View source for Homework

{{Short description|Educational practice}}
{{Other uses}}
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[[File:Homework - vector maths.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A person doing [[geometry]] homework|alt=]]
[[File:Tel Aviv-Yafo (997008136673805171).jpg|thumb|Children preparing homework on the street, [[Tel Aviv]], 1954]]
'''Homework''' is a set of tasks assigned to [[student]]s by their [[teacher]]s to be completed at [[home]]. Common homework assignments may include required [[reading]], a [[writing]] or [[typing]] project, [[Exercise (mathematics)|math problems]] to be completed, information to be reviewed before a [[Test (assessment)|test]], or other skills to be practiced.

The effects of homework are debated. Generally speaking, homework does not improve [[academic performance]] among young children. Homework may improve academic skills among older students, especially lower-achieving students. However, homework also creates stress for students and parents, and reduces the amount of time that students can spend in other activities.

== Purposes ==
[[File:Boy doing homework (4596604619).jpg|thumb|A child completing their homework]]
The basic objectives of assigning homework to students often align with [[school]]ing in general. However, teachers have many purposes for assigning homework, including:<ref>Synthesis of research on homework. H Cooper - ''Educational Leadership'', 1989 - addison.pausd.org</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Needlmen|first=Robert|title=Homework: The Rules of the Game|url=http://www.homework-desk.com/robert-needlman-book/|access-date=2014-03-18|archive-date=2014-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318134313/http://www.homework-desk.com/robert-needlman-book/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Epstein|first1=Joyce L.|last2=Voorhis|first2=Frances L. Van|date=2001-09-01|title=More Than Minutes: Teachers' Roles in Designing Homework|journal=Educational Psychologist|volume=36|issue=3|pages=181–193|doi=10.1207/S15326985EP3603_4|s2cid=144975563|issn=0046-1520}}</ref>
* reinforcing skills taught in class
* extending skills to new situations
* preparing for future class lessons
* engaging students in [[active learning]]
* developing [[time management]] and [[study skills]]
* promoting parent-student communications
* encouraging collaboration between students
* fulfilling school/[[School district|district]] policies 
* demonstrating a rigorous school program to others
* [[School discipline|punishing]] a student or a class

== Effects ==
=== Academic performance ===
[[File:L’éducation.jpg|thumb|[[Senegal]]ese child doing homework]]
Homework research dates back to the early 1900s. However, no consensus exists on the general effectiveness on homework.{{Sfnp|Trautwein|Köller|2003}} Results of homework studies vary based on multiple factors, such as the age group of those studied and the measure of academic performance.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|p=1}}

[[File:A girl is reading a book for school.jpg|thumb|An [[United States|American]] child is completing the required reading assignment.]]

Younger students who spend more time on homework generally have slightly worse, or the same academic performance, as those who spend less time on homework.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|pp=42–51}} Homework has not been shown to improve academic achievements for [[grade school]] students. Proponents claim that assigning homework to young children helps them learn good study habits.  No research has ever been conducted to determine whether this claim has any merit.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bazelon|first=Emily|date=2006-09-14|title=Forget Homework|language=en-US|work=Slate|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2006/09/forget_homework.html|access-date=2018-04-11|issn=1091-2339|archive-date=2018-04-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412082405/http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2006/09/forget_homework.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Among teenagers, students who spend more time on homework generally have higher [[Grading in education|grades]], and higher [[Test score|test scores]] than students who spend less time on homework.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|pp=42–51}} Large amounts of homework cause students' academic performance to worsen, even among older students.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|pp=42–51}}  Students who are assigned homework in [[Middle school|middle]] and [[high school]] score somewhat better on standardized tests, but the students who have more than 90 minutes of homework a day in middle school or more than two hours in high school score worse.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376208,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061110053414/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1376208%2C00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 10, 2006|title=The Myth About Homework|last=Wallis|first=Claudia|date=August 29, 2006|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}
</ref>

