homework and family

Mental Health , Research
Written by Cara Goodwin, Ph.D.

Homework: The Good and The Bad

Young boy sitting at a table doing homework

Homework. A single word that for many brings up memories of childhood stress. Now that you’re a parent, you may be reminded of that feeling every time your child spills their backpack across the table. You also may be questioning how much homework is too much and wondering how you can best help your child with their schoolwork.

Here, Dr. Cara Goodwin of Parenting Translator explains what the research actually says about homework. She outlines specific ways parents can support their kids to maximize the academic benefits and develop lifelong skills in time management and persistence.

In recent years, many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework. Specifically, they have questioned how much it enhances learning and if its benefits outweigh potential costs, such as stress to the family.

So, what does the research say?

Academic benefits vs risks of homework

One of the most important questions when it comes to homework is whether it actually helps kids understand the content better. So does it? Research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not for elementary school students (1, 2).

In other words, homework seems to have little impact on learning in elementary school students.

Additionally, a 2012 study found that while homework is related to higher standardized test scores for high schoolers, it is not related to higher grades.

Not surprisingly, homework is more likely to be associated with improved academic performance when students and teachers find the homework to be meaningful or relevant, according to several studies (1, 3, 4). Students tend to find homework to be most engaging when it involves solving real-world problems (5).

The impact of homework may also depend on socioeconomic status. Students from higher income families show improved academic skills with more homework and gain more knowledge from homework, according to research. On the other hand, the academic performance of more disadvantaged children seems to be unaffected by homework (6, 7). This may be because homework provides additional stress for disadvantaged children. They are less likely to get help from their parents on homework and more likely to be punished by teachers for not completing it (8).

Non-academic benefits vs risks of homework

Academic outcomes are only part of the picture. It is important to look at how homework affects kids in ways other than grades and test scores.

Homework appears to have benefits beyond improving academic skills, particularly for younger students. These benefits include building responsibility, time management skills, and persistence (1, 9, 10). In addition, homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling (11, 12, 13, 14).

Yet, studies show that too much homework has drawbacks. It can reduce children’s opportunities for free play, which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation, and social-emotional skills (15). It may also interfere with physical activity, and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight (16, 17).

In addition to homework reducing opportunities for play, it also leads to increased conflicts and stress for families. For example, research finds that children with more hours of homework experience more academic stress, physical health problems, and lack of balance in their lives (18).

Clearly, more is not better when it comes to homework.

What is the “right” amount of homework?

Recent reports indicate that elementary school students are assigned three times the recommended amount of homework. Even kindergarten students report an average of 25 minutes of homework per day (19).

Additionally, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that homework has been increasing in recent years for younger students. Specifically, 35% of 9-year-olds reported that they did not do homework the previous night in 1984 versus 22% of 9-years-old in 2012. However, homework levels have stayed relatively stable for 13- and 17-year-olds during this same time period.

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than 1 hour per night for middle school students (1). Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. A common rule , supported by both the National Education Association (NEA) and National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), is 10-minutes of homework per grade in elementary school. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact. Importantly, the NEA and the National PTA do not endorse homework for kindergarteners.

How can parents best help with homework?

Most parents feel that they are expected to be involved in their children’s homework (20). Yet, it is often unclear exactly how to be involved in a way that helps your child to successfully complete the assignment without taking over entirely. Most studies find that parental help is important but that it matters more HOW the parent is helping rather than how OFTEN the parent is helping (21).

While this can all feel very overwhelming for parents, there are some simple guidelines you can follow to ease the homework burden and best support your child’s learning.

1. Help only when needed.

Parents should focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement. Allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . This is important because research shows that allowing children more independence in completing homework benefits their academic skills (22, 23). In addition, too much parent involvement and being controlling with homework is associated with worse academic performance (21, 24, 25).

What does this look like?

Be present when your child is completing homework to help them to understand the directions.
Be available to answer simple questions and to provide praise for their effort and hard work.
Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible.

2. Have structure and routines.

Help your child create structure and to develop some routines. This helps children become more independent in completing their homework. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills (25).

This structure may include:

A regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions.
Have all of the materials they need within arm’s reach.
Teach and encourage kids to create a checklist for their homework tasks each day.

Parents can also help their children to find ways to stay motivated. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities.

3. Set specific rules around homework.

Research finds that parents setting rules around homework is related to higher academic performance (26). For example, parents may require that children finish homework before screen time or may require children to stop doing homework and go to sleep at a certain hour.

4. Emphasize learning over outcome.

Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and frame difficult assignments as opportunities to grow. Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success (20). Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced school performance (27).

Additionally, help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade are more likely to have children with the same attitudes (28).

5. Stay calm and positive.

Yes, we know this is easier said than done, but it does have a big impact on how kids persevere when things get hard! Research shows that mothers showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework (29)

6. Praise hard work and effort.

Praise focused on effort is likely to increase motivation (30). In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children (31).

7. Communicate with your child’s teacher.

Let your child’s teacher know about any problems your child has with homework and the teachers’ learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with improved school performance (32).

List of 7 strategies for parents to help with homework

In summary, research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle- and high-school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. As a parent, how you are involved in your child’s homework really matters. By following these evidence-based tips, you can help your child to maximize the benefits of homework and make the process less painful for all involved!

For more resources, take a look at our recent posts on natural and logical consequences and simple ways to decrease challenging behaviors .

Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003. Review of educational research , 76 (1), 1-62.
Muhlenbruck, L., Cooper, H., Nye, B., & Lindsay, J. J. (1999). Homework and achievement: Explaining the different strengths of relation at the elementary and secondary school levels. Social Psychology of Education , 3 (4), 295-317.
Marzano, R. J., & Pickering, D. J. (2007). Special topic: The case for and against homework. Educational leadership , 64 (6), 74-79.
Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Schnyder, I., & Niggli, A. (2006). Predicting homework effort: support for a domain-specific, multilevel homework model. Journal of educational psychology , 98 (2), 438.
Shernoff, D. J., Csikszentmihalyi, M., Schneider, B., & Shernoff, E. S. (2014). Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory. In Applications of flow in human development and education (pp. 475-494). Springer, Dordrecht.
Daw, J. (2012). Parental income and the fruits of labor: Variability in homework efficacy in secondary school. Research in social stratification and mobility , 30 (3), 246-264.
Rønning, M. (2011). Who benefits from homework assignments?. Economics of Education Review , 30 (1), 55-64.
Calarco, J. M. (2020). Avoiding us versus them: How schools’ dependence on privileged “Helicopter” parents influences enforcement of rules. American Sociological Review , 85 (2), 223-246.
Corno, L., & Xu, J. (2004). Homework as the job of childhood. Theory into practice , 43 (3), 227-233.
Göllner, R., Damian, R. I., Rose, N., Spengler, M., Trautwein, U., Nagengast, B., & Roberts, B. W. (2017). Is doing your homework associated with becoming more conscientious?. Journal of Research in Personality , 71 , 1-12.
Balli, S. J., Demo, D. H., & Wedman, J. F. (1998). Family involvement with children’s homework: An intervention in the middle grades. Family relations , 149-157.
Balli, S. J., Wedman, J. F., & Demo, D. H. (1997). Family involvement with middle-grades homework: Effects of differential prompting. The Journal of Experimental Education , 66 (1), 31-48.
Epstein, J. L., & Dauber, S. L. (1991). School programs and teacher practices of parent involvement in inner-city elementary and middle schools. The elementary school journal , 91 (3), 289-305.
Van Voorhis, F. L. (2003). Interactive homework in middle school: Effects on family involvement and science achievement. The Journal of Educational Research , 96 (6), 323-338.
Yogman, M., Garner, A., Hutchinson, J., Hirsh-Pasek, K., Golinkoff, R. M., & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2018). The power of play: A pediatric role in enhancing development in young children. Pediatrics , 142 (3).
Godakanda, I., Abeysena, C., & Lokubalasooriya, A. (2018). Sedentary behavior during leisure time, physical activity and dietary habits as risk factors of overweight among school children aged 14–15 years: case control study. BMC research notes , 11 (1), 1-6.
Hadianfard, A. M., Mozaffari-Khosravi, H., Karandish, M., & Azhdari, M. (2021). Physical activity and sedentary behaviors (screen time and homework) among overweight or obese adolescents: a cross-sectional observational study in Yazd, Iran. BMC pediatrics , 21 (1), 1-10.
Galloway, M., Conner, J., & Pope, D. (2013). Nonacademic effects of homework in privileged, high-performing high schools. The journal of experimental education , 81 (4), 490-510.
Pressman, R. M., Sugarman, D. B., Nemon, M. L., Desjarlais, J., Owens, J. A., & Schettini-Evans, A. (2015). Homework and family stress: With consideration of parents’ self confidence, educational level, and cultural background. The American Journal of Family Therapy , 43 (4), 297-313.
Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Battiato, A. C., Walker, J. M., Reed, R. P., DeJong, J. M., & Jones, K. P. (2001). Parental involvement in homework. Educational psychologist , 36 (3), 195-209.
Moroni, S., Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Niggli, A., & Baeriswyl, F. (2015). The need to distinguish between quantity and quality in research on parental involvement: The example of parental help with homework. The Journal of Educational Research , 108 (5), 417-431.
Cooper, H., Lindsay, J. J., & Nye, B. (2000). Homework in the home: How student, family, and parenting-style differences relate to the homework process. Contemporary educational psychology , 25 (4), 464-487.
Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Lüdtke, O., Neumann, M., Niggli, A., & Schnyder, I. (2012). Does parental homework involvement mediate the relationship between family background and educational outcomes?. Contemporary Educational Psychology , 37 (1), 55-69.
Barger, M. M., Kim, E. M., Kuncel, N. R., & Pomerantz, E. M. (2019). The relation between parents’ involvement in children’s schooling and children’s adjustment: A meta-analysis. Psychological bulletin , 145 (9), 855.
Dumont, H., Trautwein, U., Nagy, G., & Nagengast, B. (2014). Quality of parental homework involvement: predictors and reciprocal relations with academic functioning in the reading domain. Journal of Educational Psychology , 106 (1), 144.
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: a meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological bulletin , 134 (2), 270.Dettmars et al., 2010
Madjar, Shklar, & Moshe, 2016)
Pomerantz, E. M., Grolnick, W. S., & Price, C. E. (2005). The Role of Parents in How Children Approach Achievement: A Dynamic Process Perspective.
Haimovitz, K., Wormington, S. V., & Corpus, J. H. (2011). Dangerous mindsets: How beliefs about intelligence predict motivational change. Learning and Individual Differences , 21 (6), 747-752.Gollner et al., 2017
Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F. (2009). Parental involvement in middle school: a meta-analytic assessment of the strategies that promote achievement. Developmental psychology , 45 (3), 740.

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A Stanford education 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," said Pope, who is also a co-founder of Challenge Success , a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GSE that conducts research and works with schools and parents to improve students' educational experiences.. Pope 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.

Clifton B. Parker is a writer at the Stanford News Service .

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Is homework robbing your family of joy? You're not alone

Children are not the only ones who dread their homework these days. In a 2019 survey of 1,049 parents with children in elementary, middle, or high school, Office Depot found that parents spend an average of 21 minutes a day helping their children with their homework. Those 21 minutes are often apparently very unpleasant.

Parents reported their children struggle to complete homework. One in five believed their children "always or often feel overwhelmed by homework," and half of them reported their children had cried over homework stress.

Parents are struggling to help. Four out of five parents reported that they have had difficulty understanding their children's homework.

This probably comes as no surprise to any parent who has come up against a third grade math homework sheet with the word "array" printed on it. If you have not yet had the pleasure, for the purposes of Common Core math, an array is defined as a set of objects arranged in rows and columns and used to help kids learn about multiplication. For their parents, though, it's defined as a "What? Come again? Huh?"

It's just as hard on the students. "My high school junior says homework is the most stressful part of high school...maybe that’s why he never does any," said Mandy Burkhart, of Lake Mary, Florida, who is a mother of five children ranging in age from college to preschool.

In fact, Florida high school teacher and mother of three Katie Tomlinson no longer assigns homework in her classroom. "Being a parent absolutely changed the way I assign homework to my students," she told TODAY Parents .

"Excessive homework can quickly change a student’s mind about a subject they previously enjoyed," she noted. "While I agree a check and balance is necessary for students to understand their own ability prior to a test, I believe it can be done in 10 questions versus 30."

But homework is a necessary evil for most students, so what is a parent to do to ensure everyone in the house survives? Parents and professionals weigh in on the essentials:

Understand the true purpose of homework

"Unless otherwise specified, homework is designed to be done by the child independently, and it's most often being used as a form of formative assessment by the teacher to gauge how the kids are applying — independently — what they are learning in class," said Oona Hanson , a Los Angeles-area educator and parent coach.

"If an adult at home is doing the heavy lifting, then the teacher never knows that the child isn't ready to do this work alone, and the cycle continues because the teacher charges ahead thinking they did a great job the day before!" Hanson said. "It's essential that teachers know when their students are struggling for whatever reason."

Hanson noted the anxiety both parents and children have about academic achievement, and she understands the parental impulse to jump in and help, but she suggested resisting that urge. "We can help our kids more in the long run if we can let them know it's OK to struggle a little bit and that they can be honest with their teacher about what they don't understand," she said.

Never miss a parenting story with the TODAY Parenting newsletter! Sign up here.

Help kids develop time management skills

Some children like to finish their homework the minute they get home. Others need time to eat a snack and decompress. Either is a valid approach, but no matter when students decide to tackle their homework, they might need some guidance from parents about how to manage their time .

One tip: "Set the oven timer for age appropriate intervals of work, and then let them take a break for a few minutes," Maura Olvey, an elementary school math specialist in Central Florida, told TODAY Parents. "The oven timer is visible to them — they know when a break is coming — and they are visible to you, so you can encourage focus and perseverance." The stopwatch function on a smartphone would work for this method as well.

But one size does not fit all when it comes to managing homework, said Cleveland, Ohio, clinical psychologist Dr. Sarah Cain Spannagel . "If their child has accommodations as a learner, parents know they need them at home as well as at school: quiet space, extended time, audio books, etcetera," she said. "Think through long assignments, and put those in planners in advance so the kid knows it is expected to take some time."

Know when to walk away

"I always want my parents to know when to call it a night," said Amanda Feroglia, a central Florida elementary teacher and mother of two. "The children's day at school is so rigorous; some nights it’s not going to all get done, and that’s OK! It’s not worth the meltdown or the fight if they are tired or you are frustrated...or both!"

