“Does homework cause achievement, or do high achievers do more homework?” “Correlation is not causation,” she said. 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. Not all education experts agree entirely with Cooper’s assessment.Ĭathy Vatterott, an education professor at the University of Missouri-St.

Second-graders should not be doing two hours of homework each night, he said, but they also shouldn’t be doing no homework. At the end of his analysis, Cooper recommended further study of such potential effects of homework.ĭespite the weak correlation between homework and performance for young children, Cooper argues that a small amount of homework is useful for all students.

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. His report noted that homework is also thought to improve study habits, attitudes toward school, self-discipline, inquisitiveness and independent problem solving skills. 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.Ĭooper’s analysis focused on how homework impacts academic achievement-test scores, for example. 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. 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 change was quickly met with outrage from some parents, though it earned support from other education leaders. A New York City public elementary school implemented a similar policy last year, eliminating traditional homework assignments in favor of family time.

Schools without homework