factors in your college application

When thinking about college admissions, one of the most important things to consider is your grade point average (GPA). While a high GPA can open doors to specific schools or scholarships, a low GPA might limit your options and make it harder for you to stand out among a pool of applicants. 

It’s never too early to start looking at your grades and finding ways to improve them, whether studying harder for tests or seeking extra help from teachers or tutors.

Another factor to consider in college admissions is extracurriculars and other activities. Admissions officers want to see that you have a well-rounded profile, so getting involved in clubs, sports, volunteering, or other pursuits can significantly enhance your application.

While the college admissions process demands a lot from students, taking steps such as monitoring grades and extracurriculars and researching potential schools can set you on the right path to a thrilling college experience.

When it comes to making big decisions about your career, it can be helpful to seek out guidance from a professional. A college admissions counselor or coach can provide an objective perspective and offer expert advice based on their training and experience.

These counselors can also help clarify your goals, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and develop a plan to succeed in your chosen field. Consulting a professional can also give you access to helpful resources, such as industry contacts and job opportunities.

75% of college students start college uncertain or change majors before they finish their chosen majors. It is imperative to identify what course to take in college.

Choosing a reputable consultant or coach with experience in the field you’re interested in pursuing is essential. Overall, consulting a professional can be a valuable investment in your college grade performance and future career success.

Grades are an essential part of the college admissions process, but they are just one piece of a multifaceted application. By understanding how colleges evaluate grades and what else they consider, you can strategically position yourself for success. Remember, every aspect of your application matters, and you have multiple opportunities to shine!

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Do Colleges Look at All High School Grades?

Yes, colleges review all of your high school grades, but they weigh them differently. Core subjects like English, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Language are typically more scrutinized than electives. Each year of high school carries its importance, but junior year grades are often the most critical.

How Important Are Junior Year Grades?

Junior year grades are generally the most important, as they are the last full year of grades that colleges see before you apply. These grades reflect your academic maturity and readiness for college and are often a strong predictor of how you’ll perform in higher education.

Can Poor Freshman Year Grades Affect College Admission?

While colleges consider freshman year grades, they often understand that students are adjusting to high school. A rough start in ninth grade won’t necessarily ruin your chances, especially if you show consistent improvement in subsequent years.

How Do Weighted and Unweighted GPAs Affect Admissions?

Weighted GPAs take into account the difficulty of your courses, offering a potential advantage if you've taken advanced classes like AP or IB courses. Unweighted GPAs are based on a 4.0 scale and do not account for course difficulty. Colleges typically evaluate both to understand your academic rigor.

What Is Considered a “Good” GPA for College Applications?

A “good” GPA varies depending on the college, but generally, a GPA of 3.0 or higher is often considered competitive for many schools. However, selective colleges might expect a GPA closer to 4.0, especially in rigorous courses. Always check the specific requirements of each college.

Are Senior Year Grades Important?

Yes, senior year grades, particularly in the first semester, are important. They demonstrate your readiness for college-level work and your ability to maintain performance even after receiving college offers. Remember, colleges can rescind offers if your grades drop significantly in the second semester.

Do Colleges Consider Class Rank?

Some colleges do consider class rank, which provides context on how your academic performance compares to your peers. However, many schools are moving away from this metric, focusing more on GPA, course rigor, and personal achievements.

How Can I Make Up for Poor Grades in My Application?

Highlight strengths in other areas, such as extracurricular activities, leadership roles, or a compelling personal essay. Demonstrating growth and resilience over time can offset less-than-perfect grades, showing colleges your potential and determination.

What If My School Doesn’t Offer Advanced Courses?

Colleges consider the resources available to you. If your school doesn’t offer advanced courses, they won’t penalize you for not taking them. Focus on excelling in the courses you do have and highlighting your involvement in other areas.

Do Colleges Look at Grades From Middle School?

Generally, colleges do not consider middle school grades. They focus on high school performance, which is more relevant to your college readiness. However, strong foundational skills developed in middle school can help you succeed in high school courses.