Parents also need to accept their own limits. Don't be afraid to find support from YouTube videos, websites like Khan Academy, or even tutors. And in the end, said Spannagel, "If you find yourself yelling or frustrated, just walk away!" It's fine just to let a teacher know your child attempted but did not understand the homework and leave it at that.

Ideally, teachers will understand when parents don't know how to help with Common Core math, and they will assign an appropriate amount of homework that will not leave both children and their parents at wits' ends. If worst comes to worst, a few parents offered an alternative tip for their fellow homework warriors.

"If Brittany leaves Boston for New York at 3:00 pm traveling by train at 80 MPH, and Taylor leaves Boston for New York at 1:00 pm traveling by car at 65 MPH, and Brittany makes two half hour stops, and Taylor makes one that is ten minutes longer, how many glasses of wine does mommy need?" quipped one mom of two.

Also recommended: "Chocolate, in copious amounts."

Allison Slater Tate is a freelance writer and editor in Florida specializing in parenting and college admissions. She is a proud Gen Xer, ENFP, Leo, Diet Coke enthusiast, and champion of the Oxford Comma. She mortifies her four children by knowing all the trending songs on TikTok. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram .

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How important is homework, and how much should parents help?

Please try again

A version of this post was originally published by Parenting Translator. Sign up for the newsletter and follow Parenting Translator on Instagram .

In recent years, homework has become a very hot topic . Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students’ learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play . Research suggests that these concerns may be valid. For example, one study reported that elementary school students, on average, are assigned three times the recommended amount of homework.

So what does the research say? What are the potential risks and benefits of homework, and how much is too much?

Academic benefits

First, research finds that homework is associated with higher scores on academic standardized tests for middle and high school students, but not elementary school students . A recent experimental study in Romania found some benefit for a small amount of writing homework in elementary students but not math homework. Yet, interestingly, this positive impact only occurred when students were given a moderate amount of homework (about 20 minutes on average).

Non-academic benefits

The goal of homework is not simply to improve academic skills. Research finds that homework may have some non-academic benefits, such as building responsibility , time management skills, and task persistence . Homework may also increase parents’ involvement in their children’s schooling. Yet, too much homework may also have some negative impacts on non-academic skills by reducing opportunities for free play , which is essential for the development of language, cognitive, self-regulation and social-emotional skills. Homework may also interfere with physical activity and too much homework is associated with an increased risk for being overweight . As with the research on academic benefits, this research also suggests that homework may be beneficial when it is minimal.

What is the “right” amount of homework?

Research suggests that homework should not exceed 1.5 to 2.5 hours per night for high school students and no more than one hour per night for middle school students. Homework for elementary school students should be minimal and assigned with the aim of building self-regulation and independent work skills. Any more than this and homework may no longer have a positive impact.

The National Education Association recommends 10 minutes of homework per grade and there is also some experimental evidence that backs this up.

Overall translation

Research finds that homework provides some academic benefit for middle and high school students but is less beneficial for elementary school students. Research suggests that homework should be none or minimal for elementary students, less than one hour per night for middle school students, and less than 1.5 to 2.5 hours for high school students.

What can parents do?

Research finds that parental help with homework is beneficial but that it matters more how the parent is helping rather than how often the parent is helping.

So how should parents help with homework, according to the research?

Focus on providing general monitoring, guidance and encouragement, but allow children to generate answers on their own and complete their homework as independently as possible . Specifically, be present while they are completing homework to help them to understand the directions, be available to answer simple questions, or praise and acknowledge their effort and hard work. Research shows that allowing children more autonomy in completing homework may benefit their academic skills.
Only provide help when your child asks for it and step away whenever possible. Research finds that too much parental involvement or intrusive and controlling involvement with homework is associated with worse academic performance .
Help your children to create structure and develop some routines that help your child to independently complete their homework . Have a regular time and place for homework that is free from distractions and has all of the materials they need within arm’s reach. Help your child to create a checklist for homework tasks. Create rules for homework with your child. Help children to develop strategies for increasing their own self-motivation. For example, developing their own reward system or creating a homework schedule with breaks for fun activities. Research finds that providing this type of structure and responsiveness is related to improved academic skills.
Set specific rules around homework. Research finds an association between parents setting rules around homework and academic performance.
Help your child to view homework as an opportunity to learn and improve skills. Parents who view homework as a learning opportunity (that is, a “mastery orientation”) rather than something that they must get “right” or complete successfully to obtain a higher grade (that is, a “performance orientation”) are more likely to have children with the same attitudes.
Encourage your child to persist in challenging assignments and emphasize difficult assignments as opportunities to grow . Research finds that this attitude is associated with student success. Research also indicates that more challenging homework is associated with enhanced academic performance.
Stay calm and positive during homework. Research shows that mothers showing positive emotions while helping with homework may improve children’s motivation in homework.
Praise your child’s hard work and effort during homework. This type of praise is likely to increase motivation. In addition, research finds that putting more effort into homework may be associated with enhanced development of conscientiousness in children.
Communicate with your child and the teacher about any problems your child has with homework and the teacher’s learning goals. Research finds that open communication about homework is associated with increased academic performance.

Cara Goodwin, PhD, is a licensed psychologist, a mother of three and the founder of Parenting Translator , a nonprofit newsletter that turns scientific research into information that is accurate, relevant and useful for parents.

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The Value of Parents Helping with Homework

Dr. selena kiser.

September 2, 2020

Young girl and mom high-fiving while working on homework.

The importance of parents helping with homework is invaluable. Helping with homework is an important responsibility as a parent and directly supports the learning process. Parents’ experience and expertise is priceless. One of the best predictors of success in school is learning at home and being involved in children’s education. Parental involvement with homework helps develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom. Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits including spending individual time with children, enlightening strengths and weaknesses, making learning more meaningful, and having higher aspirations.

How Parental Involvement with Homework Impacts Students

Parental involvement with homework impacts students in a positive way. One of the most important reasons for parental involvement is that it helps alleviate stress and anxiety if the students are facing challenges with specific skills or topics. Parents have experience and expertise with a variety of subject matter and life experiences to help increase relevance. Parents help their children understand content and make it more meaningful, while also helping them understand things more clearly.

Also, their involvement increases skill and subject retention. Parents get into more depth about content and allow students to take skills to a greater level. Many children will always remember the times spent together working on homework or classroom projects. Parental involvement with homework and engagement in their child’s education are related to higher academic performance, better social skills and behavior, and increased self-confidence.

Parents helping with homework allows more time to expand upon subjects or skills since learning can be accelerated in the classroom. This is especially true in today’s classrooms. The curricula in many classrooms is enhanced and requires teaching a lot of content in a small amount of time. Homework is when parents and children can spend extra time on skills and subject matter. Parents provide relatable reasons for learning skills, and children retain information in greater depth.

Parental involvement increases creativity and induces critical-thinking skills in children. This creates a positive learning environment at home and transfers into the classroom setting. Parents have perspective on their children, and this allows them to support their weaknesses while expanding upon their strengths. The time together enlightens parents as to exactly what their child’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Virtual learning is now utilized nationwide, and parents are directly involved with their child’s schoolwork and homework. Their involvement is more vital now than ever. Fostering a positive homework environment is critical in virtual learning and assists children with technological and academic material.

Strategies for Including Parents in Homework

An essential strategy for including parents in homework is sharing a responsibility to help children meet educational goals. Parents’ commitment to prioritizing their child’s educational goals, and participating in homework supports a larger objective. Teachers and parents are specific about the goals and work directly with the child with classwork and homework. Teachers and parents collaboratively working together on children’s goals have larger and more long-lasting success. This also allows parents to be strategic with homework assistance.

A few other great examples of how to involve parents in homework are conducting experiments, assignments, or project-based learning activities that parents play an active role in. Interviewing parents is a fantastic way to be directly involved in homework and allows the project to be enjoyable. Parents are honored to be interviewed, and these activities create a bond between parents and children. Students will remember these assignments for the rest of their lives.

Project-based learning activities examples are family tree projects, leaf collections, research papers, and a myriad of other hands-on learning assignments. Children love working with their parents on these assignments as they are enjoyable and fun. This type of learning and engagement also fosters other interests. Conducting research is another way parents directly impact their child’s homework. This can be a subject the child is interested in or something they are unfamiliar with. Children and parents look forward to these types of homework activities.

Parents helping students with homework has a multitude of benefits. Parental involvement and engagement have lifelong benefits and creates a pathway for success. Parents provide autonomy and support, while modeling successful homework study habits.

#homework , #ParentalInvolvement

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The New York Times

Motherlode | when homework stresses parents as well as students, when homework stresses parents as well as students.

Educators and parents have long been concerned about students stressed by homework loads , but a small research study asked questions recently about homework and anxiety of a different group: parents. The results were unsurprising. While we may have already learned long division and let the Magna Carta fade into memory, parents report that their children’s homework causes family stress and tension — particularly when additional factors surrounding the homework come into play.

The researchers, from Brown University, found that stress and tension for families (as reported by the parents) increased most when parents perceived themselves as unable to help with the homework, when the child disliked doing the homework and when the homework caused arguments, either between the child and adults or among the adults in the household.

The number of parents involved in the research (1,173 parents, both English and Spanish-speaking, who visited one of 27 pediatric practices in the greater Providence area of Rhode Island) makes it more of a guide for further study than a basis for conclusions, but the idea that homework can cause significant family stress is hard to seriously debate. Families across income and education levels may struggle with homework for different reasons and in different ways, but “it’s an equal opportunity problem,” says Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman , a contributing editor to the research study and co-author of “ The Learning Habit .”

“Parents may find it hard to evaluate the homework,” she says. “They think, if this is coming home, my child should be able to do it. If the child can’t, and especially if they feel like they can’t help, they may get angry with the child, and the child feels stupid.” That’s a scenario that is likely to lead to more arguments, and an increased dislike of the work on the part of the child.

The researchers also found that parents of students in kindergarten and first grade reported that the children spent significantly more time on homework than recommended. Many schools and organizations, including the National Education Association and the Great Schools blog , will suggest following the “10-minute rule” for how long children should spend on school work outside of school hours: 10 minutes per grade starting in first grade, and most likely more in high school. Instead, parents described their first graders and kindergartners working, on average, for 25 to 30 minutes a night. That is consistent with other research , which has shown an increase in the amount of time spent on homework in lower grades from 1981 to 2003.

“This study highlights the real discrepancy between intent and what’s actually happening,” Ms. Donaldson-Pressman said, speaking of both the time spent and the family tensions parents describe. “When people talk about the homework, they’re too often talking about the work itself. They should be talking about the load — how long it takes. You can have three problems on one page that look easy, but aren’t.”

The homework a child is struggling with may not be developmentally appropriate for every child in a grade, she suggests, noting that academic expectations for young children have increased in recent years . Less-educated or Spanish-speaking parents may find it harder to evaluate or challenge the homework itself, or to say they think it is simply too much. “When the load is too much, it has a tremendous impact on family stress and the general tenor of the evening. It ruins your family time and kids view homework as a punishment,” she said.

At our house, homework has just begun; we are in the opposite of the honeymoon period, when both skills and tolerance are rusty and complaints and stress are high. If the two hours my fifth-grade math student spent on homework last night turn out the be the norm once he is used to the work and the teacher has had a chance to hear from the students, we’ll speak up.

We should, Ms. Donaldson-Pressman says. “Middle-class parents can solve the problem for their own kids,” she says. “They can make sure their child is going to all the right tutors, or get help, but most people can’t.” Instead of accepting that at home we become teachers and homework monitors (or even taking classes in how to help your child with his math ), parents should let the school know that they’re unhappy with the situation, both to encourage others to speak up and to speak on behalf of parents who don’t feel comfortable complaining.

“Home should be a safe place for students,” she says. “A child goes to school all day and they’re under stress. If they come home and it’s more of the same, that’s not good for anyone.”

Read more about homework on Motherlode: Homework and Consequences ; The Mechanics of Homework ; That’s Your Child’s Homework Project, Not Yours and Homework’s Emotional Toll on Students and Families.

What's Next

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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Value of Homework

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

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

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

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

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

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

Negative Homework Assignments

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

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

Homework that's just busy work.

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

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

Homework on material that kids haven't learned yet.

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

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

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

Homework that's overly time-consuming.

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

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

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

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

Private vs. Public Schools

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

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

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

How to Address Homework Overload

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

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

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

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

Study Tips for High School Students

High angle view of young woman sitting at desk and studying at home during coronavirus lockdown

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Costs and Benefits of Family Involvement in Homework

This paper presents the results of three 2-year longitudinal interventions of the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) homework program in elementary mathematics, middle school language arts, and middle school science. The findings suggest that the benefits of TIPS intervention in terms of emotion and achievement outweigh its associated costs.

Author: Van Voorhis, F. L. Publication: Journal of Advanced Academics Publisher: Prufrock Press, Inc. Volume: Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 220-249 Year: Winter 2011

Homework represents one research-based instructional strategy linked to student achievement. However, challenges abound with its current practice. This paper presents the results of three 2-year longitudinal interventions of the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) homework program in elementary mathematics, middle school language arts, and middle school science. Each weekly standards-related TIPS assignment included specific instructions for students to involve a family partner in a discussion, interview, experiment, or other interaction. Depending on subject and grade level, TIPS students returned between 72% and 91% of TIPS activities, and families signed between 55% and 83% of TIPS assignments. TIPS students and families responded significantly more positively than controls to questions about their emotions and attitudes about the homework experience, and TIPS families and students reported higher levels of family involvement in the TIPS subject. No differences emerged in the amount of time students spent on subject homework across the homework groups, but students using TIPS for 2 years earned significantly higher standardized test scores than did controls. The findings suggest that the benefits of TIPS intervention in terms of emotion and achievement outweigh its associated costs.

What factors affect student academic achievement? Research indicates that in addition to classroom instruction and students’ responses to class lessons, homework is one important factor that increases achievement (Marzano, 2003; Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008). According to Cooper, homework involves tasks assigned to students by schoolteachers that are meant to be carried out during noninstructional time (Bembenutty, 2011). Although results vary, meta-analytic studies of homework effects on student achievement report percentile gains for students between 8% and 31% (Marzano & Pickering, 2007). If homework serves a clear benefit for students, it is puzzling why there are persistent discussions and contention about its practice (Bennett & Kalish, 2006; Kohn, 2006; Kralovec & Buell, 2000). Homework requires students, teachers, and parents to invest time and effort on assignments. Their views about homework vary. On a positive note, 90% of teachers, students, and parents believe homework will help students reach important goals. Yet, 26% of students, 24% of teachers, and 40% of parents report that some homework is just busywork, and 29% of parents report homework is a “major source of stress” (Markow, Kim, & Liebman, 2007, p. 15).