Low-achieving students receive more benefit from doing homework than high-achieving students.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-37494563|title=Is homework worth the hassle?|last=Coughlan|first=Sean|date=2016-09-28|work=BBC News|access-date=2017-04-21|language=en-GB|archive-date=2017-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422032836/http://www.bbc.com/news/education-37494563|url-status=live}}</ref>  However, school teachers commonly assign less homework to the students who need it most, and more homework to the students who are performing well.<ref name=":0" /> In past centuries, homework was a cause of academic failure: when school attendance was optional, students would [[Dropping out of school|drop out of school]] entirely if they were unable to keep up with the homework assigned.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/10/parents-complaining-about-homework-history.html|title=The Long History of Parents Complaining About Their Kids' Homework|last=Onion|first=Rebecca|date=2019-10-04|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=2019-10-04|archive-date=2019-10-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191004194112/https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/10/parents-complaining-about-homework-history.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Non-academic ===
The amount of homework given does not necessarily affect students' attitudes towards homework and various other aspects of school.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|p=1}}

{{Harvtxt|Epstein|1988}} found a near-zero correlation between the amount of homework and parents' reports on how well their elementary school students behaved. {{Harvtxt|Vazsonyi|Pickering|2003}} studied 809 [[Adolescence|adolescents]] in American high schools, and found that, using the Normative Deviance Scale as a model for [[Deviance (sociology)|deviance]], the correlation was {{math|''r'' {{=}} 0.28}} for [[White people|white]] students, and {{math|''r'' {{=}} 0.24}} for [[African Americans|African-American]] students. For all three of the correlations, higher values represent a higher correlation between time spent on homework and poor conduct.{{Sfnp|Cooper|Robinson|Patall|2006|p=47}}

{{Harvtxt|Bempechat|2004}} says that homework develops students' motivation and study skills. In a single study, parents and teachers of middle school students believed that homework improved students' study skills and personal responsibility skills.{{Sfnp|Xu|Yuan|2003}} Their students were more likely to have negative perceptions about homework and were less likely to ascribe the development of such skills to homework.{{Sfnp|Xu|Yuan|2003}} {{Harvtxt|Leone|Richards|1989}} found that students generally had [[negative emotion]]s when completing homework and reduced engagement compared to other activities.

=== Busy work ===
{{Tone|section|date=March 2025}}
The intention of homework is to further test students' knowledge at home. However, there is a line between productive work and busy work. Busy work has no inherent value; it just occupies time. Karin Chenoweth provides an example of a student taking chemistry who must color a mole for homework.<ref>Chenowith, Karin. "Homework vs. Busywork: Tales from Home and a Request for More." ''The Washington Post'', Feb 13 2003.</ref> Chenoweth shared how busy work like this can have a negative effect on students, and explained that having this simple drawing is of no worth in terms of learning, yet it lowered the student's grade in class. However, Miriam Ferzli et. al. point out that just because an assignment is time consuming does not give students the right to call an assignment "busy work," which can be seen in the case of lab reports, which are indeed time consuming but which are also key to learning.<ref>Ferzli, Miriam, Michael Carter, and Eric Wiebe. "Transforming Lab Reports from Busy Work to Meaningful Learning Opportunities." LabWrite. ''Journal of College Science Teaching'', November/ December, 2005.</ref>

One way to promote productive learning starts in the classroom and then seeps into the homework.<ref name=":4" /> Brian Cook and Andrea Babon point to the difference between active and passive learning, noting that [[active learning]] promotes engagement and "a deeper approach to learning that enables students to develop meaning from [[knowledge]]." Cook and Babon discuss the use of weekly quizzes, which are based on the course readings and which test each student's understanding at the end of each week. Weekly quizzes engage not only students, but also teachers, who must look at what is commonly missed, review students' answers, and clear up any misunderstandings.<ref name=":4">Cook, Brian Robert and Andrea Babon. "Active Learning Through Online Quizzes: Better Learning and Less (busy) Work." ''Journal of Geography in Higher Education'', 41,1. 2017. 24–38.</ref> 

