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Makayla Boyd
English 6 and 7
Berens

Homework: Does It Help Students?

Elizabeth Jones has a 17-year-old daughter in high school named Julia.
According to Elizabeth, Julia was a very organized and together girl. She
always did her work and got straight As. She never threw conniptions about
school or homework until this year, her junior year. Her mother says that Julia
is always up until about one in the morning doing homework. Her mother
thinks that its been a pretty bad year for her daughter because of all the
homework shes been receiving. (Excessive Homework Strains Family Life).
A school district in Irving Texas stopped counting homework for grades.
Homework became optional and after six weeks half of the high school
students were failing a class. This according to the school was much higher
than the previous year. (Student Performance Suffers When Homework Is
Optional). Homework was originally made to help reinforce learning and help
students comprehend, yet recently many people have been questioning if
homework really helps students and if they are getting too much or not
enough. Here lies the age old question: Is homework helping students? And
another question that has recently come about: Are students receiving too
much homework? How do the parents feel about homework? Who does this
affect? What are the different perspectives? Many students feel like they are

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being bombarded with homework every day. Other people feel the amount of
homework kids receive is perfectly fine. Some even think we should give
more homework to catch up with countries like China who they feel have a
better education. This makes many students argue that we are not China.
Which sides right?
Why Some People Want Less Homework
Some people feel that kids are getting too much homework. Parents of
some of these students argue that their child has so much homework that
they cant spend do other things that they need them to, like chores. These
parents think that the homework keeps them from doing certain things that
are their childs responsibility. Also, the parents argue that kids cant do
things that they want to do such as sports, watch TV, play games, and go to
friends houses. Parents feel that doing these things are a natural part of
being a kid and play time is proven to be healthy for brain development and
good exercise. (Parents Should Take Action Against Excessive Homework)
They feel it isnt fair to the kids. Students generally tend to be on this side of
the argument. These students agree with the parent that they would like
time for clubs and stuff, but the homework takes too much time out of their
day.
Another thing according to these students and parents is that the
student doesnt have much time for their family. This upsets many families
who try to plan out some family activities. Another thing connecting to the

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family time is that it can cause tension between the parent and the child.
The two could get into an argument about a problem making them upset
with one another. This extra tension will more than likely cause less work to
get done on the assignment. This extra tension could also possibly break up
some families.
Wendy J Ponte said in one of her articles Imagine taking a job where
you are told: Work is over at 6:00 p.m. However, we also supervise your
time at home and on vacations. We will make sure that you leave the office
every night with a minimum of three hours of paperwork to do, and if we
can't find something that really needs to get done, we'll make something up.
And, sure, you can go on vacation if you like. We'll even cut back on the
busyworka bit. And, by the way, you will be paid nothing for this, and you
can't quit this job." Wendy says that this is the reality for many kids who go
to school. (Excessive Homework trains Family Life) This brings us to the next
thing that people on this side are worried about: stress. Parents are afraid
that their kids are getting too stressed out over homework. Kids are
developing more school-related stomachaches, headaches, sleep problems,
and depression, than ever before, according to William Crain, Ph.D. (Parents
Should Take Action Against Excessive Homework). Some parents believe
what William says is connected to the stress of homework.
The National Education Association states that teachers should only
give ten minutes worth of homework per grade level per night starting from

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the first grade. This is not heavily enforced in many school districts. Some
people feel if it was heavily enforced then some students wouldnt be as
stressed as they are. They also point out that the U.S Department of
Education said that usually a teacher can tell whether a student understands
a concept or not in only five algebraic problems. (Parents Should Take Action
Against Excessive Homework). This makes some people argue that if
teachers can see that then why do they give more than five problems of
homework and how come some teachers are allowed to give more than the
legal time frame of homework? Also, they argue if a student practices
something over and over again and its wrong then it wont help them. But
this is only one side of the argument.
Why Some People Want More Homework
Some people believe that students should receive more homework
than they currently have. High school students in the U.S. receive less than
an hours work of homework a day on average. (Differing Opinions on School
Stress and Healthy Homework Levels) This makes some people believe that
we should have more homework. Some people believe that the more
homework you get the more likely it is to keep some kids out of trouble and
off the streets.
These same people are usually believers in the More is Better
Theory. This theory means that the more homework that you give to a
student, the better the student will be at the skills that the homework is

