A lot of questions have been asked these days about the effectiveness of homework. Most kids will probably say it’s useless, but most parents and teachers argue that homework is still helpful.
Recent studies show that homework is still beneficial but could be used differently. This depends on the subject and what the students need to practice. Some trends show how homework can be done effectively in the future using technology and online tools.
We’ve researched the latest homework statistics and trends to help you and your kid prepare for the future of homework and how to get the most out of it.
Key Homework Statistics
- Parents spend an average of 6.7 hours weekly on homework with their children.1
- High-achieving students in high school spend 3.1 hours doing homework each night.4
- 93% of graduates from these high-achieving schools proceed to college.1
- While the National Education Association advocates for the 10-minute rule, which states that there should be 10 minutes of homework per grade level per night, the exact research basis is somewhat unfounded.1
- On average, families fighting homework are 200 percent more likely if parents don't have a college degree.3
How Much Time Should Be Spent On Homework?
A 2013 study by Stanford University demonstrated that "too much homework can have serious negative effects on student well-being, particularly in high-achieving communities." According to a study published in The Journal of Experimental Education, spending too much homework can be counterproductive; students who spend more than two hours nightly receive lower grades than their peers who spend less time on homework. Students reported doing slightly over three hours of homework per night on average.
The study surveyed over 4,300 students from 10 high-performing public and independent schools in upper-middle-class communities in California, and most students reported high stress levels about schoolwork. More than 70 percent of the students reported being "often or always stressed" by schoolwork, while 56 percent identified homework as a primary stressor. By comparison, less than 1 percent reported homework was not a stressor.
The study also raised concerns regarding physical health problems 80% of students reported stress-related symptoms such as headache, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and stomach problems in the last month. Of these, 44% had symptoms three or more times.
Homework interfered with important developmental needs and life skills. Most students skipped activities, avoided seeing friends and family, and forsook hobbies to have extra time to do their homework. To them, it was all about pressure to ensure the fairness of nonsignificant schoolwork at the cost of other significant aspects of life.
Subject Statistics
- 46% of parents believe their child's math homework is too easy.2
- 25% of the parents believe one's child's math homework is difficult.2
- 44% of parents believe language arts homework is too easy for their child.2
- 28% of the parents feel that assigning language arts homework to their child is difficult.2
Why Math Homework Is Vital
The fact that 25% of parents say that their child's math homework is too complex is because the subject is complicated, the method of learning has changed, or the parents do not master the levels of math being taught. It points out that most parents may face difficulties supporting their children in mathematics homework and are thus probably at the expense of the child's learning process at home.
A Maynooth University-led study by Prof. Andrew Parnell, Nathan McJames, and Prof. Ann O'Shea analyzed data from the TIMSS 2019 to establish how homework patterns affect student performance in mathematics and science. Grounded in 4,118 Irish secondary school students, the research found that the frequency of homework is more important than duration.
Homework helped math achievement when done daily, but homework was most effective when assigned three to four times a week for science achievement. Assignments that took up to 15 minutes and similar tasks were as productive as longer ones and supported learning without creating an undue burden for the students. What makes an even more compelling case is that the gains were consistent across students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
Stress Statistics
- 74% of students pinpoint homework as one of the causes of stress.4
- 80% of girls report homework as a source of stress.4
- 56% of students report homework as a "primary stressor" in their lives.4
- U.S. teenagers spend over 2 hours per school night on homework, 15 hours per week.4
- 4% of U.S. teens report doing more than 6 hours of homework per night.4
- 46.5% of parents find homework too tricky to assist their children.4
Are Students Getting Too Much Homework Today?
The "56% of students report homework as a 'primary stressor' in their lives" statistic suggests that over half of the students surveyed feel homework is a significant stress source.
It would then suggest that homework, meant to support learning, can be overwhelming for too many students and a contributor to anxiety, pressure, or burnout. That homework represents a significant stressor for most students speaks volumes about its impact on their general well-being and perhaps calls for a reassessment of homework practice to balance academic demands with mental health.
Matthew Whalen's article, Striking a Balance: How Much Homework is Too Much Homework for High Schoolers? Discussed the delicate balance of how much homework is considered too much that even high schoolers can no longer handle. Students nowadays must deal with increasing pressures, especially those attending high-achieving schools. Even with all the resources being provided to them, students face problems like online schooling, increases in university costs, and hybrid teaching models.
All these factors have made many educators question the adequateness of homework, especially when they are trying to prepare students for college or standardized tests that determine their future.
Although there are varied recommendations on the amount of homework to be assigned, studies have also shown that students' stress levels and life balance can be erased when assignments exceed two hours per night. Homework assigned solely to keep kids busy or cover material missed during class will often result in excessive workloads, with the resultant harm outweighing the benefits. As Whalen says, educators should strike a balance in homework such that homework serves a particular purpose, like application or skill development, rather than overloading.