Sarah Greenwald and Judy Holdener discuss the rise of online homework and report that "online homework can increase student engagement, and students generally appreciate the immediate feedback offered by online homework systems as well as the ability to have multiple attempts after an incorrect solution."<ref>Greenwald, Sarah J. and Judy A. Holdener. "The Creation and Implementation of Effective Homework Assignments (Part 1): Creation." ''PRIMUS, 29''(1): 1–8, 2019.</ref> Greenwald and Holdener state that after creating effective homework assignments, teachers must also implement the learning from that homework.<ref name=":02">Greenwald, Sarah J. and Judy A. Holdener. "The Creation and Implementation of Effective Homework Assignments (Part 2): Implementation." ''PRIMUS, 29''(2): 103–110, 2019</ref> Greenwald and Holdener point to a teacher who uses a two-step homework process of connecting homework to classroom learning by first assigning homework followed by in-class presentations. The teacher says using class time for following up on homework gives that connection to what is learned in the class, noting, "In the initial step students complete and submit (traditional) homework assignments electronically, and then later they revisit their work through presentations of selected problems during class.<ref name=":03">Greenwald, Sarah J. and Judy A. Holdener. "The Creation and Implementation of Effective Homework Assignments (Part 2): Implementation." ''PRIMUS, 29''(2): 103–110, 2019</ref> [[File:Homework in the bus.jpg|thumb|upright|Tanzanian student doing her homework in a [[school bus]] before getting home]]

=== Health and daily life ===
Homework has been identified in numerous studies and articles as a dominant or significant source of stress and anxiety for students.<ref>{{Harvp|Bauwens|Hourcade|1992}}, {{Harvp|Conner|Pope|Galloway|2009}}, {{Harvp|Hardy|2003}}, {{Harvp|Kouzma|Kennedy|2002}}, {{Harvp|West|Wood|1970}}, {{Harvp|Ystgaard|1997}}.</ref> Studies on the relation between homework and health are few compared to studies on academic performance.{{Sfnp|Cheung|Leung-Ngai|1992|p=146}}{{Sfnp|Galloway|Conner|Pope|2013|p=493}}

{{Harvtxt|Cheung|Leung-Ngai|1992}} surveyed 1,983 students in Hong Kong, and found that homework led not only to added stress and anxiety, but also physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomachaches. Students in the survey who were ridiculed or punished by parents and peers had a higher incidence of [[Clinical depression|depression]] symptoms, with 2.2% of students reporting that they "always" had suicidal thoughts, and anxiety was exacerbated by punishments and criticism of students by teachers for both problems with homework as well as forgetting to hand in homework.

A 2007 study of American students by [[MetLife]] found that 89% of students felt stressed from homework, with 34% reporting that they "often" or "very often" felt stressed from homework. Stress was especially evident among high school students. Students that reported stress from homework were more likely to be deprived of sleep.{{Sfnp|Markow|Kim|Liebman|2007|p=137}}

Homework can cause tension and conflict in the home as well as at school, and can reduce students' family and leisure time. In the {{Harvtxt|Cheung|Leung-Ngai|1992}} survey, failure to complete homework and low grades where homework was a contributing factor was correlated with greater conflict; some students have reported teachers and parents frequently criticizing their work. In the MetLife study, high school students reported spending more time completing homework than performing home tasks.{{Sfnp|Markow|Kim|Liebman|2007}} {{Harvtxt|Kohn|2006}} argued that homework can create family conflict and reduce students' quality of life. The authors of {{Harvtxt|Sallee|Rigler|2008}}, both high school English teachers, reported that their homework disrupted their students' [[Extracurricular activity|extracurricular activities]] and responsibilities. However, {{Harvtxt|Kiewra|Kaufman|Hart|Scoular|2009}} found that parents were less likely to report homework as a distraction from their children's activities and responsibilities. {{Harvtxt|Galloway|Conner|Pope|2013}} recommended further empirical study relating to this aspect due to the difference between student and parent observations.