If you're curious about how your grades align with college acceptance criteria, check out The Top 25 Colleges and Universities that Accept a 3.4 GPA for insights into how certain GPAs fit into the broader admissions landscape.

Once you understand where you stand with a 3.4 GPA, you might be interested in exploring options for slightly higher grades, so take a look at What Colleges Can I Get Into with a 3.5 GPA ? for a practical guide to the institutions that might consider your grades favorably.

Finally, to get a holistic view of how grades fit into the overall college application process, be sure to read College Application Help: 15 Tips to Help You Succeed for strategies on presenting your academic achievements effectively.

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• Why Should Homework Be Banned?

Homework has been a fundamental part of education for many years, thought to reinforce students’ learning and develop their study habits. However, as we examine the true effects of homework more closely, an increasing number of educators and researchers are starting to doubt whether this long-standing tradition is as advantageous as previously believed.

This discussion has led to the emergence of numerous services, such as WriteMeAnEssay.com , designed to assist students in handling their workload, including affordable homework help options. Although they offer academic assistance, they also raise an important concern: if students feel so stressed that they resort to outsourcing their assignments, it may be necessary to reevaluate the importance of homework.

Why Homework Should Be Banned?

Homework is frequently regarded as a crucial element of education, but is it truly fulfilling its intended role? Research indicates that the connection between homework and academic achievement isn’t as robust as commonly thought, particularly in the early grades. An overload of homework can result in fatigue and a lack of interest in learning instead of encouraging a genuine passion for it. Additionally, homework can increase disparities among students. Not every learner has a conducive home environment for studying or access to resources such as tutoring and parental assistance. This situation can create a divide between those who can afford these benefits and those who cannot, resulting in performance differences that do not accurately represent their actual capabilities.

Benefits of Unstructured Time

Moving away from homework and providing more unstructured time can greatly benefit students in several ways. Free time is not only meant for relaxation; it also gives students the opportunity to participate in activities that enhance their cognitive, social, and physical growth.

Cognitive and Creative Benefits

Unstructured time promotes “diffuse thinking,” which is a laid-back mental state conducive to creativity. In these moments, students have the opportunity to link ideas in unique ways, resulting in creative insights and innovation. However, the strict schedules of homework and formal education frequently hinder this type of thinking. Additionally, engaging in free play and exploration promotes cognitive growth more effectively than conventional homework. Research has indicated that activities such as puzzles, games, and independent reading can boost critical thinking abilities and foster a lasting passion for learning.

Social and Emotional Benefits

One of the arguments for banning homework is related to the development of social and emotional skills. These skills are cultivated outside the classroom in more informal settings where children can engage with one another. Having unstructured time encourages social interactions that are essential for fostering qualities like empathy, teamwork, and effective communication. Children gain emotionally from having time to unwind, which helps them reflect on their day, relax, and deal with stress. This downtime is essential for building emotional resilience and supports their mental well-being, enabling them to handle academic demands and life obstacles more effectively.

Physical Health Benefits

Incorporating physical activity into homework time can help counteract sedentary habits and address concerns such as childhood obesity. Engaging in activities like sports, dancing, or simply playing at the park offers crucial exercise that enhances physical health and general well-being. Additionally, participating in physical activities can enhance focus and academic success. There is a strong connection between physical health and cognitive health, which suggests that children who are active tend to be more effective learners. Encouraging more unstructured time can help create an educational atmosphere that nurtures every facet of a student’s growth—intellectual, social, and physical. For students feeling stressed by their workload and seeking assistance, utilizing a trustworthy essay writing service can provide not just help with their assignments, but also guarantee quality and compliance with academic requirements. These services offer professional support for essays and other tasks, enabling students to manage their responsibilities more efficiently.

International Views on Homework and Unstructured Leisure Time

Attitudes towards homework differ greatly across various regions of the globe. For example, Finland, which is recognized for its strong academic performance, gives students less homework and emphasizes hands-on learning during school time. This method provides students with plenty of free time after school, promoting a balanced education that fosters both academic success and personal development. In contrast, countries such as South Korea and Japan have a prevalent culture of assigning large amounts of homework. However, these nations also encounter issues concerning student stress and overall well-being. These international instances imply that decreasing homework could lead to a better balance between educational results and quality of life, suggesting that homework might need to be eliminated.