It is critical, then, to improve current practice and for educators and researchers to examine the emotional and cognitive costs and benefits of homework for students, families, and teachers (Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001; Van Voorhis, 2004, 2009, in press; Van Voorhis & Epstein, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of one homework intervention designed to ease some homework tensions between students and families. The Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) interactive homework process draws on the theory of overlapping spheres of influence , which stipulates that students do better in school when parents, educators, and others in the community work together to guide and support student learning and development. In this model, three contexts—home, school, and community—have unique (nonoverlapping) and combined (overlapping) influences on children’s learning and development through the interactions of parents, educators, community partners, and students. Each context moves closer or farther from the others as a result of external forces and practices that encourage or discourage the internal interactions of the partners in children’s education (Epstein, 2011; Sanders, Sheldon, & Epstein, 2005).

Three aspects of homework that entail costs and or produce benefits for home and school contexts are time, homework design, and family involvement. A common complaint about homework, and one of the most studied factors, is time on homework. Data on the time students spend on homework vary based on who reports it (Bembenutty, 2009; Hoover-Dempsey et al., 2001; Kitsantas & Zimmerman, 2009; Warton, 2001; Xu, 2009), as do recommendations about sensible requirements for time on homework. Specifically, parents of elementary students have a fair sense of their children’s homework responsibilities, but in the secondary grades, parents often underestimate the frequency of homework assignments and overestimate the time their children spend (Markow et al., 2007).

Some teachers tend to underestimate how often families are involved. In one study of middle school students, parents helped their children with homework, on average, between one and three times per week and checked homework four times per week (Eccles & Harold, 1996). Students reported working with their parents on schoolwork between one and three times weekly. However, students reported that teachers asked them to request parental assistance only one to two times per month on tasks such as checking homework, studying for tests, or working on projects.

These discrepancies are just one example of homework communication problems among all parties involved. Overall, like many education issues, a percentage of students at all grade levels (5% of 9-year-olds, 8% of 13-year-olds, and 11% of 17-year-olds) spend a lot of time on homework (> 2 hours per night); others complete none at all or fail to complete assigned work (24% to 39%); and many are right in the middle, completing less than 1 hour (28% to 60%) or between 1 and 2 hours per night (13% to 22%; Perie & Moran, 2005). Some studies conducted on the relationship of time on homework and achievement find that the age of the student moderates the relationship. Specifically, the homework and achievement relationship is stronger and positive for secondary students and negative or null for elementary students (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006). The studies have resulted in different time expectations for younger and older students. Many schools have adopted the 10-minute rule as a general guide for developmentally appropriate time on homework (Henderson, 1996). For example, students in the elementary and middle grades should be assigned roughly 10 minutes multiplied by the grade level (i.e., 30 minutes for a third-grade student), while high school student assignment time varies by subject. The time differences also raise some questions about different purposes and content of homework across the grades.

Issues of purpose and content relate to the next topic, homework design. There are instructional (practice, preparation, participation, and personal development) and noninstructional or nonacademic (Corno & Xu, 2004) purposes of homework (parent-child relations, parent-teacher communications, policy; Epstein & Van Voorhis, 2001). Not surprisingly, more than 70% of homework assignments by teachers at all levels of schooling are designed for the purpose of students finishing classwork or practicing skills (Polloway, Epstein, Bursuck, Madhavi, & Cumblad, 1994). Homework in the early grades should encourage positive attitudes and character traits, allow appropriate parent involvement, and reinforce simple skills introduced in class (Cooper, 2007). For secondary grades, homework should work toward improving standardized test scores and grades. Teachers report that the homework process needs to improve, and that they would like time to ensure that assignments are relevant to the course and topic of study; build in time for feedback on assignments daily; and establish effective policies at the curriculum, grade, and school levels (Markow et al., 2007, p. 136).

Homework design also needs to develop the third topic— family involvement in the homework process. Families report that homework costs them time and energy when teachers fail to explain the assignment to students in class, assignments do not relate to classwork, or when students are unsure about how to complete it. Parents report that they sometimes provide poor or inappropriate help, often feel unprepared to help with certain subjects (Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, & Burow, 1995; Markow et al., 2007), and sometimes spend time trying to motivate their children to complete their homework by making the assignment more interesting. The quality of the family-student interactions not only affect students’ completion of homework and achievement, but also children’s emotional and social functioning (Pomerantz, Moorman, & Litwack, 2007).

Kenney-Benson and Pomerantz (2005) simulated a lab homework experience and found that elementary students with mothers who were involved in an autonomy-supportive manner were less likely to experience depressive symptoms than children with controlling mothers. Similarly, junior high students who perceived their parents as supportive of their academic endeavors exhibited less acting-out behavior (Grolnick & Slowiaczek, 1994). In fact, parents of both elementary and middle grade students reported that they would help their children more if the teacher guided them in how they could help at home (Dauber & Epstein, 1993; Kay, Fitzgerald, Paradee, & Mellencamp, 1994).

Aim of the Study

This present discussion of homework suggests that issues of time, design, and family involvement can influence students’ homework experiences and the results of their efforts. This study presents the results of a homework intervention that helps teachers consider issues of time, design, and family involvement in their assignments for students. Three 2-year intervention studies of the Teachers Involve Parents in Schoolwork (TIPS) Interactive Homework process were conducted—the first longitudinal studies of the TIPS process. This study summarizes the findings from the three studies combined, looking across the elementary and middle grades, three courses, and diverse community contexts to address three main research questions:

Students’ work: What percent of TIPS activities were completed and how well? How much time was invested by students?
Student and family emotional investments: How did emotions and attitudes about homework compare for TIPS and control groups?
Student outcomes: How did student achievement(s) compare for TIPS and control groups over 2 years?

Overall, given the attention to student and family roles in homework and a regular schedule of weekly, standards-based interactive homework, it was hypothesized that the students and families in the TIPS groups would experience more positive emotional homework interactions and higher achievement than the students and families in the control group.

Participants The sample included students in an elementary mathematics intervention in third and fourth grades (Van Voorhis, 2009, in press), a middle school language arts intervention in sixth and seventh grades (Van Voorhis, 2009), and a middle school science intervention in seventh and eighth grades (Van Voorhis, 2008). This combined study sample included only students who participated in 2 years of the study who were control students (no use of TIPS either year), TIPS 1-year students (TIPS in either Year 1 or 2), and TIPS 2-year students (TIPS use both years). All three studies—the elementary math (2004–2006), middle school language arts (2005–2007), and middle school science study (2006–2008)—took place in schools in urban southeastern school districts. There were 4 similar elementary schools (grades K–5); and 5 middle schools (grades 6–8). At each school, teachers were randomly assigned to implement either the TIPS interactive homework assignments weekly along with other homework or to serve as control teachers and assign only regular, noninteractive homework assignments. Thus, teachers were randomly assigned to the intervention and control conditions. Although students were not randomly assigned to classrooms, every effort was made to select similar, average classrooms of students.

The full sample included 575 students in 9 schools. Overall, 30% of the sample represented control students, 35% were TIPS 1-year students, and 35% were TIPS 2-year students. Elementary math students comprised 16% of the sample, 49% were middle school language arts students, and 35% were middle school science students. Fifty-seven percent of students received free or reduced-price meals, and 51% of students were male. The majority of students (52%) were African American, 42% were White, and 6% were Hispanic. The average previous standardized test score of students was 51.8%. Eighty-one percent of the full sample of students represented average-achieving students, 11% represented gifted students, and the remaining 8% of students were below average.

Each year, teachers administered student and family surveys on attitudes about homework in general and TIPS homework in specific subjects. Eighty-nine percent of students in Years 1 and 2 returned surveys, and 80% of families in Year 1 and 65% of families in Year 2 completed them. Overall, 36 teachers served as TIPS (19) or control (17) teachers over the course of the study, 44% of whom taught elementary math, 36% taught middle school language arts, and 20% taught middle school science. These teachers had taught an average of 13 years and had worked at their respective schools an average of 6 years.

TIPS Intervention

For one week during the summer prior to the start of each TIPS year, the author provided professional development to the TIPS teachers in each subject area to enable them to understand the research on homework, designs for interactive homework, and to adapt and/or develop TIPS activities based on their own district’s curriculum objectives. All TIPS activities, regardless of subject, include four common components: letter to family partner, various kinds of student-led interactions, home-to-school communication, and parent/guardian signature (Epstein et al., 2009). In each activity, students and families are instructed where an interaction (i.e., discussion, interview, survey, experiment) is to occur and the roles the student and family partner play in the interaction. For example, in a third-grade math activity, students practice counting money and writing it in two ways. The student completes several practice problems independently and shows his work on two of them to his family partner. Then, the student and family partner each put a few coins in their hands. The student counts both his coins as well as the family partner’s and records the answers. For a middle school science activity, the student examines a chart of physical, social, emotional, and intellectual changes and records the changes she has observed in life. The student and family partner then discuss questions like “Which changes are you happy about, and which changes are you least happy about?”

Two-way communications are encouraged in home-to-school communication that invites the family partner to share comments and observations with teachers about whether the child understood the homework, whether he enjoyed the activity, and whether the parent gained information about the student’s classwork.

Teachers designed each interactive TIPS activity for two sides of one page, linked them to the curriculum and to class lessons, and described them as the student’s responsibility to complete despite the request for family involvement in certain sections. Teachers also assigned point values to questions in all TIPS assignments to provide consistency in grading across teachers.

TIPS condition. During the summer work time, the TIPS teachers wrote a letter to the families of students in their classes. This letter included information on the weekly use of TIPS, the grading schedule, and the expectation for a family partner to participate with the student. Teachers of TIPS students in the math and language arts studies assigned one assignment weekly for a total of 30 TIPS activities each year, in addition to their other homework. Students in the control group completed homework as usual. More specifically, for the elementary math and language arts studies, teachers in the control group used their normal homework practices and homework. In discussion with these teachers prior to the school year, the author learned that they rarely asked families to be involved in homework. For both subjects, control and TIPS teachers generally assigned worksheets and problem sets to practice math facts and concepts introduced in class or worksheets and writing assignments for language arts. Both TIPS teachers and teachers in the control group assigned homework almost every week night, with TIPS teachers assigning TIPS once a week and the control group teachers assigning an independent activity. Science homework occurred less frequently, generally once or twice per week. Like the other studies, control science teachers assigned an independent assignment while TIPS teachers assigned the TIPS activities, at most once per week. In this study, TIPS students completed 24 activities in Year 1 and 17 in Year 2.

Teachers graded TIPS and all other homework and provided these data to the author every 9 weeks. At the end of each school year, TIPS students, families, and teachers completed an end-ofyear survey on homework in the TIPS subject.

Control condition. The author met with the teachers in the control group for 1 day in the summer prior to the school year of TIPS implementation for each year of each study. The author reviewed the basic goals of the study and explained to these teachers the types of data she would be collecting every 9 weeks during the school year. Students, families, and teachers in the control group also completed an end-of-year survey on TIPS subject homework.

Independent Variables

The independent variables that showed significant differences across homework groups were statistically controlled in regression analyses. These included gender, free or reduced lunch status, class ability grouping (below average, average, above average), race/ethnicity (Black, White, or Hispanic), study subject (elementary math, middle school language arts, or middle school science), years of teacher experience in Year 1 or 2, and previous standardized test scores (e.g., for third- and fourth-grade students, this would be the second-grade test score). Homework condition (control or TIPS for 1- or 2-years) represented the experimental variable of interest.

Dependent Variables

The dependent variables included time, attitudinal, family involvement, and achievement outcomes. The child and parent time and attitudinal variables included the following:

time child spent on all and subject-specific homework on an average night (0 = 0 minutes , 1 = about 15–20 minutes , 2 = about 30–40 minutes , 3 = about 1 hour , 4 = more than 1 hour , and 5 = more than 2 hours for students and families );
levels of family involvement in language arts, math, and science homework (students: 0 = never, 1 = a few times , or 2 = a lot ; parents: 0 = never, 1 = rarely, 2 = sometimes , 3 = frequently , or 4 = always );
student ratings of mother’s/father’s and own feelings while working on homework (0 = don’t work with mom/ dad, 1 = unhappy , 2 = ok , or 3 = happy ; scale consists of two items: α = .88 for mother, .90 for father);
family ratings of own and child’s feelings while doing homework (scale consists of two items: α = .73; 1 = very frustrated , 2 = frustrated, 3 = a little frustrated , 4 = ok, 5 = a little happy , 6 = happy , or 7 = very happy );
student attitudes about homework interaction (scale consists of four items: α = .76; 0 = disagree , 1 = agree a little , or 2 = agree a lot ); and
family attitudes about homework interaction (scale consists of four items: α = .68; 1 = disagree , 2 = agree a little , or 3 = agree a lot ).

Achievement variables included homework completion measures, report card grades, and standardized test scores in the TIPS subject. These standardized test scores represented student performance on the mathematics, reading/writing, or science sections of the district’s assessment program, including criterion-referenced items directly aligned with the subject-specific content standards and state performance indicators.

Data Analysis

The researcher conducted descriptive results and inferential statistics to understand the impact of the TIPS intervention on several key outcomes. Table 1 includes descriptive results, ANOVA F statistics, and effect sizes for the homework groups, mainly in Year 2. In every instance reported in Table 1 where a Year 2 result was significant and favoring the TIPS group(s), similar significant results emerged in Year 1. For ease of presentation, only Year 2 results are presented, with the exception of student reports of homework attitudes. Table 2 provides the results of full regression models, taking into account the interplay of various background variables on the following dependent variables: (a) percent of TIPS returned, (b) family reports of homework feelings, (c) student reports of homework attitudes, (d) student reports of family involvement in homework, and (e) standardized test scores.

Use of TIPS

Across studies, students completed most assignments with 91% of assignments completed by math students, 81% completed by language arts students, and 72% completed by science students in Year 1 (see Table 1). Worthy of note is that family partners signed 83% of math assignments, 61% of language arts, and 64% of science activities. Put another way, most families were involved in some way with their children in math on average 25 times over the course of Year 1, 18 times in language arts, and 15 times in science. Even in Year 2 when percentages of signed assignments generally dropped, Year 2 families generally interacted with their students in some way in math on average 25 times, in language arts 17 times, and in science about 13 times.