=== Time use ===
A [[University of Michigan Institute for Social Research]] nationally representative survey of American 15- to 17-year olds, conducted in 2003, found an average of 50 minutes of homework each weekday.<ref>F. Thomas Juster, Hiromi Ono and Frank P. Stafford, ''[http://ns.umich.edu/Releases/2004/Nov04/teen_time_report.pdf Changing Times of American Youth: 1981-2003] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516084636/http://ns.umich.edu/Releases/2004/Nov04/teen_time_report.pdf |date=2022-05-16 }}'', University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (Ann Arbor, Michigan: November 2004).</ref>

A 2019 [[Pew Research Center]] review of [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]]' [[American Time Use Survey]] data reported that 15-, 16-, and 17-year-old Americans spent on average an hour a day on homework during the school year. The change in this demographic's average daily time spent doing homework (during the school year) increased by about 16 minutes from 2003–2006 to 2014–2017. U.S. teenage girls spent more time doing homework than U.S. teenage boys.<ref>Gretchen Livingston, [https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/02/20/the-way-u-s-teens-spend-their-time-is-changing-but-differences-between-boys-and-girls-persist/ The way U.S. teens spend their time is changing, but differences between boys and girls persist], Pew Research Center (February 20, 2019).</ref>

A 2019 nationally representative survey of 95,505 freshmen at U.S. colleges, conducted by the [[UCLA Higher Education Research Institute]], asked respondents, "During your last year in high school, how much time did you spend during a typical week studying/doing homework?" 1.9% of respondents said none, 7.4% said less than one hour, 19.5% said 1–2 hours, 27.9% said 3–5 hours, 21.4% said 6–10 hours, 11.4% said 11–15 hours, 6.0% said 16–20 hours, 4.5% said over 20 hours.<ref>Ellen Bara Stolzenberg et al., ''[https://www.heri.ucla.edu/monographs/TheAmericanFreshman2019.pdf The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2019]'', Higher Education Research Institute, Graduate School of Education & Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, p. 42.</ref>

{{Harvtxt|Galloway|Conner|Pope|2013}} surveyed 4,317 students from ten "privileged, high-performing" high schools in the U.S., and found that students reported spending more than 3 hours on homework daily. 72% of the students reported stress from homework, and 82% reported physical symptoms. The students slept an average of 6 hours 48 minutes, lower than [[Sleep#Ideal duration|recommendations]] prescribed by various health agencies.

===Benefits===
Some educators argue that homework is beneficial to students, as it enhances learning, develops the skills taught in class, and lets educators verify that students comprehend their lessons.<ref name=":1">Grohnke, Kennedy, and Jake Merritt. "Do Kids Need Homework?" ''Scholastic: News/ Weekly Reader Edition 5/6'', vol. 85, no. 3, 2016, pp. 7.</ref> Proponents also argue that homework makes it more likely that students will develop and maintain proper study habits that they can use throughout their educational career.<ref name=":1" />

== History ==
[[File:Homework in Japan, Taisho era (1915 by Elstner Hilton).jpg|thumb|right|Japanese students doing homework, {{Circa|1915}}]]
[[File:Yrjö Ollila - Hearing the Homework.jpg|thumb|[[Hearing the Homework]]; Yrjö Ollila ]]

=== United States ===
Historically, homework was frowned upon in [[Culture of the United States|American culture]]. With few students able to pursue [[higher education]], and with many children and teenagers needing to dedicate significant amounts of time to chores and [[Farmworker|farm work]], homework was disliked not only by parents, but also by some schools. The students' inability to keep up with the homework, which was largely memorizing an assigned text at home, contributed to students [[dropping out]] of school at a relatively early age. Attending school was not legally required, and if the student could not spend afternoons and evenings working on homework, then the student could quit school.<ref name=":2" />

Complaints from parents were common at all levels of society.<ref name=":2" /> In 1880, [[Francis Amasa Walker]] convinced the school board in Boston to prohibit teachers from assigning math homework under normal circumstances.<ref name=":2" /> In 1900, journalist [[Edward Bok]] railed against schools assigning homework to students until age 15.<ref name=":2" /> He encouraged parents to send notes to their children's teachers to demand the end of all homework assignments, and thousands of parents did so.<ref name=":2" /> Others looked at the new [[child labor laws in the United States]] and noted that school time plus homework exceeded the number of hours that a child would be permitted to work for pay.<ref name=":2" />  The campaign resulted in the US Congress receiving testimony to the effect that experts thought children should never have any homework, and that [[teenagers]] should be limited to a maximum of two hours of homework per day.<ref name=":2" /> In 1901, the [[California]] legislature passed an act that effectively abolished homework for anyone under the age of 15.<ref name=":2" />  While homework was generally out of favor in the first half of the 20th century, some people supported homework reform, such as by making the assignments more relevant to the students' non-school lives, rather than prohibiting it.<ref name=":2" />