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teaching. This theory is used in many school districts in the United States.
Again, these same people argue that this goes along with the old saying
practice makes perfect. Meaning that the more you practice the better you
will become at a particular skill. Some argue that this is similar to how in
sports someone will practice basketball for long periods of time. The more
time they practice the better they will become. Its the same concept.
People who want more homework say that if a high school student is
averaging less than an hour, then they are under the ten minute per grade
rule. If you are between ninth and twelfth grade, you should be getting
between ninety and hundred and twenty minutes worth of homework. This is
another reason why some people think that there should be more homework.
Also, they argue that not all teachers will be able to tell in five problems if a
student understands a problem. They also say that if a parent checks their
work they will be able to tell them what they are doing wrong so that they
wont repeat the wrong thing. Some think the student actually might even
figure out what theyre doing wrong by working out so many problems.
Another reason why some people support more homework is because
they believe it will help the kids become responsible for certain things. If a
kid is able to manage the time between homework, school, clubs, sports, and
more then they will be able to develop time management skills. Some
believe this is needed in college and, if youre a younger kid, it will be

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needed as you go up to higher grades. This also will teach kids to be

responsible for getting work done according to some parents.
They also say it helps them learn to not get stressed so easily. Jay
Mathews stated The researchers provide many quotes from harried
teenagers, who might not be the most reliable judges of what stresses, are
good and what aren't. Some scholars note that such heavy loads are rare
nationally, and most parents have no problem with the homework their
children receive. (Differing Opinions on School Stress and Healthy
Homework Levels) He is talking about how one woman, Denis Clark Pope,
wanted to reduce kids stress levels by decreasing homework and so she
wrote a book. He thinks she is biased in who she picked to interview for her
book. He also stated in the same article I don't question the value of getting
detailed responses from students on this issue. Kids might exaggerate their
pain, but who doesn't? In this quote, he is talking about how he believes
some kids might exaggerate how much homework they get and how
stressed they are about their homework. So how do you feel now that weve
seen both perspectives? How much homework should students get? Some
say we should get no homework at all.
No Homework Necessary?
Up until now weve been arguing about how much homework a student
should get. Well, theres another side to this: Should students get any
homework at all? Some researchers say that they dont believe that kids

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should get any because there is no research proving that homework helps
them. Researchers say that the more is better theory has no evidence to
back it up since test scores seem to remain about the same. The National
Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) says that in each of the states it
tested result have shown little change in the past ten years. (Students and
Homework) Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, authors of The Case Against
Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Children and What Parents Can Do
About It, and Alfie Kohl author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too
Much of a Bad Thing, state that there isnt research that proves the
relationship between the amount of homework a student receives and the
academic improvement in that student during elementary school. (Excessive
Homework Strains Family Life). Also, a study at Duke University shows that
elementary students dont receive academic benefits besides reading
practice. Also middle and high school students see no academic increase
after two hours of homework per night. Homework Has Value When It
Reinforces Learning)
Christine Hendricks was a mother of three. She saw how stressed her
kids were with their homework and how they were getting what seemed like
too much to her. She decided to ban homework at her childrens school, she
was the principal. The only exception was when they gave some homework
for studying for a test. After two years of the new no homework policy,
Christine said that it was a success. Parents came up to her saying they
appreciated it and that they had more family time now. The kids could do

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more activities after school now too. Also, she said that there were no
disadvantages. (Parents Should Take Action Against Excessive Homework)
Another similar example was when a teacher at South Valley Middle School
named Joel Wazac decided to get rid of homework in his class. He said he
noticed that many students werent completing all of the homework
problems he sent home. All the math teachers at that school got rid of
homework and decided to concentrate more on class lessons. Wazac said he
had more time for planning now and could help a student right in class
instead of a parent looking over a problem and trying to explain it. Grades
went up and the standardized math test scores are the highest theyve been.
(Parents Should Take Action Against Excessive Homework) Some argue that if
all teachers did this they could make more engaging lesson which would
teach the students more than any homework assignment.
Some people argue that homework needs further research because if
you look at the effects of homework over a long period of time the impact of
homework isnt obvious. But one prominent researcherwho does place
stock in these measuresnoticed something interesting when he reviewed
48 comparisons in 17 published reports of research projects that had lasted
anywhere from two to thirty weeks: The longer the duration of the study, the
less impact that homework had. (The Value of Homework Needs Further
Research) So some people wonder if there is no proof of homework helping
students then why must students do it. They also wonder why there is so

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much given out if it hurts to study too much. The other side has answers to
these questions and more.

