Cooper 1989 Homework
Onfroi Baird
A poll conducted for the Associated Press in January 2006 found that about 57% of parents felt their child was assigned about the right amount of homework. Another 23% thought it was too little, and 19% thought it was too much. A survey conducted by MetLife in 2007 found that 87% of parents saw that helping their child with homework was an opportunity for them to talk and spend time together. More than three fourths (78%) did not think homework interfered with family time, and nearly as many (71%) thought that it was not a source of major stress.
But opinions cannot tell us whether homework works; only research can. My colleagues and I analyzed dozens of homework studies conducted between 1987 and 2003 to examine whether homework is beneficial and what amount of homework is appropriate for our children (Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006).
However, 35 less rigorous (correlational) studies suggest little or no relationship between homework and achievement for elementary school students. The average correlation between time spent on homework and achievement was substantial for secondary school students, but for elementary school students, it hovered around no relationship at all.
Why might that be? Younger children have less developed study habits and are less able to tune out distractions at home. Studies also suggest that young students who are struggling in school take more time to complete homework assignments simply because these assignments are more difficult for them.
These recommendations are consistent with the conclusions reached by our analysis. Practice assignments do improve scores on class tests at all grade levels. A little amount of homework may help elementary school students build study habits. Homework for junior high students appears to reach the point of diminishing returns after about 90 minutes a night. For high school students, the positive line continues to climb until between 90 minutes and 2.5 hours of homework a night, after which returns diminish (Cooper, 1989; Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006).
My feeling is that homework policies should prescribe amounts of homework consistent with the research evidence, but they should also give individual schools and teachers some flexibility to take into account the unique needs and circumstances of their students and families. In general, teachers should avoid either extreme.
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The literature on homework for students with learning disabilities is reviewed. First, a summary of Cooper's (1989a) synthesis of research on homework for students without disabilities is presented, including (a) a definition of homework, (b) a model of the homework process, (c) the results of a meta-analysis of homework studies, and (d) generic policy guidelines. Next, special education research on homework conducted after 1985 is described. The literature is divided into studies that manipulated homework conditions and homework-related surveys of teachers and parents. The results of the literature review suggest that homework policies and practices for students with learning disabilities should emphasize (a) simple, short assignments; (b) careful monitoring by and prominent rewards from teachers; and (c) parental involvement, especially to provide structure, conducive environments, and immediate rewards.
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As a former teacher (I landed my first gig as a private school substitute teacher in 1989 while still attending college), administrator, author, presenter, and consultant, I have been involved in almost every aspect of public education for quite some time. I have been in the classroom as both a teacher and administrator, spent many an evening participating in District wide School Board meetings, worked closely with parents and have worked as an educator in three states and one provincial setting. In addition, I have seen four children, two with special needs, through the national education system. These experiences have given me much insight into the issue of homework, its pros, its cons, and its effect on children, families, and schools. Homework is a matter of great importance to all and deserves closer examination.
While Kohn and others continue to crusade for the end of homework there are ways to give homework that can be beneficial to both students and teachers. Indeed, there have been a few studies including two large meta-analytical studies (Cooper, 1989 & Cooper, Robinson, & Patall, 2006) that have found that homework can have benefits for students. In both studies, the relationship between homework and achievement was statistically positive. Even so, they also decry the lack of teacher training in how to give appropriate homework and warn against too much homework being given. So what it the happy median? What strategies can both teachers and parents use to make sure that homework is constructed and delivered in a manner that benefits students?
These tend to show an overall positive relationship between homework compilation and attainment. For instance, in his most widely cited analysis, Cooper reviewed 20 US studies conducted between 1962 and 1986 and found that secondary level pupils who completed homework assignments outperformed by 69 per cent those who completed no homework (Cooper, 1989).
Other researchers have also found homework to have a positive impact on attainment. Fan, Xu, Cai and Fan (2017), for example, found a largely positive relationship between homework and attainment in maths and science in particular.
I have been involved in a number of projects over the last four years involving schools in a local Challenge Partners hub, which is a network of schools working together on various development plans to trial and share best practice ideas.
The first of these, in the 2017/18 academic year, was on homework and we followed that with retrieval practice and interleaving in the following years (until we were hit by Covid). Over the first lockdown, I reviewed all of this information and wrote it up in a book entitled Homework With Impact: Why what you set and how you set it matters (Routledge, 2021).
Homework should focus on either practising previously taught knowledge or preparation for the next lesson. My colleagues felt that these types of activities benefited their own practice and many researchers concur (see, Hallam & Rogers 2018, for an overview). In later hub projects on retrieval practice (see Jones, 2019), tasks such as short exam-based practice questions or preparing by learning vocabulary or facts for low-stakes quizzes (see Jones, 2020) in the following lesson seemed to work well as homework tasks.
Even colleagues in creative arts subjects suggested that practice was a core proponent of successful homework tasks, especially perfecting techniques taught in practical lessons (if possible at home).
Pupil responses and various studies suggest that pupils learn more when allowed to practise fewer skills or concepts (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Therefore, homework should be set in small chunks in terms of content or focused on particular skills in order to be properly understood by pupils.
A later Hub project on interleaving (see Jones, 2020b) also demonstrated that homework tasks could revisit previously taught content. If feasible, homework activities can follow a spaced rotation where one short task is set on the current topic and another set on a previous topic.
An easy answer to the above is yes. Various studies suggest that the impact of homework at primary level is negligible whereas it is moderately effective at secondary level (Cooper 1989; Hattie 2009).
PRACTICE HOMEWORK reinforces learning from the skills and concepts already taught in the classroom. Practice homework promotes retention and automaticity of the concept, skill, and content taught. Examples include practicing multiplication facts or writing simple sentences in order to commit theses skills and concepts to long-term memory.
PREPARATION HOMEWORK is assigned to introduce content that will be addressed in future lessons. However, research suggests that homework is less effective if it is used to teach new or complex skills. For these types of assignments, students typically become stressed which can create a negative perspective towards learning and school.
EXTENSION HOMEWORK requires students to use previously taught skills and concepts and apply them to new situations or projects. For instance, students may use the concept of area and perimeter to build a flowerbed.
Homework also serves other purposes not directly related to instruction. Homework can help establish communication between parents and children; it can be used as a form of discipline; and it can inform parents about school topics and activities.
The homework debate often focuses on how and why homework affects student learning and achievement. Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology, and colleagues (2006) found there are both positive and negative consequences of homework.
Homework provides practice with content, concepts, and skills taught at school by the teacher. It can foster retention and understanding of the academic content. Some studies suggest that homework correlates with student achievement. Cooper, Robinson, and Patall (2006) discovered a positive correlation between the amount of the homework students do and their achievement at the secondary level. Some studies also suggest that assigning homework improves the achievement of low-performing students and students in low-performing schools. However, the correlation between student achievement and homework given to elementary students is inconclusive. Most research only supports homework for middle and high school students (Cooper 1989a; Kohn 2006).
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