Table 2 displays the relationship of background variables on percent of TIPS assignments returned in Year 2. For all regression models, the author entered variables step-wise beginning with gender through free-reduced lunch for Model 1, TIPS study subject variables added for Model 2, teacher experience with all previous variables represented Model 3, previous standard score for Model 4, and the homework condition with all previous variables in the full model. This Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model, accounting for 22% of the variance in returned TIPS, indicates that students receiving free and reduced-price meals tended to turn in significantly fewer TIPS than those not receiving meals. In addition, students with teachers in Year 2 having more teaching experience tended to return more TIPS than students with teachers having less experience. Finally, and not surprisingly, students with higher previous standardized test scores tended to turn in more TIPS assignments.

Time on Homework

Student and family reports on the time students spent on subject-specific homework did not differ for the TIPS and control conditions. Students using TIPS and those who did not reported an average of between 15–20 minutes and 30–40 minutes of nightly homework in the TIPS subject. Although family reports were slightly higher, they were within the same time ranges. Specifically, 68% of students in both TIPS and control groups reported 15–20 minutes in the specific TIPS subject, while 16% to 20% reported 30–40 minutes per night.

Significant differences emerged, however, in student and family reports of time spent on homework across the subjects (elementary math, middle school language arts, and middle school science). As expected, elementary math students reported spending less time on all homework (M = 1.82) than did middle school language arts students (M = 2.33) or middle school science students (M = 2.43; F(2, 445) = 7.62, p ≤ .001). Similar significant results occurred for student and family reports of time on subject homework only.

Feelings About Homework Interactions

Student reports. Students evaluated their own and their mother’s feelings while working together on subject-specific homework (two-item scale, α = .88). Significant differences emerged across homework condition for both years of the study, with TIPS 2-year students (M = 2.61) reporting more positive feelings than control students (M = 2.41), resulting in an average experience between ok and happy . In Year 2, for example, 66% of TIPS 2-year students indicated a happy homework experience while only 51% of control students did so. Although the means were lower, between unhappy and happy , similar significant results favoring the TIPS 2-year families emerged for student reports of their own and their father’s feelings.

Family reports. Families evaluated their own and their child’s feelings while working on homework together (two-item scale, α = .73). Like the students, TIPS families rated their interactions significantly more happy than control families both years. Specifically, TIPS 2-year families rated their feelings significantly higher (M = 4.78, ok ) than control families (M = 4.32, ok ). In fact, while 51% of TIPS families reported a happy experience, only 32% of control families did so. Although TIPS 1-year family reports were higher than control families, the differences were not significant.

Table 2 displays the regression analyses for family feelings about the homework interaction in Year 2. Although this full model explains only 6% of the variation in feelings, it does indicate that only three variables were significant predictors of family homework feelings. Families of middle school science students reported significantly less positive homework feelings than language arts students. In addition, families in both TIPS groups reported significantly more happy feelings than families in the control group.

Homework Attitudes

Student reports. Students answered four questions each year about the quality of the homework interaction experience (four-item scale, α = .76). Specifically, they gauged their level of agreement or disagreement with the following statements: (a) My family partner liked working with me on TIPS/subject specific homework; (b) TIPS/subject homework helped my family partner see what I am learning in that subject; (c) My family partner likes to hear what I am learning in school; and (d) I am able to talk about the subject with my family partner. Significant differences emerged in Year 1 only. TIPS students more often agreed with the above statements (M = 1.48) than did control students (M = 1.28). Although 29% of TIPS students agreed a lot with the statements, only 11% of control students did.

Table 2 presents the regression model for student attitudes about homework in Year 1. Background variables explained significant variation in attitudes beginning with male students reporting less positive attitudes than female students. White students tended to report less happy attitudes than did Black students. Additionally, elementary math students reported better attitudes than did middle school language arts students, and middle school science students reported worse attitudes than middle school language arts students. Finally, students in the TIPS condition reported happier attitudes than did control students, with the full model accounting for 13% of the variation in student attitudes.

Each year, students reported whether or not homework was important to them. There were no significant differences across homework conditions on this measure. Students rated homework quite positively, with 81% of control, 87% of TIPS 1-year, and 87% of TIPS 2-year students reporting that homework was important to them in Year 2.

Family reports. Families responded to four survey questions similar to what the students answered about their homework attitudes and working together (four-item scale, α = .68). Again, TIPS families reported significantly more favorably to these questions than control families both years. Whereas 20% of control families “agreed a lot” to these statements, 34% of both TIPS 1- and 2-year families “agreed a lot.”

Levels of Family Involvement in the TIPS Subject Homework

Students and families reported their impressions of the level of family involvement in the TIPS subject homework for both years, and all reports differed significantly by homework condition. For example, TIPS 2-year students reported significantly higher levels of family involvement in subject homework than both control and TIPS 1-year students (see Table 1). Specifically, 88% of TIPS 2-year students reported being involved “a few times” or “a lot,” while 65% of TIPS 1-year and 78% of control students did so.

Families also gave their impressions of family involvement in homework, with significant differences in favor of both TIPS groups over the control group. Although 50% of families in the control group reported being “never” or “rarely involved” in homework, only 30% of TIPS families reported so.

Table 2 displays the results of OLS regression analyses predicting variation in student reports of family involvement in Year 2 TIPS subject homework. The full model predicts 25% of family involvement variation. Elementary math students reported significantly higher levels of family involvement in the TIPS subject than did middle school language arts students. In addition, middle school science students reported less family involvement than did middle school language arts students. Students of teachers with more teaching experience reported higher levels of family involvement than those students of teachers with lesser experience. Finally, only TIPS students using the intervention for 2 years reported significantly higher levels of family involvement than did students in the control group.

Student Achievement

The author ran OLS regression models to explore the effects of TIPS versus control homework conditions on standardized test scores. The complete model accounted for 48% of the variance in Year 2 standardized scores (see Table 2).

The full regression analyses show some effects of student background variables. Specifically, White students earned significantly higher scores than Black students; below-average students and those receiving free or reduced-price meals earned significantly lower scores; elementary math and middle school science students earned significantly lower scores than middle school language arts students; and students with higher previous scores (β =.41, p < .001) earned significantly higher Year 2 scores.

Over and above all of these variables, students in the TIPS 1-year (β = .11, p < .01) and TIPS 2-year (β = .20, p < .001) groups earned significantly higher scores than control students. The effect size represented by Cohen’s d was .49 for TIPS 2-year and control, and minimal for the TIPS 1-year and control groups at .06. In similar analyses, homework condition did not significantly affect report card grades.

Effect Sizes

Overall, of the 15 reported effect sizes (Cohen’s d) related to feelings, attitudes, family involvement, and achievement results in Table 1, 11 favored the TIPS 2-year group either over the control (.17 to .57) or TIPS 1-year groups (.43 to .60), two favored the TIPS 1-year group over control (.31 to .34), one effect was minimal (.06), and only one effect size favored the control group over TIPS (.26). These effect sizes were sizable, ranging from d = .17 to d = .60. Comparing the achievement effect size (d = .49) of this study to other reported studies of homework and achievement (.21 < d < .88; Marzano & Pickering, 2007), one may see that the results of this weekly homework intervention fall appropriately within established effect size ranges of meta-analytic studies.

This study examined whether the costs associated with the TIPS interventions are outweighed by the benefits to students, families, and teachers. Time and money represent the main identifiable costs of implementing the TIPS process. Time is required of teachers for 1 week in the summer for professional development and TIPS materials development and in the school year (i.e., time to orient students and families to TIPS, explain each TIPS assignment in class, grade it, and follow up with students about assignments). Students and families also contribute time to work on assignments together over the course of the school year. In addition, schools must acquire funds to pay the teachers for their professional development time in the summer and for duplicating assignments for distribution to students.

The author examined the costs and benefits of the TIPS intervention over 2 years with data collected by the TIPS and control teachers, students, and families on homework assignments, and measures of emotional, attitudinal, and achievement results. Comparisons across groups and the regression analyses for several important emotional and cognitive outcomes produced several lessons learned that inform research and educators about potential improvements to the homework process in terms of time, design, and family involvement.

TIPS helped students and families engage positively over homework. Prior studies indicate that many students and families view homework as a source of stress and tension in the family system. In looking at both the feelings and attitudes reported by students and families each year, the TIPS group reported significantly more happy homework experiences and fewer frustrating experiences than did the control group. As noted by one parent whose student received TIPS Language Arts assignments, “TIPS [LA] was one thing that we enjoyed working on together!”

In addition, when students and families reported their attitudes about the homework experience, TIPS students and families reported more positive interactions than did control students and families. Although developmental differences were apparent on some measures, the majority of both elementary and middle school students and families rated TIPS as a good idea. Families reported that they would be willing to use the program the following year, as in this parent’s comment:

With respect to reports of levels of family involvement in homework, significant differences emerged for the TIPS group over control groups, particularly for students and parents who were assigned TIPS for 2 years.

Sustained use of the TIPS design related to gains in student standardized achievement. The regression analyses demonstrated significant and positive effects for the TIPS groups on standardized test scores. This is an age where numbers talk and schools are rated on their abilities to help students attain high levels of proficiency on standardized test scores. In this study, it was interesting that the TIPS process affected standardized test scores but not report card grades. The fact is that TIPS assignments related directly to the district’s curriculum standards addressed on the high-stakes standardized test scores. In the summer professional development time, teachers thought about homework as a vehicle to strengthen their teaching practice and increase students’ discussions with their family on content standards. Therefore, students in the TIPS groups had weekly opportunities to talk with family partners about critical concepts and skills.

Better homework practice does not necessitate more student time, but it does require improved homework design and professional development time for teachers. Students in TIPS and control conditions spent about the same amount of time on homework in elementary math, middle school language arts, and middle school science. This suggests that the differences in students’ and families’ attitudes and achievement test scores related to issues other than time. TIPS assignments did not magically appear. Teachers had to devote time to select or develop interactive homework assignments for the school year. In discussion with TIPS and control teachers, they rarely had uninterrupted time to focus solely on designing and developing homework. In the professional development process, experienced teachers mentored and assisted newer teachers. The teachers not only began to share homework tips, but also exchanged classroom teaching techniques and strategies. As noted by one TIPS teacher, “TIPS were relevant and useful in teaching students the state’s seventhgrade curriculum.”

Limitations of the Study

Despite this research’s strengths, future longitudinal homework interventions may be expanded by addressing its limitations. Three specific areas of improvement relate to additional baseline survey measures, more variables to assess teacher implementation, and nested analyses of outcome data.

The current study required a strong partnership between the associated schools and university. As with any study, the researcher had a longer list of variables and measures to collect than what ultimately resulted. Teachers participated in summer professional development time, collected specific homework data every 9 weeks above and beyond what they normally recorded, and organized the student and family survey collection at the end of the school year. These activities represented additional work beyond normal teaching, and therefore, the researcher did not also administer a baseline survey of students and families. Future investigations that include such data would permit more detailed understanding of the changes in emotions and tone of student and family homework interactions over time as a result of the intervention. Additionally, by looking at the data separately in student and family groups as well as in student and family dyads, we may better understand the dynamics of the interactions and how they may vary by gender, grade level, and previous achievement.

Along those lines, more qualitative and quantitative studies of teacher homework implementation may illuminate some of the differences that may have emerged across homework treatment groups. Teachers did complete a brief survey of their actions to introduce, grade, and follow up TIPS and or other homework activities. No significant differences emerged across the groups with the exception of the TIPS teachers explaining the importance of family involvement in TIPS activities. Observational work is needed to better understand the specific requests, actions, and tone of teachers that encouraged the highest levels of effective family engagement in student homework.

Finally, every effort was made to control for differences across homework treatment groups. Specifically, in analyses of standardized test data, the researcher controlled for variation in gender, ability group, ethnicity, free/reduced lunch status, study type, teacher experience, previous test score, and homework group (control, TIPS 1-year, or TIPS 2-year). Accounting for these differences, a significant TIPS effect emerged for family feelings, student attitudes, family involvement in homework, and standardized test scores. Investigations using nested analyses that may simultaneously calculate the individual and classroom effects of the intervention on targeted outcomes may pinpoint more directly some of the possible causes of these TIPS results. Certainly, many questions remain that would benefit from path analyses as well as hierarchical linear modeling.

Practical Suggestions for Teachers

Designing Interactive Homework

Recognize the importance of the interactive nature of the assignment. Teachers should think carefully about how the skill or objective of the assignment may be highlighted in an interaction before writing the actual assignment. Some skills lend themselves to better interactions than others. By identifying the interactive components of the assignment first, one can ensure that the assignment will promote productive and meaningful student-parent interactions.

Do not expect the family partner to teach school skills. The student should compute the answers to problems, write paragraphs, and collect information. The family partner serves as an assistant, never the teacher. All parents, regardless of formal education, should be able to participate in the student-family interaction.

Identify the student and family roles clearly. The directions of the assignment should be clear to students. They should see easily where they will ask for family partner involvement. For example, if the assignment includes important definitions, teachers should write the following statement for students to follow: “Explain the following definitions to your family partner.”

Link skills and objectives to the real world. Try to link the skill and the required student work and interactions to the real world as often as possible. Both students and parents report enjoying such interactions.

Focus on the objective of the assignment. Teachers should be careful not to lose sight of the objective. Because interactive assignments should take about 15–30 minutes of time, it is important for the students’ work to zero in on the assignment’s objective.

Pretest and edit the assignment. Part of the writing process includes pretesting the assignment. Teachers should complete the assignment to make sure that it is doable. If two teachers designed an activity, they should pretest and edit each other’s assignments. Thinking of the average student and parent, consider: How much time is needed to complete the assignment? Are the questions absolutely clear? Are the student and family partner roles clear? Then edit the assignment to improve it.

Vary the types of interactions. Teachers should vary the types of interactions that are required across assignments. Not all activities should ask students to interview a family partner. Students might like to conduct different interactions such as a game, demonstration, or experiment, or collect reactions, memories, or ideas.

Develop assignments you would enjoy completing. Your enthusiasm for the assignments will encourage students to see the value and importance of completing interactive homework. The more excited you are about the activity, the better its reception!

This study reported beneficial results of three longitudinal studies of TIPS interventions compared to regular homework in math, science, and language arts in the elementary and middle grades. Effect sizes and regression models consistently highlight TIPS (especially the 2-year group) as significant and positive predictors of achievement and emotional outcomes over the control condition. Therefore, these findings suggest that teams of teachers can be guided to work together to view homework as a resource that supports classroom teaching. In addition, the efforts of teachers, students, and families to test the TIPS process resulted in an experience and materials that could be used by other teachers of these subjects and grade levels in the same district who conduct similar curricular units for student learning. The longitudinal studies that followed students for 2 years confirmed and extended prior shorter studies to show that when the TIPS interactive homework process is well implemented, student and family emotional and achievement results outweigh the time and costs of the intervention.