In the 1950s, with increasing pressure on the United States to stay ahead in the [[Cold War]], homework made a resurgence, and children were encouraged to keep up with their [[Soviet Union|Russian]] counterparts.<ref name=":2" /> From that time on, social attitudes have oscillated approximately on a 15-year cycle: homework was encouraged in the 1950s to mid-1960s; it was rejected from the mid-1960s until 1980; it was encouraged again from 1980 and the publication of ''[[A Nation at Risk]]'' until the mid-1990s, when the Cold War ended.<ref name=":2" />  At that time, [[American schools]] were overwhelmingly in favor of issuing some homework to students of all grade levels.<ref>{{cite news
| url = http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/HISTORY-OF-HOMEWORK-3053660.php
| title = History of Homework
| access-date = 2007-03-24
| date = 1999-12-20
| work = The San Francisco Chronicle
| archive-date = 2013-03-23
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130323150604/http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/HISTORY-OF-HOMEWORK-3053660.php
| url-status = live
}}</ref> Homework was less favored after the end of the Cold War.<ref name=":2" />

=== United Kingdom ===
British students get more homework than many other countries in Europe. The weekly average for the subject is 5 hours. The main distinction for UK homework is the social gap, with middle-class teenagers getting a disproportionate amount of homework compared to Asia and Europe.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30417132|title=UK families' 'long homework hours'|first=Sean|last=Coughlan|date=11 December 2014|access-date=2 November 2017|work=BBC News|archive-date=28 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128005856/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30417132|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Spain ===
In 2012, a report by the [[OECD]] showed that Spanish children spend 6.4 hours a week on homework. This prompted the CEAPA, representing 12,000 Spanish parent associations, to call for a homework strike.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/nov/02/parents-in-the-uk-and-abroad-do-your-children-get-set-too-much-homework|title=Parents in the UK and abroad: do your children get set too much homework?|first=Sarah|last=Marsh|date=2 November 2016|access-date=2 November 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|archive-date=7 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023649/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/nov/02/parents-in-the-uk-and-abroad-do-your-children-get-set-too-much-homework|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Criticism ==
[[File:This is a stupid way to write a paper.jpg|thumb|Homework can take up a large portion of a student's free time and lead to stress, despair, anger, and sleep disorders among children, as well as arguments among families.]]
Homework and its effects, justifications, motivations and alleged benefits have been the subject of sharp criticism among many education experts and researchers.

According to a study by the [[Dresden University of Technology]], homework—described in the study as "an educational ritual"—has little to no influence on academic performance.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=|date=2008-02-01|title=Studie: Hausaufgaben bringen überhaupt nichts|work=DIE WELT|url=https://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article1621102/Hausaufgaben-bringen-ueberhaupt-nichts.html|access-date=2021-05-03|archive-date=2016-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427020922/http://www.welt.de/wissenschaft/article1621102/Hausaufgaben-bringen-ueberhaupt-nichts.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

When assigning homework, each student is usually given the same exercises, regardless of how well the student is performing. This leaves some students under-challenged and others overwhelmed by their homework.<ref name=":5" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Is homework too like hard work?|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/is-homework-too-like-hard-work-1.193595?mode=amp&mode=|access-date=2020-12-18|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |archive-date=2021-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124145429/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/is-homework-too-like-hard-work-1.193595?mode=|url-status=live}}</ref> For others, the degree of difficulty of homework may be appropriate, but students are unable to decide for themselves whether they need to deepen their knowledge in a particular subject or whether to use the time in other subjects with which they experience more difficulty, despite the fact that homework is often seen as a way of encouraging [[Self-regulation theory|self-regulation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254120465 |title=Developing Self-Regulation Skills: The Important Role of Homework |date= |accessdate=2021-11-24 |archive-date=2021-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413060735/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254120465_Developing_Self-Regulation_Skills_The_Important_Role_of_Homework |url-status=live }}</ref>