Homework Is Necessary?
The last side to this argument is that homework is necessary and that
it should be used. People on this side of the argument dont argue over how
much is needed but do argue that it is needed. Their first argument for why it
is needed is because they say improves test grades. Without homework,
some people believe test scores would go down. Some studies have shown
that kids who do homework have better test grades, and grades in general,
then those who do not.
Some people also believe that the Irving, Texas School from the
introduction is a good example of why students should have homework. They
say that teenagers are not capable of knowing when they should study on
their own and that is why some of them were failing one or more classes.
Approximately 4,597 students were failing a class which was worse than the
amount for the previous year, which was 3,412 students. (Student
Performance Suffers When Homework Is Optional) People on this side argue
that students need to learn how to study by getting homework because they
are going to get it in college. They wonder how students will pass if they
dont know how to study or do homework, especially since college is going to
be harder. They also wonder how they can pass exams if they dont know

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how to study and if they dont do homework that helps them. In the Irving,
Texas school district example parents were noticing that their children
werent as ready to take tests as they had been back when they had
homework. The parents are also worried that the kids who have poor grades
or who do badly on tests will start to do badly in other classes and get behind
in school. (Student Performance Suffers When Homework Is Optional)
Some people on this side say that we not only need some homework,
but it has to be mandatory. They think that if homework is optional then kids
wont do it at all which would cause the same problem that the Irving school
district was having, people failing. There is another possible outcome of this
situation. Some kids could do the homework and others might not. Parents
are afraid that the kids who need to do it the most wont do it. This would
still cause kids to fail. Not learn how to study, and more than likely do poorly
on tests and exams. Making homework mandatory would cause students to
be forced to do homework. Supporters on this side say this would help them
in the long run with all the tests and exams. They also say that this would
also help them if they were to have a pop quiz. If students dont do
homework and they have a pop quiz, parents on this side feel that their
student would be unprepared and would do badly on the quiz.
Believers on this side of the argument have argue that students start
to do worse the longer you watch over them and their grades. They say its
only true for some people. They believe that not all students grades drop

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after that and the ones who do drop only drop because they start to get
caught up in more work. Once they figure out a way to manage everything
their grades begin to go back up. Also, they say that the ones who do drop
might need help. They think that the homework will start to help them and
their grades will go right back up. Another reason the grades might get
worse is because some might not care anymore and that would make them
not do the homework at all. Those were just some of the possibilities why the
results could have gone down.

Closing Statements and Thoughts

Homework is a very controversial topic that people have been arguing
over for years. When people arent arguing over how much homework is
needed they are arguing over if its necessary. Many theories and research
papers have been done on this topic and there will continue to be more. No
groundbreaking research has been found yet to support any sides that have
been stated in this paper. Many of the arguments made can be refuted on all
sides. Many of the researchers were slightly or extremely bias to one side
which could have a skewed the data provided. Ever since the No Child Left
Behind act, made by president George W. Bush, schools have been changing
rules on homework and classwork. Some say this is the reason for the recent
battles over homework. This law required to test students in reading and

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math in grades 3-8 and high school. It is meant to give kids an equal
opportunity at learning.
In the end, theres always going to be people who view things
differently and debate over issues such as this one. We must continue to
conduct research and experiments to truly discover what is helpful to our
future leaders. After all the research thats been done we still have the same
questions: Is homework helping students? Are students receiving too much
homework? Its safe to say that both sides have their benefits and their
disadvantages. They both also have good research behind them too, but with
great research comes more questions. The new questions that have emerged
include the old quantity versus quality question. To be more specific: Is it the
amount of homework that matters or whats in the homework that really
matters? And also, is homework valuable to students or not? Can we get
research that proves any of the sides in this research paper without being
bias?

Annotated Bibliography

COOPER, HARRIS. "Homework." Encyclopedia of Education. Ed. James W.