Author’s Note The author would like to acknowledge Joyce L. Epstein for her guidance and support during the course of this research. The author is especially grateful for the partnership of the teachers and district office personnel involved in this study. This work was supported by a grant from NICHD (R01 ADD) to the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships. The analyses and opinions are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the funding agency.

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Permission Statement

Permission to reprint this article was granted by Prufrock Press, Inc. https://www.prufrock.com .

This article is provided as a service of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to supporting profoundly gifted young people 18 and under. To learn more about the Davidson Institute’s programs, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org .

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Homework or Personal Lives?

Many students get home and the first thing they do is homework. They’re pressured by their parents to do their homework while simultaneously being encouraged to spend time with family, eat, spend time with friends, go outside, participate in sports or other extracurricular activities, and sleep for 7+ hours. Rather than motivating students to master material and learn efficiently, homework negatively impacts students by taking away from personal time that is necessary for them to lead balanced lives.

In an article published by The Washington Post by Gerald K LeTendre, a professor of education in education policy studies at Penn State, states that, “Worldwide, homework is not associated with high national levels of academic achievement.” This means that there is no direct correlation between homework and test grades, and very few studies have been able to prove this, and the ones that have were more of a reach. At Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, 16 out of 19 of the students in Fire Stream agreed that homework adds extra stress onto them or takes time away from other things that they’re encouraged to do, such as sports, extra classes, extracurricular activities, family time, etc. This means that just over 84% of students in Fire Stream have agreed that homework is added stress and takes time away from things that they’re encouraged to do outside of school. Many students participate in these activities because they’re passionate about them and it makes them happy. Sports and exercise is proven to relieve stress, homework adds stress and if time for this stress reliever is taken away that just means more stress, this can cause more problems in many aspects of their lives.

In an article written by CNN about how homework has been banned in some cities and not others, “What is clear is that parents and kids don't live in the world of academic research; they live in the real world where there are piles of homework on the kitchen table.” Meaning that students don’t have the luxury of just easily saying that homework helps their academic performance or not, and they don’t have the luxury of just not doing homework. That is especially true to highschool students who have to regularly chose between sleep and doing work, especially when they get homework from every class every night and homework can be up to 30% of their grade. Students in every grade get piles of homework and a lot of the time they don’t have resources on hand to see if they’re right or to get help, meaning they might do it wrong and not learn anything at all. Even if students do try and do their homework it might take a while, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital adolescents should be getting 9 to 9 ½ hours of sleep per night. Due to homework and trying to fit other after school activities in many adolescents don’t get the necessary amount of sleep. Sleep deprivation in teens has many negative effects such as mood changes, being more inclined to engage in risky behavior such as driving fast, drinking, etc, doing worse in school, and declined cognitive abilities.

In an article published by the New York Times, a mother explained how… , “The stress homework places on families starts early.” The article also talks about how homework takes away from family time and family activities. The author also says that her kids “are fighting not just over the homework, but also over their share of my coveted attention and my unique ability to download and print images.” This shows how homework adds extra pressure and can cause tension in families. It takes away from family time and causes more stress on students and parents. It’s almost as if once children start school and the homework starts that it never stops, and that more family time is taken away while more stress is added.

In a study concluded in 2003 by Dr. Harris Cooper he tries to argue that homework has a positive effect on students, but his studies also found no direct correlation between increased homework for students and improved test scores. Cooper himself said that “The analysis also showed that too much homework can be counter-productive for students at all levels.” Meaning that excessive amounts of homework can cause negative effects on students, but who is judging what excessive amounts of homework means? He talks about the “10 minute rule” meaning that every grade that a student increases they should get 10 more minutes of homework, meaning that a second grader should get 20 minutes, and a twelfth grader should get around 2 hours of homework. That would seem ideal, but in most high school settings teachers don’t interact with each other to see how much homework each of them give to equal it out to around 2 hours. This means that one class’s homework could take a student 2 hours alone and that would be what the ideal amount of homework is, so if it takes 2 hours for one class’s homework then how are students supposed to have positive benefits from doing all of their homework? Cooper’s research was also limited because very little research was done to see if student’s race, socioeconomic status, or even their ability levels has an affect on how much homework is “good” for said age range. This means that other aspects than just that they’re students in a certain grade weren’t taken into consideration. These things could cause major changes to the data that was collected.

Rather than encouraging students to master material and learn efficiently, homework negatively impacts students and families by causing more stress and taking away from family time. This is a problem not just for the overworked students, but also for students who have more complex personal lives. Many students work or have family obligations that they have to deal with, but don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking to a teacher about them. Although teachers might not think that the amount of homework that they give matters much,its influence goes beyond giving students work to do at home to how they interact in other important personal aspects of their life.

Works Cited:

LeTendre, Gerald K. “Homework Could Have an Effect on Kids’ Health. Should Schools Ban It?” The Washington Post , WP Company, 2 Sept. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/02/homework-could-have-an-effect-on-kids-health-should-schools-ban-it/?utm_term=.3ed6d0fa2c72.

Kralovec, Etta. “Should Schools Ban Homework?” CNN , Cable News Network, 5 Sept. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/09/05/opinion/kralovec-ban-homework/index.html.

Dell'Antonia, Kj. “Homework's Emotional Toll on Students and Families.” The New York Times , The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2014, parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/12/homeworks-emotional-toll-on-students-and-families/.

“Duke Study: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn't Too Much.” Duke Today , Duke Today, 7 Mar. 2006, today.duke.edu/2006/03/homework.html.

“Sleep in Adolescents (13-18 Years).” Sleep in Adolescents :: Nationwide Children's Hospital , www.nationwidechildrens.org/sleep-in-adolescents

Comments (1)

A question that I have after reading this is in what other ways can we as students improve our learning without homework?

This 2fer has changed my opinion about how much homework affects a student's life in a bad way more than a good way.

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What Happens When You Don’t Know Your Students
How Diverse Are We?
Culturally Responsive Curriculum Ideas
What Families Want
Reflecting on your goals
Strategies to Improve Communication with Families
How to Overcome Language Barriers
Ways to familiarize families with the school system
Transitioning From Elementary to Middle School
Transitioning from Middle School to High School
Developing Cultural Sensitivity
Families Experiencing Poverty
Homeless Families
Native Hawaiian Families
Immigrant Families
Filipino Families
Micronesian Families
Military Families
LGBTQIA2S+ Students and Families
Families with Students in Special Education
What You Don’t Know About Family Engagement

Ways to Engage Families at Home

Ways to Engage Families at School
Welcoming Parent into Schools
Student-Led Conferences
Family Engagement Strategy Impact Levels
Greeting and Welcoming
Getting to Know Your Families – General Strategies
Getting to Know Your Families – Connecting with Diverse Families in Your Classroom
Communication with Families – General
Communication with Families- Conferences
Creating Opportunities for Family Engagement
Ways to Help Parents Support Academics at Home
Partnering with Diverse Populations
Partnering with the Community

Family Engagement /
3.2 Ways to Engage Families at Home

Creating an environment for learning at home

Setting goals

Communication folders

Carefully consider your homework practices

Homework planner

More homework support

Homework hotline

Lending library

Mini-books for fluency

Decodeable and phonic readers

High frequency words

Timed readings

Audio books

Reading tips

Promoting writing at home (traveling Flat Stanley)

Promoting Math at home

Dual language books

Examining and learning from family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i

Home visits

Neighborhood Inventory

One of the barriers to family engagement in the schooling of their children is that often families do not know how to be involved 1 . Teachers and schools with a commitment to parent involvement take an active role in helping parents learn a variety of ways to be involved. Student achievement is related to families help with homework. Families can provide assistance with subjects such as reading, writing, and math, and support the development of students’ first language at home.

1. Delgado-Gaitan, 1991

2. For example, see Van Voorhis, 2003 for homework; Sheldon & Epstein, 2005

Suggested procedures :

1. Help the families of your students create homework routines at home. There are at least four important factors to consider: location, space, time, and schedule. Some activities you can do assist families in this area are:

Provide information about your homework policy and expectations during your Open House presentation. If possible, have samples of the homework you tend to give to your students in the different subject areas.
Periodically and in small increments, inform families about how they can help their children with schoolwork. For example, you can have a “homework tips” section in your weekly newsletter.
Survey students and families about their homework routines. Recognize what is going well and collaborate with students and families to work towards improving these routines.
Visit your students’ homes. You can gather relevant information about the opportunities to learn that are available to your students and their families.

InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards

Standard #1: Learner Development

1(c) The teacher collaborates with families, communities, colleagues, and other professionals to promote learner growth and development.

Standard #3: Learning Environments

3(n) The teacher is committed to working with learners, colleagues, families, and communities to establish positive and supportive learning environments.

1. Homework tips for parents (kids age 5-13): https://www.scholastic.com/parents/school-success/homework-help/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips.html

2. Strategies to establish a homework routine at home, as well as a daily assignment planner and incentive planning sheet: https://childmind.org/article/strategies-to-make-homework-go-more-smoothly/

3. Faber, A., & Mazlish, E. (1995). How to talk so kids can learn: At home and in school. New York, NY: Scribner.

4. Christenson, S. (2004). Parent-teacher partnerships: Creating essential connections for children’s reading and learning. Harvard Family Research Project, Harvard, University, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved from https://archive.globalfrp.org/var/hfrp/storage/fckeditor/File/parent-teacher_module.pdf

5. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Bassler, O. C., & Burow, R. (1995). Parents’ reported involvement in students’ homework: Strategies and practices. In The Elementary School Journal, 95(5),pp. 435-450.

6. “How to Create an At-Home Learning Space for Your Child” at https://www.waterford.org/resources/how-to-create-an-at-home-learning-space/

7. Hull, G., & Schultz, K. (2001). Literacy and learning out of school: A review of theory and research. Review of Educational Research, (71)4, pp. 575-611.

1. Identifying needs and resources. Help students and families gain ownership of the learning process working with them to identify personalized goals.

2. Work with students to create a list of goals they will be working on. Send a folder home that includes the following docs:

An explanation of the activity
Tips for families to help children identify goals.
A goal-setting template.
A documentation form.

3. Share with students and families the progress made and redefine goals or create new ones as the goals are met.

Standard #6: Assessment

6(m) The teacher knows when and how to engage learners in analyzing their own assessment results and in helping to set goals for their own learning.

6(q) The teacher is committed to engaging learners actively in assessment processes and to developing each learner’s capacity to review and communicate about their own progress and learning.

6(r) The teacher takes responsibility for aligning instruction and assessment with learning goals.

6(s) The teacher is committed to providing timely and effective descriptive feedback to learners on their progress.

Standard #7: Planning for Instruction

7(b) The teacher plans how to achieve each student’s learning goals, choosing appropriate strategies and accommodations, resources, and materials to differentiate instruction for individuals and groups of learners.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration

10(q) The teacher respects families’ beliefs, norms, and expectations and seeks to work collaboratively with learners and families in setting and meeting challenging goals.

1. List of children’s story books on goal setting can be found at http://www.the-best-childrens-books.org/goal-setting-examples.html

2. “Goal Setting for Students, Kids, & Teens” at https://positivepsychology.com/goal-setting-students-kids/

3. “Homework: A Guide for Parents” at https://apps.nasponline.org/search-results.aspx?q=Homework%3A+A+Guide+for+Parents

4. Hoover-Dempsey, K. V., Bassler, O. C., & Burow, R. (1995). Parents’ reported involvement in students’ homework: Strategies and practices. In The Elementary School Journal, 95(5), pp. 435-450.

1. You need to organize a system to have continuous and effective communication with families. For example, you can send a home folder every Monday and call it “Monday Folder.” Label the folder with its title and use its title when you communicate with students and families.

2. Decide what goes into the folder. For instance, you can include a relevant piece of students’ previous week’s work, a classroom weekly newsletter (if you don’t choose to email it) and letters and notifications about things such upcoming events, fieldtrips, and classroom guests. Whenever possible, have documents translated into the families’ native languages.

3. Let students take ownership of the process. As a Monday routine, have students organize their folders, deciding what papers need to be sent home in the “Monday Folder.”

4. Introduce families to your system of communication. You can present your system at Open Night, send families a letter, or ask your students to share the system with their parents.

5. Make it workable. In addition to enlisting your students to help to choose and organize the folders, solicit a reliable family volunteer or a group of rotating family volunteers to help collate papers into students’ folders each Monday.

9. Be creative. There are many ways in which you can organize the folders. Here are a couple of ideas:

– Use color-coded folders for take-home assignments. This can help prepare students to be organized as well as provide parents with a reliable tool to be informed of homework. It can also help minimize confusion and increase communication amongst all stakeholders.

– Include memos to parents and goal setting charts

Standard #1: Learner Development

Standard #3: Learning Environments

3(q) The teacher seeks to foster respectful communication among all members of the learning community.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration

10(d) The teacher works collaboratively with learners and their families to establish mutual expectations and ongoing communication to support learner development and achievement.

1. “Engaging Families in Out-of-School Time Programs Toolkit” at https://cdn.ymaws.com/nafsce.org/resource/resmgr/Toolkits/Boston_Engaging_Families_Out.pdf

2. “8 Innovative Ways to Organize Take Home Folders” at https://www.weareteachers.com/8-innovative-ways-to-organize-take-home-folders/

3. “Weekly Folders Deliver News from School to Home” at http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin463.shtml

4. Another example of a communication folder. http://clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/08/daily-communication-folders-teacher-tip.html

Suggested procedures:

It is important to consider the reasons why you are asking students to do homework and what you expect students to get out of it. Read these two short texts (click here), and then answer the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of your homework? Vatterott talks about the following purposes:

Pre-learning , Tasks to provide an introduction to a topic or background for a more in-depth lesson and prepare students for the materials that are going to be introduced.
Checking for understanding . Tasks that provide information to teachers about students’ knowledge in order to plan for re-teaching or for further instruction.
Practice . Tasks that allow students to practice the knowledge and skill learned in class. It is important to ensure that students have actually learned the material and don’t have any misconceptions that might be reinforced by practice, as well as to make sure that practice is distributed and not given all at once.
Processing . Tasks that ask students to reflect, synthesize, apply, or extend what they have learned in class.

2. What type of learning are you seeking for your students? Vatterott provides the following overview:

Facts —Discrete bits of information that we believe to be true (e.g., whales are mammals)
Concepts —Categories of things with common elements that help us organize, retain, and use information (e.g., the process of photosynthesis)
Principles —Rules that govern concepts (e.g., matter can change forms)
Attitudes —Degrees of commitment to ideas and spheres of learning (e.g., we should be concerned about the environment)
Skills— The capacity to apply the understandings students have gained (e.g., drawing conclusions from data)

3. How will you promote students’ interest and motivation to do homework? You need to carefully consider the following aspects:

Academic purpose — Tasks should have a clear academic purpose.
Competence — Tasks should have a positive effect on a student’s sense that they can be successful.
Ownership — Tasks s hould be personally relevant and customized to promote ownership.
Aesthetics — Tasks s hould be aesthetically pleasing.