Possible Obstacles and Opposing Views

Those who oppose the reduction of homework believe it plays an essential role in reinforcing what is taught in the classroom. Therefore, they argue that it should not be eliminated. Their concern is that if students do not have regular homework, they may miss important learning experiences and face difficulties in developing self-discipline and managing their time effectively. Another issue is the possible effects on educational fairness. Some teachers believe that organized homework offers learning chances that may not be accessible at home, especially in families with limited educational resources. Tackling these concerns necessitates careful execution of policies that reduce homework.

The discussion surrounding homework extends beyond the amount of work assigned to students; it also involves the type of childhood and educational experiences we hope to provide them. By adding more free time to students’ schedules, we enable them to explore, innovate, and develop in ways that traditional homework often doesn’t support. As we progress, it’s important for educators and policymakers to take into account insights from around the world and the possible advantages of unstructured time.

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Like, honestly, why is homework graded in US or on a more philosophical level - what purpose does US see in it?

TL:DR Why penalize students on practice exercises meant to learn the material or not release solutions at all, what's the point of feedback at all then? Is it college's job to force extreme accountability? Why such strict binary time stamp on completing it?

Mostly just a frustrated midnight vent from an international student - It feels like hw only penalizes and adds stress and pressure. Some instructors don't even post solutions. If the entire point is to learn and get feedback then how are we supposed to get it without solutions or opportunities to freely make mistakes and learn from them. Like math, its idiotic to expect to get 100% straight out - you gotta make 100 mistakes and learn and improve during this process. Yeah some are geniuses but many are not and it feels genuinely unjust.

Even funnier when they lock the grading at midnight, then what's the point of even finishing it if you can't get any credit on it given US's own punishing philosophy on the forced accountability? Why being late on literal practice exercises meant to learn the material part of the final grade in college at all? I get more formal smaller or occasional assignments and quizzes meant to gauge local progress and exams for overall knowledge - but not homework. Please help me understand, I am honestly baffled in stress and frustration!

(Quick disclaimer) Ofc it helps with accountability and such, no denial but is it colleges job to force so much external accountability, it ain't high school for god's sake? - why not social, make force people discuss it in groups/exchange papers, or make one or two harder problems requiring practice for other ones to complete letting us decide how much we want to practice atm, why not simply encourage the space and cooperation to freely work together during OH or discussion without fear of "cheating" again on - practice - problems etc.... options are there, and many of the above are implemented in other places.

Yeah, one can find additional practice on top of regular hw and treat it as formal assignments but who got that time?

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What is homework backwards: Krowemoh - a Latin word or a popular scam? Read this article to find out

What is homework spelled backwards

There’s a popular idea that homework spelled backwards, krowemoh, means child abuse in Latin. But this idea doesn’t hold any water since the Latin alphabet doesn’t even contain the letter W.

It’s easy for students to come up with ludicrous ideas to get rid of the guilt of not doing homework. But the facts are different. Krowemoh is not a word in Latin, and it has nothing to do with child abuse. For that matter, it doesn’t even sound like a Latin word. German, maybe, but definitely not Latin.

Surely, students are not keen on the idea of doing homework every day. This is why they come up with these rumors and spread them among their peers. But in reality, homework is a useful way of assessing students’ knowledge. It’s tedious and hard for learners to do it every day, especially after a whole day of classes. But unfortunately, a better way of testing students’ knowledge hasn’t been invented yet. Whether it’s for written or oral examination, students still have to dedicate a lot of time to education at home.

In this article, we will try to change your opinion on homework by presenting you with some facts on its use in real life, as well as tips for making it easier on you.

How did the popular myth start?

It’s hard to trace back the origin of any myth, especially nowadays. Myths, rumors and ideas spread like wildfire these days. But most of them originate online. The same has most likely happened here. The most popular idea of this myth’s conception is that it originated as a joke. It probably started as a meme or a joke on  some school’s forum and took off from there.