Homework is sometimes used to outsource school material not completed in class to the home, leaving children with homework that is not designed to be done on their own and parents feeling helpless and frustrated.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|last=Mathews|first=Jay|date=2007-02-20|title=Homework Critics vs. Me|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/technology/2007/02/20/homework-critics-vs-me/0c2b242f-5d1c-4f99-9a4d-f2cb68b09e54/|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|access-date=2020-12-18|archive-date=2021-11-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124145357/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/technology/2007/02/20/homework-critics-vs-me/0c2b242f-5d1c-4f99-9a4d-f2cb68b09e54/|url-status=live}}</ref> As a consequence, students often have to use the internet or other resources for help, which provides [[Homework gap|disadvantages for students without internet access]]. Thus, such homework fails to promote [[Equal opportunity|equality of opportunity]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Homework Is Bad, Research Confirms|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/homework-is-bad-research-confirms/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=Vice.com|date=20 November 2020 |language=en|archive-date=2020-12-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212032513/https://www.vice.com/en/article/88aq9a/homework-is-bad-research-confirms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=WELT|date=2016-08-28|title=Schulleiter warnen: Hausaufgaben gefährden Chancengleichheit|work=DIE WELT|url=https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/brennpunkte_nt/article157885905/Hausaufgaben-gefaehrden-Chancengleichheit.html|access-date=2020-12-18|archive-date=2021-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024021744/https://www.welt.de/newsticker/dpa_nt/infoline_nt/brennpunkte_nt/article157885905/Hausaufgaben-gefaehrden-Chancengleichheit.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Homework without professional feedback from the teacher has little effect on the learning success of students.<ref>{{cite web|date=2013-11-14|title=The Case Against Homework: Why It Doesn't Help Students Learn {{!}} Resilient Educator|url=https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/the-homework-debate-the-case-against-homework/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=ResilientEducator.com|language=en|archive-date=2020-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114124606/https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/the-homework-debate-the-case-against-homework/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Even if it is generally not wanted by homework distributors (unless homework is given as a punishment), completing homework may take up a large part of the student's free time. It is often the case that children [[procrastinate]] on doing their homework until late at night, which can lead to [[sleep disorders]] and unhealthy [[Psychological stress|stress]].<ref name=":3" /> Children may feel overwhelmed when they have too much homework, which can negatively affect children's natural [[curiosity]] and thirst for [[knowledge]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Pinsker|first=Joe|date=2019-03-28|title=The Cult of Homework|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/homework-research-how-much/585889/|access-date=2020-12-18|website=The Atlantic|language=en|archive-date=2020-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213063938/https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/03/homework-research-how-much/585889/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A study by the [[UCL Institute of Education]], which concerned the impact of homework in different countries, discovered that the pressure associated with homework causes arguments among family members.<ref name=":6">{{cite web|date=2004-02-14|title=Homework causes family arguments|url=https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/homework-causes-family-arguments.130170|access-date=2021-05-03|website=[[Times of Malta]] |archive-date=2021-05-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503191724/https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/homework-causes-family-arguments.130170|url-status=live}}</ref> The study also showed that homework can lead to [[anxiety]], [[Depression in childhood and adolescence|depression]], and [[emotional exhaustion]] among children.<ref name=":6" />

== Notes and references ==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Works===
====Effectiveness of homework====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Cooper|first1=Harris|last2=Robinson|first2=Jorgianne C.|last3=Patall|first3=Erika A.|title=Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, 1987-2003|journal=Review of Educational Research|date=2006|volume=76|issue=1|pages=1–62|doi=10.3102/00346543076001001|s2cid=146452256}}
* {{Citation|last1=Epstein|first1=Joyce L.|title=Homework practices, achievements, and behaviors of elementary school students|journal=Center for Research on Elementary and Middle Schools|date=1988}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Trautwein|first1=Ulrich|last2=Köller|first2=Olaf|title=The Relationship Between Homework and Achievement—Still Much of a Mystery|journal=Educational Psychology Review|date=2003|volume=15|issue=2|pages=115–145|doi=10.1023/A:1023460414243|s2cid=142739222}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Vazsonyi|first1=Alexander T.|last2=Pickering|first2=Lloyd E.|title=The Importance of Family and School Domains in Adolescent Deviance: African American and Caucasian Youth|journal=Journal of Youth and Adolescence|date=2003|volume=32|issue=2|pages=115–128|doi=10.1023/A:1021857801554|s2cid=142600541}}
{{Refend}}