4. How will you differentiate your homework? Homework should be differentiated based on the learner’s readiness, learning style, and organizational skills. Homework may be differentiated by difficulty or amount of work, by the amount of structure or scaffolding provided, or by learning style or interest.

5. How do you plan to give feedback to students about their homework? Good feedback on homework requires back-and-forth dialogue between teachers and the students, so teachers need to find efficient ways of doing so. Consider also self- and peer- feedback on homework.

6. How do you plan to use the homework info in your teaching? Ideally, homework should provide feedback to the teacher about student understanding, allowing the teacher to adjust instruction, and when necessary, reteach concepts, before practice is assigned.

Read the following quote:

“ If children are not required to learn useless and meaningless things, homework is entirely unnecessary for the learning of common school subjects. But when a school requires the amassing of many facts which have little or no significance to the child, learning is so slow and painful that its school is obliged to turn to the home for help out of the mess the school has created.”

– Excerpt from article in the November 1937 issue of Parents magazine, cited in Alfie Khon’s “The homework myth: Why our kids get too much”

Do all students need homework?

by Cathy Vatterott

A parent once asked her daughter’s teacher “If my daughter already knows how to do these math problems, why does she have to do 30 of them?” To which the teacher replied, “Well, if she already knows how to do them, she should breeze right through it.”

The answer to the question “Do all students need homework?” depends on what one believes the purpose of homework is. If you believe the purpose is to reinforce learning or extend learning outside the classroom, then you probably believe that the child needs more challenging homework. If you believe the purpose of homework is to develop independent learners, then you probably believe the child should be able to create her own homework. If you believe the purpose of homework is to build the habit of doing homework, then you probably believe all children must have homework.

The idea that some children would not have homework makes many people very uncomfortable. Is it fair that they have less work than other students? But if you believe the purpose of homework is to help students master a set of standards for a grade level or course, and the student has done that, then you may quite comfortable with some students not doing homework.

In standards based systems, homework is often optional. If the student can pass the assessments, they have shown mastery—the homework is merely a tool for those who need it, much like in many college courses. If a student gets 100% on the 3rd grade spelling test, that student doesn’t have spelling homework. And no, they don’t have extra homework in other subjects.

Most of us could see the logic of allowing an Olympic athlete or a gifted musician to succeed academically without doing homework, because they are honing a unique talent. But if other students are allowed to skip unnecessary homework, they may spend more time reading, learning Spanish, or delving into their passion for history, science or art. And isn’t that what educating the whole child is all about?

1(b) The teacher creates developmentally appropriate instruction that takes into account individual learners’ strengths, interests, and needs and that enables each learner to advance and accelerate his/her learning.

Standard #2: Learning Differences

2(e) The teacher incorporates tools of language development into planning and instruction, including strategies for making content accessible to English language learners and for evaluating and supporting their development of English proficiency.

2(f) The teacher accesses resources, supports, and specialized assistance and services to meet particular learning differences or needs.

2(g) The teacher understands and identifies differences in approaches to learning and performance and knows how to design instruction that uses each learner’s strengths to promote growth.

3(i) The teacher understands the relationship between motivation and engagement and knows how to design learning experiences using strategies that build learner self-direction and ownership of learning.

1. Esptein, J., & Van Voorhis, F. L. (2001). More than minutes: Teachers’ roles in designing homework. Educational Psychologist, 36(3), 181-193.

1. Before the start of the school year develop or purchase homework planners for your students. Collaborate and consult with colleagues and administration, since this may be implemented on a grade- or school-wide basis.

2. Decide what will go in the homework folder.

3. Present and explain the purpose and use of the homework folder to students and parents during Open House, with a letter home, or both.

4. Establish daily and weekly routines. For example, at the end of the day, students could quietly and independently copy down homework off the whiteboard. At the beginning of the day, students can put the folder in a pre-arranged bin. During the day, check the folder for completion, add information as needed, and include new homework. You can enlist the help of parents or community volunteers to do this.

5. You may want to have parents sign or initials next to completion of homework on a daily or weekly basis.

6. Work with your students and their families to decide what happens when homework is not submitted on a consistent basis. What are the classroom consequences? Will there be any consequence at home?

1(d) The teacher understands how learning occurs—how learners construct knowledge, acquire skills, and develop disciplined thinking processes—and knows how to use instructional strategies that promote student learning.

1(k) The teacher values the input and contributions of families, colleagues, and other professionals in understanding and supporting each learner’s development.

3(d) The teacher manages the learning environment to actively and equitably engage learners by organizing, allocating, and coordinating the resources of time, space, and learners’ attention.

Standard #8: Instructional Strategies

8(k) The teacher knows how to apply a range of developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate instructional strategies to achieve learning goals.

Strategy #10: Leadership and Collaboration

1. Tips for using a homework planner. http://homeworktips.about.com/od/timemanagement/a/planner.htm

2. “7 Tips for the Most Successful Planner” and a free student tutor planner at https://student-tutor.com/blog/7tipsforthemostsuccessfulplanner/

3. Additional resource for planners for primary, elementary, middle school, and high school students at https://meridianplanners.com/

4. Success by Design, Inc. provides primary, elementary. middle, and high school planners at https://www.successbydesign.com

5. Homework reminder slips can be found for K-12 students at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/

Check out other support systems in the resource section.

2(i) The teacher knows about second language acquisition processes and knows how to incorporate instructional strategies and resources to support language acquisition.

Standard #5: Application of Content

5(s) The teacher values flexible learning environments that encourage learner exploration, discovery, and expression across content areas.

1.”11 Ways Parents Can Help Their Children Read at Home” https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-literacy/11-ways-parents-can-help-their-children-read

2. Tips for parents for supporting their child’s writing at home at https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/support-writing-home

3. “Listen, Talk, Answer—Support Your Child’s Learning” at https://www.naeyc.org/our-work/families/listen-talk-answer-support-learning

4. Helpful Homework Tips for Parents. This 1-page PDF file gives basic suggestions on things parents can do to support their child(ren)’s homework and learning at home. You can download this at http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/homework-project-tips/10-homework-help-tips

5. “Helping Your Child Do Well in School” from the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association at https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/helping-your-child-do-well-school

1. Talk to your administration and colleagues about the feasibility of setting up a homework hotline and whether there is a budget to support teachers who participate. If there are no funds, collaborate with peers to investigate grants for which you can apply.

2. If the administration is supportive and you have funds and commitment from teachers, seek input on ideas from the PTA, families, and students about how to set up and run the homework hotline. Conduct a needs analysis survey to find out:

a) The subjects with which the students need help. b) How, specifically, teachers will be able to help students with the homework. c) The time of day that would be convenient for students to call the hotline and for teachers to be available. d) Whether you will need bilingual teachers (or assistants) to help with non-native English speaking families

Be open to other feedback. In addition, consult with the other teachers about the needs of their students.

3. Based on the above information gathering, create a plan of action:

a) Set up a schedule (day and times) indicating the names and telephone numbers of volunteer teachers. b) Establish guidelines or expectations for calling the hotline. For example, make a list of the kinds of questions students might ask, the type of homework assignments volunteers will assist with, and what is an acceptable frequency of calling. c) Write a letter and send it home to parents. d) Give students a written copy of the schedule, phone numbers, expectations, and other relevant information.

4. Pilot test the hotline.

5. At the end of the semester, send home a survey to collect feedback and suggestions and also gather information from the other teachers regarding whether the program is helping students improve their homework. Remember to continuously modify your system, as needed.

Standard #10: Leadership and Collaboration

10(g) The teacher uses technological tools and a variety of communication strategies to build local and global learning communities that engage learners, families, and colleagues.

1. Reach, K., & Cooper, H. (2004). Homework hotlines: Recommendations for Successful Practice. Theory into Practice, 43(3), pp. 234-241.

1. Gather books to start your own lending library. You might have access to funds from the school, write a grant, seek donations, and/or purchase inexpensive second hand books.

2. Decide whether the lending library will be used for all children or if you will target at-risk children. While all students will benefit from additional opportunities to read, having access to books is especially important for at-risk students, who may not have access to books at home and may have difficulty determining the level of books they should choose. Providing books for at-risk students can accelerate their academic achievement, love of reading, and sense of self-worth.

3. Send an explanatory letter home and follow up with a phone call, if necessary.

4. Explain to students the purpose and goals of the program.

5. Model how you want students to complete the readings.

6. Allow for choice and student ownership by setting up a system. For example, if you send home five picture books a week, students may be given the option to choose three to which they will respond. Responses can be written, drawn, or presented in other forms.

7. Create a system to keep track of who is doing what and when. For instance, make a checklist and mark books that are borrowed. Gather and label resealable (e.g., Ziploc) plastic bags for students to carry books home. Provide a checklist for students to mark the books they have read and responded to, and record students’ completed reading comprehension tasks.

8. Send home the resealable bag full of books on Friday. Collect them the following Friday, check off and collect tasks, and refill the bag with new books.

9. During the week, have each student share at least one of the lending library books using multiple modes of delivery.

10. If possible, try to get help for your project by involving family volunteers, student helpers, colleagues, the school librarian, and others relevant parties.

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding

RL.2: Recount stories

RL.5: Describe the overall structure of a story

RL.7: Use illustrations and words to understand characters, setting, or plot

RL.10: Read and comprehend a variety of texts

RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding

RI.2: Identify the main topic

RI.10: Read and comprehend informational texts

RF.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis to decoding words

RF.4: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension

1. Creating your own classroom library at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/creating-your-own-classroom-library-set

2. “What an Effective Classroom Library Looks Like: Organization and Layout” at https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/articles/migrated-files-in-body/organize_class_library.pdf

3. “6 Tips to Help Set Up a Classroom Library” at https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/articles/6-tips-to-help-set-up-a-classroom-library.html

4. Classroom library checkout system suggestions at https://organizedclassroom.com/classroom-library-checkout-systems/

1. Print out and photocopy printable mini-books according to your students’ levels and interests.

2. Send home a parent letter explaining the mini-books, highlighting their purpose and use in improving children’s reading proficiency. Provide suggestions about how parents can support their children’s at-home reading development (go to the resources section for some ideas about this). Even better, hold a home literacy night to give this information to parents and model reading with their children.

3. Integrate the mini-books as part of your weekly homework assignments. For example, you can send the books home in your “ Monday Folder” or “ Homework Folder.”

4. Explain to students the procedures and expectations for completing the mini-books. Model and provide examples.

5. In small group reading instructional teams, discuss and follow up on the assigned mini-books.

6. Get students excited about reading. Expose them to a variety of topics and genre. If you can afford to allow students to keep the books, encourage them to highlight new words, write questions, make text connections, and decorate the pages.

7. When possible, try to connect the reading of these books with children’s individual goal setting and interests.

1. Scholastic mini-books at https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/premium/printable-minibooks.html

2. Enchanted Learning at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/books/mini/

3. A to Z Teacher Stuff at http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Printables/Printable_Books/

4. Amazon (search for mini-books) at http://www.amazon.com

1. To complement your Language Arts and Reading instruction, start an at-home literacy program to help your struggling readers or the whole class, and get families involved.

2. Design a phonic/decodable reader homework routine for your struggling readers or the class. Depending on the students’ reading proficiency, you may use a combination of single-sheet printables or phonic printable mini-books.

3. Find, print, and/or photocopy decodable and phonic readers or single-sheet exercises. Design a system to send this reader home on a regular basis.

4. Send home a letter explaining the program, its purpose, and how the families can be involved. See the resources section for a sample of a letter home. Invite families to email, call, or visit you if they have questions.

5. Integrate the phonics/decodable readers with your weekly Language Arts homework assignments. Make sure to integrate reading, writing, and spelling and pay attention to oral development as well.

6. In order to get students and families accustomed to the routines, make sure you are consistent in the implementation of this program.

RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text

1. Printable Decodable & Phonic Readers at http://printables.scholastic.com/printables/home/

2. Printable phonic readers at https://teachables.scholastic.com/teachables/premium/printable-minibooks.html

* NOTE: You need to be a subscribing member to download and print these resources.

3. Decodable readers teacher’s guide at https://eps.schoolspecialty.com/EPS/media/Site-Resources/Downloads/Miscellaneous/spire/spire_eBook_TE.pdf?ext=.pdf

4. Building phonics skills. http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/developing-reading-skills/building-phonics-skills

1. In your small instructional Language Arts team (e.g. literacy/struggling readers), explain the high frequency word program that you’ll be starting with them. Explain the purpose and benefits.

2. Individually assess each student (in the at-risk instructional group) during Language Arts/Reading or any other free time during the day. The student is given a laminated copy (one sheet) of the first one hundred words. You have the assessment sheet. Write down the student’s name and date. Ask them to read the words one-by-one. They do not need to know the meaning; they only have to decode.

3. Put a check next to the word any time they make a mistake. After reading all 100 words, tally how many words were misread. If more than 95% of the words were read correctly, they can advance to the next level. In the same way, give the next level test.

4. Note: if the student is making many mistakes and struggling to read the words, you should stop the test and congratulate them on what they’ve done so far. You don’t need to have them get through all 100 words.

5. If the student doesn’t pass the level, then you know this is the benchmark level.

6. Prepare resealable plastic bags filled with laminated flashcards for each level. Label the bags.

7. When the student doesn’t pass the level, give a bag filled with the words misread mixed with some of the words that were read correctly. Have them practice and memorize those words for the next week.

8. Send a parent letter/memo home explaining the high frequency word program, its purpose, and how parents can support their child (e.g., having them practice the words, read aloud the words to the parents, playing word games with the cards, fun quizzes to review).

9. A week later, retest the student on the same 100 words. If they score more than 95%, then they pass on to the next level and the process starts over again (e.g. benchmark text, flashcards in a bag, practice for a week, retest).

10. Involve your parent volunteer: have a station during Language Arts/Reading time in which students who are involved with this program rotate to the volunteer to practice reading their words, playing word games, and other decoding/word manipulation activities.

11. Be consistent and you’ll see exponential growth in your struggling readers.

12. Make connections and help your students make connections with the high frequency words and words they see in their texts and reading assignments.