Moreover, the article underlines at least two reasons for avoiding excessive homework. First, high school students' schedules are already too tight with extracurricular activities and numerous social interests; that is, they can hardly handle an additional hour of burden. Second, sleep is an essential component in teenagers, and homework overload reduces the necessary 8-10 hours for healthy sleep recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Whalen proceeds with the advantages of assigning less homework. He says this can help educators raise resilient learners who, instead of pursuing perfection, become ones who work hard yet don't burn out. Less homework also allows one to preserve a sense of play and rest, avoiding early academic burnout even before college.
Parents Statistics
- American parents spend 6.2 hours per week helping with homework.4
- It is estimated that Indian parents spend about 12 hours per week helping with homework, while Japanese parents spend about 2.6 hours.4
- 21.9% of parents are busy and never glance at their children's homework.2
- 31.6% of parents do not review their children's homework because the children would like to handle it independently.4
- 45% of parents believe homework given to their children is too easy.1
- 46.5% of parents say homework is too difficult to help with.2
Should Parents Help Students With Their Homework?
Most earlier studies estimated that parental involvement in homework is either counterproductive or ineffective. In the article, "Is Daily Parental Help with Homework Helpful? Reanalyzing National Data Using a Propensity Score-Based Approach," Angran Li and Daniel Hamlin reconsidered these earlier studies using a propensity score-based approach. Using this approach, they analyzed data from the ECLS-K to examine the relationship between daily parental homework help in first grade and student achievement by third grade.
The daily parental homework help was found to be more common among families of the lowest socioeconomic status, minority, or children with low prior achievement. Still, even though there were earlier studies indicating the adverse effects, if, in this research, parents had a high propensity to help with homework, which was driven either by their children's struggles or whatever other reason, it was associated with improved academic performance during third grade. This, therefore, points to the fact that daily homework help does indeed work, especially for children at an economic or academic disadvantage.
So, should parents help their kids with homework? This study suggests that parents should support their children, particularly when their kids need extra help. However, the key is how parents help guide them, not do it for them, and be aware that not every family will have the same results due to their situation.
Homework Trends
Here is a summary of the following homework trends to look out for in 2024:
- Personalized Learning: In 2024, education will move toward personalization for each student. Assignments can be tailored using digital tools to suit each child's strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles, enhancing learning.5
- Artificial Intelligence: Of course, AI revolutionizes education with instantaneous information, performance feedback, grammar, and plagiarism checks, allowing students to know where they need to improve in their work.5
- Gamified Resources: Learning becomes more interesting when game-like characteristics, such as acquiring points and rewards, are embedded. These interactive features spur the student's curiosity and encourage connectivity to their studies.5
- Collaborative Learning: Digital technologies can now facilitate students' real-time collaboration on assignments, no matter the distance. This enhances their teamwork abilities and allows them to learn with others from different cultural backgrounds while developing their communication skills.5
- Blockchain Methodology: Blockchain methodology values academic integrity because it retains tamper-proof records of students' work. Therefore, it ensures more transparency and prohibition of plagiarism, building better trust in the educational system.5
- Digitalized Teaching: Schools increasingly stress responsible digital citizenship, teaching students to use technology professionally and ethically, similar to preparing them for future workplaces.5
Gamified Teaching Resources
The "gamified resources" in education allow taking up approaching points, rewards, and competition in learning activities to make them more engaging and interactive. The like approaches tap students' natural curiosity and motivation by offering immediate feedback and a sense of accomplishment, similar to how video games reward players for attaining specific goals. Gamification provides a more interactive learning experience, which motivates students to stay connected with their studies, persist through the challenges, and enjoy learning.
A perfect example is the learning application Kahoot! Teachers create quizzes and interactive lessons while students answer questions on their devices, earning points for correctness and speed. The competitive aspect, where they can view where they rank on a leaderboard, encourages active learning of the material. This same fun, game-like approach lifts participation and reinforces learning repetition more enjoyably and less formally than other study methods.
Moving Forward
Homework has been a contentious issue that has attracted the attention of educators, parents, and students. Indeed, while some findings point to the effectiveness of homework on student academic achievement, some point out that overindulgence in homework leads to stressors that detract from students' well-being.
Recent studies confirm that homework is supposed to strike a balance between school and life outside of it. Research like that led by Denise Pope has shown that students in high-achieving schools spend inordinate amounts of time on homework at the expense of essential activities such as sleeping, pursuing extracurricular interests, and socializing.
Personalized learning, artificial intelligence, and other technological developments hold new promise for making homework more exciting and relevant. We focus on purposeful assignments and reducing unwarranted workloads to help students succeed academically and sustain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
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