====Homework and non-academic effects====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Bauwens|first1=Jeanne|last2=Hourcade|first2=Jack J.|title=School-Based Sources of Stress Among Elementary and Secondary At-Risk Students|journal=The School Counselor|date=1992|volume=40|issue=2|pages=97–102}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Bempechat|first1=Janine|title=The Motivational Benefits of Homework: A Social-Cognitive Perspective|journal=Theory into Practice|date=2004|volume=43|issue=3|pages=189–196|doi=10.1353/tip.2004.0029}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Cheung|first1=S. K.|last2=Leung-Ngai|first2=J. M. Y.|title=Impact of homework stress on children's physical and psychological well-being|journal=Journal of the Hong Kong Medical Association|date=1992|volume=44|issue=3|pages=146–150|url=http://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/34f94e97249049e038e55b7f9e2e97b5.pdf|access-date=2016-11-03|archive-date=2019-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190813090154/http://hkjo.lib.hku.hk/archive/files/34f94e97249049e038e55b7f9e2e97b5.pdf|url-status=live}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Conner|first1=Jerusha|last2=Pope|first2=Denise|last3=Galloway|first3=Mollie|title=Success with Less Stress|journal=Health and Learning|date=2009|volume=67|issue=4|pages=54–58}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Galloway|first1=Mollie|last2=Conner|first2=Jerusha|last3=Pope|first3=Denise|title=Nonacademic Effects of Homework in Privileged, High-Performing High Schools|journal=The Journal of Experimental Education|date=2013|volume=81|issue=4|pages=490–510|doi=10.1080/00220973.2012.745469|doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Hardy|first1=Lawrence|title=Overburdened, Overwhelmed|journal=American School Board Journal|date=2003|volume=190|pages=18–23}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Kiewra|first1=Kenneth A|last2=Kaufman|first2=Douglas F.|last3=Hart|first3=Katie|last4=Scoular|first4=Jacqui|last5=Brown|first5=Marissa|last6=Keller|first6=Gwendolyn|last7=Tyler|first7=Becci|title=What Parents, Researchers, and the Popular Press Have to Say About Homework|journal=Scholarlypartnershipsedu|date=2009|volume=4|issue=1|pages=93–109|url=http://opus.ipfw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=spe|access-date=2016-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316132838/http://opus.ipfw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=spe|archive-date=2018-03-16|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Kouzma|first1=Nadya M.|last2=Kennedy|first2=Gerard A.|title=Homework, stress, and mood disturbance in senior high school students|journal=Psychological Reports|date=2002|volume=91|issue=1|pages=193–198|doi=10.2466/pr0.2002.91.1.193|pmid=12353781|s2cid=19342704}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Leone|first1=Carla M.|last2=Richards|first2=H.|title=Classwork and homework in early adolescence: The ecology of achievement|journal=Journal of Youth and Adolescence|date=1989|volume=18|issue=6|pages=531–548|doi=10.1007/BF02139072|pmid=24272124|s2cid=508824}}
* {{Citation|last1=Markow|first1=Dana|last2=Kim|first2=Amie|last3=Liebman|first3=Margot|title=The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: The homework experience|date=2007|publisher=Metropolitan Life Insurance Foundation|url=https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/metlife-survey-american-teacher-2007-homework-experience.pdf|access-date=2016-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220073447/https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/contributions/foundation/american-teacher/metlife-survey-american-teacher-2007-homework-experience.pdf|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Sallee|first1=Buffy|last2=Rigler|first2=Neil|title=Doing Our Homework on Homework: How Does Homework Help?|journal=The English Journal|date=2008|volume=98|issue=2|pages=46–51|doi=10.58680/ej20086828 }}
* {{cite journal|last1=West|first1=Charles K.|last2=Wood|first2=Edward S.|title=Academic Pressures on Public School Students|journal=Educational Leadership|date=1970|volume=3|issue=4|pages=585–589}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Xu|first1=Jianzhong|last2=Yuan|first2=Ruiping|title=Doing homework: Listening to students', parents', and teachers' voices in one urban middle school community|journal=School Community Journal|date=2003|volume=13|issue=2|pages=25–44|citeseerx=10.1.1.471.2773}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Ystgaard|first1=M.|title=Life stress, social support and psychological distress in late adolescence|journal=Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology|date=1997|volume=32|issue=5|pages=277–283|doi=10.1007/BF00789040|pmid=9257518|s2cid=22716723}}
{{Refend}}