1. High frequency word flashcards at https://sightwords.com/sight-words/flash-cards/

2. High frequency word flashcards, worksheets, and assessments (for purchase) can be found at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com

3. Tips for teaching high frequency words. http://www.reading-tutors.com/tips/TH_Tips_HFW.pdf

1. It is well documented that students’ reading comprehension is closely tied to reading fluency. Without fluency, students will struggle to read grade level texts. The following at-home tasks can help to accelerate students’ reading proficiencies.

2. If, due to management and time constraints, you only have time to work with a small group of your struggling readers, identify the students with whom you will be working.

3. Schedule a time during the day when you can assess each of the students. (a) Find an on-grade level text (or if that’s too difficult, find one that’s slightly above student’s level)– preferably a one-page story from a teacher’s resource book. (b) Photocopy the story–one for you and one for the student. (c) Ask children to read the story to the best of their abilities. (d) As the students read, check off any words that are misread. (e) Stop the student after 1 minute– regardless if they finished the story or not. (f) Congratulate the children on their reading. (g) Count the number of words read in the 1 minute minus the words misread. This is the total words per minute, (h) Go over the misread words with the students, and if possible read the story together and practice.

4. Assign the story (same one as above) as part of the students’ special homework or integrate it as regular homework. Tell the student that they should practice reading the story as often as possible to practice their fluency–at home during breakfast, in front of siblings/parents, by themselves, etc.

5. Send home a parent letter explaining this at-home reading fluency program and how the family can help Ask families to encourage practice, listen to children reading aloud, check for accuracy, record progress, and praise!

6. In one week, retest the students on the same story to see how much their fluency has improved. Record the results.

7. Pre-test using another story, and continue the same process.

8. In a few short months you should steadily see an increase of your students’ reading fluency and confidence.

9. This reading fluency program is also a low stress task for parent volunteers. They can help students practice reading their text and provide correction.

10. You may also connect this to the students’ portfolio, goal setting, and communication folders for parents.

1. How to conduct and record timed readings at https://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/timed_repeated_readings

2. Timed reading fluency record sheet (free pdf download) at https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Timed-Reading-Fluency-Recording-Tracker-Sheet-Words-per-Minute-4938292

3. Chang, A. C-S (2010). The effect of a timed reading activity on EFL learners: Speed, comprehension, and perceptions. Reading in a Foreign Language, 22(2), 284-303. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ901548.pdf

Many educators recommend that parents use audio books to promote children’s language and literacy development (Beers, 1998; Koskinen, Blum, Bisson, Phillips, Creamer, & Baker, 2000). Audio books can help develop children’s abilities to read books fluently and may enhance feelings of confidence and excitement in reading. Audio recordings can assist struggling readers. Listening to a book on tape together promotes awareness of children’s reading materials and may encourage family members to be involved in children’s reading.

The following are tips to promote the effective use of audio books at home (Beers, 1998).

Provide positive experiences of using audio books at school.
Recommend audio books that interest students or are related to the current academic topics.
Introduce the content of the audio books to the kids first before sending the books home.
Check the speed of the recording. Struggling readers might need a slower speed.
Check with parents about whether they have compatible machines to play the audio books at home.
Encourage parents to use books and recordings with their children.

1. This article describes the benefits of audiobooks for children, where to find audiobooks, and how to preview them: http://childrensbooks.about.com/cs/forparents/a/audiobooks.htm

2. A New York Times article on audiobooks together with some suggested titles: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/books/review/lets-go-reading-in-the-car.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

3. A brief explanation of the benefits of audio books along with six suggested places to find audio books for children at https://www.learningliftoff.com/free-audio-books-for-kids/

Check out the list of resources and ideas, including links to websites for further information.

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding RL.2: Recount stories RL.3: Describe how characters in a story respond RL.5: Describe the overall structure of a story RL.7: Use illustrations and words to understand characters, setting, or plot RL.10: Read and comprehend a variety of texts RI.1: Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding RI.2: Identify the main topic RI.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text RI.6: Identify the main purpose of a text RI.10: Read and comprehend informational texts RF.3: Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis to decoding words RF.4: Read with accuracy/fluency for comprehension

1. “Supporting Your Beginning Reader.” This 2-page PDF file gives basic information and suggestions for parents on supporting their children reading at home. It also includes useful websites. This is a free download at: http://school.cbe.ab.ca/school/abbeydale/SiteCollectionDocuments/Supporting-Your-Beginning-Reader.pdf

2. “What Kids Really Want to Read.” This 2-page PDF file gives basic information and suggestions for parents on selecting reading texts for their children. It also includes useful websites. This is a free download at: http://www.avonworth.k12.pa.us/Downloads/What_kids_really_want_to_read_2018621142528428.pdf

3. “5 Readings Tips for Parents to Keep Their Kids Engaged” at https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/reading-resources/developing-reading-skills/reading-tips-parents.html

1. Introduce this unit to your whole class. Tell students what they’re going to be doing with this unit. Explain the big picture and the final objectives. For example you might say “We are going to start a new unit so that we can all get to know each other better. I want to learn more about you and your families, and I want all of us to get to know each other better. I think that is really important to us having a good school year together.

2. Start by activating students’ background and asking them to make predictions. For instance, you can ask: “Has anyone ever read this book before? What do you see on the cover page? What do you think the book will be about?”

3. Give instructions to students, like:

a) “We are going to read this Flat Stanley chapter book together. We will practice our reading and it will also help us get ready for other things we are going to do in this project.”

b) “After we read the book, each of us is going to take this Flat Stanley traveling journal to our homes and write about our families and the experiences “Flat Stanley” has while he is visiting with us. I will be the first person to take it home so that you can see how to do it.”

(c) “Next you will return the journal and share a few things that Flat Stanley experienced at your home with your family.”

(d) “In this way, each of us will take a turn to bring Stanley to our homes and then talk about it with the class.”

(e) “This will give us a really great chance to get to know each other better, and practice our reading and writing at the same time.”

3. Read aloud the selected Flat Stanley book. While reading, remember to engage students, apply reading strategies, and make personal connections.

4. Send a letter to families explaining the project and motivating them to be engaged with it.

5. Introduce the traveling journal component once you have finished reading the book. Negotiate with students the criteria for taking the journal and “Flat Stanley” to their homes and narrating Stanley’s journeys. For example, the number of days they will take it home, how much they should write, what they should write about, in what capacity they should include their family members, and whether they should include photos. Take notes of the criteria and later post this prominently on classroom wall, next to memorabilia of Flat Stanley. If you have the time, you may want to scan student and family work in case the journal is misplaced.

6. Take the journal and “Flat Stanley” (e.g. laminate a color picture of Flat Stanley; also if you have extra copies, you might send a Flat Stanley book along with the journal). After the designated number of days, return the journal and Flat Stanley and share it.

7. Review students’ expectations of taking the journal home, answer students’ questions, and assign the first student to take it home.

8. Have the first student share the traveling journal and provide time for questions from the audience. Continue with the rest of the students of the class.

9. Make the traveling journal and extra copies of Flat Stanley available for students to read during the silent time or free time.

10. Consider creating a visual map of the “traveling” of Stanley from home to home.

11. Close the unit with written and/or oral reflections. You can ask questions like: What did you learn from the traveling of Flat Stanley? What are some things you learned about your classmates? Why do you think it is important for us to know each other in our classroom? What’s the most interesting thing you learned about a classmate that you didn’t know before? What else do you think we should do to continue getting to know each other and have a good classroom community?

RL.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding RL.2: Recount stories RI.1: Ask and answer questions to show understanding W.2: Write an informative or explanatory text W.3: Write a narrative W.5: Focus on a topic; strengthen writing by revising W.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects W.8: Recall information from experiences or gather information from sources SL.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners SL.4: Tell a story or recount an experience SL.5: Add drawings/visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences

1. Flat Stanley Project. See this website for additional resources and connections to other classrooms around the world: http://www.flatstanleyproject.com

As with other subjects, parent involvement is important for students to learn mathematics. There are several ways to promote your students’ parents engaging with their children about math topics.

Activities related to school curriculum:

1. Send math projects home for parents and students to talk about. Provide a feedback sheet for parents to provide comments. For example, ask parents to talk about quantities of things with their children. Tell them to ask their children how they came up with their answers. Below is an example of a conversation between a parent and her child.

– Family member: Tell me about your picture. – Child: This is me, Amy. I am drawing my dolls at home. – Family member: How many dolls did you draw here? – Child: Four. – Family member: In your room, I saw six dolls. Why did you draw only four in your picture? – Child: Oh, because on that day, I only had four in my room. Daddy just sent me that blue one yesterday and Auntie Lily gave me this one today.

2. Design math projects that promote family engagement. For example, ask students to find containers at home, investigating the purposes and size of each container.

Opportunities parents can use to discuss math at home:

1. Dinner time. A family member takes advantage of an upcoming improvised dinner with some family members and turns the occasion into a math game.

– Family member: Tūtū and auntie Mary are coming for dinner. How many more utensils should we prepare now in addition to those for mommy, daddy, and you? – Child: I’m not sure… – Family member: OK, let’s set up the chairs and see how many more utensils we need. [Child counts newly set up chairs and gets two forks] – Family member: we also need knives, right? [Child gets them and sets them on the table] – Family member: OK, let’s count together [Family member and child count up to four] – Family member: four, great, we needed 4 more utensils, 2 more forks and 2 more knives. And now, how many plates do we need? [Continue to the conversation for other items needed to set the table for two more guests]

2. Clean-up time.

– Family member: Kahea, it’s time to clear up. We have to get ready for bed. – Child: OK. (Starting to put away all of the toys into a big basket). – Family member: Kahea, what could we do differently instead of putting away everything in that green big basket so everything will look neat? Maybe we can put things by color? – Child: Can I put the green toys here? – Family member: That’s a great idea. How about those blue toys? [Continue to the conversation with other ways to sort items by color]

*Potentially all the Math standards:

2.0A.1-4: Operations and Algebraic Thinking

2.NBT.1-9: Number and Operations in Base Ten

2.MD.1-10: Measurement and Data

2.G1-3: Geometry

1. For a list of Math terminology, support for Math homework, Math games, family Math games, and other resources check out Oregon City School District’s website at https://www.ocsd62.org/district/mathematics

2. “Doing Mathematics With Your Child: Kindergarten to Grade 6” A Parent Guide by Ontario Ministry of Education at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/parentguidenumen.pdf

3. Help your child learn mathematics: With activities for children in preschool through grade 5 http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/math/math.pdf

This shows respect and recognition of students’ and families’ identities, and also helps to increase literacy in both languages. Dual language books can be used as a scaffolding structure for your English language learners. Incorporate the native language (other than English) and/or bilingual books into your language arts curriculum and into the weekly reading homework.

1. Send an explanatory letter home to parents. Gather resources. Ask for donations of used children’s books in the native languages of your students, get a grant, and ask your school to see what is already available.

2. During your small group reading time, explain the purpose and goals of the program to the bilingual students.

3. Read a couple of books with your students as a class activity.

4. Model and explain how you would like them to complete the readings at home.

5. Integrate these books into your lending library system. For example, you can create a checklist of books borrowed, get re-sealable plastic bags for students to carry books home, maintain a checklist of the books students have completed, and keep a file for recording students’ completion of reading comprehension tasks.

6. Motivate students. Encourage family members to get involved by having their child share the story at home, reading together, discussing the contents, and making personal connections to the student’s home and culture.

7. Have students share their readings and use the opportunity to connect to students’ home cultures.

8. Promote family members reading aloud in the native language, helping children read, and extending the readings by explaining, comparing, and commenting on the text. Recruit bilingual family members to come to class and do the same.

9. As a culminating activity, have students read aloud their chosen bilingual texts, with or without the help of their family.

1. International Children’s Digital Library at http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

2. Children’s Books Online. Find children’s books online as well as corresponding translations at http://www.childrensbooksonline.org/library-translations.htm

3. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This site provides different children’s genre and instructional books, in addition to books in different languages. http://www.hmhbooks.com

4. Scholastic is the largest children’s book publisher. For dual language resources, search using key words such as bilingual, culture, diversity, and dual language at http://www.scholastic.com

5. Amazon has a large database for books. Search using key words such as language, bilingual, culture, etc. at http://www.amazon.com

6. Search for children’s books at https://www.barnesandnoble.com

7. Cinco Puntos. This site a selection of bilingual Spanish-English books and audiobooks at https://cincopuntos.com

Read several examples about family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i. Consider what was successful and challenging, and generate at least two action items you could try in your classroom to enhance your family engagement practices.

1. Read the two short newspaper articles about two different family engagement initiatives in Hawai‘i.

Use multiple strategies to keep parents updated: https://www.staradvertiser.com/2010/10/08/hawaii-news/teacher-best-in-kids-book/
Families and classroom teachers (FACT) at Kaunakakai school: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/02/06/news/story4.html or http://themolokaidispatch.com/hero-kaunakakai-school/

2. Reflect on what you learned. How can you use what was learned to shape your approach to family engagement?

3. Peruse the resources section to see links to family engagement in current school projects in Hawai‘i.

4. Select two projects that pique your interest.

5. Based on the previous reading and the two projects you learned about, answer the following:

What is the most powerful aspect of family engagement you observed in this project?
Who took the initiative for the project?
How did the families, teachers, and students react?
What kinds of resources are available for you and your school to support your family engagement efforts?

1(g) The teacher understands the role of language and culture in learning and knows how to modify instruction to make language comprehensible and instruction relevant, accessible, and challenging.

1(h) The teacher respects learners’ differing strengths and needs and is committed to using this information to further each learner’s development.

2(d) The teacher brings multiple perspectives to the discussion of content, including attention to learners’ personal, family, and community experiences and cultural norms, including Native Hawaiian history and culture.

2(j) The teacher understands that learners bring assets for learning based on their individual experiences, abilities, talents, prior learning, and peer and social group interactions, as well as language, culture, family, and community values.

2(k) The teacher knows how to access information about the values of diverse cultures and communities and how to incorporate learners’ experiences, cultures, and community resources into instruction.

2(m) The teacher respects learners as individuals with differing personal and family backgrounds and various skills, abilities, perspectives, talents, and interests.

2(o) The teacher values diverse languages and dialects and seeks to integrate them into his/her instructional practice to engage students in learning.

8(p) The teacher is committed to deepening awareness and understanding the strengths and needs of diverse learners when planning and adjusting instruction.

Standard #9: Professional Learning and Ethical Practice

9(e) The teacher reflects on his/her personal biases and accesses resources to deepen his/her own understanding of cultural, ethnic, gender, and learning differences to build stronger relationships and create more relevant learning experiences.

9(i) The teacher understands how personal identity, worldview, and prior experience affect perceptions and expectations, and recognizes how they may bias behaviors and interactions with others.