Guthrie. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002.
1063-1065. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet

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Window?
javax.portlet.action=doSearch&action=1&avoidSearchHistory=true&q
uery=RN+CX3403200296&prodId=OVIC&p=OVIC&u=cinc76374&p=O
VIC
This discusses the positive and negative effects of homework. Positive being
it helps with understanding and study skills. The negative being it deny
leisure time and can promote cheating if students start to just copy
each others homework. It discusses the public attitudes toward
homework and its purpose too. It provides researches on effective
homework and appropriate amounts of homework too.
Gatto, John Taylor. "Life Lessons Are More Important Than School Lessons."
Do Students Have Too Much Homework? Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Take Back Your
Education." Yes! Magazine (9 Sept. 2009). Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet
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The author talks about John Taylor Gatto, a former teacher New York teacher,
book about how life lessons are more beneficial than homework. This
teacher believes that only the student can educate themselves. The
teacher believes you cant get a good education by memorizing stuff
which the system requires students to do. The teacher believes only
experiences can make you learn lessons and really educate you.
Graham, Susan. "Student Performance Suffers When Homework Is Optional."
Do Students Have Too Much Homework? Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "The 100-Year Homework
War." Education Week 3 Nov. 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 22 Jan. 2015. Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet
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In this article it talks about how a Texas school stopped counting homework
assignments as a grade and it became optional. After six weeks half of
the high school students were failing a class according to this website.
This is more students who failed than the previous year. The article
questions if homework is beneficial or not to students. It also talks
about how the high school has to give retakes on exams if a student

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fails the first time. Even if the student was caught cheating the first
time.

Kohn, Alfie. "The Value of Homework Needs Further Research." Do Students

Have Too Much Homework? Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit: Greenhaven
Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Studies Support Rewards, Homework,
and Traditional Teaching. Or Do They?" alfiekohn.org. 2011. Opposing
Viewpoints in Context. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet
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javax.portlet.action=doSearch&action=1&avoidSearchHistory=true&q
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In this article the author quotes Alfie Kohn who says that at first homework
seems good but it has recently been shown to have less of an impact.
The article talks about how it is common for things to be thought to be
good then it turn to to be bad. It questions long term learning goals
and short term learning goals. The website says this eye-opener The
longer you track the kids, the more likely that a drill-and-skill approach
will show no benefits and may even appear to be harmful, It goes on
to explain that with time results for if homework is good or bad change.

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Mangione, Lisa. "Homework Has Value When It Reinforces Learning." Do

Students Have Too Much Homework? Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit:
Greenhaven Press, 2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "Is Homework Working?"
Phi Delta Kappan 89.8 (Apr. 2008): 614-615. Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 21 Jan. 2015. Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet
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The author talks about her experience sand opinions about homework. One
of her viewpoints is that she feels that homework should be able to be
done with the student alone. She doesnt believe the parent should
have to hover over their child while theyre doing homework. She also
talks about her dads point of view of homework. Her dad thinks that
homework should be used to restate and review what was already
learned and should be for practice.
Mathews, Jay. "Differing opinions on school stress and healthy homework
levels." Washington Post 28 Apr. 2014. Opposing Viewpoints in Context.
Web. 23 Jan. 2015. Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet

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Window?
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The author discusses another authors claim about homework. The author
believes stress has helped people who worked hard in school whether
they want to admit it or not. The author mainly talks about the other
author, Denise Clark Pope. Denise believes students get too much
homework which causes stress and that too much stress isnt good.
Denise also believes that the more time you spend on homework the
greater the stress and less time for family.

Ponte, Wendy J. "Excessive Homework Strains Family Life." Do Students Have

Too Much Homework? Ed. Judeen Bartos. Detroit: Greenhaven Press,
2012. At Issue. Rpt. from "No More Homework." Mothering 149 (2008):
58-66. Web. 5 Feb. 2015.
The author discusses how some students feel very stressed about the work
that they are receiving in school. One girl never complained about
homework until her junior year. Her mother says she thinks that her
daughter receives too much homework. This also discusses how family
life is being affected because of the amount of homework some
families receive.

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"Students and Homework." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit:

Gale, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 21 Jan. 2015
Document URL
http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/PageFinderPortletPage/PageFinderPortlet
Window?
javax.portlet.action=doSearch&action=1&avoidSearchHistory=true&q
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The author of this article goes to point out how the more is better theory
goes unquestioned in many school districts. They say that philosophy
doesnt agree with that theory. Someone in the article named Daniel H.
Pink believes that schools rely on motivation therefor not teaching the
kids to understand. He states In our offices and our classrooms we
have way too much compliance and way too little engagement.
According to this website educators view homework as a method of
achievement.

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