The thing about the internet is that, unfortunately, many people believe everything they see as long as they agree with it. If a young student sees a post on social media that says that homework is a form of child abuse, they are highly likely to believe it and start spreading this information. The reference to latin makes it that much more believable. Yet, this is a valuable lesson that we should all learn from. The internet is full of misinformation, and it’s paramount that you check your facts. The more sources you use the better. Just like with academic writing.

The truth is, homework is good for you. It gives you the opportunity to look at the facts presented during class from your own perspective. You research other sources, find more in-depth information and get acquainted with the topic on a deeper level. This leads to more profound and long-term learning.

Homework backwards: Does it actually mean anything?

Homework backwards is krowemoh. Krowemoh in Latin is not even a word. First of all, the Latin alphabet doesn’t use the letter ‘W.’ Homework in Latin is congue. This word also can mean loan depending on the context. By a long  shot, this may even mean that doing homework will help you pay out your student loans.

Not that ancient Romans predicted education would be so expensive, you need to take a huge loan and pay it off for your entire life, but still. Doing homework, studying well and graduating will help you in the future. It may be hard to believe, but some companies still do care about your diploma. And those companies are the ones that pay the best.

In the English language, krowemoh meaning homework backwards doesn’t stand for anything but a bunch of gibberish. And it definitely does not mean child abuse, not in Latin or any other language. Even though it may not seem like it, homework is actually good for you.

Arguments against homework

Surely, most students are deeply opposed to doing homework. It takes a bunch of time, professors get stricter and more demanding every year, and the topics of those pesky essays seem to take you 40 years in the past sometimes.

For most people, the last thing they want to do after coming home from school is doing more school assignments. If you want to learn more about why homework should be banned , you should check out this article.

Luckily, modern students came up with many solutions to this issue. Some resort to AI tools to help them craft an outline for an essay. Unfortunately, the screws got pretty tight on using AI for homework help as soon as students started actively using it. Still, using AI for drafting a structure for your essay is not a crime. And it’s much easier to write once you have an outline.

Also, you can outsource your entire paper or some of its sections to professional services like Studyfy. A professional writer who you choose yourself will not use AI. Instead, they will use their expertise and years of experience to craft a custom paper just for you.

Need a hand with your assignments? Our expert assistance ensures you meet deadlines and achieve top grades. Get personalized support in any subject and excel in your studies!

Why homework is good and we have 10 reasons why students should have homework

Why is homework important ? Homework is so far the best way to assess your knowledge, independence and critical thinking skills. Sure, you can use the internet while at home and research all the topics you don’t understand. But research is also an important skill that doing homework regularly teaches you.

Tests during classes are another means of assessing students’ knowledge. But the drawback is that they take quite a bit of time, and you can’t do them too often. Since if you would, the teacher would have no time to actually teach you new topics.

10 Benefits of Homework:

• Homework teaches students about time management.
• Homework teaches students how to set priorities.
• Homework helps teachers determine how well the lessons are being understood by their students.
• Homework teaches students how to problem solve.
• Homework gives student another opportunity to review class material.
• Homework gives parents a chance to see what is being learned in school.
• Homework teaches students how to take responsibility for their part in the educational process.
• Homework teaches students that they may have to do things—even if they don’t want to.
• Homework teaches students to work independently.
• Homework teaches students the importance of planning, staying organized, and taking action.

Skills that homework develops

Homework is not just a torture device. Students learn a lot of valuable skills from doing their homework.

The first one is self-education. During higher education, like college or university, a lot more emphasis is placed on self education. Students are given part of the material is class, but the majority of the topic they are to learn independently. This is a very valuable skill that students will use way beyond campus.

Independence goes hand in hand with self-education. Independence in doing research, thinking critically, making decisions, like which approach to choose for a particular study, or even which assignment to tackle first, is very important for a student. You learn to prioritize, make executive decisions and solve problems.