10(f) The teacher engages in professional learning, contributes to the knowledge and skill of others, and works collaboratively to advance professional practice.

10(l) The teacher understands schools as organizations within a historical, cultural, political, and social context and knows how to work with others across the system to support learners.

10(m) The teacher understands that alignment of family, school, and community spheres of influence enhances student learning and that discontinuity in these spheres of influence interferes with learning.

http://www.waikikischool.org

Home visits allow teachers and families to connect in an informal setting, provide teachers an opportunity to expand their knowledge and understanding of students’ home lives and cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and provide opportunities to identify, prevent, and resolve problems in a more friendly and efficient manner.

Home visits allow teachers and families to connect in an informal setting, provide teachers an opportunity to expand their knowledge and understating of the students’ home life and cultural and linguistic background, and provide opportunities to identify, prevent, and resolve problems in a more friendly and efficient manner.

Conduct at least one home visit with the family of a diverse student in your class. Write 2 double-spaced pages of reflections about the experience, and indicate three specific things that you learned as well as three specific actions you can take to use your newly acquired knowledge and experience about the children and families you are serving in your daily teaching practices.

1. “Parent Teacher Home Visits: Creating a Bridge Between Parents and Teachers as Co-Educators in Springfield, MA and Seattle, WA” https://www.neafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/pthv-full-issue-brief-5.pdf

2. “Home Visits 101” at https://www.edutopia.org/article/home-visits-101-cristina-santamaria-graff

3. The Parent Teacher Home Visit Project provides some tips for scheduling and preparing for home visits. The project also provides educator training as well as hosts a conference on parent teacher home visits. http://www.pthvp.org

4. Should teachers visit student homes? The following blog appeared in The Washington Post and addresses this question. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/should-teachers-visit-student-homes/2011/08/17/gIQApbzoMJ_blog.html

Become familiar with the neighborhoods where the majority of your students live. You can then be aware of the resources available and refer students and families to them.

As the classroom teacher, are you familiar with your students’ community? What resources exist? What’s available in the community for students to do after school? Where do they go shopping? The neighborhoods students come from always have a great influence on students’ learning in class. When teachers spend time understanding where their students are from, the students get more respect from their teachers. At the same time, the teachers will have a deeper understanding of the neighborhood in terms of its history, challenges, and resources. Several places/ people you can visit:

Local landmarks
Longtime residents
Community activists
Church leaders
Small business owners who live or work in the neighborhood for years

With one or more colleagues, explore your school’s community. Before you go, do some homework first. You can jot down some questions that you want to ask community members. What you learn from the neighborhood walk will help you identify resources that you can use for your instruction. Also, you might start to build your relationship with parents before the school starts during the walk.

After or while familiarizing yourself with the neighborhood(s), draw a map illustrating the location of the school and the various resources in its vicinity.

7(m) The teacher knows when and how to access resources and collaborate with others to support student learning (e.g., special educators, related service providers, language learner specialists, librarians, media specialists, community organizations).

9(d) The teacher actively seeks professional, community, and technological resources, within and outside the school, as supports for analysis, reflection, and problem solving.

What Negative Effects Does Homework Have on a Student's Social & Family Life?

Van thompson, 25 jun 2018.

The amount of homework children bring home every day can be overwhelming. A 2004 University of Michigan study found that the amount of homework had increased 51 percent since 1981. While many educators use homework to supplement the material learned in class, homework doesn't always improve academic performance, and a 2003 "Review of Educational Research" study found that the current way teachers assign homework is not academically beneficial. Students who struggle with homework or who get a large volume of homework each night can experience negative effects in their family and social relationships.

Explore this article

Time Constraints
Family Stress
Less Active Learning
Disrupted Routines

1 Time Constraints

Homework takes time away from other pursuits. Children who have a large quantity of homework have less time to spend with their families and friends as regular social interaction plays a critical role in brain development. Children who get plenty of opportunities to interact with friends and family can gain valuable social, conflict management and impulse control skills. When homework reduces this time, children's social development may suffer.

2 Family Stress

It's not surprising that homework can greatly increase family stress. Parents may spend an inordinate amount of time fighting with their children over homework, enforcing homework rules and mastering concepts they need to help their children excel. The study found that stress, frustration and conflicts over homework are particularly pronounced in families with a child who is struggling academically.

3 Less Active Learning

Active learning is learning that occurs in context and that encourages participation. For example, a child who goes on a scavenger hunt with his friend and, upon seeing a frog, decides to watch the frog and learn about its movement is engaged in active learning. When homework takes children away from their friends and families, the opportunities for active learning are greatly decreased. This can decrease opportunities for parents to be involved in their children's education in a fun, mutually fulfilling way, and also reduces the amount of time children have to engage in active learning with their friends.

4 Disrupted Routines

Many families have established routines, such as eating dinner at a certain time or reading together before bed. These routines can increase closeness, make it easier to manage stress and ensure that a household runs smoothly. A child who has several hours of homework, for example, might not be able to eat dinner with her parents, and a parent might have to alter her schedule to help her child with homework. An everyday scenario like this, easily highlights how homework can disrupt family routines.

1 Child Development Supplement: Changing Times of American Youth
2 Penn State University: Is Homework Bad for Kids?

About the Author

Van Thompson is an attorney and writer. A former martial arts instructor, he holds bachelor's degrees in music and computer science from Westchester University, and a juris doctor from Georgia State University. He is the recipient of numerous writing awards, including a 2009 CALI Legal Writing Award.

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Dad arrested ‘after repeatedly calling police to complain about son’s homework’

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Adam Sizemore 'repeatedly' called his son's school and police in Oxford, Ohio, about the amount of homework his son got

A father who called his son’s school and police repeatedly to complain about the amount of homework was arrested.

Adam Sizemore went so far as demanding that Kramer Elementary School Principal Jason Merz ‘better put his big boy pants on’.

Officials at the school in Oxford, Ohio, started ignoring Sizemore’s calls in late February, and he in turn began phoning the police.

Detective Sergeant Adam Price said: ‘He calls dispatch, I think it was 18 times, roughly.

Adam Sizemore has denied most of the accusations against him

‘It was disruptive. This is a a K-5 school so there is not an abnormal amount of homework.’

Sizemore was extremely upset he only got to the police chief’s voicemail and was recorded saying: ‘He can come to my f****** house. I pay for him. He can come to my house.’

He did speak on the phone with officers and was also recorded sounding upset that they would not provide him with their names.

A dispatcher informed Sizemore that cops would be sent out due to his continuous calling and ‘that ultimately ended when we took him into custody for telecommunications harassment as well as a menacing charge’, said Price.

Adam Sizemore has been charged with two first-degree misdemeanors for telecommunications harassment and a fourth-degree misdemeanor menacing charge

Sizemore has been charged with two first-degree misdemeanors for telecommunications harassment and the fourth-degree misdemeanor menacing charge, states the complaint.

The dad denied ‘most’ of the accusations against him.

‘I’m a single dad of a boy and a girl and I’m just trying to do the best I can and that’s all I can do,’ Sizemore told TODAY.com last week. ‘People make mistakes.’

Sizemore faces up to six months in jail and as much as a $1,000 fine for each telecommunications harassment charge, and a $250 fine and up to 30 days behind bars for the menacing charge.

He was booked into Butler County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on March 28.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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Stabbing at Omaha’s Miller Park leaves one hurt

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A woman is in the hospital after a reported stabbing early Sunday in north Omaha.

Officers told 6 News they were called to Miller Park, near Minne Lusa Blvd. and Redick Avenue, just after 12:30 a.m. and found the lone victim, a 36-year-old woman, with a stab wound to her back. She reportedly told officers she was robbed by four teenagers before one of them stabbed her.

The victim was taken to Nebraska Medicine with a non-life-threatening wound.

Anyone with information is asked to give Omaha Crime Stoppers a call at (402) 444-STOP or submit an anonymous tip online.

More details will be shared as they are received. Stay with 6 News for the latest.

The incident, initially reported as a cutting, sent the woman to the hospital.

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How Can Parents Help Their Child Do School Homework?
Mother Helping Son With Homework Sitting At Desk In Bedroom
Should Parents Help With Homework?
How to Help your Kids do Their Homework
5 Ways To Get Parents Involved in Student Learning Beyond Homework
Homework: What to Expect and How to Help Them at Secondary School

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Homework: The Good and The Bad
The impact of homework may also depend on socioeconomic status. Students from higher income families show improved academic skills with more homework and gain more knowledge from homework, according to research. On the other hand, the academic performance of more disadvantaged children seems to be unaffected by homework (6, 7).
More than two hours of homework may be counterproductive, research
A Stanford education 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
Homework's Emotional Toll on Students and Families
For the older students who participated in the research, homework was a family flash point of a different kind. Ms. Pope and her colleagues intentionally designed their research and wrote their paper to focus on the voices of the students and on their perspective about homework, arguing that it is the students' experience that "influences ...
Homework and Family Stress: With Consideration of Parents' Self
Homework is variously regarded as a necessary component to education, a worrisome reality for youth, and source of stressful interaction between parents and children. ... Family stress was examined in the context of children's homework load and parents' perception of their capacity to assist their children with homework. Homework load was ...
Is homework robbing your family of joy? You're not alone
In a 2019 survey of 1,049 parents with children in elementary, middle, or high school, Office Depot found that parents spend an average of 21 minutes a day helping their children with their ...
How important is homework, and how much should parents help?
Many parents and educators have raised concerns about homework and questioned how effective it is in enhancing students' learning. There are also concerns that students may be getting too much homework, which ultimately interferes with quality family time and opportunities for physical activity and play. Research suggests that these concerns ...
Homework and family stress: With consideration of parents' self
Family stress was examined in the context of children's homework load and parents' perception of their capacity to assist their children with homework. Homework load was measured utilizing the 10 Minute Rule promulgated by the National Education Association. Family stress, measured by self-report, increased as homework load increased and as parent's perception of their capacity to assist ...
The Value of Parents Helping with Homework
Helping with homework is an important responsibility as a parent and directly supports the learning process. Parents' experience and expertise is priceless. ... Project-based learning activities examples are family tree projects, leaf collections, research papers, and a myriad of other hands-on learning assignments. Children love working with ...
Key Lessons: What Research Says About the Value of Homework
Homework has been in the headlines again recently and continues to be a topic of controversy, with claims that students and families are suffering under the burden of huge amounts of homework. School board members, educators, and parents may wish to turn to the research for answers to their questions about the benefits and drawbacks of homework.
When Homework Stresses Parents as Well as Students
Less-educated or Spanish-speaking parents may find it harder to evaluate or challenge the homework itself, or to say they think it is simply too much. "When the load is too much, it has a tremendous impact on family stress and the general tenor of the evening. It ruins your family time and kids view homework as a punishment," she said.
Is homework a necessary evil?
As homework load increased, so did family stress, the researchers found (American Journal of Family Therapy, 2015). Many high school students also seem to be exceeding the recommended amounts of homework. Pope and Galloway recently surveyed more than 4,300 students from 10 high-achieving high schools.
Is Homework Good for Kids? Here's What the Research Says
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 ...
Should Kids Get Homework?
Too much, however, is harmful. And homework has a greater positive effect on students in secondary school (grades 7-12) than those in elementary. "Every child should be doing homework, but the ...
Costs and Benefits of Family Involvement in Homework
Homework design also needs to develop the third topic— family involvement in the homework process. Families report that homework costs them time and energy when teachers fail to explain the assignment to students in class, assignments do not relate to classwork, or when students are unsure about how to complete it.
The Best Student Projects That Need Family Engagement
One section that stood out to me was on student homework projects requiring family involvement. I don't recall seeing previous research on that topic. Highbridge Green School students present a project their parents helped design is an article in Chalkbeat NY that appeared last year, but that I just saw. It's a short and sweet piece about a ...
Homework or Personal Lives?
Homework or Personal Lives? Many students get home and the first thing they do is homework. They're pressured by their parents to do their homework while simultaneously being encouraged to spend time with family, eat, spend time with friends, go outside, participate in sports or other extracurricular activities, and sleep for 7+ hours. Rather ...
Ways to Engage Families at Home
One of the barriers to family engagement in the schooling of their children is that often families do not know how to be involved 1. Teachers and schools with a commitment to parent involvement take an active role in helping parents learn a variety of ways to be involved. Student achievement is related to families help with homework.
What Negative Effects Does Homework Have on a Student's Social & Family
Is homework a huge topic for stress and disappointment in your household? Sadly, you're not alone. Too much homework is greatly impacting not only your child's social life, but also your family life as well. > ... It's not surprising that homework can greatly increase family stress. Parents may spend an inordinate amount of time fighting with ...
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Walking tour around Moscow-City.Thanks for watching!MY GEAR THAT I USEMinimalist Handheld SetupiPhone 11 128GB https://amzn.to/3zfqbboMic for Street https://...
Moscow
Introduction. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. K. Scholz/H. Armstrong Roberts. The capital and largest city of Russia, Moscow has always played a central role in the country's history. In the Middle Ages it was the capital of the powerful principality of Muscovy. For much of the 20th century it was the capital of the Soviet Union, representing ...
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Moscow is the capital of Russia , a country that extends from eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean. It is Russia's major center of industry, science, and culture. The city lies on the Moskva River.
Dad who 'repeatedly called to complain about son's homework arrested
A father who called his son's school and police repeatedly to complain about the amount of homework was arrested. Adam Sizemore went so far as demanding that Kramer Elementary School Principal ...
Stabbing at Omaha's Miller Park leaves one hurt
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A woman is in the hospital after a reported cutting early Sunday in north Omaha. Officers told 6 News they were called to Miller Park just after 12:30 a.m. and found the lone ...
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Homework: The Good and The Bad

Academic benefits vs risks of homework

Non-academic benefits vs risks of homework

What is the “right” amount of homework?

How can parents best help with homework?

1. Help only when needed.

2. Have structure and routines.

3. Set specific rules around homework.

4. Emphasize learning over outcome.

5. Stay calm and positive.

6. Praise hard work and effort.

7. Communicate with your child’s teacher.

Our 3-Step Strategy

For educational purposes only. Not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, illness or disease.

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How important is homework, and how much should parents help?

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K-12 Resources By Teachers, For Teachers Provided by the K-12 Teachers Alliance

The Value of Parents Helping with Homework

How Parental Involvement with Homework Impacts Students

Strategies for Including Parents in Homework

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Homework or Personal Lives?

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Ways to Engage Families at Home

What Negative Effects Does Homework Have on a Student's Social & Family Life?

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1 Time Constraints

2 Family Stress

3 Less Active Learning

4 Disrupted Routines

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