What Is the Impact of Homework on Student Achievement?

In the past year, this Digest has featured several Reference Desk questions asking how various instructional and assessment practices affect student achievement. This week’s entry highlights some of the research on the impact of homework.

Question

What is the current research on the effect of homework on student achievement?

Research Synthesis

Reference Desk researchers found several resources correlating homework and student achievement. A National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) publication indicates that “at age 13, students who spent 1 to 2 hours or 2 or more hours on homework had higher average reading scores than their peers who spent less than 1 hour on homework, did not do their homework, or did not have any homework to do” (NAEP, 2005; see below). Additionally, research by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) found that the relationship between the amount of time spent on homework and student achievement “is influenced by such factors as differences in students’ grade level” (NCES, 1996; see below). Last, a synthesis of research from 1987–2003 found that “[w]ithin and across design types, there was generally consistent evidence for a positive influence of homework on achievement” (Cooper, 2006; see below).

Publicly Available Resources

NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress: Three Decades of Student Performance in Reading and Mathematics. Perie, M., Moran, R., and Lutkus, A. D.; July 2005; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics; NCES 2005–464; 126 pages.

From the executive summary: “Students who took the reading assessment were asked how many hours they had spent on homework the previous day…[T]he average reading score of 9-year-olds who spent less than 1 hour on homework was higher than the average reading scores of students who did not do the homework that was assigned or who spent more than 2 hours on homework…. At age 13, students who spent 1 to 2 hours or 2 or more hours on homework had higher average reading scores than their peers who spent less than 1 hour on homework, did not do their homework, or did not have any homework to do…. At age 17, students who spent 2 or more hours on homework had higher average reading scores in 2004 than those who spent 1 to 2 hours, whose scores were higher than those who spent less than 1 hour, whose scores in turn were higher than those who did not do any homework.”
Education Indicators: An International Perspective, Indicator 25: Time Spent on Homework. Matheson, N., Salganik, L. H., Phelps, R. P., Perie, M., Alsalam, N., and Smith, T. M.; November 1996; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics; NCES 96-003; 312 pages.

According to the introduction: “most of the empirical studies conducted on the subject suggest that the amount of time spent on homework is positively related to student achievement. However, this relationship is influenced by such factors as differences in students’ grade level. Although statistics concerning the average number of hours spent on homework provide one indication of the role of homework, they do not address the quality of the homework assigned, the degrees to which students actually complete homework, or the effort and care students take in completing it.”
Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987–2003. Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., and Patall, E. A.; 2006; Review of Educational Research, Vol. 76, No. 1; pp. 1–62.

From the abstract: “Within and across design types, there was generally consistent evidence for a positive influence of homework on achievement. Studies that reported simple homework–achievement correlations revealed evidence that a stronger correlation existed (a) in Grades 7–12 than in K–6 and (b) when students rather than parents reported time on homework. No strong evidence was found for an association between the homework–achievement link and the outcome measure (grades as opposed to standardized tests) or the subject matter (reading as opposed to math).”

The Reference Desk also found these resources and organizations to be helpful in learning more about homework and student achievement in general:

National Education Association
The NEA’s online resource NEA Research Spotlight on Homework states: “The National PTA recommendations fall in line with general guidelines suggested by researcher Harris Cooper: 10–20 minutes per night in the first grade, and an additional 10 minutes per grade level thereafter (e.g., 20 minutes for second grade, 120 minutes for twelfth). High school students may sometimes do more, depending on what classes they take.”
Helping Your Child With Homework. 2005; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education; Office of Communications and Outreach; 25 pages.

“From third through sixth grades, small amounts of homework, gradually increased each year, may support improved school achievement. In seventh grade and beyond, students who complete more homework score better on standardized tests and earn better grades, on the average, than do students who do less homework. The difference in test scores and grades between students who do more homework and those who do less increases as students move up through the grades” (pp. 8–9).

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