Homework also teaches you consequences of actions. Sure, this may sound a bit childish, but there’s no better way to learn the value of prioritization than during a class for which you didn’t prepare. At least once, every student will decide to go out rather than do homework, and greatly regret it the next day. Forgetting about a test or an oral examination is a classic event that every student will go through. But after it happens once, you will check your homework assignments and schedules more carefully, right?

Struggling with homework? Get the support you need to succeed! Our resources and tips will help you manage your time, stay focused, and tackle challenging tasks with confidence. Let’s make learning easier together.

Wrapping up

Homework in latin does not mean child abuse. This myth must be debunked and forgotten. What started as a joke has gone a bit too far, in our opinion. This should be a good lesson for students to not believe everything they see or hear online. The internet is full of misinformation and a lot of these false facts and propaganda are meant to cause a reaction. Don’t feed into this cycle.

Homework is a great device to test students’ aptitude in the topics they study. Usually, when professors give homework, they want to see how you work independently. They want you to show your critical thinking skills, your interpretation of the class materials and evidence of your independent research. This is not a torture device. But if you see it as one, it may surely feel like it. If you ever feel overwhelmed, remember that asking for help, like searching for ‘ do my homework ’ services, can provide the support you need to succeed.

But as soon as you change your perspective from ‘this professor just wants me to suffer,’ to ‘this professor wants me to learn deeper,’ doing homework will become easier. It’s not there to make you miserable. Instead, doing homework will help you do better in your classes. And in turn, it will help you secure a good job with a stable paycheck.

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‘I just know’: Mother shares the struggle of first grade homework after child’s relatable response

‘this is making me realise why i hated math so much as a kid into college,’ one comment read, article bookmarked.

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Homework can be difficult at any age with some questions students and parents just don’t know the answer to.

One mother recently took to Reddit using the “Funny” subreddit to share what her daughter in first grade wrote down as an answer to one of her homework problems.

The worksheet was filled with math problems which the children had to solve using various methods. One question required her to add 19 and 45 and then explain how she got her answer as the question read, “Tell how you know.”

She answered the question by writing, “I just know.” Her mother found the response to be so funny she posted a photo of the filled-out homework and wrote, “My daughter can’t be bothered with these questions I guess.”

After posting many people took to the comments to debate whether or not “showing your work” is a valuable skill or not. Some commenters recalled being upset with the concept throughout their own childhood.

“This is making me realise why I hated math so much as a kid into college,” one comment began. “WHY do I have to explain and make things way more complicated than they are? I always learned way more from doing than listening and trying to explain everything.”

Another commenter agreed, writing, “Same. I did all the calculations just straight in my head. Same way I could really explain why 1+1=2 it’s just what it is. Having to explain how I did stuff often involved ‘lying’ and describing a much slower longer way just to keep the teacher happy.”

Other commenters pointed out that although the concept can be tedious, it is needed in other areas of life.

One commenter wrote, “I know it can be frustrating when you’re doing the problem, especially if it’s an easy problem, but the issue is that there are a lot of basic things about math that people think they understand but don’t really, and if we aren’t forced to explain our reasoning, we end up just making stuff up and doing math by feelings. Which never works.”

After the assignment had been turned in, the mother revealed in an interview with Newsweek about what happened later.

“It came back with that answer circled by the teacher. I thought it was funny because it was so typical of her, but I also always felt the same way about those math questions growing up,” she told the outlet.

Despite finding her daughter’s answer to be entertaining, she did have a talk with her about it and asked why she wrote “I just know” down on her assignment. Her daughter’s response was once again, “I don’t know. I just know it.”

She added that they “talked it through until she had something better to write.” The parent didn’t originally plan to share the response on social media, but after showing their daughter’s response to her husband, he suggested they share it.

“Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t amount to much,” the mother said. “I thought maybe a few people would get a laugh and disappear.” Instead, the post went viral, receiving over 11,000 upvotes.

Although she said there seemed to be a “lot of debate” and “strong opinions” on the subject, that was not something she had intended when she first posted her daughter’s response.

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