==== Other ====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=Harris|title=The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents|date=2007|publisher=[[Corwin Press]]|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|isbn=9781412937139|edition=3rd|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/battleoverhomewo0000coop}}
* {{cite book|last1=Holt|first1=John|author-link=John Holt (educator)|title=How Children Learn|date=1983|publisher=Da Capo Press|location=Reading, MA|title-link=How Children Learn}}
* {{Cite book| last = Kohn| first = Alfie| author-link = Alfie Kohn| title = The Homework Myth| isbn = 978-0-7382-1085-8| year = 2006| publisher = [[Da Capo Press]]| location = Cambridge, MA| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/homeworkmythwhyo00kohn}} [http://www.alfiekohn.org/homework-improve-learning/ Chapter 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105161321/http://www.alfiekohn.org/homework-improve-learning/ |date=2016-11-05 }} is free to read.
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* ''[https://today.duke.edu//2006/03/homework.html Duke Study]: Homework Helps Students Succeed in School, As Long as There Isn't Too Much''
* ''The Case Against Homework: How Homework Is Hurting Our Children and What We Can Do About It'' by [http://www.stophomework.com Sarah Bennett] & [http://www.nancykalish.com Nancy Kalish] (2006) Discusses in detail assessments of studies on homework and the authors' own research and assessment of the homework situation in the United States. Has specific recommendations and sample letters to be used in negotiating a reduced homework load for your child.
* ''Closing the Book on Homework: Enhancing Public Education and Freeing Family Time'' by [https://web.archive.org/web/20070622124403/http://www.bangordailynews.com/editorialnews/viewpoints/johnbuell.aspx John Buell] (2004)
* ''The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents'' by [http://www7.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/Harris_Cooper.html Harris Cooper] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723030308/http://www7.nationalacademies.org/dbasse/Harris_Cooper.html |date=2012-07-23 }} (2007)
* ''The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing'' by [[Alfie Kohn]] (2006)
* ''The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning'' by Etta Kralovec and [https://web.archive.org/web/20070622124403/http://www.bangordailynews.com/editorialnews/viewpoints/johnbuell.aspx John Buell] (2000)

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
{{Wiktionary}}
* [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1376208,00.html "The Myth About Homework"], Claudia Wallis, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', August 29, 2006.
* [http://www.slate.com/articles/life/explainer/2012/10/did_anybody_ever_believe_the_excuse_the_dog_ate_my_homework_.html History of "The Dog Ate My Homework" as an excuse]. ''Slate''.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070615075608/http://www.nea.org/parents/images/homeworksolutionsguide.pdf Bridging the Great Homework Divide: A Solutions Guide for Parents of Middle School Students] - from the National Education Association.
* [http://www.ed.gov/parents/academic/involve/homework/homeworktips.pdf Homework tips for parents] - U.S. Department of Education.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/parents/ BBC's (U.K.) parents' school guide]
* [http://www.ed.gov/pubs/HelpingStudents/index.html Helping Your Students With Homework: A Guide For Teachers] - U.S. Department of Education.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070226083311/http://www.peakparent.org/pdf/fact_sheets/homework.pdf Homework Practices that Support Students with Disabilities]

{{Authority control}}

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